Barnier, borders and boundaries - Inside Europe

[Music] DW inside [Music] Europe hello and welcome I'm Kate Lok in Germany on today's program The Familiar Face of France's new prime minister the Brits got to know quite well and some of them uh perhaps Quail slightly at this tall impassive figure with the Steely blue eyes turkey's Naval expansion plans and what they mean for Europe plus I'm Colonel Andre National Defense HQ we are on the Main Road a13 12 km from the Russian border a wind swep trip to patrol the Baltic defense line those stories and more coming [Music] [Applause] [Music] up now remember this we had a constructive meeting with Steve bleay the British team and now I'm going to debrief the 27 ambassadors and the brexit Steering group of the parliament but I already said that the brexit is like climbing a mountain we need vigilance determination and Patience are we near the top that that was a certain Michelle B then Europe's Chief brexit negotiator giving a characteristically tough and pissy verdict on Britain's acrimonious exit from the EU some four years ago as of last week B is back as French prime minister to find out how and why this unlikely comeback has come about I spoke to our Paris correspondent John lawrenson upon whom it seems B's brexit years left quite an impression yes it's that Michel berer the man who for what felt like a very long time was uh Brussels Chief negotiator tasked with getting the best possible deal for Europe or at least the worst possible deal for the UK following the British vote to leave the European Union uh the Brits got to know quite well and some of them uh perhaps Quail slightly at this tall impassive figure with the steel blue eyes who's suddenly making this quite spectacular political comeback in France I mean French politicians they have what you might call the Johnny Alid syndrome when they lose elections they tend not to go off and uh join the board of some company or go on the conference circuit they do what they call a Travers deser a crossing of the desert a sort of politicians version of rehab before making a comeback well John thank you there andk thank you as well for doing that incredibly French thing and referencing a pop star there that nobody outside of France has actually heard of you haven't heard of Johnny you don't know what you're missing Johnny y day listen um back to Michelle B there is one thing that I just don't really understand here John maybe you can explain it for me because I distinctly remember that just before I went on my summer holidays there was an election in France right I'm I'm not imagining this legislative elections the left Alliance came top of those closely followed by Marine leen's farri National rally party but B he's from neither of those camps you're right I mean on the face of it this uh nomination doesn't seem very Democratic and that is of course what the leaders of the leftwing alliance that you mentioned the new popular front as it's called Uh is saying but to answer your question barer became PM because there is a chance that he might be able to use his old brexit negotiating skills to negotiate himself a working majority in Parliament if macron had picked a prime minister from the ranks of the two parties that did best in the June elections then they would have been voted down in a no confidence motion straight away the left although they were a long way from getting a parliamentary majority were just insufficiently willing I think to compromise um following what they considered to have been their victory in the center and on the right they were willing to compromise and so they got the Premiership so basically the French have got a of a right-wing techn r that maon hopes is going to keep the wheels running when they very decidedly voted for change whether that was with the leftwing alliance or with the far right National Ry party how are the French taking all this well on the left they're taking it badly this having been said the demonstration to cry scandal at uh this nomination only attracted about 30,000 people in Paris this weekend many are also shocked or at least a bit uneasy about the fact that the barer option is only going to be workable with the support of Marin leen's National rally in other words this party that during the election everyone in macron's Centrist Camp almost everyone in B's center right Camp was saying were dangerous extremists a danger to democracy Etc that had to be stopped at all costs are now being treated tacitly at least unofficially at least as allies I think though many French people will have heaved a big sign of relief that macron did choose someone like him he he does seem to many people I think like a steady serious figure who's not going to further bankrupt the country and who is in tune with public opinion on two issues they care about a lot which are immigration and Law and Order nevertheless we do that have a weakening of The Cordon San Let's Talk About Emanuel macron cuz he is really of course the figure at the center of of all this he's at that stage John in his career where politicians start thinking about their legacy how do you think he wants to be remembered well I think what he was initially hoping for was to be this figure who was going to unite the French to get them to rise above the right left divide find rational technical European solutions to their problems I think at this point that Legacy is looking unlikely I don't think that's what going to be remembered for what he might still hope for is to be seen as a leader who encouraged startup entrepreneurialism and even a bit of uh reindustrialization of France while managing to push through an unpopular retirement pension reform he has by his standards done quite well in in that area at least right okay so that's how Emanuel mcon himself might like to be remembered might hope to be remembered perhaps come 2027 John how do you think he is likely to be remembered I think he'll be seen as another French leader in what's becoming quite a long list who presided over the decline of France because this country has on his watch become more divided and more violent at the same time uh in what's supposed to be a strong area the economy many people feel poorer than when he came to power and he's not been able to prevent France's national debt rising to very high level levels but now his reputation is to a large degree in the hands of Michel barer perhaps he'll do well if he does then macron's record will look better in 2027 than it does today our Paris correspondent John lawrenson there 2027 is of course the year of presidential elections in France can the appointment of Michelle B help Emanuel macron avoid going down in history as the man who handed the Alis over to Marine Leen time will tell in the meantime we'll continue our reporting here on inside Europe do subscribe wherever you get your podcasts we have a security theme coming up now with two reports one from the Baltic the other from the Bosphorus from Istanbul to be precise where our reporter Dorian Jones has been following the story of the unprecedented Naval expansion that looks set to make turkey one of Europe's largest naval Powers this unprecedented beefing up of Maritime muscle has alarmed many of turkey's neighbors but Anor insists the expansion is purely defensive and is needed to help it meet its growing Regional commitments here's Dorian Jones with the story Turkish president Reb T erdan recently commissioned the country's latest state-of-the-art submarine along with a helicopter carrier new frigs and more than a dozen other warships under construction these are part of erwan's drive to make the Turkish navy among Europe's largest sir kench is a professor of international relations at kardas University in Istanbul it serves ardan's political agenda of exerting influence overseas from Qatar to Somalia to Libya so that fits his vision for Navy that means you know a a greater role in the defense of the country which is redefined no longer territorial defense but forward defense you know from overseas Turkish Sailors used to you know sail out to sea but they would come back on the same day to their home bases and spend the night in their homes that's no longer the case they spend week and months away from home in the distant corners of the world and therefore essentially materially and mentally the Turkish navy has transformed itself into a major regional power projection Navy Turkey has military bases in Qatar Libya and Somalia the last of which has a naval agreement anur Inc its Naval expansion is part of addressing growing Regional threats and also helps meet its NATO commitments m chashan is a Turkish presidential advisor and a professor at Istanbul's yeap University and when you looking ongoing picture all the confli points is around the turkey in Black Sea even though in Mediterranean and also Red Sea as a result we can say that the Turkish modernization of the novel for is beneficial for the Netto and security of the West andise and last the security of the oil and Al transiting the freedom of navigation however turkey's growing Naval prowess is causing concern especially in its neighbor Greece there are a number of territorial disputes between Anor and Athens over their shared aan and Mediterranean Seas Israel too is expressing concern over turkey's Naval expansion and the deployment of military drones or uavs are manned aerial vehicles in Turkish controlled Northern Cyprus Gia Lind stra is a senior researcher at The Institute for National Security studies in Tel Aviv Israel I do see uh growing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean it's not unique to Israel we know there's growing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean with regard to Cypress and Greece I think that some of this greater Navy involvement and the greater uh military involvement in Northern Cyprus this um UAV based in Northern Cyprus some of these things will also be directed against Israel and doesn't mean again that there will be direct confrontation but it doesn't mean that it's something that the Israeli Army has to calculate Greece too is modernizing its Navy citing the Turkish threat Greek Prime Minister curioos misakis earli this month reaffirmed his commitment for the need of a deterrent power against turkey while Israel's growing Naval presence in the Eastern Mediterranean is also adding to concerns SE gven of Istanbul's kadash University growing Regional suspicions risk spiraling out of control Israel I remember I think it was 10 years ago for the first time Turkish military began to feel concerned about Israel's deployment of its nuclear missile capable submarines in the Mediterranean as long as they operated in the Red Sea or Indian Ocean it was not a problem but once Israel shifted them to the Mediterranean they were seen as a Potential Threat and so uh a vicious circle because turkey built a new Navy in response to those emerging threats now its neighbors are facing threats from the turkey's Naval building that's what we call arms races and arms races do not end very well unfortunately Turkish shipyards are working at full capacity to meet the country's growing Naval need but many analysts say this will likely only add to its neighbors fears and concerns over anker's intentions Dorian Jones DW Istanbul and it's not just turkey that's tooling up more on that in just a minute that's with Me Kate Lok here on inside Europe earlier this year Lithuania lvia and Estonia announced the creation of an ambitious fortification project on their approximately 1,000 kilm long borders with Russia and bellarus dubbed the Baltic defense line the initi aims to protect the three Baltic states and with it the EU and NATO from military threats and other harmful activities from Moscow many experts see the Baltic nations with their small land masses and narrow ground link to the rest of NATO as the place where Vladimir Putin could seek to test the alliance's unity and resolve through destabilizing provocations or even an outright military attack the prospects of such a scenario became evident earlier in the week when lvia along with fellow NATO member Romania said that Russian drones violated their airspaces our reporter Ben batka has been at the Latvian Russian border finding out more a dozen or so Lan construction workers are building a wire mesh fence behind them border guards on quad recycles and armed with automatic rifles Patrol on adus road just me behind the roughly 3 m High structure which is topped with barred wire a red and green boundary Stone marks Russian territory yis Mazu from Latvia's State Border guard expects defense on the roughly 270 km long Lan Russian border to be completed next year construction this started from this year April in in this area with the Lan and belarian actually there's already completed uh this fence Lan R here already done all almost 45% around 28 km will be finished next year border guards from Russia side who is patrolling or who the also job patrolling we have a more intensive after the J war with Ukrainian also we armed fully with the automatic guns not only with the pistol according to mazour each border surveillance unit has 39 personnel and is responsible for up to 32 kilm of the lvan Russian border surveillance Towers equipped with cameras and sensors help border guards monitor the Frontier curbing irregular migrant arrivals Remains the main purpose of the Border fence but according to lb's defense Ministry it is also to protect thata from different kinds of threats concerns among the 7 million balls about a potential Russian incursion have grown since Russia's fullscale invasion of Ukraine 2 and a half years [Music] ago I'm colel Andre National Defense HQ we are on the Main Road a13 12 kilom from the Russian border behind me we can see anti-tank Hedgecock this is the temporary field where we plac them during the our military exercise September October we are going to start to place them in the exact place hedgehogs are anti- Mobility obstacles that each weigh around 250 kg and consist of three metal beams welded together at 90° angles according to reeks their purpose is to stop invading Vehicles long enough to make them easy target for artillery and Rockets if they decide to do something in laa territory they will for sure in the front will will send a special unit whose capability is to clear the roads our goal for that time is to destroy this uh kind of item and then wait the second to come in or the third the main reason is to stop them as close as possible to the border and to engage destroy and repel from the Lan Latvian companies have built two other counter Mobility items so-called Lego blocks and Dragon's Teeth each weighing more than a ton as the name suggests Lego blocks can be stacked and are thus ideal for setting up Road checkpoints and protecting one's own troops from enemy fire like Lego blocks a dragon's teeth are made of concrete but they are a bit smaller and have a pointy top they will be deployed permanently in Open Fields and multiple parallel rows according to Colonel reeks Lego blocks and hedgehogs on the other hand will be stored together with ammunition and mines and yet to be built engineer resource parks near the border from where they can be deployed Ed together within hours re say Latvia's defense minister Andre Brut says his country plans to invest €330 million on the Baltic defense line over the next 5 years Baltic defense line is about deterring it's about showing that we are prepared and we are ready for any kind of scenario we are facing aggressor imperialistic expansionist country we will have to face it in a longterm perspective of course there are some more specific Plans by the national governments and non for es in Lithuania Estonia and latva we compare the notes and also think about common procurement and common activities now we are also engaging with Poland Poland is also considering actually the following the example of the Baltic countries also being part of the Baltic or the Eastern plank defensive Border Lines as recently as a few years ago NATO's plan to defend the three Baltic countries in the event of an attack was to allow Russia to First occupy them before repelling its military with mass for for several months later today the strategy is to defend NATO territory from the first inch and not let Russian Invaders raise cities as they have in Ukraine the hope is that this defense by denial approach will make any attack prohibitively difficult and costly as a result the defense Alliance has gradually stepped up its presence in the balic since 2016 in June NATO announced that 23 of its 32 member states were expected to meet the alliance's defense spending commitments of 2% of national GDP this year up from only 10 in 2023 the news came on the heels of yearslong calls by the US and Baltic countries in particular for alliance members like Germany and France to finally pull their weight lva along with four other NATO countries will exceed even the 3% threshold this year according to defense minister bruts we absolutely Advocate and invite our partners to follow this lead both the countries all the time remind our partners in Europe and within NATO that investment in security and defense is absolutely crucial the proximity to Russia is not the only reason why the three Baltic states have been on a heightened state of alert for years now they have been the targets of Russian President Vladimir Putin's hybrid Warfare in the form of disinformation campaigns cyber warfare and the weaponization of irregular migration another reason why the bals are taking the Russian threat very seriously and why they're supporting Ukraine more than most allies is a decades long Soviet occupation the collective memory of mass deportations and other atrocities provided a strong incentive for them to duck under the security Umbrellas of NATO and the European Union 20 years [Applause] ago back at the border fence the construction workers have finished their day's work and climbed into a military truck Border guard uis mazur says securing the Border won't stop when the fence is complete this is only the first step we build the fence later we're trying to build also the where we can patrolling make by water cycles passing moving and also we have another steps for get more effectivity we also will be equipped with the optical cables and video cameras in June the balic countries together with Poland requested financial support for an EU defense line along the Block's border with Russia and Belarus it would also include finland's 1300 km border with Russia According to some estimates such a fortification could cost up to €2.5 billion EUR Ben batka in lvia at the Russian border all this talk about external borders but the one story this week which could have profound consequences for Europe's internal borders as well I am of course talking about the fate of Europe's passport-free shenen area which is hanging in the balance after Germany decided to impose temporary controls at all of its borders to remind us what shenan is all about here is a helpful explainer that the European commission put out on YouTube some N9 years ago this is Thomas Thomas enjoys traveling it's his thing fortunately today there's the shenen area the shenen area represents one of the eu's greatest achievements today more than 400 million people can travel in Europe without any red tape or worries and that's just perfect to satisfy Thomas's desire for new discoveries we'll be covering Germany's border controls and the threat to shenan in full in the second half of our program but first time to test your [Music] knowledge the 1985 shenan agreement was signed in the little town of the same name but where is it Luxembourg Belgium or lonstein head on over to Spotify to take part in the poll [Music] inside Europe is of course also available on all the other usual platforms including YouTube via DW's podcasts Channel my tip of the week if you've not already heard it do look up the don't drink the milk episode on passports they actually go to shenan in that one in search of the source of the European dream of borderless travel this is inside Europe and I'm Kate Lok in Germany [Music] this is inside Europe and I'm Kate Lok in Germany here in in shameful disregard of the usual boundaries of our show to continue our discussion of shenen the agreement which allows in theory at least borderless travel within 29 different European nations we're talking about shenen this week because of Germany's decision to impose temporary controls at all nine of its borders as of Monday 16th of September now the shenan agreement does make provision for the implementation of temporary controls in response to exceptional Circ circumstances and an increasing number of countries including Germany have already done so in response to covid and the so-called migrant crisis what's new here is that all German borders will be affected and that as many commentators and European legislators have observed Berlin's move does not seem to be in response to an increased security threat but rather to the demestic political challenge posed by the Electoral strength of the farri right afd party all in all then a clear case for our political correspondent Thomas Sparrow there was just one problem when I phoned him up to discuss it all he wasn't in Berlin so where was he I'm mean I'm in my yard of old places uh but it's still nice to nice to talk to you about what's happening in Germany and following it closely and by the way it's also very big story in the last few days yeah well absolutely and listen I really do appreciate you allowing us to gate crush your holiday to so thank you so much I'm going to make this quick mayor though I mean we're still on topic aren't we because it is actually part of shenan yes and shenen has been part of the discussion in the last few days after the German interior Minister uh announced border controls on the one hand to tackle irregular migration on the other hand to improve Germany's security this comes specifically after a series of security incidents that highlighted some of the problems that Germany's facing in these two areas but it also comes at a time when the fire right alternative for Germany a populist anti-immigrant party is doing very well in the polls and not only in the polls they actually won a regional election in tyin here and there's another Regional election just around the corner this is really key I'm just going to read you a quote actually from a guardian editorial so Germany's decision to tighten controls at every one of its land borders seems driven chiefly by politics is difficult to justify in law deals a heavy blow to Europe's prized free movement and could severely test EU Unity right so this is the international perception and there's an irony isn't there Thomas in that it's Germany doing this Germany of all countries Germany out of all countries specifically because Germany has pegged its own stability its own progress its own development to specifically the progress of the European Union project and one of the core elements of the European Union project is precisely this open border policy the shenen policy specifically and the fact that Germany Europe's Powerhouse a country that has defended the European project all along is now basically being congratulated by Victor Oran and criticized by some of the other European partners for basically affecting that shenen and affecting some of those core principles can indeed be seen as a as a shock it's not a minor decision okay the German government has stressed that it is only temporary it's for 6 months and that they indeed informed the European commission ahead of it that's what the shenen regulations actually stipulate but there is a big debate on the one hand on the actual symbolism of it as you mention on the other hand there's also a debate on the effectiveness of these measures and meanwhile talks between the governing Coalition parties and the chrisan and Democrat Union have broken down these talks were aimed at finding a common line on the Asylum and migration issue that common line is actually necessary in Germany because many of the decisions that are taken on asylum on migration in general are taken actually at the regional level different parties want to position themselves in order to gain back some of the votes specifically from the far right but also because they want to position themselves already with some of the let's say I'll call it the bigger prize which is next year Federal elections so that's why we're seeing these different parties on the one hand trying to have those political discussions and show a compromise on the other hand also clearly trying to show Germans where the differences lie because they're trying to position themselves ahead of those Federal elections next year thank you so much Thomas isn't I have such a a guilty feeling about having gate crashed your holiday that I wanted to end on a sort of a more hopeful perhaps wistful note um shenan right it's it's as old as me by the way 1985 was the agreement um so yeah I I feel quite connected to it what's what's it meant to you this ability to freely travel within Europe it's meant everything and it's meant everything even before I used to live in in Europe that idea of being able to travel across a continent so varied so fantastic without the need to show your passport every time without the need to go through a border control every time is absolutely fantastic I can understand some of the problems that this comes with I can understand some of the challenges that not only German Germany but other governments as well are facing but the idea as such and the fact that it was achieved the fact that people can travel across Europe without having to show their passport and without having these border controls has been an absolutely phenomenal part of the European project and one that I believe from a very personal perspective that European leaders should try and keep at all cost but again I understand some of the challenges that governments are currently facing on this issue well on that note Thomas I'm going to let you slip back into your incredibly well- earned holiday and we do massively appreciate you taking the time out to talk to us do you know Kate it's I love these talks so I'm always happy to join you on the program even if I'm enjoying the sun in my yor very much emboldened by that endorsement from political correspondent Thomas Sparrow there I decided to extend my ring around and call up our Budapest correspondent Stefan boss hungary's Hardline anti-immigration prime minister Victor Orban was quick to welcome Germany's move with a tweet saying welcome to the club Chancellor Schultz a gleeful reaction to Germany doing the very thing for which it has previously criticized Hungary as Stefan explained the Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban somehow feels Vindicated by Germany now because he has always warned the European Union of too many illegal migrants as he would uh describe it so he feels that uh this only shows that he was right all along now of course critics will say that is not exactly true I mean there have been also people in dire need uh who went to the European Union but of course there are also people abusing the system and uh I think that the Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban focuses on those cases also because for his electorate obviously I also think by the way that the reaction of Germany although they say it's uh has to do with uh acts of Terror and so on which of course is a concern in Germany but I also think uh that uh it has to do with the decision of Hungary uh to U start busing migrants towards Brussels and of course I think there is a feeling in Germany that if that's going to happen you know who knows where these buses will end up perhaps they will stop on the way in Germany right now tell me more about this because I mean American listeners may be pricking up their ears because this is something that's been tried in Texas for a while you know that there people coming over the Border are put on buses and busted to uh Democrat run States it's a similar idea right and there have been pictures going around buses in Hungary already with destination Brussels choked up at the top so there was a deputy Minister seen near those buses at a press conference and uh you could see for instance rushka Brussels rushka is the name of the border crossing where they enter and Brussels of course is then the end destination so uh he showed a several buses and he said you know we are ready uh the migrants will get free tickets and uh they uh we will bring them to Brussels now of course as you mentioned this has been tried uh as well in the United States and of course uh we know that uh Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban is a close friends and a very close political Ally with the previous president of the United States Donald J Trump who now of course is trying again to reach return to the White House a campaign by the way that Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban very much supports but I would not be surprised if uh in the next few days the first buses indeed will arrive in Brussels even if it's just to send a signal uh to the European commission uh that Hungary is no longer accepting all the EU rules regarding migration now I have to say it also has to do with a big uh court case that Hungary uh had recently uh the European court of justice uh fined Hungary some 200 million euro for not keeping the migration rules and also uh they are fined every day another 1 million as long as they don't keep those rules now Hungary has refused to pay that fine and that's also one of the reasons why they say you know what we will send the migrants to Brussels and uh perhaps you like it this way now of course Brussels doesn't like it Belgium has already said I know that uh they will uh watch the borders of course Germany is doing so I think the only uh person who is really happy is a very close friend of prime minister Victor Orban hered Builders he is in the Netherlands they know each other also very well and he has already said that uh he is very happy what Germany is doing and he wants to impose a similar uh border uh Crossing uh rules but of course uh he has uh to count with the government uh there are more parties involved but at least wers seems to understand Victor orban's approach to migration welcome to the club Chancellor Schultz as Orban put it I was talking there to our Budapest correspondent Stefan boss now Greece is part of the shenan area so in theory I could upticks and enjoy visa-free travel to any one of its gorgeous Islands Santorini for example with its stunning beaches and beautiful sunsets there is a problem though Daniel rosney has beaten me to it and as we're about to find out there is trouble in Paradise with over tourism becoming a hot political issue in Greece the government has announced that as of next year certain destinations will be imposing a levy on tourists and cruise ship numbers will also be limited yeah better enjoy it whilst you can Daniel that's all I'm saying if you've been scrolling on Instagram or Facebook this summer the chances are high that you've come across someone taking a selfie here as the sun sets it really is glorious it's one of the most beautiful parts of Greece and one of the most stunning moments is when dusk begins The Villages that are built into these Rocky Mountains here have whitewashed buildings with painted Blue Domes that dominate the skyline and the stunning view makes people want to to visit from all over the world great what's your name and where are you from uh Maxim from France there is a lot of tourists which am I which I am uh yeah yeah for sure there is a lot of tourist from France a lot and America also and have you been enjoying the sunsets uh yes yes for sure but it's um not overrated never overrated but uh overcrowed overcrowed and uh we see too much in Instagram so thank you very much enjoy the rest of your holiday thank you below where we are is the Lagoon where cruise ships stock the population of Santorini is around 15,000 but on any one day that could easily more than double because of how many passengers get off these boats there are a lot of problems that come with that infrastructure is a big one for example there's only one cable car that brings people from the port up to the town of farra you can wait more than 2 hours in cues of thousands or you can walk up these famous 600 steps that are hacked into the mountain but in this heat that can take half an hour or so some choose instead these donkeys and they're used to get passengers up to Farah for souvenir shopping and selfies and people like Cornelia have watched life on the island change from her jewelry shop so uh I can understand that they are too bought to clamp up but uh with one cable car with only 36 people who are coming in one line it's cannot hold 30,000 people I came here in 1996 and I had no idea about S I mean in 28 years of course it changed definitely uh I don't think it's Instagram um it was more at the beginning of the 2000 when Santorini was always the number one Island in Europe which was most popular on coming and visiting this made cini more and more popular not I think Instagram do you think there are too many quizzes yes daily yes because uh we have one day small cruises with 200 people and the next day we have eight cruises with 20,000 it has to be just more organized if it's just more organized then everything it's much easier for 2025 authorities want to limit how many can come here to Santorini and other islands in Greece a 20 Levy is proposed for cruise ship visitors coming here and to mikinos another popular Island the Prime Minister kakos mitsotakis agrees citizens are being burdened with over tourism Karina who sells tickets for Sunset boat trips agrees but today's for cruises she says is relatively quiet compared to yesterday oh my gosh was really busy you can imagine that this street was full of people with the cruises because the people was with the with the signs from the cruises oh they've got badges on they've got yes yes they have the cards some people some numbers so was for sure from the groups s is just one small piece ofer tourism is huge business here some estimates say it's 90% of the GDP for the island Greece needs tourism as well the sector makes between 25 and 30% of its overall economy the Bank of Greece suggests the country is on course for a record number of visitors this year but some think that tourists aren't spending as much as they used to according to tusos who lives here this year is very is lower than other years the problem is that we have many tourists tourist but they spend less than other years What's Happening Here on Santorini Is Not Unusual people like to go on holiday but the Greek government says it recognizes how important the industry is to the economy but that it must also pay its special share of social returns they'd love to keep the tourists but would rather they were spread out a bit more in other Islands cruise ship numbers though will be limited from 2025 to allow for only 8,000 passengers per day but that's still more than half the population of the island and you can't blame people for wanting to visit because it really is a beautiful place Daniel rosney DW Santorini Greece nice work if you can get it send us your end of summer musings on a postcard or to inside Europe at dw.com this is inside Europe I'm Kate Lok in Germany [Music] spaghetti western that delightfully quirky subgenre of western movies may have had Italian directors and producers at their Helm hence the name but the Landscapes the Landscapes were Spanish Remember The Good the Bad and the Ugly the 1960s film which launched the career of a certain Clint Eastward yep that was shut in Spain back in 2016 the fake Cemetery sad Hill where the most famous scenes were shot was rescued from nature which had reclaimed the site and last weekend just outside the village of katho which has a population of just 25 people the world over came to Mark the opening of a second site used in the film our reporter Ashish shama was amongst them my name is Anon I'm here I'm acting as a young Lieutenant for the southern forces I'm a woman of the South part of America this history and well we are here trying to defend our rights for having our black people working for us and we are just um camping and just having some tea and and we are not expecting any Northern activity a reenactment of his scene from the American Civil War where Northern soldiers captured their southern counterparts and marched them up to a concentration camp on a hill brow just outside the Tiny Village of katho where some 60 years ago scenes from The Good the Bad and the Ugly were shot the Civil War forms a backdrop to the film and last weekend a group of volunteers known as the sad Hill Association officially unveiled the Reconstruction of the prisoner camp in its exact location it's been the direction of the natural park now and the town major of the this small village who they they have decided to rebuild the Concentration Camp using the burn the burn trees of the big fire that we got here two years ago their name is taken from the fake Cemetery called sad Hill which was a set built by the Spanish Army for the iconic last scenes of the movie abandoned after filming and lost to Nature it was restored in 2016 to Mark the 50th anniversary of the film's release Danny Garcia and his brother Sergio who are behind both projects I'm not the only architect I am the the visible Side of the Moon not the Dark Side of the Moon there are a lot of people working with me with the BOS field commiss with the SAT Hill Cultural Association uh if the sill Cemetery you could feel the bumps especially if you are on the top of the hill but here you couldn't see nothing could only figure out with the hole the the pit that's the only was that the only clue you had that that's where they built the concentration CL after the film what did they do they set was abandoned there even before the official inauguration of the film locals and many more Curious tourists were snaking the way up the hill to see the Reconstruction of the bville Concentration Camp my name is Nina Kik I'm historian from Berlin in Germany first of all I'm a big fan of the movie two years ago we watched a documentary about settle a cemetery a s fake cemetery and here right now we are standing on the other really important side it's a kind of concentration camp the movie at all has a kind of critic a war critic you can say so this is important place for the movie and I guess for the people here too right now I'm also joined by by Moses you've also traveled from far away you've come from Zurich in in Switzerland to be here well why is this movie so special and important for you personally and and I suppose generally as well well it's a very um intimate thing actually because those movies those so-called spaghetti western were uh most of them were made in Spain and I I was a teenager when I realized that and this was like as a as a child of spanish immigrants living in Switzerland this was a kind of a door to to Pate my Nostalgia for Spain and I I started en enjoying these movies and watching them on my VHS recorder and I was really I fell in love with this movies and for me they was it's a very personal thing the hope for the sill Association is that the site will bring in tourism that will help stimulate the region this is an example of empty Spain where young people have moved to major cities leaving behind small and elderly populations this is an opportunity to this small village less than 30 people living here the empty Spain the spada the solution is not only the visitors the tourists is an strural problem and I guess this could be an opportunity but we need more in this small Village more invest of our authorities because maybe in 30 years nobody lives here and this is very dangerous to our patrimony to our uh Memories We have to stop it ASI sha DW gatho there is a seamless Community Services link to be made to our final report here but I'm not even going to do it because I just have to get it on record that for me spaghetti W are all about Bud Spencer and Terren Hill Clint Eastwood can go whistle all of which does not bring me to our final story this week which comes to us from just down the road in Cologne where a dance studio has launched a workshop for seniors with Parkinson's disease Parkinson's is a neurogenerative disease which causes involuntary shaking of the body worldwide it affects about 12 million people with numbers on the rise as population age studies show that movement and dance can have a significantly beneficial impact on patients quality of life but cultural offers are limited the dance Collective resist dance in Cologne wants to change that Laura Cabela reports dance is often about perfectionism about what needs to be improved but this pilot Dance Project focuses on what your body can do it's a contemporary dance workshop and instead of strict choreographies the participants listen to their body and the music in free movement it's so much fun and I don't even have any aches and pains like I usually do during the day my curve always goes up and down these three hours I didn't feel anything this is Doro a participant here Doro got diagnosed with Parkinson's 14 years ago since then she has seen some major changes in her body when she's feeling low dancing helps her when you get the diagnosis that's how you're defined and fighting this is kind of my personal battle and that's why I wish for everyone else too to have the courage to just go out and see what else is possible to not just see the illness as terrible but that there are still so many things you can discover Parkinson's diseas is is a neurological disorder that worsens over time there is no cure symptoms include Tremors stiffening slow emotion and balance issues due to a loss of dopamine production in Germany alone more than 4,000 people live with this disease and because of demographic changes the number is on the rise but research shows that music and dance can help in fact all kinds of exercise do but dance in in particular neurologist Michel Baba from the German Society for Parkinson's and movement disorders explains why we we made the experience that as soon as a patient can move to external cues for example the music that is coming with the dancing um then the patients um feel very good and they are can make movements much nicer and and better such external cues can also be visual a line on the floor for instance instance can help people to get out of the feeling of being frozen and unable to take a step so these cues can facilitate movement and as a result Dr Baba explains less dopamine is needed many people with Parkinson take so-called L Doopa as medication apart from the therapeutic effect the participants at this dance Workshop also come here to meet new people and break with their routine often people with Parkinson feel isolated and lonely due to their physical limitations Parkinson's affects everyone differently the symptoms and their severity vary the workshop's instructor Silka has an inclusive approach when everyone is in the room I think it's no longer an issue because we don't start from the leg or the deficit but from what is possible one person can move faster than another but it's like that with everyone there are 12 participants here they say they're happy that finally there is a dance class nearby that caters to them however they have to pay out of their own Pockets there is a sliding scale which means they can choose to pay anything between €1 135 and €300 for 3 Days of dancing this excludes people who could benefit from such an offer but cannot afford it seniors are the target audience but in Germany around 20% of pensioners are at risk of poverty Elizabeth habble the initiator of this project is well aware of this issue in other countries dance programs are also financed by health insurance companies we have to see how we can manage that here so that it doesn't remain a financially elitist matter that would be completely counterproductive Elizabeth is looking into different ways to apply for funding she wants to establish long-term and free dance courses for people with Parkinson's in Cologne Laura Cabela DW cologne the dance must go on except for us that is because we've reached the end of the show this program was produced by Helen CI with Help From Me Kate Lok and sound engineer CAD Abu slamman inside Europe comes to you from DW in bond Germany [Music]