ICE - special | All stories

Many will be familiar with the wonderful sweet Ice Wine which is produced in parts of Central Europe. Now, there's a new Ice Wine - a Slovenian winemaker says he has successfully created the world's first sparkling ice wine.

The Czech government this week significantly increased the amount it is sending to help the stricken Southeast Asia region, and has now pledged over seven million euros. Some suggested it had been shamed into doing so because the Czech public was sending so much money. And what's interesting is how Czechs have been donating - with mobile phone text messages far and away the most popular method.

It looks like 2005 will be a turbulent year in Polish politics. Poles will be electing a new Parliament and a new president. A national referendum on the European constitutional treaty also seems likely. But on August 31 in the city of Gdansk most are hoping that party politics will be put aside as VIPs from Poland and abroad celebrate the 25th anniversary of Solidarity.

Governments of the four Visegrad countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have pledged around 10 million euros to the Asian tsunami disaster appeal.

A new survey by the accounting and consultancy firm Deloitte has shown up a dramatic difference in pay packets between the old EU member states and the new ones of Central Europe. The survey took into account tax and social security costs and average pay and found Slovakia has the lowest labour costs in the European Union.

In this week's special New Year programme on Insight Central Europe, we look back at some of the most important and interesting stories in 2004: After the EU's eastward enlargement on May 1, we set off on a journey to England and spoke to Slovaks and Czechs looking for jobs in Britain. When Poland commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in August, world dignitaries flocked to the Polish capital to pay homage to the nearly 200,000 fighters and civilians who lost their lives. Hungarian-born Avram Hershko won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

In this week's Insight Central Europe: join us for a special Christmas program on how the festive season is celebrated in the region. We'll hear an ancient folk story from Slovenia, find out how straw decorations are made in Poland, explore Slovak Christmas customs, visit a nativity scene museum in the Czech village Karlstein and hear about Christmas in the middle of a revolution.

Much of Israel's population has roots in Poland. Some Polish Jews who emigrated to Israel were driven by the dream of a new homeland, others escaped persecution. But whether they left of their own accord or were expelled, they were stripped of Polish passports by the country's communist authorities. It wasn't until a few years ago that the newly democratic Poland restored its citizenship to all those kicked out in anti-Jewish purges in the late 1960s. But those who had left earlier were not included. Since Poland became a new European Union member

Choreographers, dancers and folk festival directors from all over were in Hungary recently - preparing for a major joint project - a dance theatre piece which is supported by the EU's Culture Programme. The Duna Art Ensemble hosted the international visitors. We spoke to Andrea Vincze, artistic manager of the ensemble:

The European Union has finally given Turkey a date to start accession talks - providing it takes steps towards recognising Cyprus. The talks are scheduled to begin in October next year and could take at least a decade. Turkey said it was disappointed with the EU's tough conditions but European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said it was a fair offer. But where does Central Europe lie in the great Turkey debate?