Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from April, 2010
Russia: The 2009 Killing of Umar Israilov
Robert Amsterdam writes about Ramzan Kadyrov's alleged involvement in the 2009 murder of Umar Israilov in Vienna, and links to C.J. Chivers’ New York Times investigative piece, whose opening paragraph...
Hungary: Political and Economic News
Commentary on the recent developments in the Hungarian politics and the economy – at Hungarian Spectrum, here and here, and at A Fistful of Euros.
Russia: “Burnt By the Box Office”
Vadim Nikitin of Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog reviews the reactions to Nikita Mikhalkov's Burnt by the Sun 2, “Russia’s most expensive movie.”
Russia: More Commentary on Sex Video Scandal
A Good Treaty comments – here and here – on the sex video scandals involving members of the Russian opposition, notes an increase in blog traffic (“nothing brings visitors to...
Ukraine: Chaotic Ratification of the Gas-for-Fleet Deal
Below is some of the Anglophone blog commentary on the ratification of the Ukrainian-Russian gas-for-fleet deal, which took place in a chaotic environment on April 27 in Kyiv. Among other things, security guards were forced to employ two umbrellas to shelter the parliament speaker from the eggs hurled at him by opposition members.
Russia: Russian Authorities Want to Block 2,000 Web sites
Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs plans to make addition to the law “On Information” allowing Russian authorities to block an access to around 2,000 Web sites with extremist, pirated and...
Ukraine: Russian Black Sea Fleet Stays On in Crimea
236 Ukrainian MPs (UKR) have voted in favor of the ratification of an agreement allowing the Russian Black Sea Fleet to extend its stay in Crimea until 2042. Ukrainska Pravda...
Ukraine: Chernobyl's 24th Anniversary
April 26 marked the 24th anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Ukrainiana writes about a 1990 movie, “an irony-packed perestroika-era drama offers an X-ray of Soviet crisis mismanagement.” Chernobyl and...
The Balkans: Thoughts on Slavenka Drakulić's 1993 Book
Filip Stojanovski shares his thoughts on Slavenka Drakulić's 1993 book, How We Survived Communism & Even Laughed.
Bulgaria: Appeals for Help in Arevik Shmavonyan's Deportation Case
Svetla Encheva (BUL), Maya Markova of Maya's Corner and Legal Clinic for Refugees and Immigrants, a Bulgarian NGO, appeal for help in the case of Arevik Shmavonyan, a pregnant Armenian...
Russia, Ukraine: Gas/Black Sea Fleet Deal
Leopolis comments – here and here – on the gas/Black Sea Fleet lease extension deal signed by the Russian and Ukrainian presidents on April 21.
Russia, Poland: The Truth About Katyn
Steve Bandera of Kyiv Scoop writes about Andrzej Wajda’s 2007 film Katyń, which has been shown twice in Russia in the past few weeks (reactions from the Russian blogosphere are...
Russia: “The Sirens of Russia”
A Good Treaty posts a YouTube video of a Moscow driver's encounter with a high-ranking official's BMW and explains why “the special road status of the elite is a sore...
US, Russia: Views on START
A Good Treaty reviews shortcomings and advantages of the newly-signed US-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), as perceived by various political groups in the United States and Russia.
Russia: Medvedev Twitter Accounts
Profy writes about the soon-to-be-launched official Twitter account of the Russian president – and the recently suspended fake one: “The thing is that this Twitter account misbehaved on the day...
Russia: RT and Public Diplomacy
Lena Osipova of Global Chaos argues that RT, Russia's first all-digital English-language TV network, “not only does not promote Russia's credibility, but undercuts it further.”
US, Russia: A Pro-Russian Lobby
Eugene Ivanov of The Ivanov Report believes that the US-Russian “‘reset’ needs a charger, and the pro-Russian lobby should play the role of this charger.”
Russia, US: Artyom Savelyev's Case
Natalia Antonova writes about the case of a 7-year-old adopted Russian boy, who was sent back from the United States alone on a plane to Russia by his adoptive mother:...
Russia: Authorities Inspect Major Social Network
Russia authorities started inspection of the country's major social network Vkontakte.ru, rbcdaily.ru reported. The authorities claim the social network became popular with neo-Nazi, xenophobic and extremist groups. But the inspection...
Russia: Internet Development in Regions
Yandex.ru published report [RUS, .pdf] on Internet development in Russian regions. Report concludes that the drastic increase in Internet penetration during 2009 was in Russian regions. The average speed of...
Russia: The ‘Little Blue Buckets’ Protest
The Little Blue Buckets mock protest, initiated (RUS) by LJ user cook, took place in Moscow Sunday, as drivers fitted their cars with blue plastic buckets (siniye vedyorki) to protest...
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