nothing has been from inside my head long into months of malta's on so long even since i was i was it's with me for. my choices in this cognition because given their way toward transport systems. my name is the best mom much and i want. to talk. 20 years ago today vladimir putin became russia's prime minister this semi anonymous k.g.b. colonel hand-picked by boris yeltsin rose from prime minister to president and seemed to talk sincerely about partnership with the west so what did it all go wrong i'm phil gayle in berlin and this is the day.

has become a kind of. he's become a symbol of great power and the return of russia strength. of putin's popularity rating is now completely different from the one he had before previously was true worship. but today it's a popularity rating based on the absence of an alternative. that people today are looking for another stronger voice couldn't has been the strongest voice of the last 20 years. but good sportsman must stop at the top of his form currently putin is not even able to leave because his popularity is declining. he wants it to be written in russian textbooks that he's a great man similar to peter the great catherine the great. you could.

also coming up possible snap elections in italy after a far right stephanie prime minister imitator salvini questions the ruling coalition future so it's really about to move even further to the right. i do my job with my heart with honor with pride if i can do it freely and until the end i mean if i realize that someone is trying to stop me then the decision in a skirt back to the italian people with no ifs and buts. hoping you decide that you and no one else is not a playboy. 20 years ago today vladimir putin became russia's a prime minister picked out by post soviet leader boris yeltsin the young putin was a relative unknown no one back of and of course had any idea that he would change the country's constitution to suit his own purpose and cement his grip on the

country for the next 2 decades during his 1st presidency russia's economy grew for 8 years in a row and putin won public support by cracking down on separatists in chechnya playing on this hard line image he went on to win a series of election victories his current term runs for another 5 years in 2040 he received international condemnation when russia sees the ukrainian territory of crimea since then the russian economy has been squeezed by sanctions and falling oil prices relations with the united states and donald trump are also tense both sides recently walked away from a key nuclear missile treaty raising fears of a new arms race despite russia's international pariah status vladimir putin enjoys solid support at home though there is growing opposition to his authority arion repression of political opponents d.w. has been out on the streets of moscow asking people what they think about the

president. at. the same time. because he has the experience. there are no good changes we're not moving forward. in which. it is too long. young people should rule the country. all people have to be retired like me was that it was really did those put the kids to. the situation is tense in the country i'm afraid to talk about politics. you couldn't you there's never been a tradition in russia to keep up the power voluntarily 1st several hundreds of years ours ruled until this year so the traditions or. new age. pensions we have jobs are going to freeze on the rise the army. you know what else do we need. which i quite like i think the stability

is a good thing as of today i don't see a fit replacement for it. so what has voted a protein done for russia and what will happen when the 66 year old current 6 year term 5 years. is here to discuss those questions and related issues he's an associate fellow of the german council on foreign policy and an expert on russia and ukraine welcome to day w. . bush's outlook has changed over those 2 decades many will recall a russian leader who seemed to talk sincerely about partnership with the west in those early days. i would like to put it a little bit in question of what you said i think if you look more in detail to what he has done it's a beginning of his. presidency it comes out that is more continuing i mean look for example how putin gained his popularity after he has been appointed to.

and it was a chicken war that putin re presented as a strong leader and it was actually the czech war which made from a faceless technocrat to putin a real president in the eyes of the russians so also if you go further already in the frist years for example look at the baseline hostage crisis when putin said russia russia's borders are already not protected and they have been nations brought who helped terrorists to bring food to bring russia on the knees that was the beginning there already changed his approach in foreign policy not to speak about orange revolution in ukraine is this is interesting is it when you put it like that it's seems straight hours of the authoritarian leaders handbook 1st of all find an enemy to conquer church and then talk about how your your borders are being threatened by by foreign invaders and go after them it's seems classic

it seems classic but of course it was not in the eyes of his partners in the west it seems not to be classic yes because putin not immediately. turned to be aggressive for example towards the west yes at 1st it was in the problems with chechnya and i think the problem is that we underestimated in the west what happened in russia under the 1st years of it's part of our city so he presented effectively he presented 2 faces there was one for the west which was nice you know. for internal consumption which was about consolidated certain extent you know ok and the changes that the old east germany saw they had a profound effect on the young let me put in what do you think they had they were impressed by him or what do you know i mean i think of the law to me a person who was affected by what happened at least you i think that is a very important point i mean we should. that the engagement in syria's engagement

in the ukraine actually was influenced by putin fear of every colored revolution put in to breed to do really for example the protests against assad and the protests against the libyan. as conspiracy. supported also from the rest and maybe that already had has begun in the time when he was a colony of k.g.b. and when he saw that. the soviet union comes under pressure and what he called a little bit later the because catastrophe years of the 20th century so i think the fear was that this was the end of soviet influence in eastern germany was the start of the catastrophe that it was in one important experience yes and and that has strengthened them in the curse of his reign when he faced the colored revolutions

in georgia in serbia in ukraine and then in the near east because putin and kremlin's elite really feel that they can also face the same fate as assad and of the retiree and leaders who will come to the 1st time i'm interested in what it was about putin that boris yeltsin saw because putin was was his 4th prime minister i think in less than 18 months so what was yeltsin looking for yes he was looking for a faceless technocrat bureaucrat who can protect him from a political demise and a political decline so what he needed in the time of crisis after the fine and crisis you should remember the finance crisis in 1998. needed someone who is loyal who is young but who is faceless and who is who was seen by it not to be a rival to him yes and what is i think very important that putin. as these years

and these time for putin was very important because putin managed in a very short time to bring back his colleagues from the f.a.a. from the k.g.b. into the higher ranks of presidential presidential administrations we talked briefly about what's next the 66 years old he can go on for ever is there any sign of a successor being groomed. i think there is still no direct sign of a new successor i think there is one person who is very influential that is the minister of defense mr scheuer who. also can play a strong leader i think he has also the trust of putin he was very successful in in strengthening defense operad towards the defense system in russia but i think the main the main question will be how puttin by himself can protect his influence behind the scenes i think it would be not i cannot exclude that the kremlin

will find some way to make putin maybe or fish really a representative of some security council but views more informal power then he is such as the visible so at some stage he will go but not completely yes good talking to thank you so much for joining. us from the german council on foreign policy thank you very much. italy rather far right league party has announced it will call for a vote of no confidence in its own government party leader materials are very who's also one of the country's deputy prime minister has announced that political differences with populist coalition partners the 5 star movement could not be amended italy's prime minister who is a member of neither party has accused mr salvaging of fabricating a potentially destabilizing crisis. this is not an election rally but it

looks like many years salvini is already gearing up for a vote. i do my job with my heart with honor with pride if i can do it freely and until the end i mean if i realize that someone is trying to stop me then the decision must go back to the italian people with no ifs and buts. you decide you and no one else is not a paper. boy. any is leader of the far right league party currently in coalition with the end he established in 5 star movement but after the 2 parties failed to agree on the financing of a multi-billion euro trainline something he called for fresh elections although he has no power to do so. italian prime minister's reason is not a member of either party but he did criticize salvini. evident that it's not up to matters salvini to convene parliament it's not up to him to set the timeframe for

a political crisis where now other institutional figures will have to step in. the rain go to the authorities on the country it will be after him as a senator and leader of the league. explained to the nation and the justify a front of the voters who had believed in the promise of change. the reasons why he has decided to disrupt the work of government ahead of time. but the main scumming . but conti has agreed to convene parliament for a vote of confidence in the government as for solving its coalition partners so no deputy prime minister luigi to maya from the 5 star movement says they want to do the job of government then go to the electorate. make them or not at all overnight when our time in government with some good work which can be done by senators and

deputies voting to cut their numbers and saving italians 500000000 euros then everyone can go to the polls or vote on. the coalition has only been in existence for 14 months in that time south ynys league party has doubled in popularity close watch as italian politics will be wondering if that has more to do with the timing of his demands than any internal bickering straight to rome that would join john this time with unwelcome for the so is this about political differences or is it material salvini thinking he can now when i mean action without 5 star. i think it's the latter there have been political differences really from the very beginning everybody knew about that there was a political contract. the 2 parties agree on which was yeah. and on the programme for the government so it wasn't a surprise that he disagreed for example on how it's being rail tunnel between

italy and france you know all along the virgin parliament the other day each one's started its guns so nothing new there again what is new is that the league is stripping you well in the polls and in very well. the european elections they overtaken 5 star and we went by far and they want to cash in on their popularity certainly choosing some of. the. big dogs i want does metairie want to achieve as prime minister that he can't in a coalition with 5 star. well he complains that if i start simply being saying no to many of these ideas of how i think effectively and done so well taken in the year in elections he feels that.

the government program should be entirely elite program and. firestar policies can be on the back burner and if this time we might get round to that and so in a sense it's a logical thing to do who you're wanting to to dominate. the government program and call the shots you might as well be in power you must be prime minister i think he sees that this is not unity and he said grabbing it with both hands he already at a program of beach signed rallies planned for the summer and those going to work very well for his political campaign and so if if this does go to an election what will matter who salvia me pointing to for the italian electorate and said we did this. well i think a big vote when and has been is out of line on immigration and illegal immigration

that's something that italians have been very worried about and has been at a feeling that a feeling really of intent impotence on the part of the italian state and he says he's stepped up to the plate and said hi i can handle this i'll take care of it or his will be protected and we won't let people in and easy to. deliver on the promise and i think that's the thing that a lot of italians will be the reason why a lot of towns will be voting for him the big challenge of course who how how he can manage share on the economy and that will not be so easy for talking to as a for the perfect woman in rome thank you. after a 5 day summit in switzerland around 450 student activists from the fridays for

a future of movement have unanimously adopted what they're calling the climate declaration of love and that's when times hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world skipped class to join the future protests taking place in more than $120.00 countries a movement inspired idea actually a 16 year old environmental campaign. in sweden. for his future quickly gathered international demand to me here's how d.w. a foreign correspondents are experiencing this use different between revolution around the world. pressure from friday's for future has helped prompt angela merkel's government to form a so-called climate cabinet to increase the focus on climate protection that's needed because while germany used to be seen as a leader on this issue we've angle a miracle once dubbed the climate chancellor in recent years green momentum has

flanked germans now tell pollsters that climate change is the biggest issue facing their nation the young people's weekly protests have raised awareness and created a sense of urgency that now is the time to act. china is the biggest greenhouse gas producer in the world with its deserts in the north and the frequent typhoons in the south the country is also going to be heavily affected by climate change still we have not seen a fridays for a future movement here in china and that is of course because the government does not tolerate public protest still chinese people are worried about the environment especially when something is build in the vicinity a waste incinerator or a factory polluting the local rivers people go out on the street defying the government's ban. here in russia the friday for future protests haven't really caught on but people are taking to the streets because of environmental pollution

here they're protesting about garbage in the region around moscow and in the north of the country many are angry because the government wants to dump all the garbage from the capital there they're afraid that landfills could pollute the air and the ground to water and to they are willing to fight to protect the health of their families growing landfills are a problem all around russia and there is no solution for the problem so far. it's a widely held belief here in africa that climate change is a problem for the rich it's also a prize in the fridays for future protests barely gained any traction on the continent just over 10 countries participated in the events there tended to be fairly small the irony of course is that it's poor and ordinary africans who are most affected by the impact of climate change here in kenya hurdles who are running away from a persistent drought having to bring their livestock all the way uphill just to keep them alive and in nigeria more and more people are being forced into the

cities as desertification puts pressure on their land the african governments however say that they are trying and you can see that they are wind and solar farms such as this one sprouting all over the continent but the african governments say that they can't do it alone and they need the rest of the world to hold up their end of the bargain. you need to come on here and think about reports one of the effects of climate change is rising sea levels and some coastal regions are in danger of becoming inundated on the western side of britain the small welsh village of fairborn is preparing for just such a possibility. mike throssell has the sea right on his doorstep he's a dedicated angler who's lived on the coast of wales for over 40 years. right now the irish sea is bright and shiny but the people here have seen their share of

storm surges. my house stands right behind this dike it's held firm against wind and tide so far. it's hard to realize that. with rising sea levels all this could be gone. they say in as little as 50 years it's hard to believe. fairborn is a seaside village of about a 1000 people and say the experts doomed by climate change several 1000000 pounds have gone into building downs and dikes to protect the houses from the sea. but now the welsh authorities are throwing in the town and calling on the villages to find new homes. where measuring the sea levels in the area across the north wales coast i'm way off finding evidence that sea levels are rising seas that reality and so before any catastrophe happens before anything big

happens we really really need to be making sure that people are aware of those risks and that we're talking to them and involving them in the solutions. but what solutions can there possibly be mike and his partner see their lives their home and lots of money at stake quite amazing how the situation. and it's not a symbol for them as pensioners to buy a new house elsewhere they feel that the state has left them on their own 25 years in the future the fact is that they have no answers for us they can't tell us where to go to move us they can't tell us when they're going to move us there is no financial support no compensation or tool and the sting in the tail to the us is if the insists that everybody moves out. they would expect mike to lie to pay for the demolishment arts his house. council chairman stuart eaves who runs

a camping ground in fairborn says it's all fair mongering like many in the community he doesn't trust the data. what's all public about the there's other villages beside us that are in the same mess boots we are the one the experiment is being taught so we're the 1st one to see how well people react to everything. it's true that fairborn won't be the only town to face imminent danger in coming years. over 30 communities in wales a dealing with erosion and flooding from rising seas. and infrastructure such as rail and power lines and roads are also at risk climate experts say it's a massive financial time bomb for britain's coasts. i can't leave it to local authorities because we've had 10 years of austerity austerity local authorities are crippled already in delivering services that

budgets are being slashed what this is a huge huge issue that's affecting our whole country and it cannot be left to the individual authorities that are already struggling to deliver the solution they need to be biggest lucian's and that. the residents of fairborn complain that everyone simply passing the buck mike and angela say the prospect of a forced evacuation is all. is hanging over their heads they're just hoping to stay in their current house as long as they possibly can. to make sure your profile. meanwhile the historic steam train keeps carrying tourists through the village it's the trucks run right behind the dike which in future will no longer be reinforced or expanded the fund that effectively seals own fate thanks well the day is nearly done but come station continues online you can find us on twitter either. use or you can follow me out phil go

they've got to use a hash tag the day. that's it for today. at the top of the hour was a nice day. good

. show for journalists to discuss the topic of the week same style no between iran and the u.s. in the persian gulf continues with each side accusing the other of aggression and so can you or a play a role in deep escalating the crisis or is it stuck helplessly on the sidelines the

find our own country go shortly. quadriga 90 minutes. staying up to date don't miss our highlights. program online w dot com highlights. look closely. carefully. the soon. to be a good. match and. discover. the 1st. subscribe to the documentary on to. the finest

berlin the true sky for germany. i love. the danish us 50 stories and 15 very personal berlin's very best features. of the book no plan for her back series every week on t.w. . the world is getting worse and. more catastrophe a lot of problems. the global 3000 talks would seem british researchers who take a more optimistic view. the world is not always a good plan but it's much like they are that what. is the world really getting better. at global $3000.00 special

reports. starts august 19th on t.v. . this is news live from deputy prime minister calls for a vote of no confidence in his own government tayo salvini says policy differences me makes no sense for his far right league party to continue in the coalition government he wants a new election also on the program. the fridays for future movement and a week long forum in the swiss city of los alamos adopts

a climate declaration calling for climate policy to be based on the best scientific research.