Stories about Russia from December, 2008
Russia: A Muslim Trade Union?
Window on Eurasia writes that Central Asian migrant workers in the Urals are considering forming a “Muslim trade union.”
A Review of Global Voices in 2008
Nearly 3 million people visited Global Voices in 2008, and here are some of our most popular stories of the year.
Russia sets list for companies of strategic interest
Robert Amsterdam comments on the Russian governments recently published list of companies of strategic interest.
Russia: The New York Times’ LJ is One Year Old
The New York Times‘ Clifford J. Levy writes on The Lede about the first anniversary of the paper's interactive Russian-language LJ blog: “The results far exceeded my expectations. The blog has received more than 26,000 comments, and has become an important tool for the newspaper to better understand and explain...
Russia-Georgia: The value of Russian passports
Eternal Remont refers to an Al Jazeera news story on South Ossetia to argue that Russian citizens’ passports handed out to South Ossetians in practice are used rather as Russian domestic passports.
Caucasus: 2008 Blog Review
Last year ended with a state of emergency declared in Georgia, but few could imagine that the events of 2008 would eclipse those of 2007. Three presidential elections, a war, and yet another state of emergency defined the South Caucasus this year, and bloggers were there to document events from...
Ukraine: Yushchenko's Press Conference
Tetyana Vysotska of What's Up, Ukraine? writes about the Ukrainian president's annual press conference and his response to one of the most popular questions posed to him via the internet: “Mr. President, how much money should the people of Ukraine pay to convince you and other top authorities to leave...
Moldova: Transnistria Updates
Updates on Transnistria – at Scraps of Moscow and Eternal Remont.
Russia: South Ossetia; Relations With the U.S.; Sheremetyevo Ceiling
Some of the recent posts at Scraps of Moscow: a translation of a part of “a lengthy interview with former Russian army general and former South Ossetian de facto Minister of Defense which puts the region's president, former wrestling champion and phys. ed. teacher Eduard Kokoity, in a rather unflattering...
Bulgaria, Russia: “Open Source AK-47″
Eternal Remont writes: “Apparently, Russia's state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport is livid that Bulgaria would violate the sacred principles of intellectual property and trademark protection to produce an, um, we're going to call it an ‘open source AK-47′.”
Russia: Patriarch; Yoshkar-Ola; Stalin's Legacy; Protests
A selection of recent posts from Window on Eurasia: a “Ukrainian” metropolitan who may or may not become Russia's next patriarch; Hungarians react to the Russian authorities’ suggestion to rename Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of Mari El, to Tsaryovokokshaysk, the city's pre-1917 name; some Russian history teachers’ efforts to educate students...
Russia: Gas News
Siberian Light and Robert Amsterdam's blog write about “the annual Russo-Ukrainian gas crisis”; the latter also writes about the fledgling “gas OPEC.”
Russia, Serbia: Gazprom, NIS, and Gas Prices
Streetwise Professor posts an update on Gazprom's “vaporware” in Serbia, which includes a recent resignation of the “anti-Gazprom” Serbian economics minister, Mladan Dinkic (more on that – at Robert Amsterdam's blog). Meanwhile, gas costs $5.80 per gallon in Serbia, according to Bill's Blog: “To put the $5.80 into perspective, the...
Russia: LiveJournal and Mass Media Laws
IZO translates LJ user plucer‘s view that the newest LiveJournal addition – this line at the end of the posts: “I hereby give third parties the right to reproduce or disseminate all of my materials as a whole or in part…” – “would mean you were ‘disseminating information’ and mass-media...
Central & Eastern Europe: Freedom in the Balkans; Visa Restrictions
Ari Rusila examines the Balkan-related results of the Freedom House's Freedom in the World survey at AriRusila’s BalkanBlog, and writes about the Henley Visa Restrictions Index, highlighting the results for countries of Central and Eastern Europe, at AriRusila's BalkanPerspective at Blogactiv.eu.
Russia: Protest Update
Sean's Russia Blog writes about today's protests in Russia: “The barrage of mass protest fired in Russia’s far east ten days ago echoed with a whimper as opponents of the import car tax hike staged actions across Russia. Today’s protests lacked the manpower of the previous ones, and in Vladivostok,...
Russia: The Crisis and The Potential For Unrest
In mid-October, Global Voices published a roundup of Anglophone bloggers' views on the financial crisis in Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Serbia and Ukraine. Below is another installment on the effects and the likely consequences of the crisis in Russia.
Estonia: Deportations, Artificial Hills, Gray Passports, and Layoffs
Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonian women who survived the deportations of the 1940s, but whose tragic stories never found a reflection in the Soviet-time Estonian women's magazine, Nõukogude Naine. This and a few other recent posts from the Estonian blogosphere - in the roundup below.
Central & Eastern Europe: Trademark on ;-) and Other Internet News
Below is a selection of recent posts by bloggers from around Central and Eastern Europe on social networking, participatory media, online activism and other related issues.
Russia: Miss World and the Wrong Flag
Eternal Remont and English Russia note that the newest Miss World – Ksenia Sukhinova from Russia – is holding the wrong flag during an event at Moscow's Red Square; Belgraded notes that the flag is actually Serbian.
Russia: Ethnicity, Labor Migration, Human Rights
A roundup on ethnicity, labor migration and human rights in Russia: IZO cites death statistics for Tajik labor migrants in Moscow. Moscow Through Brown Eyes writes about an attack on Stanley Robinson, an 18-year-old African-American student in Volgograd – here and here. Window on Eurasia writes about a strike by...
