Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from July, 2009
Russia: Riot Police Break Up Opposition Rally
Some 100 protesters gathered for an unsanctioned opposition rally in central Moscow on Friday. At 6 PM, hundreds of riot police broke up the rally, detaining 47 people, some of whom were said to be journalists and passerby.
Russia: Vasily Krima, aka the “Volgograd Obama”
Sean's Russia Blog writes about Vasily Krima, “the first Afro-Russian to run for public office” – here and here.
Moldova: Election Updates
Notes on Moldova's repeat election – at Scraps of Moscow, Eternal Remont and Robert Amsterdam's Blog.
Russia: Putin on Solzhenitsyn
Eternal Remont writes about PM Vladimir Putin's recent interaction with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's widow.
The Balkans: Mladic Update
Foreign Policy Association's War Crimes blog posts an update on Ratko Mladic.
Russia: Unsold iPhones
Profy writes about the situation with iPhone sales in Russia.
Ukraine: Q&A with Hryhoriy Nemyrya
EurActiv.com visits Kyiv and talks to Hryhoriy Nemyrya, Ukraine’s vice PM, in charge of relations with Europe: questions are here, Nemyrya's responses – here, a shorter summary – here.
Russia: Activists Appeal To Iranian Opposition
On July 26, LJ user dobrokhotov wrote (RUS) about a rally in front of the Iranian embassy in Moscow, organized by the Russian democratic youth movement “We” in support of Iran's opposition: “[…] The main thing is we'd like the Iranian opposition to go on chanting ‘margbar putin’ – but,...
Moldova: Repeat Elections
Updates and resources on the repeat election in Moldova – at Scraps of Moscow, here and here.
Belarus, Russia: Bloggers React to Graphic Chechen War Video
On July 3, Belarusian blogger Tatsiana Elavaya posted a provocative video showing the assassination of captive Russian soldiers by Chechen guerrillas during the 1999 war in Chechnya. The video had been available elsewhere before, but when Tatsiana posted it on her blog, the reaction of the Cyrillic blogosphere was unprecedented.
Russia: Oleg Yankovsky
Mumin Shakirov of OpenDemocracy.net writes about actor Oleg Yankovsky, who died of cancer in Moscow earlier this year.
Czech Republic, Russia: “Putin Goes To Pikalyovo”
CzechFolks.com and Scraps of Moscow write about a Russian YouTube rendition of a 1970s Czech song, which mocks PM Vladimir Putin.
Russia: “Russian Software” Project
Profy writes about the Russian Software project, whose “idea is to provide high-quality alternatives to proprietary international software titles and to make sure that these alternatives will also be much less expensive than the Western products.”
The Balkans: More on EU Visa Rules
More on the new EU visa rules for the Balkans – at A Fistful of Euros.
United Nations: Video contest for 9-25 year olds about migration
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations is organizing the Plural+ video contest about building a more inclusive, tolerant society. The contest is open for any participant between the ages of 9 and 25 before September 30th.
The Balkans: Language Issue
Gray Falcon writes about the language issue in the former Yugoslavia – here and here.
Europe: “When East Becomes West”
Raf Uzar is wondering whether “the definition of Western Europe [is] the same now as it was in 1945.”
Poland: Forests
Polandian writes about Poland's forests.
Czech Republic: New Mosque in Brno?
The Czech Daily Word reports that “Christian Democrats oppose plans to build a new mosque in Brno.”
Europe: “EU Terminology for Dummies”
“EU Terminology for Dummies” – at Kosmopolito.
The Balkans: EU Visa-Free Travel Controversy
AriRusila of Blogactiv.eu‘s BalkanPerspective writes that the EU's intention to introduce visa-free travel for some Balkan entities but not others is dividing the region.
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