Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from August, 2011
Russia: Police Refused To Start the Criminal Prosecution Against LiveJournal DDoS Attackers
Russian police acknowledged the DDoS-attacks against LiveJournal blogging platform in April 2011, but refused to start a criminal prosecution against the attackers, gazeta.ru reported [ru]. Police wrote to the source that it was ‘unable to identify attackers.’ Aside from paralyzing the Russian blogosphere, DDoS attacks against LiveJournal led to nearly...
Serbia: Belgrade's New Bridge
Bill's Blog and A Yankee-in-Belgrade write about and post pictures of the Serbian capital's recently completed new bridge across the Sava River.
Ukraine: Yuri Lutsenko's Case “Falling Apart”
Foreign Notes writes that the criminal case against Yuri Lutsenko, Ukraine's former Minister of the Interior, is “falling apart.”
Russia: “Democracy Without Balls”
Oleg Klimov writes [ru] that Mikhail Gorbachev, speaking on the 20th anniversary of the Soviet Union's collapse, said that “Putin is no dictator – he has just castrated democracy by depriving citizens of the democratic right to choose.”
Russia: State News Agency Calls PM Putin “Increasingly Autocratic”
Siberian Light notes that RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency, has called the Russian PM Vladimir Putin “increasingly autocratic” in an article on the visit of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il to Russia.
Ukraine: 47,000 Doctor Vacancies
There are 47,000 vacancies for doctors in Ukraine, Odessablog reports.
Ukraine: 20 Years of Independence
As Ukraine is about to turn 20 years old, Alexander J. Motyl of Ukraine's Orange Blues and Vasyl of uaMuzik sum up the current political and social situation in the country.
North Korea: Speculation Looms over Kim Jong-il's Visit to Russia
Net user 100gf from Politics and Computers blog posted a brief summary on North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's visit to Russia, a rare official visit for the first time in nine years. As Kim is expected to hold talks with President Dmitry Medvedev regarding energy and denuclearization issues, speculations have...
Russia: Bloggers Remember 20th Anniversary of August Coup
On August 19, Russians commemorate 20 years since the "August Putsch," a failed coup d'etat conducted by a number of KGB officers and military units who were opposed to Gorbachev's reform program and decentralisation of power to the Soviet republics. Citizens took to the streets to defend democracy, and bloggers are remembering their efforts.
Ukraine: Sergiy Tigipko to Become PM in 2012-14?
Odessablog predicts that Ukraine's Vice PM Sergiy Tigipko “will become Prime Minister of Ukraine sometime between October 2012 and January 2014. Probably sooner rather than later.”
Russia: Ex-UK Ambassador's Diary of 5 Days in August 1991
OpenDemocracy.net publishes – here, here and here – excerpts from the August 1991 diary of Rodric Braithwaite, who was the British Ambassador in the Soviet Union back then.
Slovenia: Former PM Andrej Bajuk Dies
Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about Andrej Bajuk, Slovenia's former PM, who died at the age of 67 this past Monday.
Hungary: Economic Crisis
Hungarian Spectrum posts an update on the state of the Hungarian economy.
Russia: Alcohol Consumption Down
Russland in der Krise! notes [ger] that alcohol consumption in Russia has decreased from 18 to 15 litres of alcohol, and attributes the decrease to a change in consumer habits and less availability.
Russia: 20 Years After the Putsch
Putin Watcher joins in commemorating all the bicentennials of soviet demise coming up this August by writing about the failed coup against Gorbachev in 1991.
Russia: Arresting Political Opposition
Vladimir Kara-Murza of Spotlight on Russia argues that Putin's Russia is becoming increasingly Kafkaesque as opposition leader Boris Nemtsov again – twice in two days – has been arrested for exercising political rights and freedoms, at the same time as Prime Minister Putin is seemingly becoming all the more detached...
Ukraine: Closing Window to West
LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about increasing western critique against the trials against former Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Timoshenko, and several of her ex-colleagues, and how this – combinded with corruption and bad business climate – is effectively closing the window to integration with the European Union.
Baltics-Sweden: Twenty Years of Independence
Albatros of Litauen blog reports about [ger] Swedish celebrations of 20 years of independence for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and how Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, apologised to his Baltic colleagues for recognizing soviet annexation during World War II.
Russia: Volga German Deportation Turns 70
Otto's Random Thoughts commemorates the 70th anniversary of the soviet deportation of Volga Germans during the Second World War.
Serbia: Dramatic Return of the Chetniks
Carl Savich of Serbianna writes about the 1942 radio play, Treasury Parade, starring Orson Welles, and how it glorifies the Chetniks’ struggle against Nazi occupation during the Second World War.
Latvia: Uncertain Election Outcome
Veikko Spolitis of Baltic blog discusses the uncertain political situation in Latvia subsequent to the 23 July referendum resulting in a call for new parliamentary elections on September 17, where a third of the electorate is undecided whom to vote for.
About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage
