Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from June, 2010
Russia: Moscow's Female Poplars
Belatedly, a link to Vilhelm Konnander's post about Moscow's female poplars and the trouble they've been causing for half a century.
Russia: Ramzan Kadyrov's Blog and Plagiarism Controversy
Sean's Russia Blog notes that “just when [Ramzan] Kadyrov thought he had a clear path to becoming a star of the blogosphere, his second post, “My city, Grozny” was accused of plagiarism […].”
Czech Republic: Dr. Milada Horáková's Death 60 Years Ago
The Reference Frame writes about the execution of Dr. Milada Horáková 60 years ago: “Many people were killed by the communists but she has clearly been the brightest woman ever murdered by them.”
Ukraine: Hanna Herman's $60K Wrist Watch
Foreign Notes writes about a $60K wrist watch of the deputy head of Ukraine's Presidential Administration: “$60K is equivalent to 10 to15 years average salary in Ukraine…”
Russia, U.S.: The “Spy Ring” Story
A selection of posts on the “Russian spy ring” story: Julia Ioffe at The Daily Beast; A Good Treaty; Yelena Osipova at Global Chaos; Mark Adomanis at True/Slant; Vadim Nikitin at FPA's Russia blog; Dina Fainberg at The Dustbin of History; Catherine Fitzpatrick at Minding Russia; Windows to Russia; Eugene...
Global: Statistics on Countries Participating in World Cup
SRF from GeoCurrent Events blog writes about the economic geography of the 2010 FIFA World Cup participant countries.
Russia: New Initiatives Indicate Government's Fear of the New Media
Alexey Sidorenko writes about the Russian government's attempts to control cyberspace - and its apparent fear of the new media.
Russia, US: “Burger Diplomacy”
Vadim Nikitin wonders if the Medvedev-Obama meeting is a sign that “[…] the Russian President, for so long considered a mere window dressing to Prime Ministerial rule, might stick around longer than Putin might like?” Robert Amsterdam writes that “burger diplomacy” is “[…] an apt epithet for a relationship that...
Hungary: Museum Night in Budapest
The Uncataloged Museum writes about this year's Museum Night in Budapest.
Serbia: Mufti Zukorlic vs Blic
Belgraded writes about the conflict between the mufti of the Serbian Islamic community and the Blic newspaper.
Ukraine: Gorbachev and Chernobyl
Window on Eurasia writes about Mikhail Gorbachev's order to hold the May Day demonstration in Kyiv shorly after the Chernobyl catastrophe.
Ukraine: Kyiv Farmers’ Markets
Photos of berries, fruit and vegetables sold at Kyiv farmers’ markets this summer – at The Pickle Project, here and here.
Russia: Blogger Finds a Vulnerability in E-Gov Portal
Habrahabr-user Romachev blogs [RUS] about a crucial security hole in the process of the identification of E-government portal gosuslugi.ru [RUS]. According to the blogger, the vulnerability offers a large potential for identity fraud.
Hungary: Pál Schmitt, a Presidential Nominee
Hungarian Spectrum writes (here and here) about Pál Schmitt, the current speaker of the National Assembly and a nominee for the Hungarian presidency.
Hungary, Slovakia: “Since the Slovak Elections”
Hungarian Spectrum posts an update on the Hungarian-Slovak relations.
Croatia: 9th Annual GLBT Pride Parade
The Daily Seyahatname/Blogging Balkanistan writes about Zagreb's ninth annual GLBT Pride Parade and notes that “President Ivo Josipovic became the first Croatian president to publicly support” the event.
Turkey: Jazz and the Russian Revolution
The Daily Seyahatname/Blogging Balkanistan writes about “how the Russian Revolution brought jazz to Turkey.”
Russia: Chechen President Launches Blog
Ramzan Kadyrov [EN], president of the Chechen Republic [EN], launched a blog ya-kadyrov [RUS] at Livejournal. In his first post Kadyrov writes that he is “a sociable and to the limit outspoken person”, and that he “hopes to develop friendship and discuss various events with his readers”. There is no option to...
Russia: Bloggers React to President Medvedev's Silicon Valley Tour
For the first 24 hours, Dmitry Medvedev's @KremlinRussia Twitter account provided a unique opportunity to send unmoderated comments to the Russian president. Then all the comments were removed, and the era of the Russian unmoderated online democracy ended. Gregory Asmolov reviews Russian bloggers' reactions to the president's visit to California.
Russia: Charges Against Alexanyan Dropped
Robert Amsterdam reports that “Russian prosecutors have finally dropped their case against Yukos lawyer Vasily Aleksanyan”: “But I don't really see this as a sign of clemency or change, or a sudden recognition of judicial independence. Russia just admitted that it held an innocent individual for two years for no...
Poland: “Still Divided”
Raf Uzar summarizes the results of the first round of Poland's presidential election and concludes: “What is really thought-provoking is the fact that after centuries of turmoil and upheaval, Poland is still a country divided.”
About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage
Filip Stojanovski is the Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
Daria Dergacheva is the Eastern Europe editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
