Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from January, 2008
Poland, Bulgaria: eDeclarations; AntiCorruption.bg
Information Policy reports on the introduction of electronic tax declarations in Poland and the launch of an “anti-corruption portal” in Bulgaria.
EU, Mauritania: Faraway Fishing
Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian fishers are robbing Mauritania of its fish – all because “the EU has methodically depleted fish stocks in its own waters, and now, it is buying fish quotas from poor countries in the third world,” Jonathan Newton reports.
Serbia: The Presidential Election
The presidential election in Serbia was held on Jan. 20. The Republic's Electoral Commission confirmed that the Serb Radical Party's candidate Tomislav Nikolic beat the other nine candidates. He received 39.4 percent of the votes, followed by Boris Tadic, the current Serbian president, who got 35.42 percent.
Ukraine: Unity Day
Ukrainiana writes about the neglected Unity Day in Ukraine.
Ukraine: Euro 2012 To-Do List
Orange Ukraine lists what needs to be done to accommodate the Euro 2012 visitors (from 400,000 to 1 million) in Ukraine: “As of this moment, Kyiv has 4,000 hotel rooms. What is required is all the logistics incl. infrastructure (roads, parking, planes, trains, etc.) and upgrading facilities such as hospitals...
Russia: The North
Window on Eurasia writes that “small ethnic groups of Russia’s north suffer […] from abuse in the post-Soviet media which appear to treat them all as one enormous and inappropriate Chukchi joke.”
Poland: The Primaries in the U.S.
The beatroot writes on “who should Poles vote for, if they could, in US primaries”: “What goes on in Washington should be of keen interest in Warsaw.”
Latvia: The Suiti
Marginalia writes about history, culture and songs of the suiti, the people of Alsunga in Latvia.
Albania: BBC Journalist's Blog
BBC's Mark Mardell blogs about his trip to Albania.
Serbia: Election Politics
A Fistful of Euros posts a detailed roundup on the first round of the Serbian presidential election.
Russia, Serbia: Gazprom Buys NIS
Robert Amsterdam and A Fistful of Euros write about Gazprom's acquisition of “Serbia's national energy monopoly, NIS, at a knockdown price.”
Ukraine: Drunk Driving
Over 7,000 people died in car accidents in Ukraine in 2007. President Yushchenko has recently proposed to raise fines for drunk driving to $500, but many Ukrainian "netizens" don't believe it is going to change anything - and here's why.
Russia: Rating Western Democracies?
“Stung by Western assessments that Russia is becoming less free, Moscow officials say they will create a new organization of their own to ‘rate’ democracy in the U.S. and other Western countries,” Window on Eurasia reports.
Russia, Moldova: More on Natalia Morar's Case
More on journalist Natalia Morar's case – at Sean's Russia Blog (plus an interesting discussion in the comments section).
Russia: Nashi's EU Visa Problems
Sean's Russia Blog writes: “Natalia Morar is persona non grata in Russia. More and more Nashi activists are becoming persona non grata in the European Union.”
Serbia: Presidential Election
Reluctant Dragon casts his vote in New York and writes somewhat pessimistically about the results of the presidential election in Serbia.
Serbia: “Endorsed by… Bill Gates?”
Belgrade 2.0 writes about a Serbian “presidential candidate using Windows desktop wallpaper in his official campaign as well as something at the end of the video which reminds pretty much of some Windows sound.”
Slovakia: Facebook Community
Deleted by Tomorrow writes about the Slovak presence on Facebook.
Ukraine: Lutsenko, Chernovetsky, Illegal Land Deals
Ukrainiana offers extensive coverage and analysis of the recent fight between Ukraine's interior minister and Kyiv mayor, and the issue of illegal land deals – here and here.
Ukraine: Book List
A hyperlinked list of English-language books on Ukraine – at Orange Ukraine.
Azerbaijan: Analyzing Black January
Asking Tough Questions in Tough Places analyzes another blog post on the 18th anniversary of Black January in Azerbaijan.
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