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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.

Science is a bridge between present and future - that's what was decided at the second World Science Forum in Budapest. The Hungarian capital was in fact the capital of the scientific world last week, when business and academia, politics and science, media and people who are usually behind closed laboratory doors had the chance to meet and share ideas. Radio Budapest spoke to the vice president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Norbert Kroo:

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:

Poland and Russia are looking across their borders and asking - what's wrong with this relationship? Every now and then new tensions occur: like the beating up of Russian teenagers in Warsaw, followed by similar attacks on Polish citizens in Moscow, or the recent ban on Polish exports of agricultural products to Russia. Radio Polonia asks whether official propaganda and political decisions are pushing Poles and Russians apart.

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.