Central Europe Today | All stories

Coming up in this week's Central Europe Today, looks at a recent Conference of the Ministers of Health of the Visegrad Group that focused on international cooperation in the surveillance of infectious diseases and bio-terrorism.

Ever since the fall of the Communist regimes in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland the number of homeless people has increased significantly. In this week's Central Europe Today, looks at the plight of the homeless in the region - what made them rootless and how they are helped.

In this week's special edition, looks at a project to be launched at the beginning of the new school year, to bring children from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic closer together and learn about the similarities and differences of each other's cultures.

The last couple of months have seen the first real attempts since the fall of Communism to come to terms with some of the darkest episodes in modern Czech history. An ambitious plan was launched to compensate those Czechs forced to work for or imprisoned by Nazi Germany, and significant steps have also been taken to bring to justice former Communist officials who violated basic human rights during the 40 years of totalitarian rule. The Czech Republic's northern neighbour, Poland, has already undergone similar groundbreaking attempts to come to terms with the past. A statute enacted on the 18th of December 1998 called for the creation of a commission for the prosecution of crimes against the Polish nation - the Institute of National Remembrance. Leon Kieres the body's president - a position which enjoys full independence from the Polish authorities - was appointed by the lower house of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, for a five tear term in June 2000. He and a delegation representing the institute visited the Czech Republic last year, to share the two countries' experiences. met Mr Kieres to find out more about the institute and its co-operation with Prague:

The recovery and recycling of household waste leaves much to be desired in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Preparations for EU membership have seen all three post-Communist Central European countries struggle to meet EU requirements, although they have now provisionally closed the environment chapter. Limited transitional periods, however, have been granted where a substantial adaptation of infrastructure was required or where large amounts of investment needed to be spread over time. The Czech Republic and Hungary have until 2005, Poland until 2007, to launch an environmentally friendly system of recovering and recycling plastic, paper and glass.

In today's Central Europe Today, examines the nursing profession in this part of the world:

Since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1992-93, the Czechs and Slovaks have been growing apart, no longer interested in their neighbours as they go about their daily lives. There is one institute located in the heart of Prague, however, that does its best to draw the two nations back together. looks at the Slovak Institute in this week's Central Europe Today.

In this week's special edition, looks at how the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland are faring in their preparations for EU membership.

In this week's special edition, looks at how the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary have responded to Tuesday's tragic events in the United States.