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Celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the creation of Solidarity are underway in Poland. Exhibitions, concerts, conferences, book presentations - even the publication of anniversary coins and stamps are planned. And there'll be a crowd of local and foreign VIP's lining up to attend the major events.

One of the European Union's big infrastructure projects is the completion of the Trans European Transport network. This is a major upgrade of east-west and north-south transport links to make sure the new member states of the EU are well connected with the old by road, rail and water. One part of that network scheduled for upgrade is a rail link running from Paris, over Strasbourg, Stuttgart and Vienna to the Slovak capital Bratislava.

This week's sunshine and no rain has come as a godsend to many Slovaks. Last week's heavy rainfall caused the level of local rivers and lakes to rise, and flood more than 80 percent of the 76 villages in the Eastern part of Slovakia.

Poland's former Communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski has apologised for the role his country played in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. General Jaruzelski served as Defence Minister in August 1968, when 26,000 Polish troops joined the huge invasion force which crossed Czechoslovakia's borders. Rob Cameron has the following report.

Poland and Russia are plumbing new depths in their troubled relationship. First a diplomatic row erupted after the mugging of Russian diplomats' children in Warsaw. Then followed a series of incidents in which Polish embassy staff and a Polish journalist were beaten up by unidentified attackers in Moscow. But the roots of the conflict appear to go much deeper than these events.

Slovenia will become the first new member of the European Union to hold the rotating presidency of the block. It takes over the role in 2008. The small country of two million is eager to prove it is up to the task of managing the sometimes unruly 25 nation group and to make sure it's ready, has started planning early.

The glass department within Bratislava's Academy of Fine Arts' is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Unlike the neighbouring Czech Republic, historically Slovakia did not have such a strong artistic tradition in this medium. But four decades after the founding of the Academy's glass department, there exists a fragile but distinctly Slovak glass tradition.

Sunday marks the 37th anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, an event which is still fresh in the minds of those who lived through it, but almost ancient history for the younger generation of Czechs and Slovaks. They must rely on their parents and grandparents' memories of August 1968, when Russian tanks rumbled through the towns and villages of Czechoslovakia to put down Dubcek's "socialism with a human face". We look back at the events of 37 years ago.

Hungary has taken a top place on the EU's new science body - the Scientific Council. The physicist Norbert Kroo, who's also vice president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, becomes a founding member of the body, which hopes to strengthen European scientific achievement in the face of tough global competition.

Ethnic German's expelled from Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe at the end of the second World War are applauding German opposition leader Angela Merkel. Ms Merkel, who may become German Chancellor next month, is supporting a center in Berlin to remember their suffering and says there should be an official remembrance day and their history should be taught more in schools. But there's no applause from Poland.