MOSCOW -- Russian nationalist groups are split over the Caucasus-related slogans they plan to display during the "Russian March" planned for various cities on November 4, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
One faction plans to hold placards saying "Stop Feeding The Caucasus!" while a second advocates the slogan: "There Is No Russia Without The Caucasus!"
Vladimir Tor, one of the march organizers, told RFE/RL he supports the slogan "Stop Feeding The Caucasus!"
Tor argued that it would be wrong for Russia to try to retain its hold on the Caucasus simply by injecting huge amounts of money into the region.
Tor compared federal investment in the economies of the North Caucasus republics to the tribute that the late-medieval Muscovy principality paid to the Golden Horde.
Some nationalist groups who do not approve of the slogan "Stop Feeding The Caucasus!" have applied to the Moscow City Mayor's office for permission to hold an alternative "Russian March" in Moscow.
Prominent nationalist leaders Viktor Shvedov and Yury Gorsky issued a joint statement on November 3, saying that the slogan "Stop Feeding The Caucasus!" poses a threat to Russia's territorial integrity.
Aleksandr Fursov, the deputy chairman of the national-patriotic movement Otvaga (Courage), told RFE/RL that the clear objective of the anti-Caucasus slogans is to detach the North Caucasus from the Russian Federation.
At the same time, he blamed the ruling United Russia party for igniting the disagreements between nationalist groups.
"There are many different groups inside the so-called nationalist movement in Russia, and some of them are being used by the ruling party, which is not interested in the spread of protest moods across the country," Fursov said.
Read more in Russian here
One faction plans to hold placards saying "Stop Feeding The Caucasus!" while a second advocates the slogan: "There Is No Russia Without The Caucasus!"
Vladimir Tor, one of the march organizers, told RFE/RL he supports the slogan "Stop Feeding The Caucasus!"
Tor argued that it would be wrong for Russia to try to retain its hold on the Caucasus simply by injecting huge amounts of money into the region.
Tor compared federal investment in the economies of the North Caucasus republics to the tribute that the late-medieval Muscovy principality paid to the Golden Horde.
Some nationalist groups who do not approve of the slogan "Stop Feeding The Caucasus!" have applied to the Moscow City Mayor's office for permission to hold an alternative "Russian March" in Moscow.
Prominent nationalist leaders Viktor Shvedov and Yury Gorsky issued a joint statement on November 3, saying that the slogan "Stop Feeding The Caucasus!" poses a threat to Russia's territorial integrity.
Aleksandr Fursov, the deputy chairman of the national-patriotic movement Otvaga (Courage), told RFE/RL that the clear objective of the anti-Caucasus slogans is to detach the North Caucasus from the Russian Federation.
At the same time, he blamed the ruling United Russia party for igniting the disagreements between nationalist groups.
"There are many different groups inside the so-called nationalist movement in Russia, and some of them are being used by the ruling party, which is not interested in the spread of protest moods across the country," Fursov said.
Read more in Russian here
