Inside Europe: The inside take on European affairs

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DATE : Sat, 18 Jul 2009 07:05:00 GMT
Entered in Database : 2009-07-18 07:05:00
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On today's program, we take a look back at some of the highlights from this year: An ostalgic trip through East Germany - An exclusive interview with the Prime Minister of Greenland - The baseball craze hits rural Italy - Pensioners prove a dab hand at computer games - Why vultures starved in Spain - Brits behave badly in Greece - Naked hikers cause a stir in Switzerland
Icelanders look for new ways to earn money

The financial crisis still made headlines throughout 2009. One country in particular came in for a lot of unwanted attention.

After five years of explosive growth, Iceland's biggest banks went bust. The real estate market remained frozen solid. Car sales fell by 80 percent and unemployment soared close to a record high. But Icelanders are an energetic, forward-thinking people. Following their ruinous foray into financial services, they began casting around for other ways to earn a living. From Reykjavic, Stephen Beard had this report.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the revolutions that led to the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

But since German unification, many in the east have started to miss certain aspects of life in the former German Democratic Republic, or GDR: things that vanished overnight - like groceries, TV programs and social organizations. This feeling is known as "Ostalgie." It's a combination of the German words "Ost" - meaning East - and "Nostalgie" for nostalgia. But 20 years on, remnants of the East can still be found around Berlin. So Neale Lytollis decided to investigate, and set off in the GDR's most famous car, the Trabant.

Greenland celebrated monumental changes in its government in 2009. It commemorated 30 years of home rule from its former colonial master Denmark.

So what better way to celebrate than to turn home rule into self-rule. As of 2009, Greenland has enjoyed control over its justice system and most significantly, its abundant natural resources. But full independence will remain a distant dream so long as Greenland needs the annual "block grant" of 430 million euros from Copenhagen. It covers nearly half of all public expenditures. Rob Turner spoke to the newly elected Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist and asked him what enhanced self-rule meant to Greenland.

Italians are completely crazy about soccer, from the prime minister's own team AC Milan in the north to level D football in villages in Sicily.

But there's one town outside Rome where America's pastime rules. In the small, seaside city of Nettuno, kids grow up playing baseball, a tradition that began during World War II. Reporter Nancy Greenleese visited Nettuno to find out why it swings its own way.

In Britain, a group of pensioners have been turning their hand to pastimes not usually associated with their generation.

In 2009, a number of old people's homes have been introducing the Nintendo Wii console, where gamers use motion control to play tennis, box and bowl. The idea is to help the elderly stay in shape, while having lots of fun. Lars Bevanger went to a day center in Manchester to see if he could challenge some octogenarians.

Moldova was rocked by violent protests after a disputed election in 2009.

Moldova is often described as the poorest country in Europe. Economic hardship has forced around a fifth of the population to move abroad for work. The remittances these Moldovans send back home help keep the country afloat. But migration is having a catastrophic impact on Moldova's children. While their parents leave the country for work, the kids are left at home in Moldova. Around 30 percent of them are growing up without one or both their parents. Helen Seeney visited the village of Braviceni.

Environmentalists in Spain complained in 2009 that the country's vultures were starving because of a law designed to stop the spread of mad cow disease.

Under the regulations, farmers had to collect and burn their dead livestock, rather than leaving the bodies to rot in the countryside - where they used to be the vulture's main food source. But help was at hand. The European Parliament did vote on modifying the rules. While the politicians were considering what changes to make, Danny Wood went in search of hungry Spanish vultures in the mountains near Segovia.

The idea of compensating for your carbon footprint is fairly widespread nowadays. But a water footprint was relatively unknown until 2009.

The World Wildlife Fund released the first ever corporate water footprint study. It analyzed the total water use involved in producing beer in the Czech Republic - including the pilsner which provided the blueprint for the majority of the world's commercial beers. The study was presented at last year's World Water Week in Stockholm. Rob Turner caught up with Dr Stuart Ore from WWF in Stockholm, who helped compile the report, and asked him to explain a water footprint.

Community leaders on the Greek island of Zakynthos accused British holiday companies of encouraging binge drinking amongst young tourists and of damaging their economy.

British police went to the island to advise their Greek counterparts on how to cope with drunkenness and bad behavior. Malcolm Brabant reported from Zakynthos on how these are desperate times for the islands.

Tourists visiting the Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden caused a stir among the locals this year.

An influx of hikers provoked a great deal of indignation. Why? Well, Appenzell is indeed a beautiful and popular region for mountain hiking. But locals said the newcomers were just not the right kind of people - and they were certainly not wearing the right kind of clothes. In fact, they were not wearing any clothes at all. Imogen Foulkes reported.

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