The federal center is now discussing merging several regions, including the Adygea republic with the Krasnodar territory (south); Karelia with the Murmansk region (northwest); the Nenets autonomous area with the Arkhangelsk region (north); and Kuzbass with the Altai territory and the Altai republic in southern Siberia (southern Siberia).
Adygea has reacted to the merger idea most painfully. President of Adygea Khazret Sovmen has said it is a political provocation that could lead to negative consequences given the socio-political situation in the North Caucasus remains complicated. Local public organizations are already preparing protests, claiming that the merger will fuel social tensions and extremism.
Karelia believes that the projected merger with the Murmansk region will eventually deprive the republic's small ethnic groups (the Karels, Veps and Finns), of their unique national identities. Anatoly Grigoryev, head of the Karelian Congress public organization, believes Karelian culture will be destroyed. Consequently, national Karelian districts would have no alternative but to join Finland.
However, some people disagree. Anatoly Tsygankov, chief of Karelia's center of political and social studies, says the ethnic factor may be artificially linked with regional mergers. For instance, Karelia is a national republic only due to Soviet traditions. In reality, though, its residents do not consider themselves to be a unique ethnic community. The ethnic factor is important in other Russian territories where powerful ethnic communities live, notably in the south, and is fraught with serious conflicts. However, the "erosion" of ethnic groups would not cause conflicts during regional mergers. On the contrary, the expert says, this only threatens their comfortable and relatively secluded existence.
