Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from December, 2012
Russian Politicians Doom Orphans as Orthodox Christmas Approaches
On December 26th, 2012 the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of Parliament, upheld a controversial new law banning adoptions of Russian children by Americans. The unanimous vote throws into stark contrast the failure of the prolific online campaign against the law.
Slovak Blogger Promotes Fairness in State Support for Businesses
Blogger Robert Huran reports [sk] on the initial success of his online form [sk] for entrepreneurs, which was created two months ago in response to the news [sk] of the €200 million governmental support for ten selected companies. The reasons these companies were chosen included promises of investment and creation...
Macedonia: Beer Belly Blog Anniversary
The “Beer Belly” blog celebrated [mk, mk] its first anniversary. Its author @Twibi thanked members of the Macedonian Twitter community who have been bringing him beer samples from their trips all over the world to review. So far, he has made 198 posts about beers from 20 countries, including Kenya...
This December, Russia's Kids Aren't Alright
As billions of people across the world awoke today to open gifts and be with their families, three of Russian Duma Deputy Sergei Zhelezniak's four daughters rolled out of bed to find that intimate photographs from their social network accounts had been published in a muckraking attack on their father. Navalny's decision to target Zhelezniak's children has split the RuNet into camps of supporters and critics.
Journalists, Opposition Thrown Out of Macedonian Parliament Amid Street Protests
On Monday, Dec. 24, the Macedonian capital Skopje was shaken by a violent protest - and a counter-protest - related to the Parliament's approval of the 2013 state budget. Filip Stojanovski reports.
Macedonia: Nude Art Twitter Calendar for Charity
Twelve Macedonian women – regular Twitter users – took part in a humanitarian project organized by @IlinaBookbox, two photographers and one designer via the hashtag #ТвитерКалендар (Macedonian for ‘Twitter Calendar’). The resulting nude art calendar was donated to anti-cancer association Borka [wallpapers available via mk, mk, sq]. The original photos...
Promoting Recycling in Macedonia
Continuing the tradition that started last year (en, mk, nl, es), the Macedonian Twitter community has erected a new Christmas Tree made of plastic bottles (mk, mk, photos 1, 2, 3) in Skopje City Park in order to raise awareness of the importance of recycling. The event was again organized...
Who Supports Russia's Ban on American Adoptions?
A slight majority of Russian internet users support the ban on adoptions by Americans. 50% do not understand the motivation for international adoptions, and 60% think that such adoptions endanger children. Who are these people, and what are they saying?
Prank Reveals the Depths of Anti-American Propaganda in the Russian Media
Anonymity affords ordinarily timid individuals the courage and opportunity to behave dishonestly. That, anyway, is the story we typically hear, especially in the context of the Internet. As Oleg Kashin recently pointed out in his column [ru] at openspace.ru, however, it takes two to make a successful prank (the prankster and the sucker)—a...
Hungarian Radio Employee Defends Government on Hidden Camera Video
Atlatszo.hu published [hu] a hidden camera video of Fruzsina Tóth, a protester representing the students (she is also a first-year sociology student), talking to a woman who claimed to be a journalist of the Hungarian Radio. At the Dec. 17 protest, students demanded the Hungarian Radio to read their 5...
Russians Prepared for the Post-Apocalypse with Parties, Stockpiling, & Orgies
That the world failed to come to an end today, "21-12-2012," must come as a relief to many Russian bloggers who have spent the past several weeks obsessing over the coming apocalypse prophesied by the Mayans. Of course, as with many things, Russia's take on Armageddon had its own peculiarities.
Hungarian Protesters Occupy Bridge, Three Students Arrested
Student protest rallies continue in Hungary. On Wednesday night, the protesters occupied a Budapest bridge, and three of them ended up getting arrested.
Lobbying and Transparency: Pressuring the European Union
In the European Union, there is considerable political resistance to the culture of transparency. NGOs and bloggers stand up for citizen rights and for participatory democracy.
Tempers Flare As Court Frees Dagestani Boxer Who Killed Russian Teenager
Rasul Mirzaev, a 26-year-old mixed martial arts world champion from Dagestan, is a convicted killer. His victim was a 19-year-old Russian man, Ivan Agafonov, whom he murdered in a scuffle outside a nightclub in August 2011. On November 27, 2012, a Moscow court let him walk free, after a little more than a year in custody. The RuNet has responded with often vehement emotion.
Macedonia Fails to Honor Victims of 1911 Terror Campaign
GV Author Filip Stojanovski blogs about Macedonia's failure to properly commemorate the victims of “the so-called ‘Donkey Assassinations'” that took place in the city of Štip in 1911: […] Several months ago, several right-wing political parties including the ruling party running the Government of RM paid respects to the organizer...
Reflections on the Croatian Generals’ Acquittal
Alan Jaksic of Balkan Anarchist posts a follow-up to his initial comments on the Nov. 16 reversal of the convictions of the Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač: […] So do I still consider last month’s acquittal at the Hague a “disgraceful acquittal”, an “outrage” and an “insult to...
Hungarian Students Call for Nationwide Strike
Hungarian high school and college students, who are demanding that the government set university admission quotas to a reasonable level and help those from lower income households to access higher education, are calling for a nationwide strike on Wednesday.
Snow Emergency in Western Ukraine
On Sunday, hundreds of vehicles were trapped on the roads of western Ukraine due to severe snowstorms. According to various mainstream and citizen media reports, the situation was critical, as many of those stuck inside their cars were running out of food, water and gasoline, while the weather was not getting better.
Hungarian Blogger Leaks Secret Video on Illegal Voter Database
Gery Greyhound published a documentary [hu] on his Tumblr blog, about the ‘making of’ an illegal voter database in Pécs in 2009, when the city held a mid-term mayoral election. A similar leak took place in 2010, when a voice recording of Fidesz party director Gábor Kubatov was published online, revealing that the party had a registry of...
“Kosovo 2.0 Talks Sex” Launch Party Cancelled Due to Attack
Kosovo 2.0 was planning to launch its new print issue at the "Kosovo 2.0 Talks Sex" event, on Dec. 14. However, shortly before the launch party started, a group of approximately 20 men entered the Pristina venue, destroyed the stage and beat up one of the employees. The event was cancelled. Elena Ignatova reports.
On Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly
RuNet Echo contributor Donna Welles compiles [en] netizen reactions to President Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly (ru, en), highlighting which passages best resonated with bloggers and how they interpreted and understood his latest initiatives.
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.
