CER's articles for the year 2000 are arranged by months:
January—April
May—August
September—December
The archived CER articles for the year 1999 are HERE
Our full archives are also organised by:
We also offer:
- The Kinoeye Archive containing all articles pertaining to cinema.
- The Book Review Archive containing all our book reviews.
- The News Review Archive listing all the news updates throughout the past months.
- The Press Review Archive listing all the reviews of outside media looking into the region.
Plus, you can SEARCH all our articles for words of your choice.
| Volume 2 Archives by issue: | |
Volume 2 Issue 1, 10 January 2000
Bye Bye Boris
Mel Huang
The resignation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin was wrongly interpreted by the international press.
Crown Fever
Paul Nemes
The return of the Hungarian crown could lead to the country becoming a royal republic.
Ukraine 1999:
On the threshold of change?
Sarah Whitmore
A tumultuous year reviewed.
Conference Talk
CONFERENCE REVIEW: Joint Conference on Corruption
Budapest, Hungary, 29 October to 6 November 1999
Michael J Kopanic Jr
A review of the conference.
Theme of the Week: Corruption
RUSSIA: Economic Evasion
Piotr Przychodzki
Chronic evasion of debt repayment is a key factor contributing to the Russian crisis.
SLOVAKIA: Stealing the Steelworks
Michael J Kopanic Jr
the story of Alexander Rezeš is a perfect example of
the kind of brazen corruption which has typified post-Communist
transition.
HUNGARY: White Collar Crime, the Police and Corruption
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
The Hungarian government is aiming to combat organised crime.
Comment and Analysis
Fiasco at Czech Public Service Television
Jan Čulík
Chief Executive of Czech TV, Jakub Puchalský, has resigned suddenly.
The Yuletide Collapse
Catherine Lovatt
Romania's Prime Minister was dismissed in and extraordinary and
allegedly unconstitutional manner.
History Greets the New Year on the Baltic
Mel Huang
As Latvia and Lithuania entered the new year, both countries faced difficult dilemmas stemming from history.
The Rip van Winkle Institutions
Sam Vaknin
Communism was a collaborative effort that transcended notions of the oppressors and the oppressed.
Kinoeye
Science Fiction of the Domestic
Iakov Protazanov's Aelita
Andrew J Horton
Protazanov's extravaganza is often labelled the first Soviet
science-fiction film.
Books
Book Review: Dangerous Security
David Lightfoot
Karel Kaplan's Nebezpečná bezpečnost (Dangerous Security)
details the infamous, but elusive Czechoslovak Communist security agency, the StB.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Croatia
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Volume 2 Issue 2, 17 January 2000
Arkan Shot Dead
Vana Suša
The death of a warlord.
And What Now?
Saša Cvijetić
A landslide victory in the long-awaited parliamentary elections.
The Little Engine That Couldn't
Marton Burger
Travellers and industrial goods in Central and Eastern Europe used to move mainly by train. Not anymore.
A Glimmer in the Dark
Catherine Miller
AIDS has been greeted in the Czech Republic with a fair amount of hysteria and stigmatisation.
Europe Endless
Peter Szyszlo
The former Soviet borderlands remain in flux.
Weaknesses of the Czech Media
Andrew Stroehlein
The traditional Czech media have been weak, ineffective and unable to perform the role of watchdog in the new Czech democracy.
Once upon a Time in the Czech Republic...
James Partridge
The Czech nation's favourite fairy tales are disappearing from TV screens.
Economic Evasion: Part 2
Piotr Przychodzki and Andrei Markine
Chronic debt-dodging in Russia's corporate sector, resulting in massive capital flight.
Stealing the Steelworks: Part 2
Michael J Kopanic Jr
How the Eastern Slovak Ironworks went from steel behemoth to debt-ridden debacle.
Theme of the Week: Poverty
HUNGARY: Rich Man, Poor Man
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
In Hungary, the hidden world of the less affluent is beginning to encroach on the "respectable" heart of the metropolis.
Comment and Analysis
Who's Afraid of Rational Thought?
Jan Čulík
In the view of one well-regarded Czech literary critic, articulate rational argumentation is highly suspect.
Regional Politics and Instability
Catherine Lovatt
A plethora of parties in Romania.
Off the Mark
Mel Huang
Public relations seems to have overwhelmed actual needed reform in Estonia's efforts to achieve NATO membership.
The Mind of Darkness
Sam Vaknin
Who was to blame for the war?
A Law unto Themselves?
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
The second part of our examination of white collar crime and police corruption in Hungary.
Kinoeye
No More Childhood
Aleksei Balabanov's Schastlivye dni
Andrew J Horton
A film inspired by the plays of Samual Beckett.
Books
Book Review: On the Development of Czech Society
Helen Carter and Magali Perrault
Zprava o vyvoji ceske spolecnosti 1989-98 moves away from the traditionally narrow Czech understanding of a social report.
Music
Continuing Traditions:
Contemporary music in Croatia
William A Everett
The big names and institutions which make up the contemporary music scene.
CER Culture Calendar
EXHIBITION: Czech Experimental Art of the 1960s
Vít Havránek
Today's perspective on the 1960s has been influenced by changes in
technology and mass communication and the continuing social revolution.
News
Austria
Croatia
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Volume 2 Issue 3, 24 January 2000
Big Culture Issue
This week, CER offered up a bumper crop of articles dealing with Central and East European culture.
Janáček from All Angles
Zuzana Slobodová
In the frenzy to pay homage to Janáček's genius, not everybody has come to terms with his extreme misogyny.
Purveyors of Prog
Mel Huang
The experimental and groundbreaking Estonian rock group Ruja.
The Visionary of Hiiumaa
Mel Huang
Hiiumaa-born Erkki-Sven Tüür has managed to bring his vision from the small island to the world.
2000: Year of Eminescu
Catherine Lovatt
The year 2000 has been crowned a year in memory of the Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu.
Kinoeye Focus: Aleksandr Sokurov
Popularly considered to be the heir to the late Andrei Tarkovsky's film mantle, Sokurov has been, since the international commercial release of Mat' i syn, the most talked about Russian film director.
The Elusive Hitler
Aleksandr Sokurov's Moloch
Benjamin Halligan
Sokurov's most recent film depicts a day in the life of Adolf Hitler as he relaxes at his Alpine retreat, Berchtesgaden.
Angels or UFOs?
Aleksandr Sokurov's Dni zatmeniia
Andrew J Horton
Based on a science-fiction novel, Dni zatmeniia is replete with unexplained events and ambiguous images.
Staring into the Soul
Sokurov's Povinnost'
Donato Totaro
Sokurov's four-and-a-half hour existentialist maritime epic makes use of the "stare," almost a trademark feature of Sokurov, to bring about a trance-like state of altered awareness in the viewer.
Sokurov Online
CER Staff
Where to buy Mat' i syn online, read Nick Cave's eulogy to Sokurov or just generally find out more about the director.
The Upside of Top-down
Andreas Beckmann
Some remarkable natural and cultural treasures in Central Europe.
Reshuffling the Deck
Michael J Kopanic, Jr
Slovakia's Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda has been toying with the idea of a new party since this past summer.
Economic Evasion: Part 3
Piotr Przychodzki and Andrei Markine
The third part of our in-depth analysis of the Russian economy.
Comment and Analysis
The Last Family
Sam Vaknin
In the context of Communist housing, the family is a claustrophobic nightmare that causes problems, not solves them.
Unequal Fates
Židas Daskalovski
Citizens of the ex-Yugoslav republics are paying for their leaders' mistakes with their quality of life.
A New Leader for an Unknown Reason
Jan Čulík
There are indications that the Council for Czech Television is about to appoint Kamil Čermák (29) as Chief Executive of Czech Television.
Books
Orwell He Ain't
Seán Hanley
A History of the Present comes across as a slightly complacent affirmation that the established political and cultural elites are doing things right.
CER BOOK REVIEW ARCHIVE
A list of all our past book reviews and links to them.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Austria
Croatia
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Romania
Serbia
Volume 2 Issue 4, 31 January 2000
Coffee with the President
Saša Cvijetić
The victory of Stipe Mesić in the first round of presidential elections illustrates a paradox.
Click Icon
Andrew Stroehlein
An interview with the "Czech Bill Gates," Ivo Lukačovič.
If you prick us, do we not bleed?
Jan Čulík
The plight of Czech Roma attempting to find asylum in the UK.
Theme of the Week: Jewish Communities
AUSTRIA: Is There Life after Haider?
Magali Perrault
Has Haider revived traditional Austrian anti-Semitism?
POLAND: A Complicated Coexistence
Joanna Rohozińska
Nowhere is the history of Jews in Central Europe more hotly debated than in Poland.
MACEDONIA: Heritage under Threat
Zhidas Daskalovski
Macedonia's Jewish community is still threatened.
HUNGARY: Remembering Not to Forget
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
Hungary presents her plans for the remembrance of the WWII expulsions.
Kinoeye
The Poetics of Nature,
the Politics of Change
Andrew J Horton
Sándor Sára has been a harsh critical observer of life under the Communist regime.
The Eye Speaks
Andrew J Horton
An exclusive interview with Sándor Sára.
Comment and Analysis
The Author of this Article is a Racist
Sam Vaknin
Or so say many of the readers.
Czech TV's New Director
Jan Čulík
Dusan Chmelíček has been appointed Director of Czech Television.
Dissing His Own Product
Mel Huang
Tallinn Mayor Jüri Mõ has astonished both his grudging supporters and vehement critics.
Books
Wilhelm Dichter, School of the Godless
Justyna Sobolewska
The sequel to Dichter's God's Horse is set in Warsaw in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Benjamin Kuras, Nebyt Golema, Rabbi Löw, židovství a češství
Robert Řehák
Reflections on Judaism and Czech identity.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Austria
Croatia
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Volume 2 Issue 5, 7 February 2000
Austricized!
Magali Perrault
The emergence of Austria's new government has provoked international condemnation.
The Lesson of Orahovac
Nataša Kandić
The Serbs who are struggling to survive in Orahovac live in fear for their own lives.
Ljubljana's Mr Boisterous
Samuel Willcocks
Slovenes honour the memory of France Preseren, the outstanding Slovene literary figure of the 19th century.
Triumphs and Trade-offs
Andreas Beckmann & Miroslav Kundrata
CER talks to Bill Moody, program officer for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Theme of the Week: Intellectuals in Central and Eastern Europe
Five Flavours of Brain
Židas Daskalovski
Some Balkan intellectuals now work exclusively for profit whilst others seek to attain a more elusive reward: political power.
Books
Capitalism with a Comrade's Face
Michael Kopanic
This marvellous book explains why the post-Communist transition has been such a bumpy ride.
Kinoeye
A Nation of Thieves
Andrew J Horton
Miloš Forman's New Wave classic Hori, ma panenko (The Firemen's Ball, 1967).
Comment and Analysis
Romania's EU Leap
Catherine Lovatt
On the EU proposal to remove Romania from the "visa list."
"We are not racists, but we don't like Gypsies"
Jan Čulík
In response to last week's review, letters pour in
The Friendly Club
Sam Vaknin
Macedonia has been given the cold shoulder in the latest wave of applications for EU entry.
Latvia's Image-maker
Mel Huang
Interview with the new director of the Latvian Institute and former Ambassador to the US Ojārs Kalniņš.
Remembering Not to Forget: Jews in Hungary, Part Two
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
In contemporary Hungarian society accusations of anti-Semitism stretch all the way to the government itself.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Austria
Croatia
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Volume 2 Issue 6, 14 February 2000
Commotion in 3/4 time
Saša Cvijetić
Austria ponders the fate of its annual Vienna Opera Ball.
Gangsters' Paradise
Židas Daskalovski
On the assassination of Serbia's Defence Minister, Pavle Bulatovic.
Crisis in Government
Michal Frank
The ruling SDK party in Slovakia is on the verge of collapse.
Essay of the Month
Hungarian Identity, Globalisation and EU Accession
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
How Hungarians view themselves, how they view the world and how these views are changing as EU entry approaches.
Kinoeye
Ordinary People at an Extraordinary FEST
Židas Daskalovski
The Belgrade Film Festival.
Comment and Analysis
Retrieving Stolen Property
Mel Huang
The issue of property restitution has caused conflicts which go beyond the basic notion of the sanctity of ownership.
Rasputin in Transition
Sam Vaknin
The former Communist countries are easy prey for con men.
Media Manipulation
Jan Čulík
Czech Television has come under concerted attack from political and business critics.
Anglo-Romanian Relations
Catherine Lovatt
Romanian President Emil Constantinescu visits the UK.
Books
The Political Economy of Protest and Patience
Jeremy Druker
Bela Greskovits's book serves as an appropriate antidote to all the anniversary blather.
Music
From Berlin to Broadway
Charlotte Purkis
Hard to believe that 50 years after his death there should still be European premieres of a composer of the stature of Kurt Weill.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Volume 2 Issue 7, 21 February 2000
A River Dies: The Tisza disaster
The Blond is Dead
Ida Miro Kiss
The release of toxic chemicals into the Tisza River has left an appalling wake of destruction.Aquatic Chernobyl
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
The Tisza is much more than just a river to most Hungarians; it is a unifying thread that runs through Magyar history, literature and culture.Gold and Cyanide
Catherine Lovatt
Romania's EU bid may have also been affected by the cyanide spill into the Tisza.
The Haider Phenomenon
Lonnie Johnson
Neither dictatorship nor civil war are on the horizon in Austria.
Nazi Slave-labor Talks Stall
Karen M Laun
Negotiations in Berlin have failed to resolve the stalemate over the payment of compensation to Nazi slave-laborers.
Kinoeye
Un mensonge que dit la verité...: The cinema of Vitaly Kanevsky
Niobe Thompson
Kanevsky was one of the most extraordinary figures in Russian cinema to emerge from the glasnost period.
Comment and Analysis
Politicking over Paedophilia
Mel Huang
Several high-ranking government officials have been linked to a paedophilia scandal.
Sam Vaknin
The hope of a fully functioning independent media recedes in Central and Eastern Europe. Roma: The Debate Continues
Jan Čulík
The discussion of Roma in the Internet daily Britské listy has now attracted the attention of Czech police.
Exhibition
Karel Teige (1900-51) was one of the most significant cultural figures of his day. His theoretical writings on avant-garde art influenced a whole generation of Czech poets and artists, but he was also an accomplished artist and typograper in his own right, and a major theoretician of modern architecture.
Avant-Garde Typography and Surrealist Collage
Sue Bagust
Teige's surrealist collages remain both intensely private works of his inner erotic feelings and reflections on bleak political realities of his day.
An Independent Modernist
Juan Gomez-Guterriez
Teige foresaw the social and political problems in Stalin's urban planning.
Photomontaged Dreams
Mark Hearld
Teige's collages have an authority as a medium which he could not have acheived in painting.
Karel Teige/ 1900-1951
Sue Bagust
Book review.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 8, 28 February 2000
The Other Austria
Magali Perrault
200,000 Austrians took to the streets of Vienna to demonstrate against the new coalition.
Case Closed
Michael J Kopanic Jr
Slovak investigators finally dispel speculations of murder in the death of Dubček.
Cashing in on Climate Change
Paul Csagoly
Reducing greenhouse emissions could be an economic and environmental boon for CEE countries.
Kinoeye
A look at the Neue deutsche Filme section of this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
Broken by the Streets:
Maren-Kea Freese's Zoe
Elke de Wit
Zoe, a film about homelessness, was one of only three films in the Neue deutsche Filme section to be directed by a woman.
Comment and Analysis
The PCM Trail
Sam Vaknin
Central and East European women are frequently driven by the "PCM" trinity - passports, cars, money.
Convention Chaos
Catherine Lovatt
Last week's Democratic Party Convention in Romania resulted in the resignation of six leading PD members and parliamentary chaos.
Under the Influence
Jan Čulík
The Czech media and the vested interests and PR agencies.
A River Dies: CER's Coverage of the the Tisza River Disaster
Aquatic Chernobyl Part 2: Anatomy of a disaster
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
The Tisza River disaster is not simply a Hungarian or Romanian problem; it affects all of Europe.
CER Culture Calendar
Signs of the Times
Andrew James Horton
Politics and art have long been wont to mix in Central Europe and no more so than in posters.
News
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 9, 6 March 2000
The Triple Burden
Židas Daskalovski
All three sides in last year's Kosovo crisis - NATO, Serbia and the KLA - should stand equally condemned.
Central Europe Is Europe Too!
Gusztáv Kosztolányi with Paul Nemes
Hungarian protestors descend on Brussels.
Who to Hate: Haider or History?
Blake Lambert
The EU should pay less attention to Austria and more to its relations with Latvia and Lithuania.
Kinoeye
Kinoeye continues its look at the Neue deutsche Filme section of this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
The Sunnier Side of East Germany
Leander Haussmann's Sonnenallee
Elke de Wit
Sonnenallee aims to show how the magic of youth existed even in the GDR.
Comment and Analysis
The Temptations of Cash
Sam Vaknin
Strange, penumbral characters roam the boardrooms of banks in the countries in transition.
The Dirtiest Election
Catherine Lovatt
Election campaigns are normally messy, but Romania appears to be taking this to the extreme.
Revolt or Reverie?
This week, we re-examine the "Thank You, Now Leave" initiative three months after it managed to muster the largest mobilisation of the Czech public since 1989.
Interview with Martin Mejstřík
Kazi Stastna
One of the student leaders of the 1989 revolution speaks about the recent mass civic protest he helped launch.Vivat Academia
On pre-November students in a disrespectful tone
Jiří Peňas
Debunking some of the popular myths of Czechoslovakia's "student revolution."Sto studentských revolucí [A Hundred Student Revolutions]
Pavel Tychtl
Is this series of interviews with students involved in the November 1989 revolution an example of authentic testimony or dubious self-glorification?
Music
What Vastness of Suffering?
Interpreting Lutosławski's First Symphony
Nicholas Reyland
Lutosławski both vehemently rejected suggestions that his music was an expression of the traumatic circumstances of his life and was curiously tolerent to those who suggested this might be so.
CER Culture Calendar
Coming up in the USA
Karen M Laun
Central and East European events.
Poland Cultural Review
Wojtek Kość
The latest cultural events and culture news in Poland.
News
Austria
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 10, 13 March 2000
The Art of Playing Football
Saša Cvijetić
Political football in the Zagreb City Assembly.
Making Parliament Work
Sarah Whitmore
The beginning of the year saw Ukrainian parliamentary politics turn into a theatre of the absurd.
A Smooth Sweep
Wojtek Kość
Aleksander Kwaśniewski tipped to win a second term.
Bulgaria's Secret
Židas Daskalovski
The ethnic Macedonian party OMO-Ilinden-PIRINT is outlawed.
"Transitology": Global Dreams
and Post-Communist Realities
Rudolf L Tőkés
The time has come to rethink the daunting complexities of post-Communist transitions.
Essay of the Month
On the Inside Looking Out
Lonnie Johnson
Austria's New ÖVP-FPV Government, Jörg Haider and Europe.
Kinoeye
Kinoeye continues its look at the Neue deutsche Filme section of this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
Growing up Late
Doris Dörrie's Erleuchtung Garantiert
Elke de Wit
A coming of age story for 40-year-olds.
Comment and Analysis
President Albright?
Jan Čulík
More Western media speculation that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright may make a bid for the Czech presidency.
Petre Roman in London
Catherine Lovatt
Romanian Foreign Minister Petre Roman "sale of Romania" left much unexplained.
The Expat Experts
Sam Vaknin
The hustlers, the bureaucrats and the corporates.
The Tisza Disaster Just Got Worse
Once Is Not Enough
Catherine Lovatt
Only six weeks after the ecologically destructive cyanide spill in Baia Mare, Romania is once again facing the humiliation of yet another environmental catastrophe.Aquatic Chernobyl, Part Four: From disaster to debate
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
The Tisza River disaster has reached the floor of the Hungarian Parliament.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic Beata Struhárová and Markus Bonorianto
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 11, 20 March 2000
Tiso's Legacy
Michael J Kopanic Jr
The legacy of Josef Tiso continues to divide Slovakia 50 years after his execution.
The Great Gold Chase
Martin D Brown
The history Czechoslovakia's gold reserves.
TV Commercials
Assia Ivantcheva
The licensing of Bulgaria's first nationwide commercial TV operator.
Western Aid: Blessing or burden?
From Teachers to Learners
Thomas Carothers
Western aid to Central and Eastern Europe over the past decade has changed considerably in form, role and motivation.Partners without Partnerships
Jacek Wojnarowski and Nev Jefferies
Early contacts between Western organizations and their counterparts in Central and Eastern Europe tended to be primarily donor-recipient in nature.To Give with Grace
Sam Vaknin
America is hated in Central and Eastern Europe.Western Help in Romania
Catherine Lovatt
Ten years after their revolution, Romanians find themselves largely reliant on outside assistance.Leaving Too Soon?
Helena Ackermann
Much has been achieved thanks to foreign aid to Czech nonprofits.
Kinoeye
Kinoeye continues its look at the Neue deutsche Filme section of this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
Chance at the End of the Millennium:
Thorsten Schmidt's Schnee In Der Neujahrsnacht
Elke de Wit
Schmidt's comic debut aims to cash in on millennium fever.
Comment and Analysis
Who's Robbing Who?
Jan Čulík
The battle for Czech TV Nova.
Setting the European House in Order:
Human rights and accession
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
Last week's debate in the European Parliament concerning human rights both within the EU and in the candidate countries.
Books
Politics without a Past:
The absence of history in postcommunist nationalism
Magali Perrault
In Politics without a Past, Shari J Cohen analyses the legacy of "two totalitarianisms" in post-Communist Slovakia.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Albania
Austria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 12, 27 March 2000
Hungarian Music Special
The Mind Is a Free Creature: The Music of György Kurtág
Rachel Beckles Willson
A look at Hungary's leading contemporary composer.From Tanchaz to Concert Band
Paul Nemes
Ghymes started off as a small Hungarian folk ensemble but has since won international acclaim.Kurtág in Edinburgh
Rachel Beckles Willson
Last year, Kurtág was the featured composer at the distinguished Edinburgh festival.Zoltán Kodály, Modernism and Hungarian Folk Music
Sue Bagust
Kodály laid a substantial foundation for modern music in Hungary.World Music at Play: Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene
Andrew James Horton
Erzsi Kiss and her band draw on an eclectic range of sources to create a "virtual world music."Not for Dummies
Mel Huang
After Crying is one of the most innovative bands on the Hungarian music scene.From Beats to Bass
"Blade Runner" with Gusztáv Kosztolányi
A Brief History of beat and rock Music in Hungary.
Kinoeye at The Oscars
Hollywood Finally Cottons On:
Wajda's work acknowledged by Tinseltown
Andrew James Horton
The Oscars have just given Andrzej Wajda an award for lifetime achievement.
Kinoeye
Kinoeye continues its look at the Neue deutsche Filme section of this year's Berlin International Film Festival.
Devilishly Bad: Bernd Eichinger's Der Grosse Bagarozy
Elke de Wit
Bernd Eichinger is a well established and respected producer. His directing debut would suggest that he might be better off remaining one.
Comment and Analysis
Women and Children First
Oliver Craske
This week, we begin a new regular feature which will look at the stories of Central and Eastern Europe that make it into the UK media.
Hitler's Mein Kampf in Czech
Jan Čulík
Moves are afoot to have the Czech-language version of Hitler's Mein Kampf banned.
A Leap into the Unknown
Mel Huang
Results from the 19 March local elections in Lithuania saw the country take perhaps its first step into the political unknown.
The Janus Look
Sam Vaknin
A new leader for Russia.
Asylum Seekers in Britain
Catherine Lovatt
Romanians and Britains alike, have responded with a similar attitude to the 'problem of the begging Roma.'
CER Culture Calendar
News
Albania
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 13, 3 April 2000
Fish First, EU Entry Later
Paul Nemes
Green Hungarians demonstrate at the Romanian Embassy in Washington.
Throwing Down the Gauntlet
Artur Nura
Serbia might well be close to using military intervention in Montenegro to retain its only access to the Adriatic.
The Black Hole of Europe
Peter Szyszlo
Modern Belarus is a hermetically sealed country.
Czech Tech:
Robin Healey
Czech technical education and industrial development.
"What If" Questions and China's 1989
Jeffrey N Wasserstrom
In 1989, the Chinese regime took the threat of potential Solidarity-style developments much more seriously than the reformers.
The EU’s Real Haider Problem
Andrew Roberts
Haider-bashing is good politics.
A Macedonian Soap Opera
Goran Janev
Macedonia is now one of the longest-lasting soaps.
April Essay
The Re-Austrianisation of Central Europe?
Ian Hall and Magali Perrault
The Haider case has been interpreted by far-right leaders in Central Europe as evidence that EU membership might be somewhat akin to membership in the former Soviet bloc.
Kinoeye
Pricking Germany's Racist Conscience:
Frieder Schlaich's Otomo
Elke de Wit
Schlaich explores the well known case of cop killer Frederic Otomo.
Comment and Analysis
The Red Line
Catherine Lovatt
The Kremlin hot-line scandal.
Does Estonia Have a Left?
Mel Huang
It seems no one wants to be firmly on the left wing.
The Titanic Waltz
Sam Vaknin
Balkan elites dance the night away as the ship slowly sinks into a murky sea of social decay.
The Final Assault
Jan Čulík
The continuing saga over Czech public service broadcasting.
Pawns on a Chessboard?
Oliver Craske
Britain has long tended to view Central Europe as a zone of competing influences, and this attitude is reflected in press coverage of the area.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Albania
Austria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Germany
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 14, 10 April 2000
Tune in, Turn off
Michal Frank
While Slovak Television questions the strings attached to its public purse, private TV Markíza turns to pot.
Critical Mush
Andrew James Horton
A documentary on award-winning director Emir Kusturica fails to probe what is possibly a pro-Milošević past.
Theme of the Week: Tourism
Caring for the Goose
Andreas Beckmann
Wealthy Prague is simply choking on Western tourists, but areas outside the capital needthem.
The Former Frontier
Mel Huang
Tourism in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in detail.
McBudapest
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
Hungarians still need to acclimatise properly to the international tourist trade.
Beyond Dracula
Catherine Lovatt
The Romanian tourist industry should rely on more than just legends to lure visitors.
Kinoeye
Dreaming in Colour
Elke de Wit
Veit Helmer revelling in the medium of film.
One Last Lunge at Freedom
Elke de Wit
A lads' night out from Sebastian Schipper.
Comment and Analysis
Democracy Serbian Style
Slavko Živanov
Democracy in Serbia is hindered by the electorate too.
After Tito, Techno!
Sam Vaknin
Where Macedonia is and where it's going.
UK Media Review
Oliver Craske
The UK media look East.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Albania
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Estonia
Germany
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 15, 17 April 2000
Stop Press
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
Freedom of the press in Hungary has been severely damaged as Laszlo Juszt is ousted from his job.
Mopping up
Andreas Beckmann
The recent flood in Hungary is just the latest in the region.
Brown Stains
Magali Perrault
The case of Nazi-era psychiatrist and later prominent Austrian Social Democrat Heinrich Gross.
Kinoeye
Get Your
Kitsch off!
Židas Daskalovski
Macedonian actress Labina Mitevska in an exclusive interview for CER.
Plus, more films from the Neue deutsche Filme section of this year's Berlinale reviewed:
Sex=mc2
Elke de Wit
Rosa von Praunheim's biopic of "the Einstein of sex" persecuted by the Nazis.
Wasted Lives
in Changing Times
Elke de Wit
Wege in die Nacht, Andreas Kleinert's brooding Cannes-feted masterpiece.
Comment and Analysis
Stability Sacrificed
Mel Huang
Political tension in Latvia has shifted into overdrive as the government collapsed last week.
Red Carpet District
Saša Cvijetić
With recent threats of war, the new Croatian ruling Elite are showing sings of dangerous disorientation.
The Myths of Yugoslavia
Sam Vaknin
Popular misconceptions of the Balkans debunked.
Securitate Shuffle
Catherine Lovatt
A new law further opens up the old files of the hated secret police.
Media Melee
Jan Čulík
Seven of the nine members of the new Council for Czech Television are straight-forward political appointees.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Albania
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Germany
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
Volume 2 Issue 16, 24 April 2000
Real Resistance
Slavko Živanov
Finally, after ten long years, the Serb opposition is on a winning road.
Beyond Fission
Sue Bagust
A new exhibition in Vienna draws on paintings previously unseen in the West to show the internationalism of early modernism.
Trying Our Patients
Pavel Pafko
Healthcare in the Czech Republic is still dogged by "pre-revolutionary" attitudes towards financing and by low staff morale.
Kinoeye
More films from the Neue deutsche Filme section of this year's Berlinale reviewed:
Sensual Passion, Nazi Terror
Elke de Wit
Rolf Schuebel portrays the politics of the Third Reich through a menage a trois.
Ossies on Ice
Elke de Wit
East vs West played out in a magical documentary on an ice hockey team from the former GDR.
Comment and Analysis
Identity Crises
Gusztáv Kosztolányi
Is EU membership really the magic cure-all for Central Europe's Communist hangover?
The Profits of Privatisation
Jan Čulík
Privatisation bribes paid to the Czech Civic Democrats have returned to haunt the Party.
More Myths of Yugoslavia
Sam Vaknin
Further popular misconceptions of the Balkans debunked.
Right of Admission Reserved
Oliver Craske
Is Britain the promised land for East Europeans?
Lithuania's Loons Take off
Mel Huang
Lithuania's radicals have a surprising new significance.
CER Culture Calendar
News
Albania
Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Germany
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
