· December, 2008

Stories about Estonia from December, 2008

Russia: Patriarch; Yoshkar-Ola; Stalin's Legacy; Protests

  24 December 2008

A selection of recent posts from Window on Eurasia: a “Ukrainian” metropolitan who may or may not become Russia's next patriarch; Hungarians react to the Russian authorities’ suggestion to rename Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of Mari El, to Tsaryovokokshaysk, the city's pre-1917 name; some Russian history teachers’ efforts to educate students...

Russia, Serbia: Gazprom, NIS, and Gas Prices

  24 December 2008

Streetwise Professor posts an update on Gazprom's “vaporware” in Serbia, which includes a recent resignation of the “anti-Gazprom” Serbian economics minister, Mladan Dinkic (more on that – at Robert Amsterdam's blog). Meanwhile, gas costs $5.80 per gallon in Serbia, according to Bill's Blog: “To put the $5.80 into perspective, the...

Central & Eastern Europe: Freedom in the Balkans; Visa Restrictions

  22 December 2008

Ari Rusila examines the Balkan-related results of the Freedom House's Freedom in the World survey at AriRusila’s BalkanBlog, and writes about the Henley Visa Restrictions Index, highlighting the results for countries of Central and Eastern Europe, at AriRusila's BalkanPerspective at Blogactiv.eu.

Estonia: Deportations, Artificial Hills, Gray Passports, and Layoffs

  19 December 2008

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonian women who survived the deportations of the 1940s, but whose tragic stories never found a reflection in the Soviet-time Estonian women's magazine, Nõukogude Naine. This and a few other recent posts from the Estonian blogosphere - in the roundup below.

Estonia: TV

  4 December 2008

A note on Estonian TV from AnTyx: “At this exact moment, the Estonian state TV channel is broadcasting the advent mass – live from one of the country's biggest prisons. […]” And a reader's comment to this post: “A remark to foreign readers of this: calm down, Estonia still remains...

Estonia: Pärnu

  3 December 2008

Itching for Eestimaa writes about a trip to Pärnu – “pop. 44,000, is the fifth largest city in Estonia, located on the country's southwest coast. It's also the ‘summer capital’ of Estonia, which made our choice of visiting during the first major blizzard of the year somewhat unique.”

Russia: Nord Stream

  3 December 2008

White Sun of the Desert writes about the “Russian threat to scrap the controversial Nord Stream pipeline project, which would supply Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, bypassing the Baltic states.”