Analysis

Elsewhere in emerging Europe

A selection of articles about emerging Europe published elsewhere this week, all of which are well worth your time.

The world should be paying attention to Vladimir Putin’s plans for Belarus, says Anne Applebaum.

Full story here.

Also in Belarus, Natalie Nougayrède says she has found hope for the future of Europe.

Full story here.

ABC News takes a look at the Romanian city of Râmnicu Vâlcea, which became a hotbed for cybercrime in the 1990s, and despite crackdowns by law enforcement, is still known as ground zero for hackers. Locals call it Hackerville.

Full story here.

A factory in Albania is churning out millions of allegedly ‘counterfeit’ cigarettes a year, despite a criminal investigation prompted by British customs intelligence.

Full story here.

A campaign against alcohol in the capital of Croatia has sparked outrage for saying excessive drinking makes women have irresponsible sex with people they do not know.

Full story here.

Mehman Huseynov is a blogger, an activist for a free press and a journalist who has exposed uncomfortable truths about the rulers of Azerbaijan, including official corruption and police brutality. For almost two years, he has been imprisoned on bogus charges. It is time to release him, says the Washington Post.

Full story here.

Fahrudin Muminovic, a survivor of the mass shootings in and around the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995, has raised 227,000 US dollars on Facebook in the course of just 16 days in order to rebuild his family home.

Full story here.

Moldova’s president, Igor Dodon, has said the country is seriously considering moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, despite EU warnings.

Full story here.

Vanity Fair has profiled Joanna Kulig, the Polish actress who steals the who in  director Pawel Pawlikowski’s film Cold War.

Full story here.

Finally, a warehouse full of unused BMWs from the 1990s has been found in Bulgaria.

Full story here.