Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from May, 2008
Ukraine: Pre-Election Kyiv
Five installments of pre-election Kyiv photos, video and commentary – at Ukrainiana: here, here, here, here, and here.
Australia: Ethnic Macedonian Protest
S.M. of Macedonia: Cradle of Culture, Land of Nature posted photos and videos from the recent protest of over 30,000 ethnic Macedonians in Australia, who demanded that their government stop using derogatory prefixes when referring to the Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Macedonians.
Macedonia: Use of New Media in Election Campaign
Authors of the Macedonian media blog Komunikacii.net analyzed the "unprecedented" use of the internet and the new media by the leading political parties in the campaign for the early parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 1, 2008. Filip Stojanovski has translated the post from Macedonian.
Europe: Eurovision Semi-Finals
Pestiside.hu, Megan Case, and Lex Libertas – on the Eurovision semi-finals results.
Romania: Local Election
Csíkszereda Musings writes about the upcoming local election in Romania.
Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria: Zorba the Greek
Greater Surbiton quotes from Nikos Kazantzakis‘ “Zorba the Greek”: “Given current Greek policy toward Macedonia, it is illuminating to read the words that Kazantzakis placed in the mouth of this most popular of Greek fictional heroes when the latter described his role in the Greek struggle to colonise Macedonia […].”
Albania: Reckless Driving
Stepping Stones writes about reckless driving in Albania.
Poland: Irena Sendler Obituary
Edward Lucas reposts the obituary of Irena Sendler, saviour of children in the Warsaw ghetto.
Ukraine: Inflation and Currency Revaluation
Edward Hugh of A Fistful of Euros discusses inflation, currency revaluation and politics in Ukraine.
Ukraine: Klychko and Katerynchuk
Ukrainiana comments on two more Kyiv mayoral candidates and their campaign ads.
Russia, Ukraine: Photos
Photos from Russia and Ukraine by Flickr user In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (via Olechko).
Ukraine: A View From Crimea
Last week, Ukraine banned Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov from the country, after he called for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. The incident received much coverage in the Russian and Ukrainian media and blogs. Below is one more post, written by a Russophone resident of Balaklava, a Crimean town that has an official status of a district of the city of Sevastopol.
Ukraine: More Mayoral Campaign Ads
Ukrainiana posts a few more videos of the Kyiv mayoral campaign ads.
Russia: Guest Column by Andrei Nekrasov
At Robert Amsterdam's blog, a guest column from the Russian filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov.
Estonia: “Asymmetrical Bilingualism”
Itching for Eestimaa writes about “asymmetrical bilingualism” and the Estonia report by Doudou Diene, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Europe: Eastern Partnership Project
AnTyx writes about the Eastern Partnership project.
Serbia: Election Results Roundup
A Fistful of Euros posts a brief summary of the results of the election in Serbia.
Azerbaijan: Eurovision Debut Reaction
In Mutatione Fortitud, the blog of a political scientist from Azerbaijan, comments on his country's first ever debut in this year's Eurovision Song Contest and says that it appears as if the song, Day After Day, was “pretty successful.” The Revolving Madventist Church of the Golden Worm of Mu agrees...
Moldova, Turkey: Natalya Morar's Istanbul Airport Adventure
Natalia Morar, a journalist who was deported from Russia after a Russian magazine ran her stories on the alleged siphoning of huge sums of money abroad by the country's high-ranking officials, blogs about how she almost got deported from Turkey by the unsuspecting Turkish border guards.
Ukraine: Vote-Buying
Kyiv Scoop reports on vote-buying in Kyiv.
Slovenia: The Diaspora vs Croatia
Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about the Slovenian Diaspora: “You see, people of Slovenia and Croatia lived in peace throughout history. We may say bad things about each other, but in the end Slovenes like Croatian seaside and music and Croats like Slovene mountains and shops. And both hate each other’s...