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Chinese President Hu Jintao paid a three-day official visit to Hungary this week. The president, who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party, will travel to Poland, Hungary, Romania and Uzbekistan. The last Chinese head of state to visit Hungary was Jiang Zemin in 1995.

Slovenians also hold European elections for the first time on June 13th. There are many political parties trying to get a seat in Strasbourg but only a few of them really have a chance. Jelko Kacin is the leading candidate for the European Parliament in the governing party - the Liberal Democrats:

Slovakia's Bojnice altarpiece became a part of the separatist propaganda of the former Slovak Premier Meciar in debates with the former Czech Premier Klaus on splitting Czechoslovakia. The Bojnice altarpiece returned to Slovakia in 1995, at the time of the Meciar era in Slovak politics. But what about this piece of art. It was produced in Florence in the 14th century by the artist Nardo di Cione - one of the few to survive the great plague of 1340 and around 1350 he created the 10 panel paintings, which are now known as the Bojnice altar.

A former football star, a motor racing champion, an opera singer, an ex-cosmonaut, the son of a communist era leader and the son of an anti-communist hero are among leading Polish contenders in elections to the European Parliament. 28 year-old Jaroslaw Walesa, the son of former Polish president and Solidarity legend Lech Walesa now working in his father's office in Gdansk, is one of some 1,900 candidates running for Poland's 54 seats in the European Parliament. For Lech Walesa, Poland's membership in the European Union was the fulfillment of his

One of the world's biggest and most hi-tech film studios is being built in Etyek, a small town just outside Budapest. Putting 150 million Euros into this project are a Hungarian real estate tycoon and a Hollywood producer -Andrew G. Vajna - whose credits include Terminator and Evita. The studio is said to be the most modern and best equipped in the world and will create job opportunities for over a thousand people in the region. So why has Hollywood come to Hungary? We spoke to Andrew Vajna:

It's just a week to go until polls open in the European Parliament elections. For the first time the people of the Czech Republic will exercise their right to send MEPs to Brussels, and more than 800 candidates are jostling for the 24 seats up for grabs. But some have warned of low turnout, following lacklustre and unimaginative campaigns.

Slovakia has been accused of tax dumping by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and the former French European Commissioner Michel Barnier. It happened just as Slovakia was becoming a member of the EU. The charge is that Slovakia lowered its corporate taxes to levels that attract foreign investors to the detriment of older EU members, like Germany. Slovakia now has a flat rate tax of 19 percent. But the tax dumping charge has been rejected by Bratislava.

All this week Prague has been playing host to the Khamoro festival of Romani culture. While the serious side of the festival addresses issues affecting Europe's 12 million Roma, Khamoro is mostly about music. The highlight of Khamoro is a procession by gypsy musicians and dancers through the centre of Prague.

About a year ago, Hungary was among eight countries that signed a letter, supporting the United States operations in Iraq. They offered troops for the stabilisation force. Now as the handover of power in Iraq from a US to an Iraqi led government approaches, a different letter has been sent by Hungarian Foreign Minister László Kovács to the American Secretary of State and to the United Nations Security Council. It calls for a more active role for the United Nations in Iraq. We asked Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tamás Tóth, if this marks a shift in

During EU negotiations in 1995, Slovenia agreed to open its real estate market to foreigners earlier than any other candidate country, in an agreement known as the "Spanish Compromise." Named after then EU president Spain, it settled a dispute over property rights between Slovenia and Italy. However, it caused concern among many Slovenes.