michelle: welcome to "fokus on europe." glad you could join us. 2017 is turning out to be a crucial year of elections across europe. britain recently finished one that brought last year's decision to leave the eu under even closer scrutiny. france, by selecting emanuelle macron, placed its hopes on a new france. and voters will soon go to the polls here in germany to decide whether to give long-serving chancellor angela merkel a fourth term. in our new summer series, we will be taking a closer look at some of the issues that inspire and motivate voters in germany, and at how the political parties are vying for the public's attention. this week we start with environmental politics. ♪

michelle: with u.s. president donald trump's recent backing out of the paris climate accord, all eyes are now on germany to set a better example and take the lead on the future of the environment. germany already has an image as a front-runner in the transition towards clean energy, with strong commitments to reducing co2 and using renewable power. but the country stills relies on coal for a quarter of its energy needs. some environmental activists say that it's time this stops. reporter: this tree is currently home to sascha, as we'll call her. she doesn't want to tell us her name, because living 12 meters above the ground in this oak is illegal. she moved into hambach forest in

western germany six months ago. residing here could have serious consequences for her. sascha: it's a protest. of course it's nice to live in the trees and be connected with nature, but we're doing it as a protest, and we accept the fact that the police will remove us. so it's important for us to stick together, because it's not just about being evicted -- we will be arrested and put in jail. reporter: jailed for trying to protect the forest against its owner, energy giant rwe. this is no temporary tree-house for children. about 30 activists live up here -- summer and winter -- to send a signal. they are determined to prevent the mining of lignite coal here, which they see as a gross injustice. only a few are willing to show themselves openly or speak with us.

kim, on the left, is wearing a mask as he explains his views. kim: they've been cutting this forest down and driving the local people away for 40 years. for 40 years, they've been risking local people's health with the emissions from the mine -- and all that is completely legal. but what we're doing -- occupying the forest and trying to keep it from being destroyed -- that's forbidden. reporter: the occupiers shot this video documenting their struggle for the trees. here they confront the security personnel of rwe, who are trying to evict people from a tree-house. the situation escalates. it was supposed to be a peaceful protest, as the demonstrators are saying here.

the energy company insists on making full use of its ownership rights. it has complete backing from the government to mine lignite -- or "brown coal" -- for decades to come. guido: the people sitting in the trees in hambach forest will not stay there much longer, because our mining operations have been approved. climate protection is one goal of german energy policy, but at the same time, policy must also ensure that a densely populated and highly industrialized country like germany is supplied with reliable and affordable sources of energy. reporter: but lignite is a dirty source of energy, argue sascha and kim. if the government continues to support its extraction, they say, those much-vaunted climate goals will never be achieved. sascha: this mine is the biggest producer of co2 in all of europe. and co2 concerns not only us, but the whole world. i don't trust the political parties to change anything.

it's time we took the future into our own hands. reporter: it's a symbolic struggle, because most of hambach forest was cut down long ago. the open pit mine is a gigantic crater 400 meters deep. it has devoured not only the forest, but many villages as well. thousands of people have had to resettle. kurt classen grew up here and has been shocked to see the area decimated. he has entered into an unusual alliance with the tree occupiers. he lets them use his meadow beside the forest for their struggle against rwe. classen is also fighting against the energy company. kurt: the primary approach is via legal means -- suing. and there are various options, but i couldn't manage it alone -- i need to cooperate with the activists.

consciously or unconsciously, we have a division of labor. they provide publicity, and i provide the arguments. reporter: up to now, neither court action nor tree-houses have stopped the excavators. germany's government doesn't plan to finish phasing lignite out until 2050. but sascha and kim aren't giving up. for them it's about more than lignite mining -- theirs is a battle against exploitation -- of people and nature. for them, hambach forest symbolizes both. sascha: on the one hand, there is this beautiful forest here, where everything is living and green and harmonious. and next to it is the mine, which is just a gigantic nothing -- it's dead. that's a sound starting point for this broader battle. reporter: it's also a fight against time.

rwe's security observes everything that happens in and near the forest. sascha expects that her tree-house could soon be demolished, although she and her companions are prepared. michelle: while the debate over coal rages on, chancellor angela merkel has made it clear that nuclear power is a thing of the past. after the fukushima nuclear disaster, half of germany's reactors were shut down, with all set to be permanently closed by 2022. it seems that a country's preferred energy source is often tied to whoever is in power. all that the sun provides -- light, warmth, energy -- are free, right? yet some people in spain say that their government is making them pay for it. antonio alcaraz is a spanish farmer, who in planning for the future, invested in renewable energy, which made sense given that spain is one of the sunniest countries in europe. but with a levy on solar power

imposed by the conservative government, he says his future is no longer so bright. reporter: the broccoli harvest is in full swing here in murcia. antonio alcaraz is one of the region's many vegetable farmers. the yield is plentiful thanks to the spanish sunshine, but antonio has also invested in solar energy to improve his pension, and to do something for the environment. antonio: farming has been part of my life since i was a boy, with my parents and grandparents. and i've always had great respect for nature, because as farmers, we live off the land, it nourishes us. and this philosophy fits the concept of renewable energy, because ultimately it's the same thing. you transfer the agricultural way of thinking to a more advanced technology.

reporter: antonio alcaraz invested 180,000 euros in two of these solar modules. he and more than 400 other small investors created spain's biggest cooperative solar park. but the modern facility is currently losing money, because the conservative government has drastically cut the subsidies for solar power. antonio: i feel swindled by my own government, by the politicians we spaniards voted into office. it's a disgrace. the politicians don't care about the well-being of the citizens. unfortunately, that's how it is. reporter: once a week, the solar park's owners meet in the facility's control room. maintaining the park and paying the interest on their loans eats

up all the revenues, while some shareholders even lose money. these people feel victimized -- like pawns in a bigger, political game. francisco: the big energy companies regard us small investors as enemies, because we threaten their monopoly on the market. the big spanish companies want to maintain their monopoly and they have managed to get the government to agree to their demands. reporter: prime minister mariano rajoy has come under massive pressure because of his energy policy. thousands of solar farmers have taken his government to court, while foreign investors are suing for damages. the claims add up to billions of euros. spain's politicians and the big energy companies decline to make statements in front of the camera.

antonio has also filed a claim. like thousands of other solar farmers, he feels defrauded. and his home and farm are collateral for the loans he took out. antonio: our politicians secure their pensions by joining the boards of the energy companies. given that, it's hardly surprising that they conduct this policy of weakening renewable energy and reinforcing nuclear energy and other sectors. reporter: murcia is one of europe's sunniest regions. but you won't see solar panels on many roofs here. not even solar farmers like antonio have solar panels at home. this is because the spanish government levies a tax on home-owners who install them.

antonio: i think it's appalling that the government wants money from us for using a natural resource like the sun. as you can see, our roofs are unused. no solar cells anywhere, unlike the countries in northern europe, where many people use solar energy for their own consumption. reporter: but antonio alcaraz isn't letting it get him down. he wants to be a role model for his children, and he is convinced that clean energy is possible -- especially in sunny spain. michelle: when you have an emergency, in many cases, you call the police. but what if the police have a problem? who do they call? sweden's police force is in turmoil, complain some of their officers. structures and practices that had existed for decades were abandoned in the name of improved performance and greater

efficiency. now, an already overburdened system is at breaking point. the government insists that the situation will improve, but things are looking bleak. reporter: emelie lagervall used to be a policewoman. she loved being a patrol officer in the swedish municipality of norrkoping. it was her dream job. but one day she gave up and quit. emelie: i became a police officer to prevent crimes. but the way things developed, the number of reports filed just kept on increasing. we were too preoccupied with all the emergencies to deal with preventive work. reporter: now she works for the city council. the work hours are more family friendly. but most importantly, there's enough personnel to handle the workload, which wasn't the case in the police force. emelie: we had to investigate

year-old cases. we'd call people up and say, "hi, we're looking into this now." and they'd reply, "what have you been doing 'til now?" witnesses would say, "back then i might have been able to remember, but a whole year's gone by and i don't even remember what the suspect was wearing. i wasn't taking notes." reporter: she says there are simply too few officers, though more have been hired in recent years. sweden currently has some 20,000 policemen and women. but that's not enough to give people a feeling of security, especially in the high-crime neighborhoods of swedish cities -- like here in rinkeby, a suburb of stockholm. at night, gangs roam the streets. these officers who are coucting traffic checks have called for reinforcements and donned protective gear.

they've been attacked on duty before. many of those who live here are afraid to go out at night. some have the impression that the police could do more when it comes to minor offenses, such as ove karlsson. one night he and his wife were watching tv when they heard a noise. karlsson went upstairs and found that someone had broken into their home. the damage was minimal, and the thieves only got away with a few valuables. after karlsson called the police, they came by and collected evidence. ove: they registered the case and i've since received a letter saying i can collect the pieces of evidence from the break-in soon. but i'm assuming the police will not solve the crime. reporter: it's cases of violent crime where police are really struggling to cope. in the southern city of malmo,

gangs involved in the drug trade have been fighting turf wars for years. shootings are common, but investigators are rarely able to apprehend those responsible. they lack the equipment and officers. in 2015, at the height of the refugee crisis, border controls were reintroduced -- which required extra personnel. sweden's police union says a lack of staff prevents more crimes from being solved. lena: we have trouble finding enough people to fill police training positions -- people who meet the necessary requirements to perform the job of a police officer. reporter: though he may get more funding, sweden's police commissioner says it's not enough. dan: no matter how much money the police receives, we can't guarantee security in sweden all on our own. we need the support of other authorities -- the tax

department, customs, the coast guard, and local governments. reporter: with that support, the police hope to regain the confidence of the swedish people. still, emelie lagervall is certain she'll never wear a police officer's uniform again. michelle: alexey gaskarov has spent most of his life fighting for social justice. whether it was trying to save forests from destruction or organizing a home owners association, this young activist truly believed individuals could change their world as long as they weren't afraid to speak up. but this changed when he was arrested and convicted while attending an anti-fascist rally in moscow. he then saw for himself the so-called prison culture critics say is blighting russian society. one in which everyone from political dissidents like himself to even minor offenders can be incarcerated or sent to penal camps. here, he tells us his personal story.

alexey: i was accused of taking part in a protest, of assaulting a police officer. i went to a protest with friends. back then, i was a member of the anti-fascist moment. the authorities knew about it and wanted to take me off the streets. police officers attacked a protester near me. i saw it happen and went to help. i tried to pull him away from the police officer. the charge sheet said i'd grabbed a policeman by the arm as he tried to detain someone else -- the opposite of what i actually did. i couldn't understand it. i was busy with my career and didn't want to lose time.

i thought that if i just signed a confession, did what they want, that perhaps they'd let me go. in the end, i spent 3.5 years behind bars. i was 27 when they arrested me. i lost crucial years of my life. i know for sure that no court anywhere else in europe would have deprived me of my liberty for this kind of offence. only in russia. the worst thing in prison were the deaths. 18 prisoners died while i was inside. every two months someone died, because of the system and its problems. if someone goes mad from sheer loneliness, they don't get any psychological help.

prisoners get sadder and sadder, withdraw, and start speaking gibberish, and stop caring about things. they might, for instance, start picking up cigarette butts from the floor and eating them. that kind of behavior gets them separated from the other prisoners, and that makes everything even worse. when you ask prison officers about it, they just say that everyone has their own problems. in the middle of winter, they might put prisoners like that in an unheated, icy isolation cell. of course, that prisoner's going to get sick and then one thing leads to another. russian prisons are inhumane. it's not about conscious evil, it's just that everything is organized in such a way that no one feels responsible for individual prisoners. as time went by, i began to understand that what happened to me was unavoidable. i got stuck in the cogs of our

repressive judicial system. when i saw what it looked like from the inside, that really convinced me to fight the system once i got out. to make sure that one day russia is a free country. i have no other choice. michelle: there is a place where people live where there are no police, doctors, shops, services, or even internet access. no, it's not an island of make-belief, but the small greek island of arki. yet, the 30 inhabitants -- who mostly make their living from fishing and raising sheep -- do have one tiny school for their two students. reporter: christos and panagiotis are brothers. it takes them 30 minutes to walk to school each morning -- they have to cross the whole island. their school is actually in a house -- the home of their teacher silia -- and the two

boys are her only pupils. first on today's schedule is greek. writing, grammar and punctuation -- which are particularly important for christos. he's only seven years old and in year two. panagiotis should already be going to high school -- except the island doesn't have one. silia: it feels like i'm at home with my kids, not like i'm a teacher in school. we have a very personal relationship and talk about our feelings every day. reporter: silia thinks that it's important to prepare her pupils for life off the island. the schoolbooks tend to be directed at children who live in cities. silia has to tell her pupils all about buses or traffic lights -- which don't exist on arki. the two brothers don't feel lonely here, though. panagiotis: i don't have any classmates, but i have older siblings to play with at home,

and my little brother is here with me at school. i can play with him on the swings or the slide. reporter: the boys have a 20 minute break to play together. but unlike at other schools, the boys miss out on team sports -- which is also part of education. three people really aren't enough to play basketball. silia: i can see that they're having fun, but still i'm sad. i know how they would like being in a school with more pupils. i can compare this school to others, but they can't. reporter: in the afternoon, the teacher pays a visit to their parents and grandparents. she explains that panagiotis should really be attending high school now, but he'd need to go to patmos -- the next island. silia: a child has to get an education, regardless of their later job. michalis: how will we get him to

patmos? we would need a boat to go there every day, and the mayor says that's not possible. what's the boy supposed to do on patmos, away from home? reporter: the ferry only stops at arki four times a week -- weather-permitting. it's the only connection to the mainland. there's no doctor on the island, and no government authorities. most of arki's 30 inhabitants are either fishermen or shepherds. they have modest incomes. silja is originally from athens. she's spending just one year teaching on the island. silia: it's as if i'm living in a different, parallel greece that people don't know about at all in the cities. they have no idea about the conditions and challenges that people face in isolated areas. reporter: the next day, the boys and their teacher go on an excursion. panagiotis: we're taking pictures of the island to make a

map for tourists, so they know where the beaches are, where the church is, and the tavernas, so they know where to eat. reporter: the pupils also have a couple of things they can teach silia -- how to catch fish, for example. but this idyllic set-up will soon close down -- when christos completes his education -- because so far, there are no more children to follow him. michelle: it's sad to think that the school will close. what does that mean for the future of the island? at least the boys seem to be relishing their very unique and personal education. that's it for today. thank you for watching. send me a tweet or check out our facebook page, dw stories, to find out more about the program. until next time, it's goodbye [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

steves: gibraltar stands like a fortress, a gateway to the mediterranean. a stubborn little piece of old england, it's one of the last bits of a british empire that at one time controlled a quarter of the planet.

the rock itself seems to represent stability and power. and as if to remind visitors that they've left spain and entered the united kingdom, international flights land on this airstrip, which runs along the border. car traffic has to stop for each plane. still, entering gibraltar is far easier today than back when franco blockaded this border. from the late 1960s until the '80s, the only way in was by sea or air. now you just have to wait for the plane to taxi by, and bob's your uncle. the sea once reached these ramparts. a modern development grows into the harbor, and today half the city is built upon reclaimed land. gibraltar's old town is long and skinny, with one main street. gibraltarians are a proud bunch, remaining steadfastly loyal to britain. its 30,000 residents vote overwhelmingly to continue as a self-governing british dependency.

within a generation, the economy has gone from one dominated by the military to one based on tourism. but it's much more than sunburned brits on holiday. gibraltar is a crossroads community with a jumble of muslims, jews, hindus, and italians joining the english, and all crowded together at the base of this mighty rock. with its strategic setting, gibraltar has an illustrious military history, and remnants of its martial past are everywhere. the rock is honeycombed with tunnels. many were blasted out by the brits in napoleonic times. during world war ii, britain drilled 30 more miles of tunnels. the 100-ton gun is one of many cannon that both protected gibraltar and controlled shipping in the strait. a cable car whisks visitors from downtown to the rock's 14,000-foot summit. from the top of the rock, spain's costa del sol arcs eastward,

and 15 miles across the hazy strait of gibraltar, the shores of morocco beckon. these cliffs and those over in africa created what ancient societies in the mediterranean world called the pillars of hercules. for centuries, they were the foreboding gateway to the unknown. descending the rock, whether you like it or not, you'll meet the famous apes of gibraltar. 200 of these mischief-makers entertain tourists. and with all the visitors, they're bold, and they get their way. yeah? you can have it. you can -- you can -- you can -- here on the rock of gibraltar, the locals are very friendly, but give them your apples. legend has it that as long as these apes are here, the british will stay in gibraltar.

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