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 September, 2008
Poland-Ukraine: Saving the 2012 UEFA Soccer Championship
The 8th Circle discusses how Poland and Ukraine – despite domestic political turmoil – cope with preparations of the 2012 UEFA soccer championship.
Russia-Georgia: Arkady Babchenko interview
From the Frontline directs attention to a translation of an interview from Neue Zürcher Zeitung with Russian Novaya Gazeta journalist and photographer Arkady Babchenko about his coverage of the war in South Ossetia.
Eastern Europe: Victory at the Paralympics
The 8th Circle posts a list of results by the East European national teams and sportsmen at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.
Russia: Where did the votes go?
Osteuropablog accounts for [GER] an article in Kommersant, stating that information about election results have disappeared from the website of Russia's Central Election Commission.
Russia: BP gets off scots free?
Steve LeVine of The Oil and The Glory comments on the apparent reasons why BP seems to have reached an agreement on its Russian assets in TNK-BP.
Poland: Poles return home from Britain
Polandian discusses how and why a growing number of Poles choose to return home from Britain to Poland.
Russia: Merger of opposition parties
Osteuropablog discusses [GER] a story in Rosbalt on plans among Russian opposition parties to merge into a single party.
Estonia: Impressions of Haapsalu
Itching for Eestimaa tells a story about his impressions of Haapsalu – a town unscathed by the passing of time.
Estonia: Russians calling for autonomy
Eternal Remont comments on a story in Vesti Dnya, reporting the birth of an organisation calling for territorial autonomy of ehtnic Russians in Estonia.
Estonia: Support of the EU equals Estonian part of the people
Babel Tallinn reports about a survey that gives 84% support to the EU among the total Estonian suffrage – coincidentally the same percentage of citizens who are Estonian by ethnicity.
Latvia: The political referendum-legitimacy link
Veiko Spolitis of Baltic discusses the tendency of an increasing number of public referenda in Latvian politics – as opposed to parliamentary decisions – and links it to failing legitimacy of the political elite and partisan politics in the country.
Russia: Ukrainian NGOs Exporting Orange Ideas?
Osteuropablog discusses [GER] an article on Rosbalt.Ru about a perceived threat of Ukrainian NGOs in southern Russia bringing an Orange Revolution to the country.
Estonia-Finland: Divided views on dealing with Russia
Itching for Eestima discusses how Finland deals with its Russian neighbour in the Georgia war context and reflects on Estonia's role.
Russia: Getting the Message Through
Kosmopolit comments on the difficulties for Russian leaders to get their message through internationally, when their political language does not come across to their audience.
Russia-Georgia: Unimportance of Political Events
Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog questions the importance of events and how they are spun by the media, and posts a few examples to prove the point in relation to the Russia-Georgia war.
Ukraine: Yushchenko Party in Crisis
Foreign Notes publishes a summarised translation of a Kommersant article on the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine and how President Yushchenko's party Our Ukraine is among the worst hit.
Russia: American and European expectations of Russia
The 8th Circle draws attention to the Transatlantic Trends 2008 report, dealing with e.g. views toward a Reassertive Russia, NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, and Turkey’s relations with the West.
Sweden: A Newspaper Blog for Ramadan
The second largest Swedish daily newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, has launched a Ramadan blog, where three practising Muslim bloggers - a policeman, a student, and a lawyer - reflect on everyday life throughout the Holy Month. Subjects span the high and low in an attempt to portray what it means to be Muslim in Swedish society today.
Finnish voice on death of Ingushetian publisher
Istori posts a speech by and publishes a statement about the Ingushetian publisher Magomed Yevloev, who was killed by Russian police in the weekend. Together with Anna Politkovskaya, Yevloev – the publisher of closed-down news site ingushetiya.ru – was a frequent guest at the Finnish-Russian Civic Forum.
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