Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from January, 2013
Russian Teacher Briefly Fired for Defending LGBT Rights
As if Russia's liberals were not already outraged enough about a proposed federal law banning "homosexual propaganda", the firing of an activist school teacher protesting this law has sparked a...
Slovak PM's Support for 2022 Winter Olympics Bid Draws Criticism
Whereas Norway and Switzerland are planning to hold referenda before submitting their 2022 Winter Olympics bids, the fate of the Slovak-Polish joint bid already seems decided: the Slovak Prime Minister...
“The Un-European Union”
GV Author Filip Stojanovski, on his blog Razvigor, has translated into English a mock story [sr] by Njuz.net, “the Serbian equivalent to The Onion,” about the UK striving to join...
Where Russia's Honest Ones Go to Die: Dolmatov's Suicide
On the morning of January 17, Russian political refugee Alexander Dolmatov was found having hanged himself in a solitary cell of a Dutch deportation center. Dolmatov left Russia last summer,...
Slovak President Butt of Jokes Online Due to Prosecutor General Saga
The post of the Prosecutor General has been vacant for more than a year in Slovakia, largely due to President Ivan Gašparovič's failure to approve the previous Parliament's candidate. Slovak...
Russian Parliament Confronts Next Threat to Kids: “Homosexual Propaganda”
The Russian parliament's effort to defend the nation's children continues. In the last year, Duma deputies have labored feverishly to shield Russia's youth from child pornography and online enticements to...
Opposition Party Attacks Russian eDemocracy
Just Russia has always been a conflicted political entity. Nominally, it's a social-justice-oriented opposition party with members in the Russian parliament. During the past year, Just Russia has gained a...
Hungarian Journalist Kidnapped, Then Released in Aleppo
Bálint Szlankó, a Hungarian foreign correspondent, was kidnapped – and later released – in Aleppo, Syria. He wrote this [en] on his Facebook page on Jan. 23: Just been through...
Parallels Between Religious and Copyright Wars
Rick Falkvinge, the founder of Pirate Party, reinterprets the wars of religion that devastated Western Europe in the XVI and XVII centuries in terms of the current struggle to control...
Hungarian Student Protesters Face Punishment, Keep Fighting
In December 2012, Hungarian university and high school students united to protest against the large cutbacks in higher education admission quotas. Their fight for tution-free slots continues.
Russia's Siberian State Within A State
Roughly 90% of Russian gas production originates in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, located in the northwestern corner of Siberia. In recent months, bloggers and Russian netizens have reacted to the...
Macedonian Sports Journalist Protests Harassment
A prominent Macedonian sports journalist Igor Filevski, who works as a correspondent from Spain, announced [mk] on his blog that he will no longer cover Macedonian sports in order to...
Inside the Audacious Assassination Attempt in Bulgaria
The January 19 gunman attack on the Bulgarian politician Ahmed Dogan has provoked many reactions by politicians and netizens - with some convinced that the assassination attempt was staged.
Slovakia: Social Benefits for Roma
Lucia Kureková, in her blog analysis [sk], shows that in Slovakia the majority of those who receive the Benefit in Material Need (BMN) are not the “typical” Roma families with...
Macedonians Ask State News Agency to Stop Manipulations
An online initiative against media manipulations [mk] perpetrated by the state-owned Macedonian Information Agency (MIA) asks citizens to express their dissatisfaction by sending e-mails to the agency. The action was...
Traditional Hutsul Celebration of Epiphany in Ukraine
Photographer Maxim Balandyukh posted a photo report [uk] from the traditional Hutsul celebration of Epiphany (a religious holiday commemorating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River; Vodokhreshcha in Ukrainian)...
Russian Facebook of Horrors: It's a Conspiracy!
In the days immediately following Kabanov's arrest Russian netizens experienced a rare period of introspection, liberally sprinkled with conspiracy theories.
Volunteers Settle Dispute Over Size of Moscow Protest?
No Russian opposition rally is truly over, it seems, until there has been an Internet flame war over the strength of its attendance. After the last protest march three groups...
Slovak Antimonopoly Office Defends Obligatory Microsoft Use
European Information Society Institute, a Slovak NGO, reports [sk] that the Slovak Antimonopoly Office (AMO) does not see it as a problem that the country's Financial Directorate is forcing taxpayers...
Fighting “Blatant Criminal Dictatorship” in Ukraine's Coal Mining Region
Blogger Stanislav Kmet documents activities in Severnyi, a decaying coal-mining village in eastern Ukraine, after local residents emailed him asking for help in drawing attention to the illegal mining that...
About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage
Filip Stojanovski is the Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
