Hungary has marked the 20th anniversary of a symbolic opening of the Iron Curtain, which once separated it from neighbouring Austria, amid warnings from churches that Europe remains divided.

Christian churches in Kazakhstan have condemned a new draft law on religions, which they say will re-impose Soviet-style restrictions in a country where Islam has the largest number of followers.

President Putin has attended a memorial service conducted by Patriarch Aleksei II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, at a church built near a Soviet police secret killing field, to commemorate the victims of Josef Stalin.