I am a Swedish specialist on politics and security in Russia and “Eastern Europe.” I have been dealing with the region on and off since the early 1990s and been around quite a lot.
At Vilhelm Konnander's Weblog I blog about all the thoughts and reflections within my field that I need to get out of my system. No wonder, given the theme of my blog: Politics & Security in Russia, Central & Eastern Europe & Central Asia. On Twitter @vkonnander.
Latest posts by Vilhelm Konnander from June, 2009
Russia: Another journalist death
Eternal Remont reports that the editor of a Rostov-on-Don newspaper has died from injuries of a beating last month, supposedly provoked by his paper's reporting.
Estonia: Budget cuts and GDP decrease
A Fistful Of Euros points at the link between budget cuts and GDP decrease in Estonia.
Serbia: History and architecture
Nothing against Serbia discusses Belgrade architecture and its influence by both Byzantine and nationalist heritage, illustrating his point with pictures and plans of the city's former main telephone exchange building.
Russia: Lingering high mortality rates
Streetwise Professor writes about the prevalent high mortality rates among the Russian population, based on figures from the Lancet published by Reuters, with interesting comments by Sublime Oblivion.
Russia: Paradoxes of population growth
LJ user about:blank comments on [RUS] recent research comparing Russian population growth with average income in various regions and cities 1990-2009, coming up with the interesting result that the country's second and third cities, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novogorod, are making moderate progress in comparison to many other less developed...
Latvia: IMF, ECB and the EU Commission at odds
A Fistful Of Euros describes how the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank may be taking another line on the currency peg of the Lat to the Euro and the country's future inclusion into the Euro zone.
Serbia-Belarus: Mobile phones in civil resistance
Information Policy summarises a recent survey on the use of mobile devices as a tool of civil resistance in Serbia and Belarus, concluding that state surveillance of communication is making them increasingly difficult to use.
Russia: Stalin visits Voronezh
LJ user Vaziani tells about [RUS] how the local Voronezh communists have wallpapered the city with huge pictures of Joseph Stalin in commemoration of the 22 June 1941 attack on the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany.
Russia: Crackdown on casinos and gambling
Eternal Remont discusses the Russian government's current crackdown on the country's casinos and gambling industry.
Czech Republic: End of EU-presidency
Czechmatediary recounts the end of the Czech presidency of the European Union, finalising it with a big street party.
Albania: Electoral improvements and lingering problems
Albanian Blogger comments on the 2009 general elections in Albania.
Hungary 20 years after rise of the Iron curtain
Hungarian Spectrum writes about the 1989 opening of the Austro-Hungarian border, eventually leading to the rise of the Iron Curtain, dividing Eastern and Western Europe.
Russia-Poland: History revisionism at large again
The Beatroot comments on a current dispute between Russia and Poland about a Russian state TV-documentary, claiming that Nazi Germany, Poland, and Japan were preparing to invade the Soviet Union during the early stages of World War II.
Belarus: Death penalty and Europe
LJ user Plaschinsky discusses [RUS] Belarus’ moratorium on capital punishment and its road to the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly – as a first step towards reintegration with West European structures – and points out the difference between an ethical and a utilitarian position on the abolition of the death...
Russia-India: A medieval journey to India
Jost A Mon discusses his own and other translations of the 15th century memoirs of Russian merchant's Nikitin odyssey to India and elsewhere.
Russia-Germany: Common 20th century history book
Paul Goble of WindowonEurasia claims that Russian and German historians are coming to an agreement to write a common history book, documenting the countries tumultuous and violent relations during the 20th century.
Russia: Birthday interview with Khodorkovsky
Dziennik Rosyjski [POL] encourages people to pose questions, by way of Gazeta.ru, to Russian jailed energy tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on his fifth birthday in incarceration.
Russia: Centennial of colour photography
Eternal Remont turns attention to Sergey M. Prokudin-Gorsky, who in 1909 was commissioned by the Tsar to document the Russian empire on film. In the process, he developed and refined his special technique of colour photography.
Belarus: Signs of change?
A Fistful of Euros thinks that something may be stirring in Belarus, and even believes it to be signs of an improvement in the regime's relations with the West.
Lithuania: Oslo mayor in gay protest
Lituanica reports how Norwegian capital's, Oslo, mayor brought his same sex spouse to an international mayors’ conference in Vilnius – in practical protest against Lithuania's increasingly homophobic policies.
Launch of communist victims website
A Step At A Time draws attention to the launch of a website dedicated to the victims of communism worldwide, by the Global Museum on Communism.
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