ABKHAZIA, KABARDINO-BALKARIYA SIGN ANOTHER AGREEMENT

. Followingup on their recent friendship and cooperation treaty, Abkhaziaand Kabardino-Balkariya have signed an agreement by which theformer grants the latter the right to use the Black Sea portsSukhumi, Pitsunda, and Ochamchira on favorable terms. They nowplan to set up a direct air route between their capitals Sukhumiand Nalchik, Pravda reported August 8. As parts of Georgia andof the Russian Federation respectively, Abkhazia and Kabardino-Balkariyaare not legally qualified to enter into such arrangements, andtheir recent treaty-making activity has been condemned by bothTbilisi and Moscow. The tendency to enter into such agreementshas become increasingly pronounced on the part of some constituentmembers of the Russian Federation and contributes to Moscow’sconcerns over regional separatism.

Azerbaijan’s Draft Electoral Law Challenged