Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from April, 2006
Belarus: Meaning of EU Sanctions
TOL's Belarus Blog considers the EU's introduction of entry bans for 30 Belarusian officials slightly more than a symbolic move: it “won’t bring about a revolution, but in situations like that it will help to provide publicity to Belarusian situation, serve as a reminder to the public — those guys...
Belarus: Conference on Mass Media
Edward Lucas, the central and east European correspondent of The Economist, has been invited to an unlikely conference on “integration of Belarus into the world media landscape” in Minsk, sponsored by the Belarusian government, but he doubts he'll be granted a Belarusian visa.
Helping Russian Orphans
On March 19, a group of wonderful, kind people from Moscow took presents acquired on donations from ordinary Muscovites to an orphanage in Ivanovo, home to 122 children (o to 4 years old), most of whom have various disabilities. The effort – one of the many – was coordinated online...
Russia: Bakhmina's Sentence “Last Drop”
Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog thinks the seven-year sentence for former Yukos lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina, mother of two, is “the last drop”: “It is now painfully clear that Putin's junta has no problem imprisoning obviously innocent, essentially common people (as opposed to oligarchs) — even women, even mothers —...
Belarus: Europe's Involvement
TOL's Belarus Blog writes about the extent of Europe's interest in Belarusian affairs and about countries that offer scholarships to (so far) 20 Belarusian students expelled for political reasons.
Romania: Controversial Yitzhak Rabin Statue
Romer!can writes about a controversial statue of Yitzhak Rabin in Romania erected by “a known xenophobic, holocaust denier” Corneliu Vadim Tudor during the 2004 election campaign.
Ukraine, Belarus: Interview With Translator of “Voices of Chernobyl”
Languor Management links to Maud Newton's short email interview with Keith Gessen, English translator of Svetlana's Alexievich's Voices of Chernobyl, which won this year's National Book Critics Circle award for nonfiction.”
Belarus: No BBC in Belarusian
br23 blog reports that there are no plans to launch BBC Service in Belarusian because Douglas Alexander, British minister, thinks the coverage of Belarusian affairs in Russian and Ukrainian is sufficient.
Russia: Kalashnikov and Copyright
Charlie Ganske of Russia Blog writes about the popularity of Kalashnikov guns and the disregard for the copyright laws in Russia.
Ukraine: Coalition Building and AIDS Project Suspension
LEvko of Foreign Notes and Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine both write about the treacherous world of Ukrainian politics. Dan also has this item, unrelated to the post-election coalition building and thus most likely doomed to be soon forgotten: “Bad news: The World Bank suspended a big AIDS project in...
Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko
Ethan of Room 12A writes about Yulia Tymoshenko event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce: “Yulia's least attractive quality is her taste for self-pity, which combines easily with her nose for conspiracy. Clearly cognizant that she was addressing a business audience, Yulia went to some lengths to stress that...
Moldova: High School Physics Class
Peter Myers of Adventures in Moldova writes about his experience of visiting an “under-attended” high school physics class in Moldova: “Grigore Fyodorovici lamented to me after school about the fact that no boys came, because ‘they're the ones who really need physics.’ Girls don't need physics, he reasoned, because most...
Russia: Yukos Lawyer Bakhmina Sentenced
David McDuff of A Step At A Time provides links to the news about Svetlana Bakhmina's sentencing. Bakhmina, 35, used to be a Yukos lawyer and is the mother of two young children. Today, she has received a 7-year prison sentence.
Slovenia: 10 Tolar Bill
Isoglossia.com writes about the Slovenian 10 Tolar banknote: “the smallest of Slovenia’s folding money, both in buying power and physical size; like many other nations, Slovenia issues notes with sizes relative to worth. […] At today’s rate of exchange, this note is worth […] $0.051558. Imagine having a nickle bill.”
Czech Republic: Players in the Upcoming Election
Douglas Arellanes discusses the main candidates’ chances in the upcoming June election in the Czech Republic.
Slovenia: Sex Tourists Disappointed
Michael of The Glory of Carniola compiles quotes about Slovenia from disappointed sex tourists: to them, the country is too quiet and expensive, too well-integrated into the EU.
Russia: “Russia Lodges Protest with US Over Chechnya Seminar”
As Russia is protesting a 3-hour Jamestown Foundation seminar on North Caucasus that took place April 14, W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile discusses some of Russia's unfulfilled international obligations.
Ukraine: “Yushchenko’ s dilemma..”
LEvko of Foreign Notes continues to watch Ukraine's seemingly endless coalition-building endeavor.
Slovenia: Ljubljana Lists
Michael of The Glory of Carniola reviews a number of lists featuring Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
Russia: Moscow Prepares For Summer
Snowsquare.com reports on how Moscow prepares for the summer.
Belarus: Newspaper Faces Shutdown
Nasha Niva – “the last independent paper” – is about to be shut down, according to br23 blog and TOL's Belarus Blog. “Department of ideology wants to close it down because the editor-in-chief… was in jail for 10 days. That’s the reason they give for wanting to close their offices....
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