GREECE: State Itself Becoming Xenophobic

"I can see migrants are the source of many problems," says Maria Nafpliotou, an employee at a music store in the city centre. "Nobody is happy to see them living around here, but I doubt slaying them is a solution."

EUROPE: Still Preparing to Trip Up the Big Treaty

In spite of the Lisbon Treaty's approval by both houses of the Czech Parliament, President Vaclav Klaus is refusing to sign the document that many believe would allow the EU to deal effectively with the global economic crisis.

EUROPE: Help the Economy, Hurt the Environment

The European Economic Recovery Plan devised by the European Commission last year to help deal with the financial crisis is likely to fast-track environmentally damaging projects in the new member states.

EDUCATION: Illiteracy Rising in Parts of Europe

A global event to promote literacy has drawn attention to the fact that an increasing number of Romanian and Bulgarian children are not getting minimal education.

BALKANS: Religion Makes a Worrying Call

Five-year-old Admir does not come from a Muslim family, and so among the early lessons he is learning in school in Sarajevo is that he is out while most others are in.

Q&A: ‘Anti-Crisis Stimulus Packages Must Take Women into Account’

Progress has been made on gender issues in almost all countries, and everything possible must be done to keep the economic crisis from leading to a "backlash," warns Barbara Prammer, president of the Austrian parliament.

GREECE: Financial Crisis Multiplies Migrant Miseries

The economic crisis is hitting migrants harder than most other people, and it looks set to get worse for them.

EUROPE: The Right Rises

Human rights activists have warned of a "proliferation" of far-right groups in central and eastern Europe amid an economic crisis fuelling support for extremist movements and political parties.

ICELAND: Living With Ghost Towns*

Icelandic municipalities are being forced to repay individuals who had been allocated building land in new residential areas but can no longer afford to build.

EUROPE: Democracy Failing Under Russian Shadow

Eighteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of the newly created republics are still struggling to find a working democracy amidst failing economies.

RIGHTS: Roma Seek to Flee Czech Republic

The situation of Roma in the Czech Republic has always been bad, but growing right-wing extremism has taken tensions to new levels, driving many to seek asylum in Canada.

MAY DAY: Europeans Begin to See Red

European unions are facing a difficult choice this May Day between holding protests to protect workers' interests, or holding off to avoid a further deepening of the economic recession.

ICELAND: Taking the First Turn Left

Iceland's Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Party won the majority of the seats in the Apr. 25 election, and will continue to work together for the next four years as the ruling coalition.

RIGHTS: Some Common Hopes Lie With Lords

Human rights campaigners are looking to the House of Lords to thwart, or at least dilute, a proposed new law to enable secret inquest.

HUMAN RIGHTS: Ominous Silence About Domestic Violence

Over a quarter of Armenian women have been hit or beaten by a family member and about two thirds have experienced psychological abuse, yet the state grossly fails to prevent, investigate and punish domestic violence, say researchers and rights activists.

EUROPE: Corporate Giant Casts a Shadow

Peter Sutherland, chairman of British Petroleum, never realised his goal of becoming president of the European Commission. Back in 1994, Britain recommended him for that post – at a time he was director-general of the World Trade Organisation - yet he failed to secure the crucial backing of the government in his native Ireland.

RIGHTS: Bad to Beat Up Roma, if it Gets Filmed

Slovakia's interior minister is facing calls to resign amid claims of institutionalised racism in the country's police force after a video emerged of policemen forcing Roma children to strip naked, kiss and beat each other while being held at a police station.

GREECE: ‘Culture of Control’ Taking Over

The government of the right-wing New Democracy has announced massive security measures that legal experts warn can corrode social and political rights.

BALKANS: SOS Shops Tell the Economic Story

The new century brought new growth across the Balkans after the turbulent 1990s. But the advance is proving short-lived as the global recession hits the region hard.

RIGHTS: Czech Govt Chokes Media

Czech media groups have warned that investigative journalism is under threat after what they described as "draconian" legislation on reporting came into effect.

EUROPE: Recession Invites an Unwanted Homecoming

Thousands of East Europeans who migrated to the West in search of work when the EU expanded in 2004 are returning home as the global financial crisis plunges their adopted countries into recession.