R U S S I A:
More Aid, Fewer Strings
The West can still help solve the devastating economic problems facing Russia, but a fundamental change in Western aid policy is necessary. Paradoxically, despite the probable theft of some international assistance funds in the 1990s, the means to a successful Western policy on aid lies with fewer, not more, restrictions on its use.

David M Kotz

Tenth Anniversary Wall

C Z E C H   R E P U B L I C:
A Depressing Decade
In the first article of a four-part series on minorities in Central Europe, we look at the condition of the Roma in the Czech Republic. For the Roma, the ten years since the Revolution in 1989 have been anything but velvet.

Greg Nieuwsma

Culture As Yugoslavia wrenched itself apart, cultural activity in the successor states focused on the issues which led to the break-up - diversity, identity, machismo and violence - as well as the actual events themselves. This body of work ranges from the hilariously comic to the painfully harrowing and from the cosmopolitan to the nationalistic.

ALBUM REVIEW: Vrooom's Torpedo Music Robert Young Mixing everything from cabaret to drum 'n' bass and using frequently using syncopation and polyrythms, Vrooom have won international recognition with their idiosyncratic originality.

THEATRE: The Impossibility of Independence Anja Susa Conducting a serious analysis of the current state of Yugoslav theatre is not an easy task, primarily due to the fact that the general political climate in the country influences all aspects of everyday life, including theatre. In this brief survey, an insider of the Belgrade theatre scene takes a look at independent theatres' struggle to stay afloat in a sea of bureaucracy and ancient institutional structures.

FURTHER SURFING: Culture Links CER Staff A wide selection of English and original-language sites and articles on culture from the former Yugoslavia.

CER ARCHIVE: A Not Entirely Harmonious Success Niall O'Loughlin Slovenian development of contemporary music, with flourishing strands of avant-gardism, modernism and post-modernism.

	Kinoeye Continuing with this week's theme, Kinoeye looks at post-Yugoslav film.
	RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: Vignettes of Violence Andrew J Horton Post-Yugoslav cinema can scarcely avoid portraying violence, given the country's recent history. Directors have shown varying attitudes to the subject, however.

RAINDANCE: Another Truth Maria Vidali Are the Serbs really the "baddies" of Europe? Recent documentaries challenge this tired old cliche.	TRENDS: Young Croatian Film Ivo Skrabalo Just when it seemed like the Croatian film industry would vanish altogether, a new group of young directors has brought a surprising wave of optimism.	CER Archives: Post-Yugoslav film A Thirst for Massacres Croatian avant-garde Slovenian avant-garde Reviews: Milosavljevic's Tockovi Burger's V leru Tribuson's Tri muskarca Melite Zganjer Trajkov's Minulost
RAINDANCE: Cutting It Short Andrew J Horton Yugoslavia's fragile industry of short and experimental films was honoured with two showings at the recent Raindance Film Festival in London.
DEAR CER: Let Them Eat Cake Further comments on Kinoeye's cake- and gender-analysis of Tribuson's Tri muskarca Melite Zganjer. Hrvoje Turkovic	INTERVIEW: Focus on Fiks Fokus Andrew J Horton A talk with the art director of Fiks Fokus, an innovative Belgrade production company weathering hard times.
THE KINOEYE ARCHIVE Resources on Central and East European cinema.

CER's Regular Columns:

MIORITA: The Mioritic Space Catherine Lovatt A look at poet and philosopher Lucien Blaga's attempts to define notions of "Romanianness" through a complex and mystical theory of cultural influences and collective unconsciousness.	KALEIDOSCOPE: Pigeons Vaclav Pinkava Are Czechs really a "dove-like nation"? And what is a dove, anyway? AMBER COAST: Deflating Election Experience Mel Huang Estonia held its final elections of the millennium for all local councils on 17 October in quite an unspectacular fashion. As both politicians and voters remained burnt out from the hard-fought general elections in March earlier this year, the local elections seemed a bit of an anticlimax.
CULIK'S CZECH REPUBLIC: Race Relations Jan Culik Rather than indulging in hypocritical posturing, we should simply admit that Czech-Romani relations suffer from serious and complex problems, and these should be tackled from both sides.
BALKAN ENCOUNTER: The Myth of Greater Albania: From Illyrium to Skanderberg Sam Vaknin Part 2 of this series exploring the convenient myth of a Greater Albania and the real history of the country.

Books and Literature

B O O K   R E V I E W:
Fantasies of Salvation
In his recent book Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism and Myth in Post-Communist Societies, Vladimir Tismaneanu tries to explain the rise of nationalism and anti-liberal ideologies by discussing the political psychology of post-Communism.

Steven Saxonberg

S U P P L E M E N T:
The CER Book Shop:
Books about Central and Eastern Europe
Have a look at CER's list of books on the region - all available from Amazon.com. The list is divided into five subject headings: cinema, literature, politics, history and economics.

M   u   s   i   c

S U P P L E M E N T:
The CER Music Shop

In co-operation with Amazon.com, Central Europe Review offers you this on-line shopping supplement.

O n   D i s p l a y

EVENTS: Coming Up in the UK Andrew J Horton Details of selected Central and East European cultural events in the UK over the next few weeks.

Mel Huang and his Baltic news reviews are on holiday for two weeks.

EU UPDATE: EC Progress Report issued for the Central and East European applicant countries.