Latest posts by Veronica Khokhlova from November, 2008
Moldova, CEE: Rural Bus Stops; Hammer & Sickle @ Flickr
Photos of rural bus stops in Moldova – at Scraps of Moscow. A link to a Hammer and Sickle group on Flickr – at LimbicNutrition Weblog.
Kosovo: Haradinaj's Profile; Discussion at LSE
Popkitchen posts a critique of a Vanity Fair profile of Ramush Haradinaj, a former guerrilla leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and former prime minister of Kosovo, and writes about a recent discussion on Kosovo's independence held at the London School of Economics.
Ukraine: “No Other Home: The Crimean Tatars” – in Romania and Online
Maria Sonevytsky of My Simferopol Home announces the upcoming exhibition of the “No Other Home: The Crimean Tatars” project in Bucharest, Romania, in mid-December, and links to a related story on Crimean Tatars, complete with photos and audio, published in the online magazine Triple Canopy.
Russia: Moscow's “VIP Taxi”
Photo reports from inside Moscow's “VIP Taxi” – at Two-Zero's Diary, here and here.
Central & Eastern Europe: Obituaries
Edward Lucas re-posts The Economist‘s obits of Mieczyslaw Rakowski, a Polish Communist journalist and politician, who died on Nov. 8, and of Boris Fyodorov, a Russian economic reformer, who died on Nov. 20. Borut Peterlin notes the death of Vilko Filač, the “cameraman of Emir Kusturica’s best movies.”
Czech Republic: Notes on Prague
Notes on a visit to Prague – at Dr. Sean's Diary, here and here.
Poland: A Racist Country?
Discussions on whether Poland is a “racist country” – at the POLSKI blog, Raf Uzar, and Eternal Remont.
Albania: Health Care and Bribery
Belatedly, a link to Albanian Blogger‘s report on the arrest of a well-known oncology surgeon on bribery charges: “For the public, including myself, the event hopefully will serve to bring some much needed attention to this plague of our society in a sphere where all of us are vulnerable –...
Ukraine: Ruthenians
Some background and a translation of an Izvestiya piece on Ukraine's Ruthenians – at Robert Amsterdam's blog.
Ukraine: Taras Kuzio on Yushchenko
Taras Kuzio analyzes “the achievements and failures and unfulfilled expectations of the last four years” in Ukraine – here and here, and also writes that president Yushchenko “had over-focused on the issue [of Holodomor] to the detriment of contemporary political and economic concerns.”
Czech Republic, USA: “Growing Up ‘Cesky'”
An interview with a Czech-American woman on her experiences of growing up “in the midst of the 2 cultures (Czech and American)” and other issues – at Czechmatediary, in four installments: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.
Belarus: The Identity Debate
Andrei Khrapavitski writes about the ongoing public debate on “Belarusian identity.”
Russia, Ukraine: Party News
The Ivanov Report writes about last week's 10th Congress of the ruling United Russia party: “The victors have suddenly realized that as the ‘leading political force of the country’, it's their job to deal with the crisis and face its inevitably negative political and social consequences.” Taras Kuzio reports that...
Russia: Yevgeny Kolesov and Politkovskaya Trial
Robert Coalson of RFE/RL's The Power Vertical writes about “the open-again, closed-again, open-again trial of three men allegedly involved in the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya” and the role that former juror Yevgeny Kolesov has played in it.
Macedonia: “The First (!?) Macedonian Webcomics”
Filip Stojanovski of Razvigor :-) reports that “[a]t last an independent Macedonian artist has started publishing a genuine webcomics [MKD].”
Hungary, Czech Republic: Romaphobia
The Hungarian Spectrum reports on the murder of a 14-year-old girl in a Hungarian village, which led to an anti-Roma rally. The Reference Frame is unhappy with Al Jazeera's story on discrimination against the Czech Republic's Roma children in their access to education.
The Baltics, India: “The Dangers of Turning a Minority into an Underclass”
Lithuania-based Andrei Khrapavitski of Belarusan American Blog reflects on the events in Mumbai and suggests there might be a “lesson for the Baltics” there: “I know any status comparisons of Muslims in India to a Russian minority in Latvia or Estonia would be more than far-fetched, nevertheless I can see...
Croatia: Creator of Anti-PM Facebook Group Arrested
Svetlana Gladkova reports on Profy on the arrest (and the subsequent release) of a Croatian man who created a Facebook group (HRV) “I bet I will find 5,000 people who do not like [Croatia's PM Ivo Sanader].” The group now has over 9,000 members.
The Balkans: Tragic Legacy
Cafe Turco writes on the inaccuracies in Resolution 819 film and posts a translation of Hasan Nuhanović's article that challenges “the veracity of some scenes.” Srebrenica Genocide Blog writes on a recent exhumation of “50 complete and 883 partial human remains of Srebrenica genocide victims” and links to a documentary...
Central & Eastern Europe: A Roma Roundup
A few Roma-related posts: Inside Albania muses on the U.S. election and concludes that having a Roma PM in Albania will remain “pure fantasy” for quite a while; Romano Them links to a report on the situation with the Roma in Kosovo; Hungarian Spectrum reported on Nov. 20 that “[i]n...
Romania: A Quick Primer on Nov. 30 Election
Csíkszereda Musings writes about the upcoming Nov. 30 parliamentary election and “the shifting allegiances in Romanian politics”: “The other two major parties were allies four years ago, but now seem to hate each other's guts.”