Some 10,000 people attended a demonstration on 22 April in Maikop, capital of the Republic of Adygeya, to protest Moscow\'s plans to abolish the region\'s status and merge it with the surrounding Krasnodar Krai. Two new organizations have emerged to mobilize public opinion against that planned merger: the Committee to Protect the Status of the Republic of Adygeya, which held its constituent meeting on 23 April, and the League of Social Unions. On 21 April, Vladimir Gromov, ataman of the Kuban Cossacks, warned in Maikop against changing any borders in the North Caucasus. He reasoned that the region needs peace and stability, and that any move to abolish borders would only compound existing tensions. In Grozny, however, Chechen State Council Chairman Taus Dzhabrailov again proposed merging Chechnya, Ingushetia, Daghestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Stavropol Krai into a single territorial unit. He argued that it is more difficult to cross internal borders between North Caucasian republics than the frontier \"between the former USSR and a capitalist country,\" and that abolishing the existing checkpoints on those internal borders would save money. (RFE/RL)