Corruption and unemployment force Caucasian youngsters to join militants - lawmaker

Corruption and terror are still acute problems in the North Caucasus, the secretary of the Security Council, Nikolay Patrushev, said today.

He also said that situation surrounding crime remains tense.

The state of affairs in the North Caucasus has not in fact changed for the better, the chair of the Moscow City Duma's security committee, Sergey Goncharov, told Vestnik Kavkaza.

"The recent terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus show that the problem is still acute. I don't think  that the situation will change for the better in the near future," he said.

"You know that the federal government spends a lot of money on the North Caucasus. However, these funds are often embezzled by local officials, while the population continues to live in poverty. Corruption and terror forces young people to join militants," he said.

The lawmaker also said that tensions between different factions of Islam are very dangerous for the region.