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Relations between Poland and Russia are best described as fragile. Apart from the legacy of Soviet times there are trade disputes and, right now, big differences over Poland's plans to host part of a US missile defence system, something Russia strongly opposes. In an effort to get things on to a firmer footing Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk paid a visit to Moscow last week - ending a six year break in top level contacts. There were smiles and handshakes but is that enough to generate some positive sentiment between the two neighbours?

When an 86-year-old Czech former communist prosecutor was convicted last year for her role in the judicial murder of politician Milada Horakova, those looking for justice for the crimes committed under communism rejoiced. There was little chance the elderly and infirm woman would serve a day of her eight-year prison sentence, but they saw the verdict as a symbolic victory. But Monday witnessed a turnaround – the conviction was overturned by the Czech High Court.

In Slovakia the illegal copying of movies and music has many artists up in arms. Digital downloads over the internet and the easy copying of DVDs and CDs is cutting into a main revenue flow for many bands. Christopher George has been talking to the bands, and those who pirate their music.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeated a threat to aim Russian missiles at Poland and the Czech Republic if the United States deploys missile defences there. Speaking in Moscow last week he said Russia considers the system a threat to its national security will be obliged to react if it goes ahead. Kerry Skyring spoke to Sebestyen Gorka, director of the Budapest based Institute for Transitional Democracy and International Security and asked him - is Putin's threat a serious one?

It will come as something of a surprise to many that a former communist country in Central Europe has practically no tradition of activism or political resistance through its films. The country is Slovenia. However efforts are underway to increase awareness of the power of film to move people when it comes to politics and social issues. As Lidija Petković of Radio Slovenia International reports the Civil Society Institute, along with others, has set up a different kind of cinema in the city of Maribor.

Fox hunting in the Czech Republic may not come with all of the red coats and horses that you might expect to see elsewhere - often it's more a case of one man and his dog in the woods. But the issue is just as controversial as elsewhere. The Czech parliament has just approved a law which allows hunters to train their dogs through direct contact with foxes. Previously, foxes and dogs had to be kept apart by a cage during training, so that neither suffered injury. Animal rights groups are dismayed by the move.

In Poland, a heated debate is under way in most of the country's media following the publication of a book on Polish-Jewish relations after World War Two. It is by a Polish-born US sociologist who claims that anti-Semitism found fertile ground in Poland after the Holocaust.

The Slovak public broadcaster STV is under fire. Not only is it facing a campaign which wants to cancel compulsory fees which form the broadcaster's funding base, it also received a challenge from documentary film makers questioning the quality of STV's programming.

A no-confidence motion against Slovenia's interior minister was rebuffed last week after a marathon session that ended in the early morning hours. The no-confidence vote came from two leftwing parties in parliament: the Liberal Democrats (LDS) and its offshoot, Zares. Slovenia's government has suffered turmoil over the past year.

Austria's government is to set up a commission to investigate allegations of police negligence in the case of Natascha Kampusch - the young woman who spent 8 years in a tiny cellar after being kidnapped at the age of 10. Her story made headlines around the world in 2006. The commission will also investigate allegations of abuse of office by officials in the interior ministry.