Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from June, 2010
Russia: President Medvedev is “iPhone Compatible”
Julia Ioffe announces at True/Slant that “Russian president is iPhone compatible.” More on Dmitry Medvedev's visit to California by Julia Ioffe – here, here, and here, and by Jamestown Foundation...
Russia: Cocks and Prayers
Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog writes about a “Prayer for the President” and “a kind of re-embrace of Tsarist symbolism” that seems to be taking place in Russia. Julia...
Russia, Belarus, Moldova: Gas Wars
Updates on the gas dispute between Russia and Belarus – at Leopolis, Jamestown Foundation Blog, and BelarusDigest. A May 28 post on Moldova's relationship with Gazprom – at RFE/RL's Transmission.
Russia: Police Would Like to ‘Cooperate’ With Bloggers
Valery Gribakin, head of the public relations department of the Russian Ministry of Interior, expressed a will to meet with top-ranking bloggers in order to discuss ways of possible cooperation,...
Russia: President Medvedev Visits Silicon Valley
Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, during the widely discussed tour to the Silicon Valley, dined with Arnold Schwarzenegger [EN], visited Apple [RUS], officially started [EN] an account on Twitter [RUS] at the...
Russia: Flaws and Pitfalls of the Subsidized “Social” Internet Plan
Gregory Asmolov examines the potential of the Russian government's two new initiatives that aim at reducing the digital divide in the country.
Hungary: Sinning with Impunity
Twenty years after the transition to democracy, Hungary is discussing whether those who had committed crimes against citizens during the communist era should be called to account.
Poland: Initial Microblog Coverage of the Presidential Elections
Both on Twitter and on its Polish mirror service, Blip.pl, people are sharing their thoughts about today's presidential election in Poland.
Russia: Analysis of Hacker Attacks On Bloggers
Over the last five years, more than 40 RuNet bloggers have become targets of hacker attacks, most of which were carried out by a group of hackers named The Brigade of Hell. The hackers' targets have been both political and commercial bloggers.
Blogger Compares Russian Army to American Prison
Blogger mr_bison analyses [RUS] Russian military statistics. The results are shocking: Russian army is more dangerous environment for a human being than a prison in the US. Plus, almost every fifth...
Mali: World Cup Fans React to Referee's Controversial Call
the decision by Malian referee Koman Coulibaly to disallow a US goal has caused a major stir at the World Cup. Many Bloggers were outraged by the call while others ask for a bit of perspective.
Russia: Famous Blogger and Civil Rights Activist Gives Interview
Marina Litvinovich, one of the top Russian bloggers and a civil rights activist, shares [RUS] her perspectives on online campaigns, civil society, and politics in Russia.
Russia: Anti-Corruption Cartoon Competition
S-pravdoi.ru, civil society portal, launched [EN] an anti-corruption cartoon competition. After one day of work the competition gathered more than 100 works from all over the country.
Russia: Novaya Gazeta, An Opposition Newspaper Under Internet Attack
Novaya Gazeta is a liberal opposition newspaper in Russia that is famous beyond Russia's borders. Several of its journalists have been killed, and it continues to attract both online and offline threats. Sergey Sokolov, the deputy executive editor, shares with GV his perspectives on information security and the ongoing investigations into the journalists' murders.
Macedonia: Law on Electronic Communications Invades Citizens’ Privacy
On June 16, 2010, the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia adopted changes to the Law of Electronic Communications, which now violates the privacy of the citizens. With these changes, the Ministry of Interior Affairs will have constant and direct access to the electronic communications networks.
Poland-Norway: EEA & Norway Grants
Polandian comments on how Norway supports various socio-economic projects in Poland and other Eastern and Central European states by its EEA & Norway Grants.
Lithuania-Russia: Swastikas on Baltic products
Alan Hendrixson of With a Grain of Druska draws attention to Lithuanian dairy products being labelled with swastikas in Russia, according to his translation of a Delfi.lt article.
Belarus: Photos from Minsk, Gomel, Bobruisk, etc.
A great collection of photos from Belarus – new and old buildings, stencil graffiti, Minsk, Gomel, Bobruisk, etc. – by LJ user darriuss (RUS, BEL).
Russia: Bloggers Discuss the Case of a Cop-Killing Gang
Russian bloggers are having a heated discussion of the recent detention of a criminal group that carried out a series of attacks on the police in Russia’s Far East.
Russia: New Websites to Promote Modernist Islam
Paul Goble writes [EN] about the launch of two websites islam-portal.ru and soyuzmusulmanok.ru, that promote modernist Islam. Two websites, Goble suggests, illustrate both attempts to seek connections with younger Muslim population,...
Russia: Online Media Exempt From Comments Responsibility
Russian Supreme Court finally approved the decision concerning responsibility of online news media for the comments published on their forums, lenta.ru reported [RUS]. The court exempt the news websites from...
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