Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from March, 2013
Trying to Get Through: Hungarians Send Video Messages to Prime Minister
Young Hungarians are shocked by the government's stubborn refusal to acknowledge their protests and their demands for a more democratic decision-making. To get their message across, four young people launched a new blog on March 22, asking fellow citizens to send short video messages to the Prime Minister with their thoughts on his governance.
Russian Photographer Unearths Ghost Slum
A photo-blogger based in the city of Voronezh, located in central Russia not far from the Ukranian border, has taken a series of striking photographs [ru] (including an animated panorama) of a small, forgotten “slum” hiding in the center of an otherwise modern and populous urban area. The “slum”, which turns...
As Liberal Russia's Secret Superhero ‘KermlinRussia’ Unmasks, Some See Evil
Arseny Bobrovsky, the owner of a Russian PR firm called “Daily Communications,” would be a thoroughly typical example of Moscow’s “creative class” liberals, were it not for one thing: Bobrovsky has a secret identity. At least he did, anyway, until March 25, 2013, when he and his accomplice Katya Romanovskaya outed themselves to the world as the authors of KermlinRussia, one of the most popular accounts on Russian Twitter.
VIDEO: Ukrainian Power Plant Ablaze, Town's Future Uncertain
At least one person was killed and five injured on March 29 in a major fire at the Vuhlehirska Thermal Power Plant in the Ukrainian town of Svitlodarsk, whose survival is now at stake.
Russian Anti-Corruption Blogger Appeals to Readers
Alexey Navalny, unofficial protest leader, took to his blog [ru] on March 27 to defend himself from what he says are unfair allegations of corruption. Navalny is currently a suspect in two different embezzlement investigations. One of these, the so-called KirovLes case, involves the supposed use of a shell company to...
‘Good Morning Earth!': Tweets from Space
Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield), a Canadian astronaut “currently living in space aboard ISS as Commander of [Expedition 35],” has been tweeting his amazing photos of the Earth daily since Dec. 2012.
Russians Can't Agree on Billionaire's Suicide
When Alexander Dobrovinsky, lawyer to Russia's rich and famous, announced on his Facebook that Boris Berezovsky, controversial Russian oligarch living as a refugee in London, had committed suicide, RuNet reacted with disbelief.
Crowdmapping Ukraine's Snow Volunteers
Watcher.com.ua reports [uk] that Kyiv-based netizens have set up an online volunteer coordination map [uk, ru] and a website [uk, ru] to offer help to those affected by the unprecedented snowfall in Ukraine's capital [see this GV text]. The map indicates the location of volunteers who can offer hot drinks...
Attention! Baby on Board: An Interview With a Travelling Blogger Family
An interview with The Family Without Borders: Anna and Thomas Alboth, parents, travellers and bloggers, who've been around the Black Sea and around Central America with their two small daughters.
Shades of Communism in New Russian Registration Law
On the evening of March 18, 2013 group of around 12 people [ru] unveiled a long black-and-white poster in the Red Square, reading “Go f*ck yourself with your registration”. They set off flares and shouted slogans, among which were “Down with the Chekist government!” and “Putin will be executed!”
INFOGRAPHIC: More Money for Ukraine's Bloated Police Force
The infographics on Ukraine's law enforcement that many Ukrainian Facebook users have been sharing this month tells us that the country's police force is a bit too numerous and has been receiving more and more state funding over the past few years.
PHOTOS: Skis and Military Vehicles Battle Ukraine's Snowpocalypse
On March 22, Kyiv broke its monthly average of snow in just one day. While the authorities were combatting the weather, many Ukrainians united online to offer help and to share photos, stories and humor devoted to the snowfall. Tetyana Bohdanova reports.
The Criminal Economics of Kremlin Propaganda
Anti-corruption blogger Alexey Navalny is causing more waves at Aeroflot Airlines, where he has called for an internal investigation into a contract worth 64 million rubles awarded without competition to Apostol Media Group.
RIP Nora Šitum, “Brave Little Lion” Who United Croatia
In early February, thousands of Croatian citizens managed to raise enough money in just over a week to make it possible for Nora Šitum, a 5-year-old Croatian girl, to travel to the United States to receive treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nora passed away a month and a half later, on March 20, 2013.
Shedding Light on Macedonia's “Black Monday”
In order to shed light on the events of Dec. 24, 2012, when journalists and opposition MPs were thrown out of the Macedonian Parliament [en, es, mk], Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (@fosim) published a study entitled “Black Monday” [.pdf: en, mk, sq], with testimonies of witnesses and participants and...
Russian Nationalists Rally Behind Subway Shooter
After all, how can one not react with outrage upon learning that Alexandra Lotkova, a pretty, twenty-one year old college student, got three years in prison for using a non-lethal gun to protect herself from knife-wielding thugs, who had already stabbed one of her friends!
How Russian Villagers Can Terrify the Kremlin
The ploy was simple: Andrei Turinov, a town councilman from Novouspenskii, posted to the Internet an open letter addressing Dmitri Medvedev, declaring the exit of 60 United Russia members from the party. The timing was perfect, and for a brief moment one small village in Krasnoyarsk had the attention of the nation's political elite.
“Suitcase Mood”: Why Ukrainians Are Moving Abroad
Some 6.5 million of Ukrainians, or 14.4 percent of the population, are emigrants. The theme of leaving Ukraine temporarily or for good comes up regularly in conversations that Ukrainians are having online.
Top Anti-Corruption Blogger Parties at Kremlin
Russia's best known anti-corruption blogger, Alexey Navalny, shocked [ru] many of his supporters when he attended a banquet at the Kremlin yesterday, March 18, 2013.
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.
