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The problems of the bankrupt Russian oil giant Yukos are creating headaches for some of Central Europe's energy companies. Yukos had stakes in a number of oil companies in this region including Slovakia's Transpetrol. Now it seems that two Russian companies are interested in buying the Yukos stake. But given the turmoil around Yukos - will Slovaks welcome another Russian investor?

About ten days ago a hunger strike in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana drew attention to the problems of people who have become known as "the erased." They are the 18,000 people from the former Yugoslavia - mostly Serbs, Croats and Bosnians - who were simply erased from the record books. They were living in Slovenia when it declared independence from Yugoslavia.

The Polish government has adopted a restitution bill, which is yet to go before parliament, allowing for the return of private property which was confiscated by the Nazis during the Second World War and later nationalized by the communist authorities.

Slovenia will soon begin constructing what it calls a "European Aeronautical Museum" in the eastern city of Maribor. Radio Slovenia International spoke to the man behind the project - the president of the Slovenian National Party and aviation enthusiast, Zmago Jelincic.

George Bush came and went. Slovaks are happy that viewers of international TV networks finally got to hear about Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Although, one big American newspaper had problems placing the country on the map - its editors confused Slovakia with Slovenia!

Several thousand farmers, and a few hundred with their tractors, are protesting on Budapest's historic Heroes' Square at what they say is government delay in getting European Union subsidies - known as "direct payments" - to them.

US President George W. Bush greeted Slovaks who gathered in thousands to hear him speak in the centre of Bratislava on Thursday. He called them "friends, allies and brothers" and harked back to the days of the Velvet Revolution when Slovaks and Czechs threw off communist rule. After praising Slovakia for its young democracy and for sending soldiers to Afghanistan and Iraq, Mr Bush went off to Bratislava Castle for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It's interesting to speculate why Bratislava was chosen for the Bush-Putin summit but

Bratislava will be hosting the summit of Presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin next week. But the Slovak capital may seem an unusual location for such a high profile event, especially since just seven years ago, Slovakia was considered something of a pariah in Central Europe under the nationalistic leadership of then Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar.

Since the European Union enlarged in May last year tourists from Western Europe have begun streaming into countries which were once just place names on a map and often associated with the greyness of communism. But the reality is that many of the Central European countries have a natural environment more diverse than Western Europe.

US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at a special summit in the Slovak capital Bratislava next week. They will sign agreements on arms limitation and they'll also explore ways to co-operate in what both countries call "the war on terrorism". Security for the summit will be extremely tight and Slovak authorities reckon they' have found the most secure place of all for the Bush-Putin summit - Bratislava Castle.