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After a recent presidential election revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the current government, Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Janša called for a vote of confidence in parliament. The announcement sent markets tumbling and, as Michael Manske reports, unnerved the country as it approaches the EU presidency.

In a landmark verdict, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Czech Republic violated the rights of Roma children by placing them in so-called special schools for children with learning difficulties. The state has been ordered to pay the 18 families who took the case 4,000 euros each in compensation. Meanwhile, Roma rights campaigners are now calling for the Czech Republic to adopt positive measures to address the segregation that still exists, despite changes to the law.

The Slovak National Gallery is celebrating the 18th aniversary of the Velvet Revolution with a photo exhibition on life in communist Slovakia. Called „Lost Time?“ the exhibition displays documentary photography showing social life in Slovakia from the beginning of the so-called normalisation, following the failed attempt to reform the communist system in 1968, through to the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Anca Dragu reports.

On November 11, Slovenes overwhelmingly elected Danilo Tuerk as their fourth president - and that has sparked a government crisis. The problem is that Mr Türk was supported by left-wing opposition parties while the government supported candidate suffered a crushing defeat. Prime Minister Janez Jansa has taken this badly and suggested his cabinet could step down. Michael Manske of Radio Slovenia International reports on the Tuerk victory and possible consequences.

When the European Union looks back on 2007 it will be with relief that it finally has agreement on a new treaty. What's known as the reform treaty, replacing the constitutional treaty, was finally agreed last month after years of argument and deadlock. It still must be ratified by a number of EU countries. The writer and historian Timothy Garton Ash was in Vienna to talk about the future of the EU. His books include A History of the Present, and Free World. Our reporter John Cummins caught up with Timothy Garton Ash and asked him is the new treaty

Łukasz Kuropaczewski is an up-and-coming classical guitarist from Poland. He recently made his New York debut at the Carnegie Hall - a performance which has set the seal on an international career.

It's only about 18 years ago that a short drive eastwards from Vienna ended at the iron curtain. The border was marked by barbed wire, gun towers, well armed soldiers and fierce dogs. The gun-towers and the dogs are long gone and next month even the passport-control will disappear.

It's eighteen years since the Velvet Revolution that toppled communism in Czechoslovakia, so if you're walking through the centre of Prague in the next ten days you might be surprised to stumble across a communist-era prison camp just a few metres from the McDonalds on Wenceslas Square. The mock camp is actually an exhibition to remind Czechs of the 8,000 people who died in prison camps and uranium mines during the communist era.

In Poland November 11 is a state holiday, an anniversary of the restoration of independence after over a century of the partitions. This is a day of official ceremonies but rather few manifestations of popular joy. Michal Kubicki of Polish Radio's External Service has been finding out why.

Slovenia's tourist organizations are trying hard to attract tourists from abroad, promoting the country's unspoiled nature, thermal spas, mountains and coastal regions. But there's one Slovenian attraction that has been drawing visitors by the million. Literally.