Romanian Leader Condemns Communist Rule

Oh, this is quite a great step forward for Romania. In my opinion, not the fact itself is impressive (the present president Basescu does not belong to a former communist party, so it should not surprise), but Basescu´s implicit enforcement against the former nomenklatura, who is still taking part in the political life. Romanian newspaper wrote that there was much opposition from many political fronts (like former communists, and radical populists), who expressed their opinion by loud-voiced denying the neutrality of the authors of the “Tismaneanu report”.

But, that afraid as these opponents are, might this possibly mean that they are just about to lose their political influence for good and that they know that?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/world/europe/19romania.html

Forbes Russia vs. Baturina

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and his billionaire wife Yelena Baturina have never taken kindly to suggestions that Baturina amassed her fortune in the construction business thanks to her husband’s position.
http://www.sptimes.ru/story/19638

The background story in German
http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,453525,00.html

Seizing power? Well, some regret

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA—Only hours after assuming control of the deeply troubled country in a bloody coup, members of the United Deliverance Front admitted Monday that they might have made a “huge mistake” by seizing power in Zambia.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/56093

Neither Russia nor Central Asia, but interesting how different approaches towards power can be.

Vladimir Putin The Real Deal

don’t know if you guys have seen it–it is a bit gross, but funny at times

Russia, immigration and organised crime

Here is an interesting article from the Moscow Times dealing with the criminalization of Russia’s foreign diasporas (as seen by a New York based economist).

http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2006/12/04/007.html

Russia may risk WTO entry with EU meat ban

An interesting complaint, don´t you think?

“Speaking after the summit meeting, Putin defended the Russian ban after earlier complaining that the European Commission had failed to consult him before agreeing to admit Bulgaria and Romania, whose food safety practices he called into question.”

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/24/news/russia.php

Not that We Have the Time…

“The Foundation of German American Scientific Relations (Stiftung Deutsch-Amerikanische Wissenschaftsbeziehungen) provides support for study groups that will focus their research on issues of social science with an emphasis on trans-Atlantic relations. All studies with relevance to transatlantic relations are welcomed. Examples of ideal topics include; “The Future of the UN: Similarities and differences between American and European Perspectives,” or “Immigration and Integration: American and European Experiences.” Study groups can be supported for up to two years and should be formed with students from various disciplines who come from Germany, Europe, and North America. Eligible applicants include post-doctoral researchers from Germany, the United States, and other European countries who are active in a field of research at a university. Successful proposals can be awarded up to $22,000 for a period of up to two years. Application deadline for Fall 2007: March 31, 2007.”

For more the complete call for applications (in German), go to: www.stifterverband.de/pdf/sdaw_ausschreibung_2007.pdf

Gazprom City

Here’s an interesting article on the proposed complex for Gazprom in St. Petersburg. Only foreign architects were invited to submit proposals.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/world/europe/28petersburg.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Borat smuggled into Central Asia

Found an authentic Indian DVD (made with digicam in an American cinema, with people running through the screen and so on) in Bombay, and successfully smuggled it into Central Asia yesterday

(No idea whether some of you have already seen the movie, and no comments on it here, beside:

Назарбаеву “Борат” понравился («Известия» November 22, 2006)
Президент Казахстана Нурсултан Назарбаев считает, что американский фильм-комедия о казахе Борате сыграл позитивную роль для страны. Такое мнение он высказал во вторник на пресс-конференции во время своего официального визита в Лондон.

http://news.mail.ru/culture/1201104/

Capital punishment and East-West divide

Quite an interesting article in IHT about diverging views that Western and Eastern Europe have on capital punishment…

I do agree with its central premise that nobody really asked people in the region about whether they want to have capital punishment or not. The truth is that I’m not even convinced that if such a referendum was held in parts of Western Europe, it would have passed (in particular, with regards to pedophiles, for example)…

What do you guys think?

Such a debate elsewhere in Europe convinced most of the intelligentsia that the punishment was not effective. Now, while there are periodic surges of support for the death penalty – usually after some particularly heinous crime – only fringe politicians call for its return.

 

But in countries lacking such a debate, Hodgkinson argued, there is a chance that people who support putting murderers to death may turn to “extrajudicial” killings in response to rising crime, as happened in Albania in the 1990s when it was on the road to banning capital punishment.

Still, many people in central Eastern Europe doubt that the EU position will endure, arguing that it is more a moratorium than a permanent ban.

“To abolish the death penalty, that’s hardly sustainable,” Goethe wrote in 1829. “If that happens, we will call it back every now and then.”