Global Voices » Lithuania

Lithuania: Alleged Child Abuse Case

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 12 May 2012 23:36:13 +0000

At OpenDemocracy.net, Violeta Davoliūtė draws attention to “some of the more sober realities of life in today’s Lithuania,” highlighting a highly publicised case of alleged child abuse that is “being played out against a background of mob rule, support from politicians and complicity on the part of the police.”

Europe: Will ACTA Treaty Pass After Protests?

Danielle Martineau — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:09:08 +0000

[All links forward to French articles unless stated otherwise.]

As of the end of the month of February 2012, the mobilization efforts of Internet users against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) [en] were still going strong. In fact, they may have begun to bear fruit.

By including infringements against the author's rights in its scope, this international treaty, which addresses intellectual property rights, also affects Internet content.

The ratification debates which were placed on the European Parliament's agenda on February 29, were put on hold in expectation of the opinion of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The issue of the treaty's conformity with European Community law was brought before the court on 22 February by the European Commission.

No ACTA - Strasbourg. Photo by Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY

Taurillon, the “magazine of young Europeans -France” describes “Europe's about-face on ACTA“:

Si l’avis est négatif, l’ACTA n’a plus aucune chance en Europe. Mais en cas d’avis positif, le recours à la CJUE représente le double avantage de redonner au traité une certaine crédibilité, et de repousser son adoption à une époque suffisamment lointaine pour que la polémique se soit tassée et que l’opinion publique regarde ailleurs.

If the opinion is negative, ACTA no longer stands a chance in Europe. However, if there is a positive opinion, appealing to the ECJ would mean a double advantage by giving the treaty a certain credibility, and also pushing back implementation to a time that is far enough away when public debate has settled down and the public's attention is focused elsewhere.

Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson for la Quadrature du Net urges on the European deputies:

Les eurodéputés doivent résister à la stratégie de la Commission européenne, qui cherche à gagner du temps et à transformer le débat en une simple discussion juridique, et pour cela continuer à travailler au rejet d’ACTA. ACTA vise à imposer une tendance pour une politique globale du droit d’auteur qui est toxique pour l’Internet libre et pour les libertés. Le Parlement européen est le dernier rempart : il doit agir et adopter une position claire et forte, faute de quoi il laissera le champ libre à la Commission pour imposer une répression inacceptable.

The Eurodeputies must resist the European Commission's strategy of attempting to gain time and turning the debate into a simple legal discussion, thereby continuing to work towards ACTA's rejection. ACTA aims to impose a tendency for a global policy of author's rights that is toxic for the free Internet and for freedom. The European Parliament is the last line of defense: it must act and adopt a firm and clear position, otherwise it will leave the field wide open for the commission to impose an unacceptable repression.

For trucbuntu, there is no question of remaining passive while waiting for the Court to adjudicate:

Les citoyens de toute l’Europe peuvent contacter leurs représentants dans les commissions Commerce International (INTA) et Industrie (ITRE), qui se réunissent cette semaine pour discuter d’ACTA, et leur demander de continuer à travailler au sein de leur commission pour le rejet d’ACTA.

Citizens of all of Europe were able to contact their representatives in the International Trade (INTA) and Industry (ITRE) Committees, who met on February 29 to discuss ACTA. Many citizens requested their representatives to reject the proposal.

The website of the European Parliament explains the procedure and the issues of the treaty [en] that are under scrutiny, and has published ‘What you should know about ACTA‘ [en], a page of questions and answers. The ACTA workshop of the European Parliament has been the object of a storify [en] made by the Parliamentary services (link via Global Voices contributor Asteris Masouras [en]).

The organization AVAAZ submitted a petition to the European Parliament on 29 February with 2.4 million signatures against ACTA. The petition is still open:

Nous sommes vraiment proches de la victoire — notre pétition forte de 2,4 millions de signatures a ébranlé les responsables politiques partout en Europe et stoppé les censeurs. La Commission européenne est à présent en position de faiblesse et espère que la Cour de justice donnera son feu vert au traité ACTA en lui soumettant une question juridique très limitée qui recevra certainement une réponse positive.Mais si nous faisons résonner nos voix aujourd'hui, nous pouvons faire en sorte que la Cour examine tous les impacts légaux du traité ACTA et publie un avis qui fera toute la lumière sur cette attaque contre nos droits qu'est ACTA.

We are really close to victory — our petition, with 2.4 million signatures has shaken up those politicians in charge throughout Europe and stopped their censors. The European Commission is currently in a position of weakness and is hoping the Court of justice will green light the ACTA treaty by bringing before the court a very limited legal question, that will without doubt receive a positive response. But if we make our voices heard today, we will be able to get the court to examine all the legal implications of ACTA and publish an opinion that will bring to light the real attack against our rights that is ACTA.

No ACTA - Strasbourg. Photo Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY

Anti-ACTA parties continue to strengthen their resources. New protests were set for 10 March, and torrentnews gives a list, with this appeal:

La liste n’est pas exhaustive, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter pour la compléter ;)

si certains se sentent l’âme d’un reporter- photographe en herbe, nous recherchons également des personnes pour faire un petit article photo du déroulement de la manif, rien de bien compliqué, comme fait ici pour Nice, Marseille,Bordeaux et Strasbourg.

The list is not exhaustive, do not hesitate to contact us to complete it ;)

If any individuals see themselves as budding photojournalists we are also looking for people to do a small photo story on how the protest unfolds, nothing too complicated, as it happens in Nice, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg.

For details on the elements of the debate, see also these linked articles from the Tribune on February 29, and Myeurop, on March 3. On Global Voices, see the laws SOPA/PIPA that set a precedent in the USA, here [en] and here [en]. Since the beginning of the protests, ACTA seems to have lost a lot of political momentum.

The title of this post is inspired by the end of the article “La liberté sur Internet : le filtrage de la discorde” which was published by the Institute of Research and Legal and Information studies and Communication (I.R.E.D.I.C.). It puts into perspective Internet blocking and debates the adoption of ACTA.

The original article in French was published on March 4. For background on the ACTA proposal, more articles can be found here [en].

CEE: “Spotted by Locals”

Veronica Khokhlova — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:08:32 +0000

Spotted by Locals: Experience cities like a local features a few dozen locations, including CEE cities of Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Krakow, Ljubljana, Prague, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius, Warsaw, and Zagreb. A random sample post from Zagreb, Croatia: Hrelić Flea Market – The Aleph of Zagreb; from Bucharest, Romania: The Haunted House – Armenian Neighbourhood; from Sofia, Bulgaria: Nissim – A True Old-School Bookstore.

Macedonia: Christmas Tree Made of Plastic Bottles

Filip Stojanovski — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:44:43 +0000

Inspired by the example of Kaunas, Lithuania, Macedonian Twitter users made a Christmas tree from plastic bottles at the Skopje City Park on Dec. 25, to raise awareness of everyone's responsibility for the environment. The action's organizers used their blogs [mk, mk, mk, mk] as a starting point for the quick social media campaign #елкамк (elka = a fir tree). The tree has remained in place during the night, and if the poor people who gather plastic from the streets and garbage dumpsters for recycling don't harvest it, the authors plan [mk] to properly dispose of it after the New Year's.

Lithuania: Corruption within the Educational System

Vilhelm Konnander — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:18:43 +0000

Alan Hendrixson of With a Grain of Druska discusses problems arising from corruption within Lithuanian education and health system.

CEE: Top 10 Worldwide Download Speed

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:00:52 +0000

Watcher.com.ua reports [uk] that, according to a 6-month study of 27 million downloads by 20 million computers in 224 countries conducted by Pando Networks, Romania (1,909KBps), Bulgaria (1,611KBps), Lithuania (1,462KBps) and Latvia (1,377KBps) have the second, third, fourth and fifth highest download speeds in the world, while Ukraine has been ranked #8 (1,190KBps).

Macedonia: Celebrating Basketball Win Over Lithuania

Filip Stojanovski — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:09:46 +0000

The celebration of the Macedonian entry in the semifinals of the European basketball championship has spilled over from the country's streets, balconies and town squares into the blogosphere.

Ogledalo na edna dusha (Mirror of a Soul) blog posted [mk] photos and videos from the celebration of the victory of the Macedonian national team over the host, Lithuania, at the EuroBasket 2011, with levels of euphoria higher than the precedent with Greece.

Barabass considers [mk] this win as a defining moment of his generation, “something to tell the grandkids about.”

Ruling politicians have scrambled to get on the basketball victory bandwagon. The president already gave a medal to the national team in absentia, while the government used taxpayers' money to buy tickets for 150 hand-picked “professional fans” [mk] to go to the game.

Citizens privately voiced frustration over the brazen lack of transparency and accountability, especially because some of the pro-government media used the phrase “at its own expense,” as if the ministers were paying from their own pockets. The charter flight for this allegedly politically-connected group was sponsored by the Turkish company TAV, a a major investor in Macedonia. According to Netpress [mk], the “select” mob had a fight on the plane and compromised its security, and the airliner refused to accept 11 of them on the return flight.

The state budget also funded celebratory fireworks at Skopje's main square:

Social media users spread the following joke, referring to the general low level of knowledge about Macedonia in geographic terms outside of the Balkan region (most Macedonians who have been abroad can share a story about meeting people who had no clue where it was, or said it was an island in Africa or something to that effect).

- Where are you from?
- From Macedonia.
- And where is Macedonia?
- In the semifinals!!!

Twitter user Biljana also noted [sr] that the celebrations also spread to Serbia [sr] - a historic first gesture of “reciprocity.” Most Macedonian sports fans traditionally root for all ex-Yugoslav teams that make it to international competitions, when they don't compete against Macedonia.

Twitter users in the past few days have however, expressed aggravation due to the uncalled-for demeaning comments in some media from these countries.

Lithuania: Mushroom-Picking and Basketball

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 18:26:25 +0000

Lithuania - the best! writes about mushroom-picking and basketball: “I believe that mushroom hunting is second favorite sport in Lithuania after basketball :)”

Macedonia: Euphoria After Basketball Victory Over Greece

Filip Stojanovski — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 22:44:39 +0000

Celebrations erupted among Macedonians worldwide after the national team beat Greece at the European Basketball Championship of 2011 - EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania - the first such victory ever in the history of international sport.

The victory for the Macedonian national team with 72:58 at EuroBasket 2011 was a big surprise, since the Greek national team “is considered among the world's top basketball powers; they were runners-up in the 2006 FIBA World Championship and they have won the European Championship twice, in 1987 and 2005,” according to Wikipedia.

Soon after the game ended early Satuday evening, the jubilant flag-waving fans filled the public spaces of Macedonian cities and towns. Sport!Denes (Sport!Today) published a photo gallery [mk] from the main square in Skopje.

A Croatian media outlet 24 sata (24 hours) reported [hr] immediately after the match:

The story of the day is the Macedonian win over their southern neighbors, whose [political pressure] forces them to use the designation “Former Yugoslav Republic of” in front of their name. Even though the players do not want to talk politics, they claim this is the dearest victory of their careers.

- “It's crazy now in Skopje and the whole Macedonia, everybody goes to the main square to celebrate this” - Todor Gečevski said, while Pero Antić added:

- “We shall celebrate Independence Day on September 8, and they might build another monument for us on account of this.”

The best player of the game for Macedonia was African-American Bo McCalleb. Specialized basketball blog NBA Macedonia declared [mk] that he's “The Greatest Macedonian.” *

A screenshot from MakNBA blog featuring Bo McCalleb.

Twitter (the main hashtag: #makbasket) and Facebook buzzed with comments. Many Macedonian social media users expressed joy with dignity, while others used triumphant nationalist “in your face, Greece” rhetoric.

Right after the game, Azder wrote [mk]:

#makbasket should be celebrated with going to a town square. Please suggest a square with space for people, instead of statues.

Davorvori9, who changed his profile photo to one with Bo McCalleb, wrote [mk] a few hours later:

I can't remember when I was so euphoric and happy, possibly never. Thank you for this, guys! #makbasket

Roberto Belicanec wrote on Facebook (reprinted with permission):

YEAAH ! We won! Hm - let me explain something to you. Five athletes won over five other athletes while you where turning beer into the piss. - Bill Maher!
But still, this is quite nice :)

And Ivica Anteski retorted (also reprinted with permission):

Our diplomacy will be as strong when we take a Black person for Minister of Foreign Affairs :)

Cchevymk proposed [mk] a new basketball-inspired country car sticker, using [mk] clipart by Rosie Piter, and DzikiKikiriki refered [mk] to the first Greek reactions, linking to an article in E Kathimerini:

Well now it is not our fault that the Greek Government did not have money to send Greek fans to Lithuania…

Border blockade

The next morning, a group of several dozens angry Greek citizens, who allegedly came on several buses, blocked the main border pass towards Macedonia. Reports [mk] by PlusInfo.mk portal claimed the mob consisted of nationalists (according to the signs they displayed), including neo-Nazis or skinheads.

The Greek police redirected Macedonian travelers to other border crossings for a few hours to prevent confrontations, and the crossing was unblocked [mk] without additional incidents.

Victory over Finland, too

During the afternoon, Macedonia also won the game with Finland, and darko_avr refered to an old internet joke based on famous advertisement (”Nokia - Connecting People”) and a favorite Balkan spirit when he tweeted:

Rakia 72 - Nokia 70

Karakash_MakNBA commented [mk] on this much harder won game:

Either due to fatigue, or due to physical or emotional effect of yesterday's victory, or maybe due to getting wasted last night (who knows), the Macedonian team had a hard time with Finland. Even though they are not as weak and naive a team, as everybody thought so before the match. Especially if they start a good shooting series, they are no joke.

Teams that are hard to define and and play fast basketball, without much boloney, are the hardest opponents.

As both Greece and Finland are EU members, Parmakovski joked [mk]:

After today's blockade of [Evzoni], I'm afraid if we win the championship, EU could forever block us from the [Schengen Area]…

This victory, alongside the previous unexpected win over Croatia and continued good showings could result in participation at least in the quarter-finals, according to the analysеs (1, 2) [mk] by angelov480048.

Kuzevski also provided [mk] some applied analysis:

Let's all jointly support Greece and Croatia, since if they win their next games Macedonia would get 4 points in the next group…

Sead93 concured [mk]:

We survived the Hangover Game well enough, we should all most patriotically root for Greece (because it suits our score in the tournament)…

In conclusion MarjanIvanovski informed [mk] about a unquestionably positive consequence, regardless of nationality:

The neighborhood kids immediately gathered to play some basketball :)). There's no better advertisement and greater motivation than an achieved result…

* Note:

Success of multi-ethnic Macedonian national team runs contrary to the ideology of ethnic nationalism, and the irony seems lost on the Macedonian nationalists, who wholeheartedly partake in the celebrations. Like their other Balkans brothers-in-hate, they often use slogans such as “clean Macedonia,” and value “purity” of assumed genetic lineages. Even though the mainstream Macedonian nationalism is not explicitly racist in the color-of-skin sort of way, some of its propagators lean toward white supremacy, like in the film about God's message to Macedonians [mk] by Niche Dimovski, repeatedly aired on the state TV after the current regime took power. It includes claims that prehistoric Macedonians are progenitors of the “White Race”:

[Voice of God:] “I inhabited your Mother Earth with three races: the White - Makedonoids, the Yellow - Mongoloids, and the Black - Negrids. The rest are all mulattoes. I started the White race from you, the Macedonians, descendants of Macedon, and from you all began, till the Japanese Sea.”

Other nationalist products often refer to a genetics study about “Sub-Saharan” (i.e. recent African) origins of modern Greeks to “prove” that Macedonians are older and more indigenous people.

Still, examples of racial violence have been rare in the recent Macedonian history, possibly because not too many dark-skinned people immigrate to Macedonia on account of its depressed economy. There have been football incidents of racial abuse, though, and a chant mentions “Goce's race.” Most regular citizens would say [mk] that “there's no racism in Macedonia.”

Baltics-Sweden: Twenty Years of Independence

Vilhelm Konnander — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:13:11 +0000

Albatros of Litauen blog reports about [ger] Swedish celebrations of 20 years of independence for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and how Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, apologised to his Baltic colleagues for recognizing soviet annexation during World War II.

Lithuania-Belarus: Banks Help Prosecute Opposition Activist

Vilhelm Konnander — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:50:18 +0000

Albatros of Litauen blog discusses [ger] how Lithuanian banks and authorities have delivered information on bank accounts of Belarusan opposition groups, which has led to the prosecution of Viasna activist Ales Belyatsky for tax evasion.

Lithuania: Mayor in Tank Crushes Illegally Parked Car

Juliana Rincón Parra — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 07:37:12 +0000

The Mayor of Vilnius got fed up of expensive cars getting parked illegally on the bicycle lane. To make his displeasure with this blatant disregard for laws very clear, he decided to make an example and run over the car with a tank as a warning to would-be-offenders, as can be seen on this video. Commenter sums it up: “you know, i kind of like this guy. he shows up on his scooter, crushes the illegal parkers car, shakes his hand, sweeps up the broken glass and rides off on his scooter [sic].”

Lithuania: Slovenian Blogger Comments on Vilnius Mayor's Tank Stunt

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:52:51 +0000

Piran Café's updates the blog's somewhat neglected “self-absorbed bike lane-parking morons” section with a vivid example from Lithuania, where the mayor of Vilnius Arturas Zuokas drove an armored personnel carrier over a Mercedes, which had been acquired specifically for the stunt and parked in a bike lane. “The best use of a tank I’ve ever seen,” wrote the Slovenian blogger.

Lithuania: Crushing Illegal Parking

Vilhelm Konnander — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:26:03 +0000

Journalist & Optimist tells [ger] how the mayor of Lithuania's capital Vilnius crushes a car with a tank, in an attempt to show non-tolerance of illegal parking, a long-time problem in the city.

Lithuania-Austria: Continued Controversy Over Ex-KGB Man

Vilhelm Konnander — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:50:28 +0000

Albatros of Litauen blog discusses [ger] the ongoing controversy between Lithuania and Austria, after authorities in Vienna let go of an internationally wanted ex-KGB officer, who allegedly was party to the January 1991 Vilnius killings of Lithuanians by soviet troops.