New Bill On Martial Law Expected To Be Approved By Federation Council

The Federation Council of the Russian Federation will approve a bill on martial law, Chief of the Council's Foreign Committee Mikhail Margelov reported in an interview with RosBusinessConsulting today. According to him, this law simplifies the process of declaring a military situation. "According to specialists, modern wars will be mostly local." This requires a higher responsiveness and extension of a list of cases that may cause wars, the senator stressed. Margelov considers a provision according to which a military situation can be announced in the event any foreign country sends its military bandit groups to other countries. In addition, in his opinion if this bill on martial law was passed earlier, the anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya wouldn't not have lead to so many losses. This bill on martial law will be discussed at a plenary session of the parliament's upper house on January 16, 2002.