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 April, 2011
Poland: Decrease of corruption
Michael Dembinski of W-wa Jeziorki notes that corruption in Poland continues to decrease in contrast to many other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a recent article in The Economist.
Latvia: National news agency website hacked
Juris Kaža of Telecoms in Latvia draws attention to a recent hacker attach on the Latvian news agency LETA, closing down the website for several hours.
Russia: New round in the TNK-BP row
Streetwise Professor points to the parallel buyout of a partner in TNK-BP oil company by the Russian state oil company Rosneft and British Petroleum, with the abolition of a tax release, possibly resulting in decreased company value for the upcoming sale.
Serbia-EU: Belgrade at a crossroads
Ari Rusila's BalkanBlog argues that Serbia may find too many obstacles to continue its accession to the European Union, and instead might find other alternatives more appetizing.
Russia-Switzerland: New magazine for Russia, Belarus and Ukraine
Gedankenbörsen Blog draws attention to [GER] a new magazine in Switzerland – Echo – about Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Russia: Discarding marriage
Yelena of Russian Blog discusses the double meaning of the Russian word “brak” namely marriage and discards.
Russia: Reactions to Putin annual speech
Democratist shares some reactions on Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin's, speech to the Russian parliament on Wednesday April 20, and reflects upon it from the perspective of the 2012 presidential elections.
Russia: Reactions to Freedom House Internet report
LJ user dolboeb discusses [RU] how Russia is portrayed in the recent Freedom House report on Freedom on the Net 2011.
Estonia: Security police report hits documentary filmer
Gedanken über Estland reports [GER] that the Estonian documentary filmer, Oleg Besedin, is accused of anti-Estonian propaganda in the 2010 annual report of Estonia's security police, KaPo.
Belarus: Human Rights defenders arrested after Minsk bomb
LJ user anei_aka_kirian reports [RU] that authorities in Belarus have arrested a number of human rights defenders, among others prominent activist Pavel Levinov, accused of involvement in the recent bombing of a Minsk metro station.
Russia: Play on the swansong of the Yeltsin era
British playwright Thomas Hirst guestblogs at Siberian Light, writing about his new play The 17, about the demise of the Yelstin era in Russian politics.
Russia: Pullitzer prize for corruption coverage
Putin Watcher draws attention to two New York Times journalists winning the Pullitzer Prize for their coverage of Russian state corruption.
Russia: Restricting racism
Sean's Russia Blog writes about increasing government intolerance with Russia's racist movements, signified by a court ruling to outlaw an organization against illegal immigration.
Hungary: New constitution passed by parliament
Eva Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum discusses the new Hungarian constitution, last-minute changes, and how major parties boycotted the parliamentary vote.
Romania: Literary renaissance
Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia writes about the playwright Lucian Blaga and a renaissance for Romanian 20th century literature and drama.
Czech Republic: Presidential pendemonium
Czechmate Diary discusses how the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, apparently snatches a pen during a state visit to Chile, and how people now are sending him loads of pens so that he will not be left without one.
Russia: Complexities of LiveJournal attack
Putin Watcher tries to contextualize the various interests that may have been behind the recent attacks on Russian blog platform LiveJournal in the complex and fractionalized context of Russian politics.
Ukraine: Photos of presidential palace
Foreign Notes comments on pictures published by Ukrainian daily Segodnya [RU] of Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich's, new palace on the outskirts of Kiev, and the public outrage this luxurious mansion has provoked.
Libya-Bosnia-Hungary: Origins of Gaddafi's wife
Pestiside.hu reports about uncorroborated rumours that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's wife, Safiya, is from Bosnia with origins in Hungary.
Belarus: Beyond Bomb or Blast
Even before the smoke from Monday's Minsk Metro blast dispersed, the dual question of: "What is to be done? - Who is to blame?" arose in the Belarusian blogosphere. Two major strands of thought dominate, blaming either President Lukashenko or the political opposition, although a deeper sentiment of sympathy for the victims seems to unite the people of Minsk.
Russia: Communist campaign against tandemocracy
Vadim Nikitin of Foreign Policy‘s Russia Blog discusses a campaign video [RU] for the 2012 presidential elections, allegedly first posted on the Communist Party website, which portrays the Putin-Medvedev tandemocracy as an apocalypse in the making.
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