What drives people in Europe? How do Europeans lead their lives? What are their views, hopes and fears? Fokus Europa provides the answers: up close, exciting and balanced.
http://dw.com/focusoneurope?maca=en-podcast_european-journal-2940-xml-mrss
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 4 days 1 hour 17 minutes
Ukraine – Living on the front line
A 400-kilometer-long front line runs between Ukraine's government-held territories and areas occupied by separatists. The civilian populace along this "border" lives in constant fear that hostilities will resume.
Berlin: homeless capital of Germany
Berlin has a growing homeless population. More than half of the people are from Eastern Europe and depend on the many shelters around the city. Local authorities are struggling to cope.
Contaminated site in France
The French military is said to have used an old military site for “small-scale nuclear tests”. The area is contaminated with radiation. A firm now plans to open a gypsum mine on there. Local residents and nuclear experts are outraged.
Switzerland: A farmer fights dehorning
In Switzerland, 90 percent of dairy cattle have had their horns removed. But farmer Armin Capaul has launched an initiative to offer monetary assistance to owners who don't dehorn their livestock. The Swiss will now vote on the issue.
The last Ukrainian shamans
In the Carpathians, many people believe in the supernatural powers of soothsayers and folk healers called molfars. The tradition is deeply rooted in the region. Even politicians from Kyiv are said to have risked a look into the future here.
Expecting at age sixty
Medical associations in Spain are lobbying to roll back the boom in older mothers. They're calling on professionals to refuse to implant egg cells in women over the age of 50. But the practice looks very different.
Russia: Buddhist monks fight for their monastery
A Buddhist monastery in the Russian Urals is under threat because the company that claims the land wants to mine iron ore. This would bring jobs, but the monks refuse to leave. Public opinion is divided.
Czech Republic: Cross-border conservation
Germany and the Czech Republic disagree on many things – but not about national parks. Central Europe's largest contiguous forest attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.
Fault-prone nuclear reactor
People in Germany fear the controversial nuclear power plants in neighboring Belgium. The city of Aachen is distributing iodine tablets to residents in case of an accident.
Forgotten people on Lesbos
Tens of thousands of refugees live in often terrible conditions in camps on the Mediterranean coast. Local citizens, for example on Lesbos, feel unable to cope and fear violence.