Latest posts by Veronica Khokhlova from July, 2006
Russia: Black Sea Navy to Syria?
David McDuff of A Step At A Time writes about unconfirmed reports on Russia's plans to move its Black Sea warships from the Ukrainian Crimea to Syria.
Russia: A Wedding and Paperwork
Stephan of Everybody I Love You gets married in Russia and, in between the wedding and the honeymoon, works on bringing his wife to the United States.
Ukraine: Politics and Bribes
Orange Ukraine and Vilhelm Konnander discuss the political situation in Ukraine. Petro's Jotter and Foreign Notes write about corruption of the country's leading politicians.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Worrying Political Developments
T K Vogel of East Ethnia writes about “worrying” political developments taking place in Bosnia.
Albania: Land Ownership
David Sheern writes about the problem of land ownership in Albania.
Belarus: Hugo Chavez’ Visit
TOL's Belarus Blog reports on Hugo Chavez's visit to Minsk.
Belarus: Economic Sanctions Looming
TOL's Belarus Blog and Andrei Khrapavitski write that “Belarus is soon to be expelled from the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) due to its non-compliance with trade union legislature (mostly when it comes to the rights of the workers).”
Belarus: Scholarship Fraud and Brain Drain
TOL's Belarus Blog writes about scholarship fraud and the connection between scholarships and brain drain.
Belarus: Outgoing U.S. Ambassador
Andrei Khrapavitski writes about George Krol, the outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Belarus.
Ukraine: Maidan, Again, Sort Of
Kyiv, Independence Square: “President Kuchma – shame, Yushchenko – the nation's disappointment. Moroz – betrayed the Maidan!” – by Veronica Khokhlova Nearly two years after the Orange Revolution, there are tents at Kyiv's Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) again. The camp isn't big, and it looks dormant for now, but as...
The Balkans: Graffiti Photos
Mat Savelli of Roma Roma posts a collection of the Balkan graffiti photos: “So, while “death to all Croats!” might give the impression that, say, Mostar east of the Neretva is a relatively intolerant place, there is every possibility that this was written in 1994. That being said, the fact...
Latvia: Riga Gay Pride
Vilhelm Konnander writes about the 2006 Gay Pride in Riga, which “seems to become a repetition of last year's chaos and homophobic protests in the Latvian capital.”
Ukraine: Politics in the Open
Wu Wei points out a positive aspect in what's happening in Ukrainian politics: “The only hopeful thing I can think of is that these days all the changing sides and bribery and “principled stands” are happening more or less under the eyes of the world and not completely in closed...
Ukraine: Platskart Train Car
The Humble Observer describes a ride in a third-class Ukrainian train car, platskart: “I usually ride in second class, where the rooms have four bunks. But when there’s no tickets, I ride with the masses ride in Plat. It’s a wagon on the train with no separate rooms, just lined...
Romania: “Spy Kids”
Doug Muir of A Fistful of Euros writes about “spy kids,” one of the legacies of Romania's Communist past: “Huge flap in Romania this week, as it’s been revealed that the Communist-era secret police recruited children to spy on parents and classmates.”
Romania: Photos of a High School
Owlspotting gives a photo tour of a Romanian high school he graduated from in 1999.
Belarus: KGB Letter
TOL's Belarus Blog posts an approximate translation of a letter allegedly written by a group of Belarus KGB officers, which contains “revelations about what happened during the presidential elections and in its aftermath. Not a lot of new information – but the very attempt to drag attention to such anonymous...
Russia: Blog on Basayev's Death
David McDuff of A Step At A Time provides a link to a new blog examining the death of Shamil Basayev and its significance for Chechnya.
Ukraine: Old Faces, New Positions
Abdymok updates Ukrainian ‘who is who in politics’ list – old names, new positions. He writes: “there is no point theorizing about coalition configurations and broad coalitions when criminals and political thugs [read: yanukovych, azarov, pyskun, kivalov, dziha, moroz, symonenko, etc.] are running the show.” And: “if the president decides...
Czech Republic: Renaming Brno Streets
Jesse of Bored in Brno writes about renaming of streets in Brno.
Serbia: Government Changes
Doug Muir of A Fistful of Euros writes about changes in the Serbian government looming ahead: “So, elections in Serbia, probably this autumn, almost certainly by early next year.”
