Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from July, 2010
Russia: Anti-Religious Online Group Closed
“Antireligion” group in the social network “Vkontakte“, with more than 8000 members, had been closed and its content deleted, ru_antireligion reports [RUS]. Prosecutor's office, that was checking the group for extremism [RUS], recognized photos of t-shirts with slogans “Orthodoxy or Death” [EN] as “extremist” and obliged administration of “Vkontakte” to...
Russia: “Why Did They Kill Yuri Volkov?”
The murder of a TV journalist and football fan Yuri Volkov in the centre of Moscow on July 10, 2010, became a widely discussed event in the Russian blogosphere. A complicated topic, dealing with hostile ethnic stereotypes, crime, police corruption and Russian subcultures, has generated nearly 7,000 comments, tweets and blog posts.
Poland: From accord to discord
Raf Uzar discusses how Poland's national unity following the death of the country's president earlier this year now has evaporated, as politics return to old conflicts and fault lines.
Russia: Rumours of foreign policy west-turn exaggerated
Edward Lozansky at Russia Blog discusses whether Russian foreign policy is actually turning westwards but finds little evidence of this.
Russia: Kremlin tweets go English
Dmitry Petrovsky of Russia Blog reports that the Kremlin has set up a mirroring Twitter account in English to its popular Russian counterpart.
Russia: Nemtsov – no way!
The Kremlin Stooge criticizes opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, marvels at his following, and wonders what solutions he has to offer Russia but negativism and critique.
Poland: Confusing conspiracies
Polandian sighs at all rumours and confusing conspiracy theories drifting about in Polish society, following the tragic planecrash that took the life of the country's president and a large chunk of its political élite earlier this year.
Moldova: Shutting out the world
Morning in Moldova argues that Moldovans only look east to Russia and west to the European Union, in the process mentally shutting out the rest of the world.
Latvia: Flexibility of falling finances
Morten Hansen of A Fistful of Euros scrutinizes the Latvian economic meltdown and is amazed by the country's financial flexibility. Eliana Marino at Baltic Economy Watch discusses the social impacts of crisis.
Russia: Staying power of penalism
Streetwise Professor discusses how the Russian dedovshchina – penalism during military service – tradition has changed into an ever greater system of anarchy and arbitrariness.
Russia: ‘Orthodoxy or Death’ to Degenerate Art?
"Orthodoxy or death!" is the war cry sounded in recent weeks as forces of religious reaction have entered into fierce battle with liberal arts, in an apparent Russian parallel to the Muhammad cartoon case. The cause of conflict is the trial and conviction of two art curators for a 2007 Moscow exhibition of contemporary art.
Russia-Belarus: Minsk publishes Nemtsov report
LJ user yury_zagrebnoy reports [RUS] that the Belarusian government newspaper Respublika has published excerpts [RUS] from a recent Kremlin-critical report by former Russian vice Premier Boris Nemtsov, apparently as another step in an ongoing media war between Moscow and Minsk.
Russia: Putting a foreigner on Russia's throne
LJ user kanalya78 proposes [RUS] that, judging from historical experience, one should try to import a foreigner to rule Russia, as they arguably have done better for the country than native rulers.
Russia-US-EU: Great game revisited
Katinka Barysch at openDemocracy publishes an extensive analysis of relations between Russia and the West in former soviet space, in a Great Game revisited.
Hungary: Royal castle in history
BudapestZIN posts historical video footage from the Buda Royal castle.
Russia: Bureaucrats go web 2.0
Svetlana Gladkova of profy reports that the Russian government has introduced its own social media network, named Gosbook.
Slovakia: Hungarian School Trips
Tibor Blazko compiles Slovak netizens' reactions to a new Hungarian law that would bring Hungarian schoolchildren to parts of the neighboring countries that in the past belonged to Hungary.
Russia: Roadtrip to Caucasus
Popular bloggers tema [RUS], nl [RUS] and others [RUS] (9 bloggers in 3 cars) post pictures and short notes from the roadtrip to Caucasus, that started on July 15th, 2010. So far, they travelled through the North Caucasus republics and are planning to go to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.
Serbia: Artistic zebra crossings
A Yankee in Belgrade posts a sequel to a previous story on street art in Belgrade, where zebra crossings have been turned into works of art.
Russia: Memorial memento
LJ user shoorman notes [RUS] that the liberal St. Petersburg Yabloko youth organization has beaten the region's communists to placing a memorial placard to a local communist on a building he used to live in. An adjoining photo illustrates that the functionary's key accomplishment – according to Yabloko youth –...
Hungary: Turning crisis into advantage
Eva Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum argues that the Hungarian government, led by Viktor Orbán, is turning the failed negotiations with the IMF and the EU, leading to fears of an economic meltdown, into its advantage by portraying it domestically as a David's struggle against Goliath.
About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage
