· December, 2008

Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from December, 2008

Russia: A Muslim Trade Union?

  31 December 2008

Window on Eurasia writes that Central Asian migrant workers in the Urals are considering forming a “Muslim trade union.”

Serbia: Blogger Krugolina Borup Wins Disruption Prize

  30 December 2008

On Dec. 18, Sinisa Boljanovic wrote about Serbian blogger Krugolina Borup and her "Mother Courage" initiative. A few days later, Krugolina Borup (whose real name is Branka Stamenkovic) became the fifth laureate of the Disruption Prize, which Luna TBWA Agency has been awarding to individuals or organizations from Serbia for social liability and changing of social conventions.

Ukraine: “A Democratic Question”

  27 December 2008

Ukrainiana writes about president Yushchenko's answer to the question that got over 85,000 online votes: “A straight question needs a straight answer. Instead, we got a rambling lecture, replete with peripheral thinking.”

Russia: The New York Times’ LJ is One Year Old

  26 December 2008

The New York Times‘ Clifford J. Levy writes on The Lede about the first anniversary of the paper's interactive Russian-language LJ blog: “The results far exceeded my expectations. The blog has received more than 26,000 comments, and has become an important tool for the newspaper to better understand and explain...

Macedonia Timeless

  25 December 2008

On December 24, 2008, there was a presentation of a promotional video for Macedonia – “Macedonia Timeless.” The video is written and directed by Milcho Manchevski (an Academy Award nominee in 1995), and its purpose is to promote Macedonia as a tourist destination. The video will be aired on CNN, and a dozen countries in eight different languages. Elena Ignatova reviews bloggers' reactions to the video.

Caucasus: 2008 Blog Review

  25 December 2008

Last year ended with a state of emergency declared in Georgia, but few could imagine that the events of 2008 would eclipse those of 2007. Three presidential elections, a war, and yet another state of emergency defined the South Caucasus this year, and bloggers were there to document events from...

Central and Eastern Europe: A Christmas Roundup

  24 December 2008

A holiday season roundup: Tanja of Czechmatediary recalls family Christmas celebrations of her childhood, writes about the Czech Christmas Mass, and shares a recipe of Vanocka (“Christmas bread”); CzechFolks.com writes about a calorie-free yet mouth-watering way of decorating a holiday table with crocheted Czech Christmas cookies; The Foreigner's Guide to...

Czech Republic: A Politics-Free Roundup

  24 December 2008

Politics-free posts from the Czech Republic: a charity project to help orphans organized by Czech model Tereza Maxova, bankruptcy of one of the largest Czech glass companies, and Karel Gott's lasting popularity – at CzechFolks.com; the winner of the Bravest Czech of the Year award, and tips on how to...

Ukraine: Hutsuls and Crimean Tatars

  24 December 2008

My Simferopol Home writes about her dissertation plans to compare histories of exoticism in the Ukrainian Hutsul and Crimean Tatars cultures: “So, why these two groups? While distinct in ethnogenesis, history and territory, Hutsuls, the superstitious, hard-drinking subsistence farmers to Poland and Austro-Hungary’s urban intellectuals, and Crimean Tatars, the perceived...

Ukraine: Yushchenko's Press Conference

  24 December 2008

Tetyana Vysotska of What's Up, Ukraine? writes about the Ukrainian president's annual press conference and his response to one of the most popular questions posed to him via the internet: “Mr. President, how much money should the people of Ukraine pay to convince you and other top authorities to leave...

Ukraine: Holiday Season Update

  24 December 2008

Ukrainian holiday season update: music – at Natalia Antonova's blog; sights – at Greetings from Kyiv; politics – at Ukrainiana.

Russia: South Ossetia; Relations With the U.S.; Sheremetyevo Ceiling

  24 December 2008

Some of the recent posts at Scraps of Moscow: a translation of a part of “a lengthy interview with former Russian army general and former South Ossetian de facto Minister of Defense which puts the region's president, former wrestling champion and phys. ed. teacher Eduard Kokoity, in a rather unflattering...

About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage

Filip Stojanovski
Filip Stojanovski is the Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

Daria Dergacheva
Daria Dergacheva is the Eastern Europe editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.