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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Europe this week on a visit dominated by the debate over the United States' treatment of terror suspects and the possibility of secret CIA detention centres in Central and Eastern Europe.

Now to the east of the Czech Republic for a major re-enactment of the Battle of Austerlitz, which was fought on December 2nd 1805 and is remembered as Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest military victory. The 200th anniversary re-enactment took seven years to prepare and attracted thousands of visitors from around the world. Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby reports.

Under communism, Poles - who found themselves in the Soviet sphere of influence after the war - were conditioned to view Western states as a constant threat to the socialist camp. But these newly released archives show that the USSR was fully prepared to sacrifice its Eastern bloc allies, if need be. Radio Polonia's Slawek Szefs has the story.

Slovenia has something to celebrate at the moment, after the country took two gold medals at the 38th World Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, Australia. This success was a historic first for the country, which had never taken gymnastics gold since its independence. Michael Manske of Radio Slovenia International has more.

Central European leaders met in the Slovak spa town of Piestany recently to discuss the future of Europe. Prime Ministers from established EU members such as Austria sat down to lunch with leaders of countries which are very far from joining, such as Belarus and Moldava. They ended the meeting with an appeal to the European Union to keep the momentum of enlargement to southern and eastern Europe. Rob Cameron was at the Piestany summit, and has this report.

Bratislava has been hosting its own international film festival since 1999. This year the festival has a new section entitled National Hits, which is proving controversial because the film industry in Slovakia - unlike in other European countries - has so far had little success in producing domestic hit movies. Radio Slovakia International's Martina Grenova reports.

Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, was in Budapest on Friday trying to sell new European Union member states on a plan to cut their funding by 10 percent. As the current holder of the EU presidency, Britain has the task of getting agreement on a budget deadlocked by a dispute over a British budget rebate and French farm subsidies. With no-one willing to put more into the EU pot, Mr Blair is proposing cuts to the previously promised development money for Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and others. Kerry Skyring spoke to Ian Beg from

Angela Merkel has just made history as the first woman to ever become German Chancellor. The neighbouring Czech Republic has never had a female leader, and there are few signs there could be one soon. In fact, as preparations begin for general elections next year, some are afraid the number of women in Czech high politics could actually decrease. Radio Prague's Ian Willoughby reports.

Central Europe has some of the best performing economies in Europe at the moment and that could be why economic summits are in fashion. These aim to encourage economic reforms and boost business. But what about the long suffering journalists who have to report on them? Radio Slovakia International's Anca Dragu shares with us her experience of an economic summit:

Leaders of 17 central, eastern and southeast European countries met in the Slovak spa town of Piestany on Friday. On the agenda of what is known as the Central European Initiative are relations with the European Union and the ambitions of countries such as Ukraine, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU. Rob Cameron was in Piestany for Radio Prague and says the Central European Initiative includes a very mixed bunch of nations: