色丹島で初の道路舗装　ロシア、実効支配強化

　【モスクワ時事】北方領土を事実上管轄するロシア極東サハリン州は２４日、北方領土の色丹島で道路のアスファルト舗装工事が始まったと発表した。色丹島で道路が舗装されるのは初めて。
　日ロ両国は平和条約締結後の歯舞、色丹両島の引き渡しを明記した１９５６年の日ソ共同宣言を基礎に交渉することで合意している。しかし、ロシア側は昨年、色丹で大規模水産加工場を稼働させるなど実効支配を強化している。
　工事は色丹の斜古丹（ロシア名マロクリリスコエ）で始まり、２．５キロ以上を舗装する予定。政府の「クリール諸島（北方領土と千島列島）社会経済発展計画」に基づき行われる。工事担当者は「１１月末までに終わらせる予定だ」と述べた。来年には斜古丹と大規模水産加工場のある穴澗（ロシア名クラボザボツコエ）を結ぶ道路の舗装も計画している。（2020/09/25-14:50）

Russia has started asphalt-paving work on a road on Shikotan, one of the four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan, for the first time, according to a local administrative body.
   The move was announced Thursday by Sakhalin Oblast in Russia's Far East, which effectively administers the islands at the center of the territorial dispute that prevents the two countries from concluding a World War II peace treaty.
   Tokyo and Moscow have agreed to hold peace treaty negotiations on the basis of the 1956 Japan-Soviet joint declaration, which stipulates the handover of Shikotan and the Habomais, also part of the disputed islands, to Japan after the envisioned peace treaty is signed.
   But Russia is strengthening its effective control over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan, including by opening a large seafood-processing plant on Shikotan last year.
   The paving work, which began in Shakotan, is scheduled to cover more than 2.5 kilometers of road. The project is part of the Russian government's socio-economic development plan for the Kuril Islands, which include the disputed islands.