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 where did it all go wrong i'm phil gayle in berlin and this is the day. has become a kind of brand has become a symbol of great power and the return of russia's strength. 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. has been the strongest voice of the last 20 years. a 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 is a great man similar to peter the great catherine the great. because you have got a. also coming up possible snap elections in italy after a far right deputy prime minister imitator salvini questions the ruling coalition future so is italy 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 must go back to the italian people with no ifs and buts. hoping you decide

you and no one else is 30 people. 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 dung 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 authoritarian 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. because there are no good changes we're not moving forward. which is. just too long. young people should rule the country. all people will have to be retired like me was that if there's really did those leave it with the kids to make use of the

situation is tense in the country i'm afraid to talk about politics. then you there's never been a tradition in russia to keep up the power voluntarily for 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 him. so what has vote of a protein done for russia and what will happen when the 66 year old current 6 year and 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 present. 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 if 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. 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 i see a want for internal consumption which was about consolidating stand and and the the changes that the old east germany saw they had a profound effect on the young flemmi putin what do you think they had they were impressed by him or what do you know i'm thinking that vladimir putin who was affected by what happened in the old lease joins in that is a very important point i mean we should understood. that the engagement in syria's engagement in the ukraine actually was influenced by putin fear of every colored revolution. interbreed to do really for example the protests against assad and the protests against libyan. as conspiracy supported also from the west 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 you call a little bit later is the biggest catastrophe years of the century so i think the fear is that this is the end of soviet influence in eastern germany out of the catastrophe as far as the letter was 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 fear that that they can also face the same fate as assad and other also retiree and leaders. will come to. 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 998. needed someone who is loyal who is young but who is faceless and who is who was seen by not to be a rival to him yes and what is a very important that putin. these years and this time for putin was very important because putin managed in a very short time to bring back his colleagues from the effort 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 the defense upper ottawa's the defense system in russia but i think the main the main question will be whole putin 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 may be officially a representative of some security council but with more informal power then he is such a just a bicycle 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 fatah leader matters 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 running. but it looks like mathias 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. without. any is leader

of the far right league party currently in coalition with the anti establishment 5 star movement but after the 2 parties fail to agree on the financing of a multi-billion euro train line something called for fresh elections although he has no power to do so. italian prime ministers reset picante 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. to the authorities on the country it will be after him as a senator and leader of the league. to explain to the nation and the justify a front of the voters who believes in the promise of change. the reasons why he has

decided to disrupt the work of government ahead of time. but the main they've been screaming let's move but conti has agreed to convene poem and for a vote of confidence in the government. as for south and its coalition partners the new deputy prime minister luigi 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 are we going to end 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. the coalition has only been in existence for 14 months in that time south ynys league party has doubled in popularity close watches of italian politics will be wondering if that has more to do with the timing of his demands than any internal bickering straight to rome than where we join journalist with unwelcomed phillips 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. which 2 parties agree on which was a year plan on the programme for the government so it wasn't a surprise that he disagreed for example on how it's been a rail tunnel between italy and france you know all along the virgin parliament the other day each one's stuck to his guns so nothing new there what is new is that the league is taking stripping you well in the polls and in very well. the yeah european elections they overtaken 5 star and we went by far and they want to cash in on their popularity certainly choosing the summit of the.

big dog i what 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 i think effectively and done so well taken them in the year in elections he feels that. the government program should be entirely elite programme and. firestar policies can be on the back burner and it is time we might get round to that and so in a sense it's a logical thing to do if you're wanting to to dominate. the government programme 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 to a salvation he be pointing to for the italian electorate and said we did this. well i think big vote win at his speed is out of line on immigration and illegal immigration and that's something that italians have been very worried about and it's been at a feeling that a feeling really of intense 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 how orders will be protected we won't let people in and easy to. deliver on that promise and i think that's the thing that

a lot of italians will be the reason a lot of towns will be voting for him the big challenge of course who how he can manage share on the economy and that will not be so easy talking to as a for loop or for that will and thank you. after a 5 day summit in switzerland around 450 student activists from the fridays for future movement have unanimously adopted what they're calling the climate declaration of lhasa and as one times hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world skipped class to join fridays for future protests taking place in more than $120.00 countries a movement inspired by the action a 16 year old environmental campaigner. in sweden. fridays for future quickly dad international the man 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 with angela merkel once dubbed the climate chancellor in recent years green momentum has flagged 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 of 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 to set landfills could pollute the air and the ground will turn and as 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 and 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 doing that report 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 wells village of fairborn is preparing for just such a possibility. might 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. they're born 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 towel and calling on the villagers to find new homes. when measuring the sea levels in the area across the north wales coast i'm way off finding evidence that sea levels are rising 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. but it's not a symbol for them as pensioners to buy a new house elsewhere they feel the state has left them on their own yes 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 title to the us is if the insists that everybody moves out. they would expect mike to light pay for the demolishment arts his house. council chairman stuart eaves who runs a camping ground in fairborn says is all scaremongering. like many in the community he doesn't trust the data. what's all public about you know that there's other villages beside us that are in the same mess boots we are the one the experiment is being told 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 have been 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 make a solution is a lot. of the residents of fairborn complain that everyone simply passing the buck mike and angela say the prospect of a forced evacuation is all. he's hanging over their heads they're just hoping to stay in their current house as long as they possibly can. to each much bigger

problems. meanwhile the historic steam train keeps carrying tourists through the village so the tracks run right behind the dike which in future will no longer be reinforced or expanded the fund that effectively seals own fight. the fire. well the day is nearly done but come station continues online you can find us on twitter either at the news or you can follow me out phil go they've got to use a hostile the day. that's it for today. news of the top of the hour i was on last.

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