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Christmas in Central Europe, like in many parts of the world, is a time for family. What better way to bring relatives together than by calling them to the dining room table? As much of the world tucks into turkey, goose, or ham, the Central Europeans also tuck into mouth watering delicacies, but you do find some variations on the turkey theme. In Slovakia, for example, on Christmas Eve, they enjoy cabbage soup, mushroom sauce and fried carp.

The big story in the Czech Republic this week is the arrest of Swedish-Lebanese terror suspect described by the U.S. authorities as "Osama bin Laden's man in Sweden". For a brief moment the arrest in Prague of 39-year-old Oussamma Kassir - wanted in the U.S. on suspicion of trying to set up an al-Qaeda training camp - brought the so-called war on terror into sharp focus.

One of the busiest places in Budapest is a glass dome called "Santa Claus Factory" set up right next to Heroes' Square and the City Park. Of course, it does not produce Santa Clauses but rather serves as a place of collection for donations to be forwarded to those less fortunate in society. The project is organised by the Hungarian Red Cross as part of its Christmas charity programme. For the details, Sandor Laczko of Radio Budapest talked to Judit Forizs from the international department of the Hungarian Red Cross:

Carmina Slovenica, a female youth choir from the Slovenian town of Maribor is one of the most internationally renowned vocal ensembles. It creates contemporary music projects and has introduced a new concept - the vocal theatre, which incorporates music, drama, movement and other stage elements.

Ahead of Friday's summit in Brussels the EU found itself struggling to find agreement on a new budget. But what is this budget? Well, it's almost a thousand billion euros to be spent in the five year period from 2007 to 2013.

Polish dentists are taking Sweden by storm. The first private dental clinic employing specialists from Poland has opened in Stockholm to the applause of patients and some mixed reactions from Swedish dentists annoyed by the emergence of cheap competition. Krystyna Kolosowska reports from the City Dental clinic in Stockholm.

Companies in Slovakia have the possibility to give away 2% of their taxes to one or more NGOs as a gesture of their social commitment. Building relationships and taking responsibility for employees and the community is the definition of the forum "Corporate Social Responsibility". The forum brings together responsible organisations and motivates others to do make similar commitments, for example to the environment or to their employees. Katarina Richterova reports:

Britain currently holds the European Presidency of the EU and is trying to get agreement on a budget for the years 2007 to 2013. But less than a week before the end-of year summit, agreement is a long way off.

The OSCE or the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe - Europe's largest security organisation - met in Slovenia this week. Slovenia has held the rotating Presidency of the organisation for the past 12 months during which there've been some questions about the organisation's future.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made her fist official visit to Poland this week and wasted no time in reassuring Warsaw that Berlin is set to soothe disagreement over history and Iraq. She also stressed her commitment to a warmer relationship with Poland - a relationship which has been tense in recent months.