· November, 2011

Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from November, 2011

Russia: Creators of Election Violation Map Come Under Attack

RuNet Echo  30 November 2011

With a week to go until Russia's parliamentary elections, the Golos election monitoring association has been experiencing unprecedented pressure, including a break-in by a television team, accusatory articles in major newspapers, and a call for the organization's closure signed by three parliament deputies.

Ukraine: Government Gives In to Pressure, Bans Killing of Stray Dogs

  30 November 2011

On Oct. 22, Vasyl Pawlowsky wrote about the often “sadistic” ways of getting rid of stray dogs in Ukraine ahead of the Euro 2012 Football Championship. Tell Ukraine to Stop Burning Animals Alive petition now has 496,177 signatures; the goal is 750,000. At least two Facebook groups were set up...

Ukraine: Update on Jailed Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko; Donetsk Protests

  30 November 2011

Foreign Notes cites journalist Viktoria Syumar's blog post [ru], which compares prison conditions of the jailed ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko to those of Anders Breivik, and writes – here and here – about Tymoshenko's health problems. Also on Foreign Notes, a post on the dispersal of a protest by Chernobyl clean-up...

Russia: Mount Athos Monastery Photo Exhibition

  28 November 2011

The State Historical Museum of Moscow is hosting an exhibition of 240 photographs from the Mount Athos Monastery of St Simon's collection, dated between 1848-1963. The inauguration of the photo exhibit took place on 8 November, 2011, and was attended by political and religious representatives, as well as artists from...

Russia: “Anti-Gay” Bill Postponed Till Nov. 30

RuNet Echo  26 November 2011

Siberian Light reports that the second reading of the “anti-gay” bill in the St. Petersburg City Duma has been postponed till Nov. 30 – “to allow time for a face-saving review of the legislation’s wording.” The AllOut.org's petition calling “leaders around the world to reach out to their counterparts in...

Russia: Siberian Light's This Week in Russia Blogs #1

RuNet Echo  25 November 2011

Andy of Siberian Light presents This Week in Russia Blogs #1, a revamped version of Russia Blog Roundup weekly series. Anglophone posts highlighted in the current edition include A Good Treaty's take on the efficiency of the RuNet activism and Putinania‘s analysis of the United Russia’s prospects for the Dec....

Bulgaria: New Protest Against Shale Gas Planned

  22 November 2011

A new protest is being planned for Nov. 26 in Sofia, part of a series of protests against Chevron's shale gas extraction in northeast Bulgaria. On Nov. 20, nearly 500 people attended a rally in the coastal city of Varna, which didn't receive adequate media coverage. Several Facebook groups have...

Russia: Kostroma Police Closes Discussion Board For Criticising Governor

RuNet Echo  21 November 2011

The server of the Kostroma-based discussion board “Kostroma Jedis” (jedi.net.ru) had been confiscated by the police on November 16, 2011 (see police acts here [ru] and here [ru]). The website, which audience was about 12,000 visitors daily, was taken by the police ‘as an evidence’ in the investigation of libelling...

Belarus: Petition to Halt Execution of Minsk Subway Blast Convicts

  21 November 2011

Over 18,000 people have already signed the “Innocent until proven guilty! 15 days left to stop the Belarussian executions” petition, posted on The Petition Site, demanding to halt the Nov. 30 executions of two Belarusian men, Dzmitry Kanavalau and Uladzislau Kavalyou, who were found guilty of the April 11 explosion...

Ukraine: Netizens Appeal to Lithuanian President to Postpone Her Visit

  20 November 2011

Ukrainian netizens drafted an open letter to the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, asking her to postpone her visit to Ukraine, currently scheduled for Nov. 22, the seventh anniversary of the 2004 protests known as the Orange Revolution, and explaining that a court's decision to ban citizens from gathering for commemorative...

Ukraine: Tymoshenko Called “Unindicted Co-Conspirator” in Lazarenko Case

  20 November 2011

Ukrainiana comments on a former Assistant U.S. Attorney calling ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the case of another Ukrainian ex-PM, Pavlo Lazarenko, who is currently serving a 9-year sentence at a U.S. federal prison: We [U.S.] jail your former PM [Lazarenko] = prosecution. You [Ukraine] jail your former...

Russia: Nationalist slogans get spread

  20 November 2011

Fergananews writes [ru] on popularity of Russian nationalist slogans against immigrants from Central Asia amidst the looming parliamentary elections: “25 percent of high school students approve of nationalist actions of their classmates.”

Ukraine: Photoshopped Chuck Norris and the Ukrainian Language Day

  18 November 2011

On Nov. 9, Ukrainian netizens marked the Ukrainian Language Day – UA Day 2011 [uk] – by posting and tweeting exclusively in Ukrainian. Cherkasy-based Fedir Gontsa [uk] decided to draw attention to the initiative by creating a photoshopped image of the American actor Chuck Norris posing with a Ukrainian language...

France: A Rally in Support of Democracy in Ukraine

  18 November 2011

Maidan.org.ua published Regina Maryanovska's photos [uk] from the Nov. 13 rally in defense of democracy in Ukraine, which took place at Le Parvis des Libertés et des Droits de l’Homme/Trocadéro (the Square of Human Rights) in Paris. Maryanovska, a Paris-based documentary director from Odesa, Ukraine, noted that members of the...

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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.