Inside Europe: Inside Europe: The inside take on European affairs

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DATE : Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:05:00 GMT
Entered in Database : 2009-11-12 00:00:00
length : 26518670
Link to the Show / Show Notes

Europeans take stock of what they've achieved since the fall the Berlin Wall - Why Italy's earthquake victims are reluctant to leave their tent cities - Calls for a rethink over the thorny issue of migration - Will swine flu result in the kiss of death for a French custom? - And 20 years after the fall of communism, we look at the legacy of the 1989 revolutions. This week: Czechoslovakia.
Europeans take stock 20 years after the fall the Berlin Wall

On Monday, all eyes were on Berlin for an evening of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

World leaders paid tribute to the bravery of those who broke the shackles of their communist regimes back in 1989 and forced change throughout Eastern Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, recalled how she experienced that night and said it was a day of celebration for the whole of Europe. The fall of the Wall has come to symbolize the collapse of the communist regimes across central and Eastern Europe. And it led to the unification of Germany one year later. Twenty years on, the achievements of those 1989 revolutions are clear: democracy, free market economies and the loosening of borders. But have there been missed opportunities as well, for example here in Germany? Helen Seeney put that question to analyst Heinz Schulte.

It's been more than seven months since a devastating earthquake struck Italy’s mountainous Abruzzo region.

But more than 800 people are still living in tents there. These tent cities, located in 23 different locations, were supposed to close at the end of last month. The Italian authorities say they have alternative lodgings for each resident but the problem is that some people are refusing to leave the tent cities. However, as winter and the first snowfalls arrive, there’s an urgency to get people out of the tents and into other accommodation.

Report: Stephanie Raison

A UN-sponsored conference in the Greek capital Athens has generated a major split over the thorny issue of migration.

According to delegates inside the Global Migration and Development Forum, their main objective was to encourage governments of prosperous countries to be more receptive to immigration and to make freedom of movement easier. But on the streets of Athens, many of the people the conference is aimed at helping claim the real purpose is to force unwanted emigration on poorer nations.

Report: Malcolm Brabant

The French government launched its campaign for swine flu vaccinations this week, encouraging high risk groups to get the shots.

Vaccinations against H1N1 flu will be available to all schoolchildren on a voluntary basis later this month. Opinion polls suggest most French people are hesitant about the shots. There's also concern - on a lesser scale - that a possible flu onslaught may change one of the country’s most deeply held social customs: kissing.

Report: Eleanor Beardsley

Back in 1989, students in Czechoslovakia took to the streets.

They called for freedom, independence and democracy. The protests quickly turned into a mass movement, leading to what became known as the Velvet Revolution.

Report: Sabina Casagrande

The Velvet Revolution in 1989 led to the Velvet Divorce and the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

Since then, it's the Czech Republic that has enjoyed most of the limelight. It has a higher political profile and, of course, it's famous for its beautiful capital, Prague. Slovakia to the east is less well-known. In the Slovak capital, Bratislava, people have different views on the revolution 20 years on.

Report: Kerry Skyring

One of the big issues for post-communist societies is how to deal with the large amount of data collected by the former communist secret police.

The Czech Republic is certainly no exception. A special official body exists to collect, process and make available all documents held by the security services of communist Czechoslovakia to the public. But one man’s unofficial attempt to speed up that process has ruffled many feathers.

Report: Rob Cameron

The Czech capital Prague is one of Europe's most beautiful cities.

Each year, millions of tourists flock there to take in the fabulous architecture, which documents the city's varied past. Under communism, though, Prague was shrouded in an atmosphere of oppression and the grime of centuries.

Report: Alexa Dvorson

One of the most dramatic changes that Czechs have experienced over the past 20 years is in the area of shopping.

Under communism, people were used to long queues for even the most basic items and there was almost zero variety. Today, Czechs are surrounded by western-style shopping centers offering an abundance of goods. In fact, the Czechs have taken to consumer culture with great enthusiasm - though there may be a downside.

Report: Ian Willoughby

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