Latest posts by Vilhelm Konnander from July, 2010
Russia: Picnic at Putin's dacha
LJ user na6ludatelb tells about [RUS] a visit to Putin's old dacha outside of St. Petersburg, forming into a crowd of local dacha owners using their right to public property, and posts plenty of commemorative pictures.
Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan: Customising customs
The Pipeline writes about remaining unclarities about the customs’ union that Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan recently entered into.
Russia: Military serfdom
LJ user brumm thinks [RUS] that the generals have enough serfs as it is, reacting to Ministry of Defence ideas of expanding Russian military service from one to one and a half years from 2012.
Slovenia: Not by the color of their skin
Camille Acey of Adventures in Wheelville comments on the problems Mr. Peter Bossman has come across, running for mayor in the Slovenian seaside port of Piran, apparently because of the color of his skin.
Russia: No roads, only directions
Anatoly Karlin of Sublime Oblivion argues that Russia should build railways instead of highways, against the backdrop of a recent World Bank report (pdf), and enumerates reasons why.
Estonia: A future in green technology
Quickthink argues that one way of economic recovery and growth for Estonia may be in developing a sector of green technology.
Russia: New political blogger community
A new LJ community – the association of political bloggers [RUS] has been founded in Russia, aiming to assist and facilitate cooperation among this variety of bloggers.
Russia: From National Bolshevik to Another Russia
Ilya Yashin of El pueblo unido jamás será vencido comments on [RUS] the formation of Eduard Limonov's new party Another Russia after his old party – the National Bolsheviks – was banned, and argues that Limonov is doing a mistake. Another Russia was also a coalition of opposition parties and...
Bosnia Herzegovina: Roman influence in Srebrenica
The Daily Seyahatname writes about the historical Roman influence on the town of Srebrenica and Bosnia in general.
Russia-US: Cold war separation anxiety
Sean's Russia Blog writes about the crave for a renewed cold war among old-time balance-of-power players in East and West, as the US-Russian spy scandal has begun to unravel, after a period of Obama-Medvedev détente.
Bosnia Herzegovina: History of a bridge
The Daily Seyahatname reflects upon the Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic Bridge – immortalized by Ivo Andric's novel “Bridge on the Drina” – and its history in a broader perspective.
Russia: Business, law and corruption
Streetwise professor discusses the difficulties of Russian business, corruption and actions by the law enforcement agencies.
Russia-USA: Death of a defected spy
Robert Amsterdam notes that Sergei Tretyakov, agent of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), who defected to the United States in 2000, has suddenly died at an age of 53, and speculates whether there is a new Litvinenko case looming about.
Estonia: Sangaste castle
Quickthink takes a brief glance at Estonian Sangaste castle and its history.
Croatia: EU and the Euro
Edward Hugh of A Fistful of Euros takes a look at Croatia's economy in relation to an upcoming EU-accession and the country's potential to enter the Eurozone.
Ukraine under Yushchenko
Anna Babinets of Open Democracy writes about Ukrainian president Yanukovych's reforms to unravel the legacy of the Orange revolution.
Russia-Belarus: Godfather of refused offers
Is it a deliberate provocation, a government-engineered attack on a foreign head of state, a gas-giant's attempt to rock Russian foreign policy - or simply an example of good and critical journalism? Questions abound in the Russian-language blogosphere following Russian TV-channel NTV's 4 July screening of "The Godfather" - a documentary about Aleksandr Lukashenko, omnipotent president of neighbouring Belarus.
Russia: In defence of corruption
Amidst state anti-corruption campaigns, LJ user lobanovmaksim goes against the tide [RUS] in defending Russian corruption as a recipe for happiness and harmony.
Russia: Limiting freedom of assembly
LJ user zoringer notes [RUS] that the Russian parliament, the State Duma, is to decide on further curtailing freedom of assembly in the country, now limiting the number of people gathering to a mere three. The proposal is believed to hinder alternative methods of protest and demonstrations as e.g. flashmobs.
Lithuania: Visiting Vilnius KGB museum
Wu Wei tells about her reactions to a visit to the Vilnius KGB museum, and reflects upon historical and current parallels between prison systems.
Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan: Realities of the customs union
LJ user Mestnye discusses [RUS] the recent agreement on a customs union between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
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