Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from May, 2009
Europe: Alexander Rybak
Natalia Antonova writes on GlobalComment about Alexander Rybak, this year's winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Latvia: Baltic Pride March
“The Baltic Pride march took place in Riga on May 16 with almost no problems,” Free Speech Emergency in Latvia reports. “The active counter demonstrators were just a little more in number than the marchers. […] An interesting observation […] was a scene at one street crossing passed by the...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Political Eurovision
As voting for the Eurovision Song Contest gets underway in Moscow, bartlemot tweets that the telephone number to vote for the Armenian entry in Azerbaijan was censored. In a second tweet, the same user says that instead of displaying a telephone number in the lower section of the screen it...
Macedonia: French Military Cemetery in Skopje
Volan presents a photo and video story about the French Military Cemetery in Skopje that houses the remains of 2,930 soldiers from France and its colonies, including Morocco and Senegal, who have fallen during World War I on the Macedonian Front, aka Salonika front (1915-1918). The site presents a historical...
Video: 48 Hour Young Lions YouTube Contest and others you can join
Tonight could be your chance to make it big in the online video field, almost anywhere you live. All it takes is 48 hours to make, upload and get as many votes on your video, and you could go to the Cannes Film Festival. If you can't make it on time, don't worry: following is a list of other contests open for participants from all around the world.
Armenia: Eurovision Reaction
Ianyan rounds up the reaction to Armenia's entry in this year Eurovision Song Contest currently under way in Moscow. The blog says that the two singers, Inga and Anush, could be described as “traditional Armenian wear meets Star Wars meets Diva Plavalaguna from The Fifth Element.”
Russia: Eurovision
“Suddenly it is that time of the year again – the time when one cannot help but feel that one is, was and will always remain a European,” writes Josefina of Russian Blog in her post on this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Siberian Light posts an overview “of every single...
Russia: History of Victory Day
Copydude on Victory Day in today's Russia and back in the Soviet times – here and here.
Ukraine: Updates on Lutsenko's Scandal
Updates on the Ukrainian interior minister's Germany scandal – at Foreign Notes and Ukrainiana.
Ukraine: Victory Day 2009
Lots of photos and video from the celebration of Victory Day in Kyiv – at Ukrainiana.
Cental & Eastern Europe: Crime Fiction
Jost A Mon posts a “roundup of translated crime fiction consumed in April” – which includes a few books by writers from the CEE region.
Russia: Translation of Baymurat Story
Jost A Mon translates Roman Gruzov's Bolshoi Gorod text (RUS) about Baymurat, “an unlikely star” of the Russian internet, mentioned on GV back in April – here: “… a poorly dressed Tajik gastarbeiter who brilliantly performed the song ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja’ from the Hindi film ‘Disco Dancer’ with such...
Serbia: Skull Tower
Gray Falcon writes: “If there was just one thing I could show someone seeking to understand the Serbs, I would take them to a hill northeast of Niš (Ниш), and show them the Skull Tower.”
Latvia: “Personalities” in Riga Election
All About Latvia writes about the people who are “driving the vote” in Riga's local election next month: “The June 6 contest is about personalities more than about party platforms or programs.”
Russia: Visa Application Process
White Sun of the Desert writes about the Russian visa application process: “Then at the beginning of this year they decided that all applications had to come with a notarised translation of every page of your passport, including all visas and stamps therein. I have a 48-page passport with stamps...
Russia: More Coverage of Moscow Fire
Some more blog coverage of the fire in Moscow: A YouTube video by Andrei Kharlanov, who is also posting updates (RUS) and photos on Twitter – @andreikharlanov; LJ user q-u-a-t-t-r-o (lives 1.5 km away from the fire, reports from as close as 600 meters), LJ user eparhial, LJ user unter_dem_meer,...
Russia: Gas Pipeline Blast in Moscow
Russian bloggers are posting photos of the fire caused by a gas pipeline blast in Moscow a few hours ago: LJ user buchwurm, LJ user goodwine, LJ user principiale, LJ user maroot, LJ user volland. A YouTube video by HorseWhispererRF is here.
Central & Eastern Europe: Swine Flu (aka “California 0409”)
Below are some of the Central and Eastern Europe bloggers' reactions to news reports on swine flu and measures taken by some of the governments to keep the disease from spreading to their countries.
Ukraine, Germany: Interior Minister's Drunken Brawl
Foreign Notes and Ukrainiana (here and here) report on Ukrainian interior minister Yuri Lutsenko's drunken brawl at Frankfurt airport.
Russia: Microsoft's Investments
Profy reports that “Microsoft is going to invest as much as $300 million to the Russian market within the next 3 years.”
Russia: Authorities Embrace Skype
Profy writes about one of the implications of the Russian authorities’ discovery of Skype: “Another problem here is that Russian authorities are known for their corrupt practices so it is no wonder that Russian people are already wondering if they will have to bribe the officials via Webmoney – a...