ukrainian law makes it easy for new parents. about a month after we last met natalia she's back home with her family the baby she carried inside her for nine months is now with her german parents they picked her up right after she was born. there were the. to be honest i did feel pretty confused after the birth. by him on the one hand you understand that it's not your child hideous liberals this but on the other you want to know all about it but they will say you've carried it in you for nine months of the approach that you. but i wouldn't call that the maternal instinct i. know i felt very clearly that it wasn't mine. goes through a storm or know why your and how do you feel about it. but news night i missed it somehow of course it's not our child but i've gotten used to it during the

pregnancy but. when the baby was born it was almost the way it was with our two children and the point that i would like to see it again just for you. the german parents want to stay in touch with the surrogate mother to at least they promised they would says natalia would she do it again she won't rule it out and the demand there is growing and growing. those enjoying life in europe's large cities such as bratislava slovakia have to dig deep in their pockets to rent or buy an apartment while those who can't afford a metropolitan way of life move to rural areas where living costs are much lower many are settling down in the countryside of nearby austria a transition made simple thanks to the freedom of movement in the e.u. well we went to the small village of tipsy in austria to see what impact the influx from slovakia is having there. it's almost impossible to find an

apartment here in bratislava for whatever real estate agent b. artifact a shelter has to offer she finds takers immediately this one for instance sixty square meters for seven hundred fifty euros if it was for sale it might cost some three thousand euros per square meter virtually an affordable for the average wage of one thousand euros in slovakia's capital. when people buy an apartment here they go into debt for the rest of their lives or for thirty years at least they take out mortgages with all the risks involved that's another mistake here in bratislava wages are a bit higher but even so to rent or buy an apartment here in the center at least two wage earners have to go in on it together. some people who rent even live three to a flat if the landlord allows it might. as

proto slava grows and booms many slovaks are moving to neighboring austria. just a ten minute drive takes them out of the big city and across the border into the broad flat austrian countryside. here in two thousand and thirteen the slow but a family made their dream of a house and garden come true. so new work says a teacher in bratislava well her husband martin has a business in the tourism sector. now they and their children are austrian residents the cost of living was another important factor. it's because you're comparing the capital there's a fairly big city with the countryside it's like the edge of the world in austria here in those that i. think most of the people in kid say have no problem with the slovaks but some are uneasy with the rapid growth of the village but.

one resident says strangers only used to come here during the africa harvest festival. this lately could get me any of the rural character is disappearing more and more. integration is of course not all that easy if you've got one thousand nine hundred kids a residence trying to integrate fifteen hundred slovaks. and it's slow going but it's working here this. skate always gets your legs and. it's working even better for the soccer club the slow but his son heinrich is on the team the slovaks are also active in village life so kids say is becoming a multicultural community. i think sports are a good way to integrate to get the kids playing with each other. and i don't think the younger generation the generation of our children will even be debating this issue in the years to come. help. being advanced.

well other austrian villages no longer have enough kids for one soccer team has enough for two. has no problem finding new recruits he can't say exactly how many are slovaks. but really there's a reason for what it's an enormous advantage because so many more kids are here and that means a lot more talented kids in the four years i've been coaching the team the football club has grown immensely. that's a huge advantage not just for the team but for the community if in fact you know if you do what you really set forth that you want to include say austria europe is growing together on the playing field says so on your slope of the border that was once the iron curtain between austria and slovakia is fading into oblivion. while eastern european countries like slovakia have already joined the e.u.

other nations such as albania are eager for membership but a major hurdle is standing in their way the country has become one of europe's leading hubs for the production and trade of illegal drugs albanian authorities say they are cracking down on the mafia and are keen to promote their success to the international press well our reporter traveled to the mediterranean coast of albania to see just how big an impact their efforts are really happening. we're accompanying albanian border police on patrol in the mediterranean they want to show us they're getting tough on the mafia which controls the drug trade here. because the italian police are better equipped they're helping the albanians fight the drug smugglers. the officers fly down this fishing boat. they searched the cabin but find nothing suspicious.

that we've had smugglers who had heroin in car tires or oil tanks and up to get the last time we discovered ten kilos of heroin and i don't mean to brag but in the last two years the police and its partners have become more effective and reduce the drug trade to a minimum. probably. but the numbers tell another story in twenty seventeen euro paul the e.u. agency for law enforcement cooperation listed albania as europe's biggest producer of cannabis and a major drug trafficking harb. albania is one of the poorest countries in europe. here the average monthly income is around three hundred thirty euros. get the capital tirana is full of luxury cars. and the construction industry is booming.

where is all the money coming from. journalists are ton hard accompanies us to villages north have to ronna that are known for their contract killers he's the only investigative journalist in albania who reports on the mafia's involvement in drug trafficking it's a wonder he's still alive. here furniture stores suddenly spring up on isolated country roads. were among those you know it will be here you were many of these shops are used to store and process drugs the record production of cannabis in two thousand and sixteen means that for no crime gangs no need to cultivate anymore they have enough in store. registers our presence with the local mafia boss just to be on the safe side. to make sure that nothing happens to him the journalist reports on all forty one clans equally in his

t.v. documentaries they're always at war with each other here as whether deadline. just says the whole country is really run by the mafia. against us from our in the wages of albanian police officers are far too low compared to the bribes they receive from the crime gangs. under the current conditions you can't wage a serious war against organized crime. from time to time nor catch a few small fry but the guys pulling the strings will get off scot free. but albanian authorities claim the opposite they take us for a ride in a helicopter to show was that the marijuana fields are all gone. and they introduce us to the special task force which fights organized crime but we can't show the investigators faces on screen. we had more than

a hunger it people arrested a lot of these operations you know conducted by the spouse with us force now they'll say that they were just lower and soldiers for not they were good or so these groups but when we asked about investigations into corrupt politicians and their links to the mafia his replies were evasive. at a secret location in switzerland we met up with three tons of gunny he was a drug investigator in albania until twenty seventeen when he discovered that the country's then interior minister sign mir to he really had mafia connections. his cousins even used the minister's official car to smuggle drugs. but when the gunny passed on this information he's the one who got arrested. if you could prove it was the toughest time in my life i will move to the accusations that i was a traitor made my life a living hell to move boulders who will move then the threats began against my

family when i had to leave albania to protect my children and their lives were endangered by the mafia. mafia which still has the full support of the government mafia. using a drone our ten hard judge shows us where marijuana is still grown. here at the edge of a forest it's hard to spot. albania is making efforts to fight the drug trade. but until the link between politicians and the mafia is broken it's a battle the country is unlikely to win. for animal lovers pets are a source of unconditional love and companionship life just wouldn't be the same without their four legged friends but for some people the cost of caring for their

pets has become too high it's a problem that a group in antwerp belgium has found an answer to. and towards a village district a flemish couple has founded a pet food bank in a garage called who's a who it hands out food for animals to people who often go hungry themselves. the manger the unit unschooling with the other new folks who come here had their pets before they had financial woes electricity prices just went up again and there be some who can't pay their bills. but when you have money troubles some you can't just give a pet that's been with you for years to a shelter that's healed and as that of. her clients are people like to leave master magda who has to get by on a small pension others live on social assistance then there's kate like who has a big heart but little money. we have seven cats and a dog all of them are neglected because we saved them and for now gave them

a home that's the stuff you say look this is sociable place and hats off for the way they care for the animals like. it's very good. back to comes here every sunday morning. pet food is handed out from nine to eleven am demand is so great there's scarcely room to move a hundred twenty seven pet owners currently benefit from the nonprofit initiative which is financed entirely by donations. first we had to do a lot of looking around we wrote to companies vets and stores the first day we gave away four kilos of food now it's three hundred kilos per month. but mt. many here are looking for social contacts as well as pet food so the project benefits animals and humans it's. no wonder the pet food banks founders are

lovingly known as and corey and uncle frank. all that brings in this edition of focus on europe through and thanks so much for joining me don't forget you can also watch our program online at.

absolutely.