♪ michelle: hello and welcome to "fokus on europe." i'm michelle henery. in spain, a government decision to no longer turn a blind eye to the crimes committed during the franco era has sparked heated debates across the country. in madrid, all of the streets named in his honor are to be renamed. while nationalists protest against this, someone who suffered under his dictatorship, like luis perez, says -- mr. perez: still seeing these street names here is really an insult and contempt for those victims under fascism. michelle: imagine you become ill or injured and lose your job. you don't seek any federal handouts, and you somehow manage to just about get by. but because you're out of work, the government levies a tax against you.

that is what's happening to thousands of unemployed people in belarus. as a result, the public is now taking to the streets in protest of this so-called parasite tax. this was once unthinkable under the current regime, where critics were disappeared and minorities persecuted. reporter: the crowd chants "shame! shame!" the protest is directed at the government in minsk, who they make responsible for the poverty, unemployment and heavy-handed policies, such as the notorious presidential decree number three. >> this policy is wrong. >> where does our money disappear to? >> down with the government. >> dark times for this country. >> our weapon is solidarity. >> officials are parasites. reporter: the evening before the

protest, we meet svetlana in brest on the polish border. she doesn't want to say her last name. svetlana suffers from severe arthritis and had to quit her job as a sales clerk. now, she's unemployed, an invalid, and unable to take many of the few jobs available. the government labels her a parasite and threatens to impose penalties. svetlana: many are poor, many are hungry. some even kill themselves because they're unemployed. and they're going to punish these people? yes, i have a car -- am i supposed to sell it? or sell my kidneys? or the sofa my daughter sleeps on? yes, we've got a nice sofa, but we bought it long ago when i was working. reporter: svetlana's husband is a truck driver and the family's sole provider. he's on the road a lot. svetlana draws no state benefits, but she still faces the so-called parasite tax. she's calling for the decree to be abolished.

basta, it says -- enough. svetlana: we'll see what happens. it can't get any worse, so i'm not afraid. we're all so tired of living in fear. we want change. reporter: the next day, a big surprise for the kiddies, and everyone else. the city's quickly organized a free children's festival with loud music on lenin square, where the protest was set to take place. the demonstrators had coordinated the protest through social media and had no warning about the festival. svetlana: i grew up in brest, and i've never seen a festival like this, especially not for free. and there's never been music like this. it's just to interfere with us. but they won't succeed. >> yesterday, the authorities were prepared to talk. this morning, we'll have their answer. i suggest we march straight to city hall, peacefully, without

disrupting traffic. who's with me? reporter: once the demonstrators are on the move, others join them. in a few minutes, at least 1000 men and women -- ordinary citizens -- have come together. svetlana hands out protest signs. >> comrades, don't let the provocateurs get to you. >> what does it say? something about slaves? >> that we're slaves. >> on tv, they tell us how good things are. then why do we have so many sick children? what kind of country is it when you have to take out a loan to give your child a proper education? reporter: the moment the crowds starts to protest against the government, the police appear. but they get shouted down and withdraw, virtually unheard of in belarus, where demonstrators have always been hauled off to jail before their protest even

ended. inside city hall, the mayor decides to speak to the demonstrators. "aren't you ashamed?" some protesters shout. but others want dialogue -- and get it. for three hours, the citizens hear arguments why they should pay the additional tax. they accuse the government of trying to cover up disastrous economic policies at the expense of the poor. the mayor has no answer -- also quite unprecedented. are the protests outside and the dialogue in here signs of a political thaw? mayor: rogachuk: to me, it's common sense. a dialogue gives us an opportunity to gauge the mood among the people and perhaps to correct the government's course, according to the majority's wishes. svetlana: i don't know if i should believe them. but i'm hoping they heard us and realize we want neither

revolution nor a war. if they haven't understood that, this will end badly. we'll see. reporter: later, on their way home, five young men are arrested and held for five days. a political thaw looks very different. michelle: in the wake of mass street protests, belarus's president lukashenko announced that the tax would be suspended for the rest of the year, but stressed the tax would not be scrapped. meanwhile, the protests continue. it is now almost a decade since the greek financial crisis erupted, yet the country is on its third bailout, and more and more people face poverty. it would seem that nothing short of a miracle could turn the country's fortunes around. enter artemis sorras, a man who claims his personal wealth is enough to pay off greece's debts. that would make him 100 times richer than the richest person in the world. with a growing flock of faithful followers, our reporter went to

athens to find out if he was greece's savior or a fraud. reporter: it may resemble a prayer, but these petitioners call it an oath of self-respect. "our genes determine the character of our existence," they chant. the members of hellenon synelefsis, or assembly of greeks, insist that it's not a political party. they call themselves patriots and reject the existing system. in ceremonies like this, they profess their faith in the resurrection of the ancient greek gods. mr. ploskas: we're all here together to commemorate our ancestors, to transform all the negativity on this planet, to bring harmony to humankind and come closer to our creation. reporter: their headquarters is in the heart of athens.

their leader is artemis sorras -- alias, the "savior of greece." his goal is a new system -- under his leadership. to achieve that goal, he's pledged to liberate greece from its national debt, using his own private fortune. but nobody seems to know where that money is. mr. sorras: since 2012, i've had 600 billion euros on my account with canada's montreal bank under the name sovereign democracy of ellas, so it's in the name of all greeks. the greek politicians have even listed the money in the national budget, but never requested it. saving greece from going under is not their goal. reporter: this is sorras' proof that the money actually exists -- a confirmation allegedly given by the united states treasury department. it states that the money was made through past bank transactions. the greek office of the canadian magazine "vice" disagrees. they insist that the 600 billion euros doesn't exist.

that's after a two months of undercover research in the organization by their reporter, thodoris hondrogiannos. he says all the papers are forged, including documents from the united nations and the world bank that sorras used as evidence for his conspiracy theories. mr. hondrogiannos: both institutions have stated that these claims are false and that their names have been used in forgeries. they've filed s suit against mr. sorras for misuse of their names. reporter: his followers don't seem to care. they number around 12,000, with more joining all the time. at the same time, more press reports are appearing that say his critics have been put under pressure. some experts say the organization is dangerous. mr. hondrogiannos: these people have stopped watching the news and don't follow the current discussions. they believe whatever this organization puts in front of them. these are mostly people with low standards of living, people who

haven't been to school or don't have much social contact. reporter: back at headquarters, sorras' inner circle is confident they'll be able to run in the next elections -- and win. we asked sorras about his record. he's appeared in court on charges of forgery, blackmail, and slander. in 2013, he was sentenced to two years in prison but was released on probation. sorras protests his innocence. mr. sorras: if intelligent people at the international level believed what i've been saying was false, i would've been arrested years ago. we'd all be in prison now, and this interview wouldn't be taking place. so trust your reasoning and see for yourself. reporter: back at the foot of the acropolis, new members take an oath and pay an initiation fee and five euros a month in membership fees. in return, they get spirit festivals, promises about saving greece, and the feeling of being in on something earthshaking.

mr. sorras: what you see here will be happening all over greece. all greeks will be doing the same thing -- studying our own history and shouting it out in unison. this will happen. reporter: his followers appear to believe his promises without question, just as they believe in their oath of self-respect. michelle: in parts of poland, the air is so polluted, you can see it. in she-viets, in the south of the country, it is so bad, that it is said to be one of the cities with the worst air pollution in the eu. many of its inhabitants rely on cheap coal to heat their homes and tend to burn their garbage instead of disposing it. but the city's mayor is determined to sniff out the problem with the help of a drone that can smell. reporter: this drone is being used to measure smoke emissions. and here in zywiec, they are pretty hefty. the polish town has one of the

highest air pollution levels in europe. most people here heat their homes with cheap coal products, and as a result, you could cut the air with a knife. >> when it is windy it is bearable, but if not, when people light their fires, it is so dark you can't see much at all. >> of course we need to do something about the smog. but using drones? i think good quality coal should be cheaper. i use the cheap stuff myself and contaminate the air. reporter: the anti-smog drone is both loud and impressive. sensors register emission levels, which are then passed on to environmental authorities. the drones are just one of the many measures that have been introduced to combat smog in the town.

the more conventional method is that the police are called out to inspect a smoking chimney. they act immediately. and they go off in search of the culprit. the officers go down into the cellar. the owner isn't happy. who reported her? they want to know what kind of material she used for heating. often people don't just burn cheap coal, but garbage, too. >> look in the stove and you'll see what i use. coal and firewood. i separate the rubbish back there. so what is the problem? reporter: the system has obvious weaknesses. if you want to annoy your neighbors, you report them. a drone, however, remains neutral. here, a routine call to check up on things.

>> we just want to see if that is normal wood and not treated wood, like furniture panels or other banned materials. reporter: the police officers take a sample of the ash for analysis. if anyone burns household rubbish, they can expect a fine. but the family that lives here agrees smog is a major problem. the son-in-law even has a so-called smog app. mr. maklakiewicz: we check to see if it is okay to go out with the children. the forecast for today isn't too bad. reporter: but often the air quality is atrocious, especially in towns in southern poland. sometimes even worse than in china's smog-plagued capital, beijing. new heating systems would help

matters, together with better coal, but many people cannot afford them. electric displays show if the air in zywiec is bad, or really bad. there is a local competition. a district with good air could receive money to pay for new pavements or street lights. and now the drone is flying above the chimneys in a bid to convince air polluters to think again. after all, who wants to live in a town where an anti-smog mask is a must? michelle: hungary appears to have reached a new low in their treatment of refugees. recently, the hungarian parliament announced that it wants to force all asylum-seekers into detention camps. this comes after the country put up a razor wire fence along its border with serbia to keep them out. hungarian police and soldiers have been accused of beating any refugees and migrants who manage to sneak across the fence in hopes of reaching western europe. one of the victims is ahmed, who

is losing hope that he will ever be able to escape the violence and trauma he had hoped to leave behind. reporter: it's deceptively calm here at the serbian-hungarian border. only a few refugees dare to come close. they're all very aware that they're not welcome in hungary. but a threat over the loudspeaker is enough to hammer it home. it says the border crossing is the property of the hungarian authorities. anyone who damages the fence, crosses illegally, or attempts to cross is committing a crime. ahmed is among the refugees being treated like a criminal. he wants to remain anonymous. a group of them recently managed to sneak over the fence and onto hungarian soil. but it was a short-lived stay, he says. ahmed: there were 70 of us who crossed the border two weeks ago. we got a kilometer into hungary

before they caught us. they beat us and herded us back to the fence. reporter: in belgrade, the aid organization "save the children" is one of the first places hed out of hungary. tatjana ristic is providing more first aid than ever, and she's heard some shocking stories. ms. ristic: in many cases, they report that these push backs were violent. that they were beaten and sometimes even bitten by dogs. many of these cases also involve children. reporter: ahmed is stuck in belgrade. warehouses near the main train station are now home to hundreds of young men. many of them make repeated attempts to cross the border.

but they all meet a similar fate to ahmed. jamal: it was a rainy day. along with 24 others, i crossed over the border into hungary. the hungarian police forced us to lay face down on the ground. then they started hitting us with canes and truncheons. they took our wallets and cell phones. then they set their dogs on us. reporter: while we're speaking to ahmed and jamal, several men come up to show us their injuries, apparently inflicted by the hungarian border police. there are next to no neutral witnesses for these incidents at the border. the injuries we see speak for themselves, but the hungarian government denies everything. they say the reports of violence carried out by hungarian border authorities are simply lies. mr. halasz: these people are talking about cases from belgrade. do you know where belgrade is?

maybe in belgrade there were attacks on migrants, which resulted in various injuries. the injuries they have are very similar. we don't know where the migrants got their "belgrade injuries" from, but we're certain they weren't caused by hungarian border guards, police, or soldiers. reporter: in belgrade, volunteers from "doctors without borders" run a small clinic where refugees are treated for their injuries. doctors there have started to gather evidence. more and more of the injuries they see come from beatings, dog bites, and tear gas. mr. djudjevic: the patterns of traumas and the violence still remains the same, and deterrence measures are at their peak. testimonies that we get from different persons have a similar

story, so we are getting a clearer picture of what's happening at the borders. reporter: jamal and his friends have no doubt there will be more violent attacks when they try to cross the border next time. resignation and bitter disappointment are growing. jamal: i don't know what they have against me. i don't even want to go to hungary. it's been such a long time, i just want to finally get to western europe. reporter: the number of abused refugees pushed out of hungary has been rising for months, say human rights organizations. a sad picture on europe's external borders. michelle: and it looks that reaching western europe will remain a dream for most of these refugees. can you move forward without first recognizing the past? that's the hotly-debated question going on in spain at the moment. when the government announced that it would change any street names that honored heroes of the brutal franco regime, the public response was mixed.

some people say that dropping these names is a form of denying history, while others say that not changing them would be an insult. reporter: the past follows him wherever he goes. luis perez was tortured and spent seven years behind bars during the franco dictatorship. the 80-year-old says commander zorita is partly to blame. the pilot, commander zorita, fought alongside franco against democrats like himself. mr. perez: my mother was persecuted and murdered by franco's police. i was sent to jail because i fought for freedom and democracy. seeing these street names is a real insult and a lack of respect for franco's victims. reporter: many people who live on commander zorita street don't agree. changing the street name would mean a new address and lots of red tape.

the shop owners are especially upset. a new name would mean new calling cards and advertising material. mr. otero: many people know us as the pastry shop on zorita. it could harm our business. they would no longer find us. furthermore, we don't agree that the street name needs to be changed. reporter: general millan astray was a notorious fascist and founder of the spanish foreign legion. for many, a criminal who showed no mercy with political opponents. but not for everyone. guillermo rocafort is organizing the protest to stop astray street being re-named. he hands out arm bands to those who support him. the qualified lawyer says the

nation is in danger. this isn't just about street names, but much more. mr. rocafort: if the street is re-named, what will happen to us? patriots like myself will be forced into a corner. if we lose our role models in history, then all that will remain for future generations will be reduced to rubble. reporter: the one-eyed fascist general is still celebrated by right wing groups. fascist idealism lives on in many people's minds. that is why it is so important to come to terms with the past, says luis perez. mr. perez: we don't want to open old wounds, but our wound still hasn't healed. nobody healed it. there was no recognition for the people who defended freedom and the republic. that's why we are fighting for the government to appoint a commission to establish the truth. that has been the case in all

countries with a history of civil war, except cambodia and spain. reporter: and that's mainly due to the opposition by the governing partido popular. hardly surprising -- the party was founded by an earlier minister of the franco dictatorship. ms. sauquillo: the franco regime has never been condemned in spain. the francisco franco foundation still exists, it gets state subsidies. no other european nations still supports a foundation that honors a dictator. only spain. the policy of the governing party over the past decades has been to prevent coming to terms with the past. reporter: the victims of the franco regime have long been calling for a change of government. luis perez hopes that madrid's streets will soon bear the names of better role models.

michelle: and madrid's streets will honor real heroes, but this time, many of them will be famous women. this is after the complaint that the majority of streets honor men. let us know what you think about that or any of today's stories by getting in touch on twitter or on our facebook page, dw stories. that's it for today. thank you for watching. for now, it's goodbye from me and the whole team. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]