[JURIST] Russian President Vladimir Putin [official website] signed a treaty Wednesday to tighten control [AP report] over the South Ossetia [BBC profile] breakaway region. The treaty calls for full integration of the South Ossetia economy and military into Russia’s. The treaty further makes it easier for citizens to gain Russian citizenship and raises salaries for civil servant and state pensions. South Ossetia is a region of Georgia that broke off in the early 1990s and then was reintegrated into. The region broke off a second time after a war with Georgia in 2008. The treaty signing coincides with the one-year anniversary of the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltensberg [NATO profile] stated in a press release [text] that “[the treaty] violates Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and blatantly contradicts the principles of international law, OSCE principles and Russia’s international commitments.”

Russia has been the subject of criticism a great deal over the last few years. Earlier this week EU officials decided [JURIST report] to stand by their policy of not recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Earlier in March Russian liberal political activist Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back four times in the middle of busy downtown Moscow. Nemtsov was openly politically opposed to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its role in Ukraine, and many believe Putin ordered [JURIST report] the killing. In February US Secretary of State John Kerry [official website] announced [JURIST report] that Washington is considering “additional sanctions” against Russia in light of the most recent events in Ukraine.