Kremlin refuses to support Ramzan Kadyrov's initiative to demolish checkpoints

The Ramzan Kadyrov's call to remove all checkpoints on the roads between the regions of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) was rejected by Moscow because of the threat of terror acts and the law enforcers' distrust in the leader of Chechnya, believe experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 6, 2018, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov called for the removal of all checkpoints on the roads between the regions of the NCFD. Mikhail Skokov, Minister of Internal Affairs for North Ossetia, did not agree with the leader of Chechnya. So, the North-Ossetian Minister believes the "Chermen" checkpoint should be even strengthened.

"Some top-ranking law enforcers do not like Ramzan Kadyrov, treat him with some kind of suspicion, and do not really want to follow the calls voiced by [the leader of Chechnya]. Besides, there is an understanding that checkpoints are still of need. Ideally, of course, checkpoints look anachronistic in the modern world, and I would agree with Ramzan Kadyrov here that they are to be removed, but the threat of the spread of terrorism [remains], so they are still of need," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Gennady Gudkov, retired Colonel of the Russian FSB, a former State Duma member.

Gennady Gudkov also associates the rejection of the Ramzan Kadyrov's initiative with the concerns of the federal centre over the destabilization of the political situation in Northern Caucasus.

According to political analyst Alexei Malashenko, the head of scientific research at the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, the refusal to remove checkpoints was the decision of the Kremlin. "This is Northern Caucasus, and incidents happen almost every day here, there is a threat of terror acts. Therefore, the question raised by Ramzan Kadyrov is not relevant now," emphasized Alexei Malashenko.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 25, 2019 at 03:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.