Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from July, 2019
As Siberia burns, Russia chokes
While forest fires are no rarity in Siberia, climate scientists stated that this year’s fires spread particularly aggressively due to a combination of strong winds and the unusually hot summer.
Disappointment with the West is crucial for growth of pro-Russian narratives in the Balkans, says researcher
"Although all countries in the region have been targets of pro-Russia disinformation efforts recently, there has been no recognition of this trend as a security issue at the political level"
Threatened with demolition, Albania's National Theatre continues to resist despite a police raid
In Tirana, an ongoing protest against the planned demolition of the National Theatre reveals deep social and political divisions that polarize the Albanian society.
Poland's artistic and architectural contributions remembered in 2019 commemoration of the 1963 Skopje earthquake
This year's annual commemorations of the earthquake include an exhibition in Poland of artworks sent to the city of Skopje by Polish artists in a show of solidarity.
Media in North Macedonia claim a Russian band has plagiarized a song by Balkan superstar Toše Proeski
A series of online articles in North Macedonia have blamed the Russian rock group Zemlyane for plagiarizing a 2007 song made by authors from Croatia for the late Macedonian pop star Toše Proeski.
Poorly regulated and rich in reach: online technologies in Ukraine’s elections
Ukraine’s political life is increasingly lived online. But with political ads and data security poorly regulated, networked politics is open to manipulation.
Netizen Report: In Nigeria and Russia, laws against online ‘insult’ put internet activists on thin ice
Activists in Nigeria and Russia face charges for "online insult", a Twitter campaign targets "anti-Pakistan" journalists abnd Mauritania’s internet is back on, for now.
Outrage in Moscow after opposition candidates barred from local election
State-appointed “handwriting experts” stepped in and discovered palpably absurd reasons to invalidate hundreds of signatures collected in support of independent candidates.
Kremlin's new law against ‘online disrespect’ proves hard to implement
The law allows courts to fine or jail people found guilty of making “insulting statements” towards the authorities online.
The fight against disinformation in Bulgaria is almost nonexistent, says journalist Ivan Georgiev
"Bulgaria is a border state between the West and the East and it is seen as a weak spot on the European map by the Russian propaganda."
Moldova's journalists cautiously optimistic after ‘silent revolution’
Following inconclusive parliamentary elections, the pro-Russian and pro-EU opposition put their differences aside and formed a government, ousting the ruling party lead by the country's most powerful oligarch.
Pseudoscientific racial theories by discredited British psychologist keep going viral in the Balkans
The cyclical spread of pseudoscientific notions about IQs based on race or ethnicity taps into pre-existing stereotypes as well as it reinforces them in this region.
Macedonian PM publicly apologizes after he was deceived by pro-Kremlin Russian pranksters
In the video, the Russian pranksters pretend to be the former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
This is how Hungarian villages fought back against planned nuclear waste repositories in the 1980s
"We've done a lot of things that were very new at that time."
Russia's north still up in arms over Moscow's trash exports
Resistance to a remote landfill has grown into a nationwide environmental protest movement.
Death of a fighter: Post-Yugoslav civil society bids farewell to dissident playwright Borka Pavićević
"Lack of reading is lack of Eros. And then it translates into lack of freedom."
Russians quick to point fingers after deadly floods in Siberia
Thousands have lost their homes in the deluge, and some commentators aren’t taking ‘natural disaster’ as an answer.
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.
