Yes, we promised we'd catch up, and here is this week's Two Steps East rundown of the region (and a wild week it was), including the following: the COVID delta variant smacks the Balkans and Ukraine and begins to make its presence felt in the CEE core countries; Belarus and Russia get still more "integrated" during Zapad-2021 military exercises--and the IMF rethinks a loan; Bulgaria sets a date for both parliamentary and presidential elections--and a cocaine smuggler is busted; the Czechs nab a mysterious Russian for Crimea war activities; Prince Charles undergoes scrutiny for ties to an alleged crooked (and failed) banker sentenced (in absentia) in Latvia; the Polish government backtracks on Polexit, gets blocked over Lex-TVN and fiddles with tax reform ; Polish CBSP bust a narcotics gang and a major prostitution rings but another gang walks; Polish anti-corruption police bust a Krakow city player over endless questionable real estate permissions; Ukraine-American politics are still sticky when it comes to Giuliani; the judge in the investigation into the killing of journalist Pavel Sheremet is allegedly murdered... and more.
Intro and outro music (Bone Music) copyright Preston Smith and Marek Tymkoff.
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By PrestonYes, we promised we'd catch up, and here is this week's Two Steps East rundown of the region (and a wild week it was), including the following: the COVID delta variant smacks the Balkans and Ukraine and begins to make its presence felt in the CEE core countries; Belarus and Russia get still more "integrated" during Zapad-2021 military exercises--and the IMF rethinks a loan; Bulgaria sets a date for both parliamentary and presidential elections--and a cocaine smuggler is busted; the Czechs nab a mysterious Russian for Crimea war activities; Prince Charles undergoes scrutiny for ties to an alleged crooked (and failed) banker sentenced (in absentia) in Latvia; the Polish government backtracks on Polexit, gets blocked over Lex-TVN and fiddles with tax reform ; Polish CBSP bust a narcotics gang and a major prostitution rings but another gang walks; Polish anti-corruption police bust a Krakow city player over endless questionable real estate permissions; Ukraine-American politics are still sticky when it comes to Giuliani; the judge in the investigation into the killing of journalist Pavel Sheremet is allegedly murdered... and more.
Intro and outro music (Bone Music) copyright Preston Smith and Marek Tymkoff.