Author: Veronica Khokhlova

Hungarian Spectrum reports that, according to the recent findings of a Hungarian think-tank, “in Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Hungary the impulses toward the acceptance of right-wing extremism are the strongest.”

Andrew Tate, an employee of the British Embassy in Kyiv, guest-blogs at Ambassador Leigh Turner's blog about “a day in the Ukrainian countryside as an OSCE observer.”

Ukrainiana reports that while PM Yulia Tymoshenko “remains incommunicado,” fans of her opponent Victor Yanukovych are staging “a hardcore parody of the Orange Revolution” in front of the Central Election Commission building (a related YouTube video of a TV news story (UKR) is included).

Leopolis writes on the Ukrainian election and reactions in the West and in Ukraine. Here's what some of the latter sound like: “This election was the choice between the whorehouse (bardak) and the prison (zona). Of cholera and swine flu. Better to stand in place than take five steps backward. Or maybe a better opposition will form in place of constant dysfunction. We are divided — look at the map — not due to the leaders' political competence, but due to identity. When Yanukovych expresses gratitude to ‘the people' for their support, I do not feel I belong to that group. On the other hand, that's how easterners felt under the Orange rule… This is Ukraine's drama.”

Foreign Notes translates the main points of an article (UKR) on “the challenges for the new president,” which appeared in Ukrainska Pravda.

Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog reviews the response to the outcome of the Ukrainian election in the Western media – and by one Russian columnist.

Vadim Nikitin of the Foreign Policy Association's Russia Blog writes that “the success or failure of Yanukovich’s government will depend on fixing the everyday problems dogging ordinary people, not on geo-politics.”

Oleksandr Sushko, research director of the Kyiv-based Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, comments on Ukraine's “‘post-Orange' future” at OpenDemocracy.net: “The newly elected president’s relative (limited) social legitimacy will be likely to restrict his ability to govern by his own will and perceptions only.”

Updates on Ukraine's post-election politics – at Eternal Remont, here and here.

Natalia Antonova comments on the outcome of the Ukrainian presidential election: “The way I see it, people who urge Ukrainian voters to lay aside petty practical concerns and see the big picture are getting off easy.”

Scenes from the Sidewalk writes about the situation with street children in Ukraine: “It is even worse if they are over seventeen as at that point they are no longer children and therefore are on their own. Without rehabilitation, they become adult bums.”

A cartoon commentary on the newly-introduced Internet regulations in Belarus: “On the Internet, nobody knows you are a dog… unless you live in Belarus.”

A second installment of the video interview with Dr. Nina Khrushcheva – at Robert Amsterdam's blog. (Part 1 is here.)

IZO writes about protests against Sergei Bratkov's current show at Pinchuk Art Center and posts a YouTube video of one of the protests, as well as a note with the artist's response (RUS) to the protesters.

An interview with Dr. Nina Khrushcheva “on Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev, and comments on the driving forces behind Russia's Stalin resurgence” – at Robert Amsterdam's Blog.

Czech and Slovak textile folk art – at CzechFolks.com.

Ukrainiana takes readers on a video tour “through inter-election Kyiv” – and to the “final rallies” of the two presidential candidates, which took place on Feb. 5 “just a block away from each other.”

Greetings From Kyiv talks to a local friend on the possible outcome of the Feb. 7 presidential election.

St Petersblurb writes about the harm that the new tourist tax proposed by St. Petersburg government would do to the city.