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The top opposition leader in Belarus says Slovakia is still searching for a clear policy towards Belarus. Aleksandr Milinkevich was speaking during a visit to Bratislava where he sought support for pro-democratic forces in Belarus. President Alexander Lukashenko's rule of Belarus is marked by violence against dissidents and elections which are widely regarded as illegitimate. The opposition leader met Foreign Minister Jan Kubis - but not Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Finland has wrapped up its EU presidency with a summit in Brussels and now planning passes to the next three - Germany, Portugal and Slovenia. That makes 2007 a big year for tiny Slovenia because it also adopts the common European currency the Euro on January ist. The incoming EU troika has given Insight Central Europe a look at its EU presidency progamme.

Poland's Krystian Zimerman, one of the greatest living pianists, turned fifty last week. When Zimerman entered the Warsaw Chopin Competition in 1975 he was an unknown 19 year-old, the youngest of all the participants. He won first Prize and almost all the special awards and overnight became one of the best known personalities in Poland.

It was a decision that the Czech Republic and eight other EU newcomers had long been pushing for. The enlargement of the Schengen border free zone to nine of the ten states which joined the EU in 2004 on December 31 2007 will mean an end to border checks and airport controls and will finally give their citizens complete freedom of movement within the European Union.

Hungarians have been shocked to learn that some of their citizens are seeking asylum in Sweden. Over 350 Roma Hungarians sought asylum in Sweden - most were sent back. Those trying to leave were mainly from Mohacs, near Hungary's southern border with Croatia.

Slovene's have been debating state funding for abortions after a government minister suggested that funding should be stopped as part of a plan to lift birth rates.

Slovakia held local elections last week with voters choosing their mayors and members of local councils. The biggest surprise was the defeat of the incumbent mayor of Zilina the infamous leader of the Slovak National Party Jan Slota. Anca Dragu reports from Bratislava.

It was a news report that sent shivers down people's spines. Since last May a 30-year old nurse had killed eight people and attempted to kill at least nine more at a hospital in eastern Bohemia's Havlickuv Brod. There is no indication that his motive was euthanasia - none of the people he killed were suffering from a terminal illness and they were all expected to recover.

A second round of local elections in Poland has finalised the shape of governments for the coming four years. The vote saw the governing conservatives lose the Warsaw mayor's office to the country's biggest opposition party while outside Warsaw the result was mixed. The conservatives scored poorly in several major cities, but had a strong showing in smaller towns and rural areas. Slawek Szefs has this review of Poland's political landscape one week after the vote.

A new annual report released by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, the EMCDDA, includes some shocking statistics. In the Czech Republic, 22 percent of people between 15 and 34 have tried marihuana at least once.