· February, 2011

Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from February, 2011

Macedonia: Ruined Monuments

  28 February 2011

Partikopolis‘ photos document vandalism against monuments [MKD] in Strumica: “…if this was a multi-ethnic community, then the ‘others’ would be blamed. Since it is not – nobody cares…”

Ukraine: Choosing to Leave

  28 February 2011

With Ukraine hit hard by the economic crisis and most citizens disappointed with the overall economic and political situation, more and more discussions about emigration alternatives have been appearing online. Tetyana Bohdanova translates some of the netizens' views on the issue.

Russia: Police Receives Right to Close Websites Without Court Order

RuNet Echo  28 February 2011

Starting March 1, 2011, new law “On Police” [RUS] grants Russian police the right to order the heads of hosting companies to terminate the activity of those Internet resources that infringe Russian or International law or endanger individual or public security. Previously, police needed a court order to close a...

Egypt, Serbia: Protesters Trained by ‘Otpor!’

  27 February 2011

In an interview [MKD] for Vest daily, Ofelija Gadzevska-Sadek, a Macedonian living in Egypt, said that two leaders of the April 6 movement said on local TV that they'd been trained by Otpor! in Serbia. The main lesson by veteran activists, who helped overthrow Milošević in 2000, to the Egyptian...

Russia: Bloggers Deconstruct Isolationist Propaganda

RuNet Echo  26 February 2011

As Russia is approaching another election cycle (in 2011 Russians are supposed to elect the Parliament and in 2012 – the president) the voices of state propagandists get louder. The upcoming election process, tamed and controlled by the President's office and the ruling party "United Russia," will be happening in the context of the Arabian "Spring of Nations 2.0." This fact inspires pro-Democracy activists, as well as regime advocates.

Macedonia: Global Voices Featured on a TV Show

  23 February 2011

GV author Filip Stojanovski was interviewed [MKD] for the TV show Nie (“We”) on the topic of “Kale, Internet, political parties, Facebook!? Whose fault is it?”, where he spoke about the importance of citizen media and Global Voices. The show also included a segment of Ethan Zuckerman's TED talk.

Ukraine: “Undressing… With an Excuse”

  23 February 2011

Good Girl Gone Ukrainian explains her disappointment with what FEMEN, a Ukrainian “female protest group known for its provocative bare-breasted acts,” has evolved into over the years.

Europe: EU and Social Media

  23 February 2011

Kosmopolito writes on the ways in which the “EU institutions [should] engage with bloggers” and on the need to have a bigger “euroblogosphere.”

Russia: One-Person Rallies by the Embassy of Libya

RuNet Echo  23 February 2011

LJ user notavailablenow reports (RUS) on an hour-long series of one-person pickets held across the street from the Embassy of Libya in Moscow on Tuesday by two citizen activists, who took turns holding up a poster that read “Stop state terrorism.” First, however, the activists had to educate and argue...

Poland: Ex-PM Jarosław Kaczyński Starts Blogging

  22 February 2011

On Feb. 18, Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of Poland's national conservative Law and Justice party, started a blog, and his first post has generated over 1,650 comments in just two days. Below are some examples that show how many emotions surround this new blogger.

Russia: Ulyanovsk News Portal Under Attack for Exposing Politician

RuNet Echo  21 February 2011

73online.ru had been DDOS-ed for publishing compromising materials on Igor Bulanov, deputy speaker of Ulyanovsk legislative assembly. The portal published details on police detaining Bulanov and finding drugs in his car's glove compartment. After Bulanov was refused to remove the compromising publication, journalists started to receive threats while their website...

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.