Eastern Europe news stories on Newser

Romanian Towns Buried Under 15 Feet of Snow

Kevin Spak — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:34:06 CST

Authorities declared an alert in Eastern Romania today, as military planes flew in emergency aid to towns and villages that have been cut off from the rest of the country for days by staggering quantities of snow. In some places, people have had to dig tunnels through up to 15...

58 Dead in European Cold Snap

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:46:47 CST

Thirty people, most of them homeless, have died of hypothermia in recent days in Ukraine, part of a surge of deaths across eastern Europe as the region grapples with an unusually severe cold spell. In all, at least 58 people have died from the cold in Europe over the last...

Ex-Romanian Dictator, Wife Exhumed

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:42:20 CDT

Taking the country by surprise, forensic scientists today exhumed what are believed to be the bodies of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife to solve the mystery of where they are truly buried. Ceausescu ruled Romania for 25 years before being ousted and executed during the bloody 1989 anti-communist...

Post-1989 Germany an Unexpected Success

Harry Kimball — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:42:06 CST

As “the exhaustive and perfectly blameless celebrations” of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall unfold, Anne Applebaum has a bone to pick. The festivities are “focusing on what didn’t happen rather than what did,” she writes, treating “the past two decades as a foregone conclusion.” But...

Germany Hails Anniversary of Berlin Wall's Fall

M. Morris — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:54:39 CST

Hundreds of foam dominoes will fall today in Berlin, symbolizing the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has called Nov. 9, 1989, "the happiest day in recent German history," will lead the festivities. The guest...

Putin Praises US for Ditching Missile Shield

John Johnson — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:08:55 CDT

In a development sure to further tick off President Obama's critics on the right, Vladimir Putin says he's quite pleased with the decision to scrap an American missile-defense system in Eastern Europe, the New York Times reports. “I very much hope that this correct and brave decision will be followed...

Obama's Missile Move Leaves Allies in the Lurch

Kevin Spak — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:56:01 CDT

President Obama’s decision to scrap plans for a missile defense shield is a political bombshell, writes Robin Oakley for CNN. America’s allies in Poland and the Czech Republic are left holding the bag after expending significant political capital on the unpopular system. Abandoning it might make their lives easier, but...

Hungary Fetes 1989 'Picnic' That Led to Fall of Berlin Wall

Matt Cantor — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:14:00 CDT

Hungary is celebrating the 20th anniversary today of its “Pan-European Picnic”: the day it opened its border with Austria, providing a pathway for hundreds of East Germans to exit Europe’s communist east. “The Soviet bloc was like an air balloon with over-pressure so it needed only a prick of the...

How the CIA Built Its Secret Prisons

Kevin Spak — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:56:00 CDT

When CIA officials decided to build a series of secret prisons, they immediately contacted the chief of the agency's European supply base, a Frankfurt-based logistical whiz. “It was too sensitive to be handled by headquarters,” Kyle “Dusty” Foggo tells the New York Times . He called a contractor buddy, and with...