· August, 2012

Stories about Eastern & Central Europe from August, 2012

Ukraine: Taras Polataiko's ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Project

  31 August 2012

Katherine Brooks of The Huffington Post and Natalia Antonova at the Guardian's Comment is Free write about Taras Polataiko's Sleeping Beauty project, which did open on Aug. 22 at the National Art Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv, despite some initial problems (which the Ukrainian-Canadian artist described on his Facebook page)....

Russia: Moscow's Peculiar Illegal Parking Problem

RuNet Echo  31 August 2012

Russian adventures and misadventures in parking could be a movie plot. But Russia’s parking problems are anything but comedy. It remains to be seen how vigorously the country will deal with illegal parking. If it succeeds, its methods could show what kind of transportation system and cities Russia will have, and even what kind of country it will be.

Ukraine: Humorous Political Ad Sparks Online “Pussy Cat Riot”

  31 August 2012

After weeks of tensions caused by the adoption of the controversial Language Law and in the midst of an intense pre-election mudslinging period, Ukrainians are finally rewarded with the much-needed comic relief - which they have promptly transformed into something of an online political protest movement.

Russia: “The Sissy Conspiracy”

RuNet Echo  30 August 2012

On his Tumblr blog, Michael Idov, editor-in-chief of GQ Russia, writes that “pop conspirology, a favorite Russian pastime, is a projection of discomfort with slackened gender roles.” He explains: “It’s not just about the ‘Jews’ or the ‘world government’ any more. It’s about weird semiotic clusters organized around degrees of...

Hungary: Shantytown Destroyed to Help Real Estate Investment

  29 August 2012

Some 45-50 people have been living in their makeshift shacks in the abandoned woods of District X in Budapest. Some of the residents have built up self-supporting farms, but in June 2012 the local municipality started to move them out, which is not a unique phenomenon in Hungary's capital.

Russia: Chainsaws to the Cross

RuNet Echo  29 August 2012

On August 25, unknown parties sawed down three wooden crosses in the city of Chelyabinsk, in the Urals. The same night, another cross came down in Arkhangelsk, in the north. Was it a copycat political statement, or a dire plot by the Kremlin to sow discord?

Russia: Censorship Law Threatens Children's Classics

RuNet Echo  29 August 2012

After news that Russian television will soon be forced to curtail showings of a classic children’s cartoon “Nu, Pogodi!” [wiki] (the Soviet version of Tom & Jerry but with wolf and bunny instead of cat and mouse) because it is too violent for a new law protecting children from the...

Russia: Police Claim Top Blogger Was Hacked from Germany

RuNet Echo  29 August 2012

The Moscow police department has determined [ru] that Aleksei Navalny's email and Twitter accounts were hacked in late June from a German IP address. Fellow liberal blogger Andrey Malgin criticized [ru] the announcement, accusing the authorities of disguising their own responsibility for supposedly stealing [ru] Navalny's passwords in a June 11 search [ru] of...

Russia: Foreign Ministry Looks to Germany to Justify Pussy Riot Verdict

RuNet Echo  28 August 2012

Russia's Foreign Ministry has made a series of comments that further enraging Pussy Riot's supporters. Spokesperson Aleksandr Lukashevich defended the recent verdict and lashed out at the West for ignorance about the band members' pasts and highlighted perceived double standards regarding interferences into religious services and criminal penalties, citing laws in Germany and Austria.

Russia: Protesters Aim for Elected Office

RuNet Echo  28 August 2012

In the lead up to Russia's next large protests planned for mid-September, activists and politicians of the anti-Kremlin opposition are increasingly showing an interest in running for local offices. If successful at the ballot box, could this trend bestow valuable "real world" political experience on Russia's protesters?

Russia's War Games Make Georgia Nervous

RuNet Echo  27 August 2012

This September, Russia is planning to hold 'Caucasus-2012' with forces from the breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. With 8,000 troops, as well as heavy machinery, artillery, navy, and air force, this will be Russia’s largest exercise this year. Is this too close for comfort for Georgians?

Russia: Senator Wants 15 Years in Prison for Hackers

RuNet Echo  26 August 2012

In the aftermath of a hacker attack on the court that convicted Pussy Riot's 3 members, Kremlin youth group organizer and Senator Ruslan Gattarov [ru] has proposed [ru] making criminal penalties stricter for those who target government websites. Gattarov suggests equating hacks with illegal physical occupations of government buildings, which carry a...

Russia: Diva Politics Over Pussy Riot

RuNet Echo  25 August 2012

The Pussy Riot trial has caused no small amount of debate among Russia's public figures, including an amusing row between two of the country's best known celebrities.

Macedonia: Crowdsourcing Against Gender-Based Violence

  25 August 2012

Ushahidi blog's current “Deployment of the Week” selection [en, mk] is React! Be Safe! (“Реагираj!”), an online platform against gender-based violence in public spaces [en, mk, sq], launched by the think-tank Reactor, initially covering the Skopje municipalities of Centar and Čair.

About our Eastern & Central Europe coverage

Filip Stojanovski
Filip Stojanovski is the Central Europe editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

Daria Dergacheva
Daria Dergacheva is the Eastern Europe editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.