If you ever doubted that Europeans (both “old” and “new”) have a more relaxed attitude to the private lives of public figures than do their American cousins, consider the following.

Just ahead of the European Parliament elections in June, paparazzi photos surfaced of former center-right…

Now come, all the world’s Rom

For the Romani road has opened

The time’s arrived to arise

We shall stand up as one

Romanies, o fellow Rom

– lyrics to Djelem, Djelem

A year ago this June a heart attack claimed the life of Saban Bajramovic, Serbia’s fabled King of the Gypsy singers…

Gazprom ruined my Christmas vacation. Or perhaps I should blame Naftogaz. No one can say for sure, as business between Russia’s state-controlled monopoly gas exporter and its Ukrainian counterpart are notoriously nontransparent (not to mention the shady middleman, RosUkrEnergo, whose real…