· March, 2011

Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from March, 2011

Russia: Tribute to SOVA's Galina Kozhevnikova

  27 March 2011

At OpenDemocracy.net, Andreas Umland pays tribute to Galina Kozhevnikova, the deputy director of the “SOVA” NGO and a prominent researcher of Russia's extreme right-wing movements, who died earlier this month: “She will be irreplaceable in future academic and public debates on the increase of ultra-nationalism in Russia.”

Hungary: Childhood Memories of the Holocaust in Pécs

  27 March 2011

Eva S. Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum shares her memories of the summer of 1944 in Pécs, when the city's Jewish population – and most of her neighbors and kindergarten classmates – lost their lives: “I heard that just last year the Jewish community in Pécs erected a memorial specifically for...

Russia: BBC Russian Service's Last Broadcast

  27 March 2011

Christya Riedel writes on Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog that on March 26, “the BBC Russian Service ceased its radio broadcasts after 65 years on the air because of drastic budget cuts implemented by the British government.”

Ukraine: Reasons for Targeting Ex-President Kuchma

  27 March 2011

LEvko of Foreign Notes explains possible reasons – here and here – for targeting Ukraine's ex-president Leonid Kuchma, against whom a criminal investigation has recently been opened on suspicion of his involvement in the 2000 murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.

Russia: Voina Art Collective

RuNet Echo  27 March 2011

At OpenDemocracy.net, writes about the Voina art collective (RUS: @free_voina; ENG: @free_voina_en) and “explains how their controversial methods have made it difficult to mobilise support.” Kevin Rothrock (@agoodtreaty) re-posts a video of Voina‘s recent prank action (1,178,969 views, 3,023 likes, 658 dislikes): “unwelcomely, without warning kiss female cops on candid...

Ukraine: Lukyanivka Pre-Trial Detention Facility

  27 March 2011

Journalist Kristina Berdinskikh writes (RUS) at her Korrespondent.net blog about Kyiv's pre-trial detention facility SIZO #13/Lukyanivka: the conditions (general capacity is 2,800 detainees, the actual number is around 4,000; cells for 40 people house 60-80, inmates take turns sleeping; “60 people sometimes smoke all at once, if a non-smoker ends...

Russia: Life With Autism

  26 March 2011

At OpenDemocracy.net, Dmitry Golubovsky and Svetlana Reiter write about the lives of autistic people in Russia.

Russia: Unexpected Results of Radiation Mapping

RuNet Echo  25 March 2011

The crowdsourcing project of mapping radiation levels in Russia measured by private dosimeters not only became an interesting case of digital activism, but also showed some effects its creators didn’t even think of.

Ukraine: Myroslava Gongadze on Media Freedom

  25 March 2011

Viktor Kovalenko writes about the views of Myroslava Gongadze – who is the widow of the slain Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Gongadze – on the freedom of the press and other issues in Ukraine.

Macedonia: QR Campaign to Aid Japan

  23 March 2011

It.com.mk noted [MKD] that Kalina Zografska, Kristijan Ivanovski and Iva Dujak started an independent campaign using QR codes containing Japanese proverbs, quotes and links, to promote the humanitarian concert “Heart for Japan” [MKD] (#srcejp) and remind Skopje's citizens of the legacy of Kenzo Tange, a Japanese architect who helped rebuild...

Russia: Friendship Relations Between LiveJournal Blogs Analyzed

RuNet Echo  23 March 2011

Habrahabr-user RomanL published [ru] a detailed analysis of Russian LiveJournal blogs. According to the analysis, Russian-speaking LiveJournal blogosphere (active audience of around 170,000 users) can be divided into 4 distinctive clusters (apolitical, political, creative, and general). Only 55 bloggers have the audience of more than 10,000 friends, while the vast...

Macedonia, Japan: Anime vs. Reality

  23 March 2011

poljaff, a contributor to Japan@MK blog, compared [MKD] the experiences of learning about Japanese culture and disaster response by watching the award-winning anime Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 a year ago, and intensely following the aftermath of the March 11 catastrophe. According to her, reality is much scarier, but the Japanese people...

Macedonia: Meme of the Day – on Envy

  23 March 2011

Jasna Soptrajanova Vrteva posted this message on her Facebook profile [MKD]: “When tempted to envy someone – they've a charmed life, they have it so easy … and they're always cheerful, joyful, smiling, in high spirits … – stop and think: they might have a charmed life because they work...

Russia: Bots To Look For Extremism Online

RuNet Echo  22 March 2011

Lenta.ru reported that Roskomnadzor, Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communication, intends to use a special software designed to spot extremist content online. The software will check text, audio and video footage on the Web for words and phrases containing calls for violence and social and...

Macedonia: A Requiem for Democracy

  22 March 2011

Filip Stojanovski translates Macedonian bloggers' comments on how the public democratic dialog within state institutions has been replaced with private meetings between leaders of the biggest political parties.

Russia: Human Bots Fight Opposition

RuNet Echo  21 March 2011

As Internet control becomes more and more sophisticated, new techniques join the arsenal of online deception and discreditation. Vadim Isakov analyzed the phenomena of 'human bots,' paid commenters willing to turn any constructive conversation into the mess.

Russia: First Candidates for the ‘Net Parliament’

RuNet Echo  21 March 2011

Novaya Gazeta website publishes [ru] the first results of the nominations for the ‘Net Parliament,’ the virtual project described by its creators as an ‘organ of the representative power of Russian Internet.’ Among the first hundred of the nominated candidates are mostly Moscow-based bloggers.

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.