· December, 2008

Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from December, 2008

Bulgaria, Russia: “Open Source AK-47″

  24 December 2008

Eternal Remont writes: “Apparently, Russia's state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport is livid that Bulgaria would violate the sacred principles of intellectual property and trademark protection to produce an, um, we're going to call it an ‘open source AK-47′.”

Russia: Patriarch; Yoshkar-Ola; Stalin's Legacy; Protests

  24 December 2008

A selection of recent posts from Window on Eurasia: a “Ukrainian” metropolitan who may or may not become Russia's next patriarch; Hungarians react to the Russian authorities’ suggestion to rename Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of Mari El, to Tsaryovokokshaysk, the city's pre-1917 name; some Russian history teachers’ efforts to educate students...

Russia: Gas News

  24 December 2008

Siberian Light and Robert Amsterdam's blog write about “the annual Russo-Ukrainian gas crisis”; the latter also writes about the fledgling “gas OPEC.”

Russia, Serbia: Gazprom, NIS, and Gas Prices

  24 December 2008

Streetwise Professor posts an update on Gazprom's “vaporware” in Serbia, which includes a recent resignation of the “anti-Gazprom” Serbian economics minister, Mladan Dinkic (more on that – at Robert Amsterdam's blog). Meanwhile, gas costs $5.80 per gallon in Serbia, according to Bill's Blog: “To put the $5.80 into perspective, the...

Ukraine: A Loud Protest

  23 December 2008

Ukrainiana writes about and posts video of a very loud protest in Kyiv: “On December 22, at noon, Kyivites honked their horns to protest against rampant government corruption and endless power struggles wrecking the Ukrainian Dream amid the country’s deepest economic crisis since the early ‘90s.”

Russia: LiveJournal and Mass Media Laws

  22 December 2008

IZO translates LJ user plucer‘s view that the newest LiveJournal addition – this line at the end of the posts: “I hereby give third parties the right to reproduce or disseminate all of my materials as a whole or in part…” – “would mean you were ‘disseminating information’ and mass-media...

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Srebrenica Roundup

  22 December 2008

A roundup of Srebrenica Genocide Blog‘s recent posts: the process of identification of the victims of the massacre; the ICTY's conclusion on Naser Orić, former senior Bosnian commander in charge of defending the Srebrenica enclave; testimony by Doctors Without Borders representatives delivered at the 2001 French Parliamentary Hearing into the...

The Balkans: Distortion of History

  22 December 2008

Jasmin's Heart writes about deliberate distortions that often pass for the recent history of the Balkans: “Also, history, as written by too many historians here, in recent years, Croatian historians, Serbian, Bosnian – on the subject of the last war and many others that proceeded on this area – is...

Central & Eastern Europe: Freedom in the Balkans; Visa Restrictions

  22 December 2008

Ari Rusila examines the Balkan-related results of the Freedom House's Freedom in the World survey at AriRusila’s BalkanBlog, and writes about the Henley Visa Restrictions Index, highlighting the results for countries of Central and Eastern Europe, at AriRusila's BalkanPerspective at Blogactiv.eu.

Macedonia: NATO and the Name Issue

  22 December 2008

Macedonia's foreign minister Antonio Milososki said this in Helsinki earlier this month: “Republic of Macedonia fulfilled the criteria for membership in the North-Atlantic Alliance, but it will join in when it will be allowed to do so in a dignified manner.” Say: Macedonia comments: “This statement mirrors the public opinion...

Russia: Protest Update

  21 December 2008

Sean's Russia Blog writes about today's protests in Russia: “The barrage of mass protest fired in Russia’s far east ten days ago echoed with a whimper as opponents of the import car tax hike staged actions across Russia. Today’s protests lacked the manpower of the previous ones, and in Vladivostok,...

Russia: The Crisis and The Potential For Unrest

  21 December 2008

In mid-October, Global Voices published a roundup of Anglophone bloggers' views on the financial crisis in Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and Ukraine. Below is another installment on the effects and the likely consequences of the crisis in Russia.

Estonia: Deportations, Artificial Hills, Gray Passports, and Layoffs

  19 December 2008

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonian women who survived the deportations of the 1940s, but whose tragic stories never found a reflection in the Soviet-time Estonian women's magazine, Nõukogude Naine. This and a few other recent posts from the Estonian blogosphere - in the roundup below.

Serbia: “Mother Courage”

  18 December 2008

Sinisa Boljanovic translates a selection of heartbreakingly shocking stories of giving birth in Serbia, shared by anonymous Serbian women on the Majka Hrabrost ("Mother Courage") web site.

About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage

Filip Stojanovski
Filip Stojanovski is the Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

Daria Dergacheva
Daria Dergacheva is the Eastern Europe editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.