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A campaign is currently underway in Slovakia calling for consumers to buy homemade products, rather than imported goods. It aims to boost the Slovak domestic economy. But a recent poll has shown that a vast majority of Slovaks don't care about the country origin or the quality of products. What they do care about is the price. And Slovakian products tend to be much more expensive than goods imported from the EU.

Europe may now be sweltering in a record heat wave, but this time last year large swathes of central Europe were hit by the worst floods in decades. In Austria, Days of heavy rain caused rivers to burst their banks especially in the waterlogged provinces of Salzburg, Lower and Upper Austria. Many people in the worst hit areas had to be evacuated from their homes and several lost their lives. And once the floods had died down, they had to face the damage caused by the water and the thick mud. One of the places to face the most severe flooding was

The northeastern corner of the Czech Republic, and the area surrounding the town of Hlucin is a ethnic melting pot of Czechs, Germans and Poles, with its own customs and its own curious dialect. And due to the dramatic developments of the 20th century, many of its inhabitants now enjoy some very special privileges.

Wenceslas Square in Prague has changed a great deal since Czechs gathered there during the Velvet Revolution of 1989. It's now home to lots of shops and hordes of tourists, and a lot of so-called 'Praguers' prefer to avoid it. A new exhibition of modern sculptures however is trying to entice Czechs back to the capital's main street. Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby visited Wenceslas Square and asked people what they really thought of the place.

Legal rights for gay and lesbian couples has been hotly debated in Austria as well - The European court recently ruled that an Austrian gay man, Siegmund Karner, who was evicted from his flat when his partner died was the victim of unlawful discrimination. His partner had been the official tenant of the flat. The Austrian Supreme Court had ruled that tenancy protection for a so-called 'life companion' only applied to different sex cohabiters. But the European court judges said the Austrian ruling is discriminatory. Kurt Krickler, is General Secretary

A Hungarian general is about to join the top command of the American-led international military force in Iraq. Brigadier general János Isaszegi, will be one of the seven generals, and the only non-Anglo-American one, taking part in the reconstruction of Iraq. He talked to Radio Budapest about his expectations for the next eight months.

The Vatican is currently running a controversial campaign against gay marriages. It says that gay relationships should in no way be placed on the same level as marriage... nor should they receive legal recognition. The issue of same-sex marriages is particularly charged in Poland at the moment - leftwing lawmakers are currently trying to legalize gay and lesbian partnerships. Gay rights campaigners have welcomed the moves. But the proposal has stirred a huge amount of controversy in conservative circles linked to the powerful Roman Catholic

The first in the ICE series looking at crossing borders in central Europe: This week Oxana Ferjencikova goes duty free shopping on a short ferry journey between Slovakia & Austria.

Budapest's Shipyard Island - in the Danube River - is dancing to the beat of one of Europe's largest open-air music events - the weeklong Sziget festival. In it's 11th year, the festival is entertaining well over a quarter of a million people with rock, dance, reggae, folk and World music. And plenty of big names from the region - as Petra Haydu found out.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has criticised countries in Central Europe including Poland, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia for not doing enough to bring World War II war criminals to justice. Their 40-page report gives a C for minimal success to Poland and a D grade for insufficient efforts to Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. But Polish Jewish organisations defend Poland saying it has already prosecuted the vast majority of its war criminals.