The alternative to Second Life has Europe in its sights, according to Vladlen Koltun, a 27 year old professor from Stanford

Berlin sparks and pixels, free Splash electro in Paris, European student cinema festival in Manchester and eat yourself to death in Lodz

In adverts, stereotypes of countries and nations are often exploited to commercialise certain products – a trip through German television

For the fourth year in a row, demonstrators spend a night in a metro station underground passage to highlight their solidarity with the capital's nearly 30, 000 Hungarian homeless

Poland has been an official EU country since 1 May 2004. While Poles have the right to move freely around France, things get a lot more complicated when it comes to getting a job

The project proposed by a joint committee of historians is chalked for the beginning of 2008 but is charged with problematics

Vilnius’ landscape is defined by the number of houses of worship scattered throughout it. This reflects the rich heritage Vilnius has with the number of religions that have co-existed together for hundreds of years

Since achieving independence in 1990, it has strived to walk steadily on its own. On the eve of reaching adulthood as a self-governing country, Vilnius is like a little girl who has been picked on too many times by her bigger neighbours

In a current government allegedly chosen by a mere 10% of the Poles, celebrities give a face to a new internet campaign - vote because it's sexy

October parliamentary elections in Poland are rapidly approaching. Can Polish emigrants affect their outcome?

The electoral campaign for the general elections has begun - two years early

Roberto Bennati, vice-president of the Italian anti-vivisection league, on a new European legislation

The fifth elections in three years, the latest by presidential fiat, take place on 30 September. Europe needs to sit up and pay more attention for the country to be an effective stabile democracy

A toy airport, a medieval city centre with little wood houses and a maritime city which is completely internet savvy

Liberal reforms over the past decade have catapulted Estonia into one of the fastest-growing market economies of the European Union. But can the Baltic tiger keep up on the social agenda?

A modern, progressive EU member state divided by the linguistic, cultural and educational differences between the Estonians and the Russian minority

Estonia is determined to present Tallinn as a dynamic culture capital when it assumes the title in 2011 – even with a grouchy Europe

The fifth and last in our ‘taxi’ series. In Brussels, you catch them from taxi locations specifically created to this end, at different spots in town

The audacious design of the new National Library in Prague unleashes intense debate

The Czech-Bosnian cartoonist, 55, weaves between cartoons, cinema and geopolitics, taking his readers on a trip into a futuristic universe where political commitment is key

Over 200,000 people flooded Independence Square on 16 June to see British singer Elton John's AIDS-awareness free concert - publicising a dark aspect of Ukrainian society, with estimated adult HIV prevalence of 1.4%

As Ukraine faces a political crisis, Europe follows its neighbour's events with interest, conscious of the former Soviet Republic’s strategic importance for her energy supply

Three years on, a 23-year-old key figure in the youth movement during the Orange Revolution considers his country's latest stalemate

The Transylvania-born Hungarian author, 34, uses an unconventional narrator to express the horrors of a totalitarian system

The former Soviet soldier, 40, has spent half his life sculpting in Lithuania’s evolving public spaces, prodding the West into understanding what the face of Communism once looked like, and fighting privatisation

As it plays an increasingly larger role in the relationship between Russia and its neighbours, is energy supply a way of seeing who is in control of the region?

There's more to Florence than its stuffy museum setting. The Tuscan capital is host to a contemporary art festival, whose lights go out on 31 May

Bulgaria is holding European parliamentary elections on 20 May, but Romania is delaying their own after PM Triceanu suspended his president. An internal referendum is due on 19 May

Visionary film director Yuri Khashchevatsky, 60, is a principal figure of Belarusian dissent. He criticises ineffective opposition, and talks up the new role the Internet plays in the resistance

Prague has installed a new boat as a shelter for homeless people - the people left behind by modernisation within the country

The Czech Republic is renowned as being a predominantly atheist country. Prague is no exception to this rule, even if religious beliefs still make up the laws of the town

The Czech capital's tourism flow reached full capacity in 1999, having experienced its boom after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991. Some are unhappy at what they and their city has been left with

The politically engaged sculptor, 40, has been labelled by many as 'the scandal maker'

Free from the shackles of Communist oppression, Czech theatre has discovered its own identity, lying somewhere between pop culture and experimental drama. Presenting three portraits of this new generation

Over to Belgrade next year, as Serbian singer Marija Šerifovi, 23, wins the 2007 song contest. Ukraine and Russia came second and third in Helsinki on 12 May

EU President Barroso calls for a common European energy policy, as Russian president Putin amongst others propose a gas cartel

The longtime neighbours and latest EU members know precious little about each other

A new Polish women-only party battles traditional stereotypes in a conservative government

Sausages without pork - a Turkish businessman tries conquering the EU

Ferenc Puskás and Vikhash Dhorasoo's parallel career paths outline two universes - both of which feature a round ball

Ceauescu erected the Romanian parliament in the second largest building in the world

Corruption stops German businesses settling in Bulgaria. But Mitko Vassilev of Sofia's German-Bulgarian Industry and Trade Council is optimistic

Longer hours of daylight, groomed slopes, cheap fares and a chance to explore über-foreign cuisine and culture. More and more are taking to Slovenian, Bulgarian, Czech and Bosnian slopes

For the first time, an exhibition in Bucharest lifts the veil on Romania’s Communist past

Arabian disco, gypsy rock and house music boom from buses, taxis and radios throughout Bulgaria. But the knives are out

The German presidency of the EU judged the local elections on January 14 in Belarus ‘undemocratic’. The country’s opposition has already announced its intention of contesting Lukashenko

Integration must happen in-situ, with your neighbours - not with Brussels, says Slovak Ján Figel', European Commissioner for Education, Training and Culture

Next April, UEFA’s Executive Committee will choose the host nation for Euro 2012. Hungary and Croatia are candidates in the race

The city of Budapest wants to build a science park on the site of the former Óbuda gasworks

Seventy gambling rooms in Tallinn and 3,800 active gambling machines for its 5,000 inhabitants. It's a big game of chance in the little Baltic republic

The Slavic languages all have their roots in Proto-Slavic. Since the twelfth century, however, they have drifted apart. One of them reached its zenith in the seventeenth century: Polish.

German film director Florian Henckel's feature debut shines in Hollywood with an elegant and assured spy thriller

Since European enlargement kicked into swing in May 2004, there has been a 6% boost in the number of exchanges between universities in Europe.

Romania is regarded as the poorhouse of Europe. It's booming economy is dividing it into a small upper class and a larger emergent underclass

Wealthy families in Bulgaria are using gated communities to protect themselves from the poor majority

The Romanian city of Sibiu, in the Transylvania region, is making waves alongside Luxembourg as joint European Capitals of Culture 2007

What about Europeans and sex? Jaroslav Zverina, Czech MEP and well-known sexologist talks about couples and gives us some secrets to success.

In old Europe, people are fearing an influx of cheap Polish labour and the relocation of businesses to Poland. But are these fears justified? We take a look at the facts.

While the Polish trade union ‘Solidarity’ celebrates its 25th anniversary, what has become of Lech Walsea and his fellow freedom fighters?