Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from November, 2011
Bulgaria: Protest Against Shale Gas Extraction
The Nov. 16 protest against Chevron's extraction of shale gas in northeast Bulgaria had been organized through Facebook event. The poster on this photo reads: “Why did you sign, Boyko [PM Borisov's first name] – out of stubbornness?” Protesters chanted slogans against the government, calling them “traitors” because of the...
Europe: A Song Criticizing Schengen Visa Procedure
At BlogActiv.eu, Kader Sevinc writes about “a creative way of criticizing the Schengen visa procedure” – Schengen Macht Frei, a song by Sarp Yeletaysi/Sarpinto, who writes this on SoundCloud: “[…] This song is the product of many visits to embassies of European countries to obtain a visa which is a...
Russia: Hidden Camera Reveals Illegal Electioneering in School
A scandal caused by a hidden camera recording at a school in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, has highlighted a serious problem in Russian schools: teachers campaigning for the ruling United Russia party.
Russia: Official List of Extremist (Forbidden) Materials Grows Over 1000 Items
Sova center publishes [ru] another update of the list [ru] of extremist materials (run by the Ministry of Justice). After the update, which includes 1 YouTube video, kavkazcenter.com (radical separatist website), 2 videos dedicated to Tatar nationalism at tawba.info, and radical leftist limonka.nbp-info.ru, the list consists of more than 1,000 items (articles, videos, newspapers,...
Russia: FC Anzhi Makhachkala and the Yeltsin Era Money
The January 2011 acquisition of a Russian Premier League soccer team, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, by Suleyman Kerimov, a billionaire politician native to the volatile region of Dagestan, is the most recent display of how the wealth accumulated in the Yeltsin era is being used. Donna Welles reports.
Macedonia: Anglophone Online News Sources
GV Author Filip Stojanovski has compiled a list of English-language online news sources about Macedonia on his blog, Razvigor :-).
Slovenia: Photography Under Legal Attack
Stefan Geens of Dliberation discusses how photography is under legal attack in Slovenia, since the country's information commissioner has decided that all faces in published panoramic photography should be blurred out – a decision with great consequences for the Slovenian photo scene.
Macedonia: Veles Says “No” to Lead Poisoning, Government Remains Ambiguous
After the massive protest against restarting of the lead smelting factory in the city of Veles, the citizens feel cheated by the declarative support shown by the politicians from the ruling parties, and demand clear answers from PM Nikola Gruevski on whether the poisoning will continue. Filip Stojanovski reports.
Slovenia: Election Campaign Updates
Updates on the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections campaign in Slovenia – at Sleeping With Pengovsky, here and here.
Russia: The Communist Party Today
On Nov. 7, Mark Adomanis at Forbes and Vladimir Gelman at OpenDemocracy.com wrote about the Russian Communist Party.
Russia: Interview With LJ User Politrash-ru
A Good Treaty interviews [ru, en] “the author behind one of LiveJournal’s most popular anonymous blogs” – Politrash_ru.
Russia: Badminton and the Army
Siberian Light writes about the usefulness of badminton for the Russian “shooters and snipers,” which President Dmitry Medvedev seems to have recently helped to discover.
Poland: Bloggers reactions to Tomasz Lis’ announcement of “Polish Huffington Post”
Tomasz Lis, editor-in-chief of one of Poland's biggest weekly magazines, “Wprost”, and a host of a political talk show, announced the upcoming launch of a new journalistic platform in 2012 – unofficially called the “Polish Huffington Post” [pl]. His presentation generated lots of reactions, especially on Polish tech blogs, which...
Poland: Bloggers React to the Death of Popular TV Show Character
Kominek [pl] summarizes bloggers’ reactions to the death of Hanka Mostowiak [pl], a fictional character of one of the biggest TV hits ever in Poland, a soap opera called “M jak Miłość” (“L for Love”) [en]. In episode 862, Hanka dies in a car accident (as the actress who played...
Slovakia: Checking Politicians’ Facts With Demagog.sk
Demagog.sk is a Slovakian web project that aims to analyze politicians' claims based on facts and ensure they are correct and used in the right context.
Macedonia: Interior Ministry Responds to Invitation for Debate
The response of the Ministry of the Interior to an invitation for public debate on ways to bring about positive social change through civic activism and reform, organized by the Movement Against Police Brutality, has caused an outrage in Macedonian social media. Filip Stojanovski reports.
Poland: Open Government Data Camp 2011 and the Future of Open Data
At this year's Open Government Data Camp in Warsaw, "you could talk to techies, members of transparency-oriented NGOs, journalists, social activists, government officials, EU Commission representatives and so on." Jakub Górnicki reports.
Czech Republic: Open Source Initiative to Visualize State Budget
KohoVolit‘s Michal Škop and Centrum Cyfrowe [pl] from Poland announced that the open source application Raw Salad [pl] used to hack the Polish state budget will also be used in the Czech Republic. Besides publishing the budget data using this new way, Czechs will also create a dedicated portal with...
Macedonia: Mobilizing Against Veles Lead Smelting Factory
The city of Veles' residents of all political persuasions are united in protest against the restarting of the lead and zinc smelting factory located within city limits, whose operation has had devastating effects on people's health. On November 9, they are organizing a massive rally.
Russia: Radical Feminist Band Dedicates Debut Clip to Arab Spring
“Egyptian air is good for lungs,” “Make Tahrir at the Red Square”, “Feminist whip is good for Russia” and other provoking slogans sing 3 women from the new radical feminist band “Pussy Riot.” The debut clip [ru] of the band, inspired by the Arab Spring events, features mask-wearing females with guitars...
11-11-11: Grab Your Cameras and Capture Life
Only a couple of days until 11/11/11, a date that will have people all over the world recording their lives through film and music. Participate in the 11Eleven project and One Day on Earth to leave your mark on the world.
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