· February, 2011

Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from February, 2011

Russia: Bloggers React To Threatened University Stipends

RuNet Echo  4 February 2011

After an aid to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said [RUS] on January 19 that Russia should do away with stipends for university students, bloggers, parents, and university rectors began furiously posting appeals for the government not to cut back on university funding. The aid, Arkady Dvorkovich, who is often described...

Russia: The Law on the Police

RuNet Echo  4 February 2011

A detailed analysis of Russia's Law on the Police – at A Good Treaty: “The law’s opponents sometimes downplay it as nothing more than a change of two letters (from militsiia to politsiia) […].” LJ user tapirr‘s take on the renaming (RUS): “A man named Vasya lived in a small...

Ukraine: 3 Million New Internet Users in 2010

  4 February 2011

A study cited [UKR] by Korrespondent.net shows that the number of Internet users in Ukraine has increased by 29%, or by 3 million people, in 2010. Ukraine's current Internet audience is 11.3 million people, with 88% of users accessing the net daily, 10% – several times a week, 1% –...

Russia: Wikileaks Reveals Russian Game in Tajikistan

RuNet Echo  3 February 2011

Russia oppositional weekly Novaya Gazeta that also serves as an official partner of Wikileaks in the country reported on diplomatic cables from Tajikistan outlining a dirty geopolitical game that Russia allegedly plays in that post-Soviet republic.

Russia: Woman Sentenced For Hacking Social Network Accounts

RuNet Echo  3 February 2011

A businesswoman who worked for one of Russian tourist firms has been sentenced to probationary ten months of imprisonment for hacking the accounts of several users of popular Russian social network Vkontakte.ru, news portal Lenta.ru reported.

Russia: Blogger Navalny Starts Anticorruption Fundraising

RuNet Echo  2 February 2011

Alexey Navalny, Russian anticorruption blogger, started [RUS] fundraising for his website rospil.info. Within first three hours Navalny had collected [RUS] more than $5,300 in donations which is a record for online anticorruption iniatives in Russia.

Russia: Perm Blogger On Using LiveJournal as a Political Resource

RuNet Echo  2 February 2011

Perm-based blogger Anton Tolmachev (LJ-user legart) tells [RUS] his (unsuccessful) story of trying to use to his LiveJournal as a tool for collecting signatures in order to run for the Perm city legislative assembly. He asked his LiveJournal friends help him to run for the mayor, however, the authorities had...

Russia: Opposition Politician's Facebook Account Suspended

RuNet Echo  2 February 2011

Facebook account of Vladimir Milov, Russian opposition politician, has been suspended, Milov reported [RUS]. As in the case of the suspension of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's account, the suspension was due to anonymous information of account misuse.

Russia: Online Freedom of Expression in 2010

RuNet Echo  1 February 2011

In 2010, as the Internet became an increasingly important medium of communication for Russians—which a 40 percent spike in RuNet’s daily audience (RuMetrica) indicates—the issue of freedom of expression online gained in prominence. To a greater extent than ever before, Russians have begun to use the Internet as a channel for political activism and mobilization, a development that Russian leadership has found unnerving, as evidenced by its efforts to clamp down on cyberspace activity.

About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage

Filip Stojanovski
Filip Stojanovski is the Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

Daria Dergacheva
Daria Dergacheva is the Eastern Europe editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.