Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from January, 2011
Russia: Bloggers Protest Against Educational Reform
Blog-based address [RUS] to Russian leadership with demands to cancel educational reform has received more than 10 thousands voices of support [RUS] within two days. Bloggers protest against wide reform of...
Russia: Blogger Released After 14 Months of Penal Colony
Irek Murtazin [RUS], blogger and former spokesperson of the Tatarstan's president, has been released today after spending more than 14 months in penal colony, “Novaya Gazeta” reported [RUS]. After published a...
Ukraine: “Three Nations”?
Paul Goble of Window in Eurasia cites an interview [ENG] with a member of the Lviv City Council, who explains [UKR] that the real conflict in contemporary Ukraine is not...
Russia: Valeria Novodvorskaya's Blog Hacked
Vladimir Pribylovskiy reports [RUS] hi-jacking of Valeria Novodvorskaya‘s (Russian liberal politician and a former Soviet dissident) LiveJournal account [RUS]. “The Brigade of Hell,” dispersed group of generally pro-Kremlin hackers, took...
Ukraine: Photos of Hutsuls
Sergey Maximishin (LJ user remetalk) shares his photos of the Ukrainian Hutsuls and their land in the Carpathian Mountains.
Russia, Ukraine: More Tributes to Playwright Anna Yablonskaya
At The Guardian's Comment is Free, Natalia Antonova writes about the Jan. 24 suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport and about playwright Anna Yablonskaya, who was killed in the attack....
Czech Republic: The Czech Roma During the Holocaust
Czech Position writes in detail about “the wartime fate of the Roma” – whose “tremendous suffering and loss [are] often reduced to little more than a historical footnote.”
Romania: Accession to the Schengen Zone
Kosmopolito writes about Romania's “clumsy way” to the Schengen zone.
Serbia, Kosovo: Comment on Dick Marty's Report
Belgraded.com comments on Dick Marty's “report on organized criminal activities committed by the Kosovo Albanian side during and after Kosovo conflict”: “As it turns out, there are now at least...
Ukraine: Support “The Pickle Project”!
Linda Norris and Sarah Crow are fundraising on Kickstarter in order to be able to return to Ukraine and continue work on The Pickle Project, which “explores contemporary and traditional...
Hungary: New Media Law To Be Modified?
Hungarian Watch reports that “Hungary seems poised to make changes to media law” – but “freedom of the press is still on shaky ground.”
Hungary: Filtering Foreign Media Content?
Hungarian Spectrum reports that the official Hungarian news agency seems to be supplying other media outlets with “wrong translations” of foreign media content, perhaps trying “to conceal some of the...
Albania: Anti-Government Protest in Tirana
Home of the Albanian Blogger and A Nevada Yankee in King Zog's Court share their thoughts on the Jan. 21 anti-government protests and violence in Tirana.
Czech Republic: Lawyers Uncertain About Ukrainian Politician's Right to Asylum
Czech Position reports that “uncertainty prevailed among [Czech] lawyers on whether [former Ukrainian Economy Minister] Bohdan Danylyshyn merits asylum in the Czech Republic.”
Bulgaria: Sofia's Sugar Factory Tragedy
Maya's Corner writes about Sofia's Sugar Factory, where two people died in 2009 when the neglected building collapsed, and the fate of other landmarks owned by “predator ‘investors’.”
Ukraine: The Newest Euro 2012 Scandal
Foreign Notes writes about the latest Euro 2012 controversy in Ukraine: “In other words, the Ukrainian national team could find itself banned from the Euro 2012 football tournament that the...
Poland: Blogger Prosecuted for Criticizing Local Mayor
Jakub Górnicki writes about the case of Łukasz Kaprowicz, a Polish journalist and blogger who was sued for defamation after he had criticized the mayor of the town of Mosina in his blog posts.
Ukraine: YouTube Helps Discipline Traffic Police
Tetyana Bohdanova reports on how Ukrainians are using the Internet to expose unlawful actions committed by traffic police.
Ukraine: Police Treatment of Foreigners Raises Concerns Ahead of Euro 2012
Tetyana Bohdanova reviews the netizens' reactions to a recent episode of ill-treatment of foreigners by the Ukrainian police, a trend that is especially alarming since Ukraine is currently preparing to co-host the 2012 European Football Championship together with Poland.
Russia: Domodedovo Bombings Expose Imbalance Between Traditional and Social Media
Social media played a significant role in the coverage of the terrorist attack in Domodedovo International Airport near Moscow. Russian bloggers and journalists discussed the consequences of increasing role of blogs and Twitter in emergency situations. Gregory Asmolov analyzes the roles of the government, traditional and new media in the coverage of the attack.
Russia: “Anonymous Bomb” and “Random Scapegoats” of Domodedovo
In the aftermath of the Jan. 24 suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, which killed at least 35 people and left over 100 wounded, some Russophone bloggers are once again discussing the ominous patterns that grow more and more obvious with each new major terror attack in Russia.
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