Eastern European Politics

What's going on in the Ukraine has made me curious about the rest of Eastern Europe so if you have something of interest to post regarding any of the former Warsaw Pact nations, former members of the Soviet Union (excluding Russia and Ukraine because they have their own threads) or the former Yugoslavia (or do folks think it should have it's own thread? For now let's include it) do it here. And yes that includes how these nations feel and are reacting to the current actions pf their big neighbor to the east but keep it polite. No Flame Bait!.

edited 26th May '14 6:08:14 AM by tricksterson

Do note that we also have a general European Politics thread here in OTC, so anything that would be valid here would also be accepted there.

That, of course, indicates that this thread might be too redundant to work but let's give it a shot.

Should Western Europe have paid more attention to Eastern Europe? And does anyone know anything about Nordefco? I never heard of it before.

edited 29th May '14 9:22:35 AM by tricksterson

Excellent article.

How do we define Eastern Europe, and where is the boundary between an issue suitable for the Russian thread and one that should go in here?

Look at first post. I'm defining it as the former Warsaw Pact and the former European SSRs, except for Ukraine because it has it's own thread predating this one. As for what belongs here and what in the Russian thread i would say that if it gives the Russian perspective of say relations between Russia and Poland it belongs there. If it gives the Polish view than here. This of course is subject to Moderation.

Keep in mind that some former Warsaw Pact nations are also part of the European Politics thread, especially since they're part of the EU. So, this is all a bit blurry.

There'll be some overlap but if we can have two active threads, with one a sort of sub-thread of the other, then why not have it that way.

"Ignoring the east Europeans was a mistake not only in a narrow tactical sense (treating allies brusquely does not encourage them to spill blood and treasure for you in future). It was also a mistake because America could have learned something from them. Western policy-makers are now reluctantly facing up to the fact that the people who knew the Russians best, those scaremongering Eastern Europeans, have been right about them all along. Russia has sent its military spending soaring – nearly doubling it in real terms in ten years. The economy, for all its corruption, bottlenecks and narrow base on natural-resources, has proved remarkably resilient. Russia has bought allies and influence in the West, and promoted economic interdependence, to the point that implementing serious sanctions is difficult."

Mr. Perfect from Warsaw: The Rise of Poland's Foreign Minister.

The Winners of Belarus' Strangest Contests.

Excerpts from an interesting-looking book by a Polish photographer. Features:

• Elena, best milkmaid of Slutsk region
• Sasha, best welder of Belarus
• Vasiliy, best policeman of Minsk
• Anastasia, winner of Belorussian Youth Association beauty contest
• Stars and Vlad, some award-winning twins
• Natalya and Konan, winners of Belarus' best couple in love
• Ania, fitness queen
• Olga, mother of best large family in Smorgon region
• Xenia Degelko, winner of leader of year contest in Mogilevsky region
• Marina, Miss Belorussian Railway in Brest region
• Vsevolod, finest preventer-of-Ukrainian-pig-theft in Vitebsk region (OK, I made that one up )

Come to Belarus. Eastern Europe's largest historical re-enactment society. We have performed world-renowned re-enactment of life in Soviet Union, 1994-present!

A bit about the project:

edited 31st May '14 9:06:42 AM by Achaemenid

Marina is hot.

Your making that one up is kind of gilding the lily isn't it?

Guilty as charged, I just wanted to make a "Ukrainians steal pigs◊" joke.

The president of Belarus has decided to bring back serfdom on farms in a bid to stop urban migration...

Europe's last dictatorship in action, lovely.

Sometimes I think Putin keeps Lukashenko around just so he looks good by comparison.

Lukashenko's an oddity. Sometimes he bucks the Moscow line and sometimes he sticks to it; a few years ago they had a major falling out, but they seem to be working together again, if coolly. I think Lukashenko's main concern is to keep Belarus on a middle path between Russian vassal and a politically European state - with him in control, of course.

Pretty much. Let's Russia invest in Belarus to the point that one day, he can just throw Lukashenko to the dogs and reap the benefits of relative liberalization under Russian control.

That may be his plan, but I think he underestimates Putin's control or overestimates his own.

edited 4th Jun '14 12:32:02 PM by FFShinra

This idea of the smaller party thinking that the game they're playing is a brilliant act of balancing domestic control with submission to Russia reminds me of what went on in Finland during the Cold War, especially under President Kekkonen, who is praised by his supporters for having maintained great relations with the USSR while not getting entirely disconnected from the West.

There's an anecdote (probably not even meant to be taken as the truth) in which Kekkonen is talking to Brezhnev, and the Premier suggests that Finland and the USSR should be merged. Kekkonen replies: "I really don't think I'd have the time to manage a country that large!"

edited 4th Jun '14 2:24:45 PM by BestOf

Except Kekkonen wasn't a ruthless despot.

Very possibly. I also think he's walking a tightrope in his head between his affection for the USSR and his affection with Belarus.

Well, no. He was a bit of a despot but not really ruthless - it's unlikely that he ever had anyone killed, for instance.

EU signs pacts with Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova.

OK — time to hit the back of the sofa for the incoming indignation...