Transitions Online

People
Belarus’ Accidental Crusader: Irina Khalip learned quickly that just being a journalist was not an option in her country.
By Christina Karchevskaya; 22 May 2013

Around the Bloc
Russia Launches Public TV, Romanian Soccer Boss Jailed: Plus, more bloodshed in the North Caucasus and a sweet solution to Croatia's land mine problem.
By Joshua Boissevain, Ioana Caloianu, Ky Krauthamer, and Vladimir Matan; 21 May 2013

Around the Bloc
Russia Shocked by Orphanage Violence, Gay Rights Ralliers Beaten Back in Georgia, Russia: Plus, new polls spell trouble for Poland’s center-right government, and a long-delayed dam hangs over a Georgian village.
By Barbara Frye, Joshua Boissevain, Ioana Caloianu, and Vladimir Matan; 20 May 2013

Conflict & Diplomacy
Kazakhstan Shrugs Off Human Rights Concerns: Economics count for more than rights, and Western governments have little leverage anyway. From IWPR.
By Gaziza Baituova; 20 May 2013

Around the Bloc
Bulgaria’s Leading Party Demands Vote Rerun, Amnesty Slams Ukraine on Gay Rights: Plus, Bucharest flouts the EU with new anti-corruption appointments and police in the Balkans nab human traffickers.

Police swoop down on human traffickers in Bosnia and Croatia

Bosnian and Croatian law enforcement authorities have collaborated in an organized crackdown on human trafficking, Reuters reports. Police in Croatia arrested 25 suspects and were still searching for another eight this week, while their Bosnian counterparts arrested 13, Dean Savic, head of the Croatian police unit for corruption and organized crime, told a press conference.

The action targeted people responsible for smuggling illegal migrants into the European Union via the Balkans. According to Savic, most of the migrants came from Turkey and Kosovo, and paid around 1,000 euros ($1,300) to cross the border into Croatia. Although the number of illegal migrants coming to Croatia annually is around 6,000, an even higher number use the country as a transit point to Hungary, which is already an EU member, Reuters writes.

Croatia will also join the union on 1 July but Zoran Niceno, deputy director of Croatia's border police, predicted recently that accession would not necessarily mean a boost in illegal migrants, as the country will join the passport-free Schengen area in 2016 at the earliest, according to the news agency.

Euobserver.com writes that an EU report from March urged Croatia to step up efforts to combat human trafficking, as well as to identify and offer assistance to victims.

Anti-corruption video raises eyebrows in Russia

An animated video depicting a vigilante murder has become an Internet sensation in Russia, Radio Free Europe reports.

Since being reposted on YouTube last week, the video has gotten more than 280,000 views and pages of comments. It has also been reposted on several domestic and international news sites, including RFE.

The video opens with a young man sitting behind bars on a defendant's bench while a judge reads out a verdict. An older man, presumably the defendant’s father, whispers to the weeping woman next to him, “Don't worry everything has been paid for.”

After the man is acquitted, a joyous scene outside the courtroom ends when a woman approaches the defendant and shoots him dead.

The video ends with the message, “In prison, he'd still be alive. By encouraging corruption, we take a risk.”

The video was created by Yury Ataev, a board member of the animation and cinematography fund in Daghestan, according to gazeta.ru. Daghestan is a republic in Russia’s North Caucasus beset by poverty, corruption, and religious and separatist violence.

Ataev said Daghestan’s Committee for Press and Mass Communications commissioned the production of the video two years ago.

Ataev told gazeta.ru that he posted the video on YouTube two years ago but that it caught public attention when it was reposted by someone else last week.

Even though the video was originally commissioned for television broadcasting, it remains unclear if it ever aired in Daghestan, RFE reports. Daghestan's deputy justice minister, Suleiman Muradov, said he saw the video online but not on television. He reported it to authorities but does not know what measures will be taken, according to gazeta.ru.

“What is this supposed to mean? Is it to encourage vigilantism?” one YouTube user commented, RFE writes.
By S. Adam Cardais, Ioana Caloianu, and Vladimir Matan; 17 May 2013

Environment
Moldova's Pesticide Time Bomb: Two decades after the Soviet Union’s collapse, the country is still struggling with thousands of tons of chemicals, some leaking and unguarded.
By Dmitri Romanovski; 17 May 2013

Around the Bloc
Cossacks Go Green, Romanian Priests Spread Regime’s Good News: Plus, Armenians will feel the Russian gas pinch and Moldova has a new prime minister, maybe. By Erik N. Nelson, Joshua Boissevain, Ioana Caloianu, and Connor Zickgraf; 16 May 2013

Arts & Culture
Young, Loud, and Turkmen: Ashgabat’s few rock ’n’ rollers keep a low profile and face a limited future. By Dengiz Uralov; 16 May 2013

COLUMNS

Middle Europa
What is Normal?: The 2008 crisis forced the foreign managers of companies to rethink much of what they had assumed about the post-communist region.
By MARTIN EHL; 21 May 2013

The New EU
Budapest’s Smoking Gun: Could a tobacco corruption scandal finally undo Hungary’s retrograde, hubristic government?By BALINT SZLANKO; 15 May 2013

Middle Europa
A State of Depression: There’s not much to be optimistic about after the recent Bulgarian elections.
By MARTIN EHL; 14 May 2013

Middle Europa
A Star Pupil Flunks Out: Slovenia’s status as a post-communist standout was built on a shaky foundation.
By MARTIN EHL; 7 May 2013

Balkan Eye
The Years of Magical Thinking: The flat tax was a talisman in the East, before it became a monkey’s paw.
By BOYKO VASSILEV; 2 May 2013

Middle Europa
For Latvia, Another Declaration of Independence: Adopting the euro at this time may seem curious, but for the Baltics, it’s not just about economics.
By MARTIN EHL; 30 April 2013

Russian Unorthodox
A Dose of Common Sense for Russia’s Terminally Ill: Police restrictions on painkillers are set to be eased for those who need them most.
By GALINA STOLYAROVA; 25 April 2013