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Having in mind the recent outbreaks of violence in French cities it is obvious that the relation of European countries towards younger generations of immigrants is and will be one of the key socio-political issues of European countries. This week a panel on how the second and third generations of Albanians, Bosnians, Montenegrins, Croats, Macedonians and Serbs live in Slovenia was organised by the Peace Institute in cooperation with the Dutch and British embassies took place in Ljubljana.

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:

Polish migrants and others have been subjected to racist attacks in Northern Ireland. The province is part of the United Kingdom - one of the countries which did not restrict labour movement when the EU enlarged last year. So Northern Ireland has seen migrant workers coming mainly from the former communist countries of Central Europe. But with no real history of immigration and its own sectarianism and prejudices deeply rooted - it seems Northern Ireland isn't ready to welcome the thousands of newcomers.

The Gypsy fiddler is an enduring Romany stereotype, but we often forget there are also many Romany classical musicians and that in Central Europe the Romany tradition has had a huge influence on the history of classical music. Recently, as part of the Prague Autumn music festival, Czech audiences had the chance to hear the Rajko Ensemble from Hungary, with a concert in the Lucerna Ballroom that celebrated these links. All the orchestra's members are Roma; many are students or graduates from the Rajko School in Budapest, where talented Romany children

Political freedom, freedom of expression, religion and movement were the ideals of the protesters who gathered at the SNP square in Bratislava on November 17th in protest at the Communist regime. Now, 16 years later, many Slovaks claim they expected more from the Velvet Revolution.

A major international conference on Islam, held in Vienna this last week, heard appeals for religious leaders to condemn violence waged in the name of Islam. The three day meeting brought together over a thousand people including heads of state, intellectuals and religious leaders.

Czechs and Slovaks marked the 16th anniversary of the start of the 1989 Velvet Revolution on Thursday, a time when people remember the overthrow of Communist rule and reflect on the changes that have swept society since then. But discontent is growing with the current political situation, and that discontent was reflected in the mood on the streets of Prague. Radio Prague's Rob Cameron has this report.

Hungarians, it seems, are different. Certainly young Hungarians differ from their western European counterparts when it comes to lifestyle, family and consumer behaviour. That's the point made by a new international survey, which looked at lifestyles of young people in thirteen European and five Latin American countries.