hello, and welcome to "focus on europe." i'm glad to have you with us. a lot has been said about russia and ukraine in the last year. but what about countries that share their border with ukraine? moldova, for instance. moscow is allegedly funding demonstrations organized by pro-russian groups in the republic of moldova. while the protesters are demanding the removal of pro-european president maia sandu, many now fear that their country will have to suffer the

same fate as ukraine. the republic of moldova is a landlocked country located between the e.u. in the west and ukraine. in the east lies the breakaway region of transnistria. more than 1000 russian soldiers are stationed here. alexej and his wife live in the immediate vicinity of transnistria. the couple says they fear a massive conflict brewing up with russia. moldovans are scared for their future, especially in areas where they share their border with ukraine. reporter: reaching this village in winter was a bit of an adventure. naslavcea is perched on the northernmost tip of the republic of moldova, just across the border from ukrne. the normally sleepy hamlet suddenly found itself in the world spotlight. last year, the war in ukraine arrived at 68-year-old olga's

doorstep when wreckage from a russian missile landed nearby. it had been shot down by ukrainian air defenses. >> i was milking the cow. for a moment, i thought it was a plane. it flew in very low, and then it all came down not very far from here -- over there, on the island. reporter: most of the pieces landed here on this tiny island in the dniester river. presumably, the russian missile had been aiming for a waterworks on ukrainian territory. >> it was really fritening. at first, i thought it was a jet, it made so much noise. and then came an explosion. i thought, this is it this is the end of the world. reporter: the river forms the border between moldova and ukraine. russia has already directly violated moldova's airspace

many times. that's one reason the war feels so close. ♪ reporter: on one of the main shopping boulevards in moldova's capital chisinau, they're singing about love and dreaming of a better life -- or even just a little prosperity. formed in the break-up of the soviet union, moldova has only about 2.6 million people. the country struggles to overcome abject poverty and to develop a working economy. those who stay here have to deal with galloping inflation and prohibitive energy prices. >> we're a future european union member, but we don't have european wages. and so, we try to get by somehow. reporter: the average monthly wage in moldova is the equivalent of just 530 euros.

so, people here are living with the fear of financial hardship and war. >> we can't even make plans for tomorrow or the day after. we're thinking about this evening -- if we'll still be alive or have to flee, or the mobilization might begin. reporter: given the threat of war, inflation, and even rumors of a coup, the country is going through some uneasy times. and now, the government has stepped down. the new prime minister, former interior minister dorin recean, is pro-western. he made security his top priority. indications of targeted efforts at increasing russian influence have been growing in chisinau for months. the most recent information came from president maia sandu. she revealed that, according to secret service reports, russia was planning a coup. moscow immediately denied the report. the situation has been tense

for years -- even more so, now that 1500 russiasoldiers have been deployed in moldova's pro-russian transnistria region. we passed through two checkpoints going into pohrebea and two coming out. the village lies east of the river but still on moldovan territory in a security zone. alexej and his wife have lived here all their lives. in the early 1990's, fighters from breakaway transnistria waged war re. >> yes, we've seen more than enough here. but what will be will be. transnistria is transnistria. they're separate. the villages here belong to moldova. reporter: they've settled into a routine here for 30 years now. the separately governed transnistria lies just a stone's throw away. it's financially supported by russia, but officially recognized by no u.n. nation.

the population is around 375,000. back in the capital, chisinau, the contrast could hardly be greater. weekends are party-time. a former mess hall is now a nightclub. but under the surface, the fear is ever-present. >> if the war came to moldova, it would be disastrous for us, just like it is for the ukrainians. i hope our society will be spared that kind of fate, but i'm really worried that it could happen. reporter: suddenly in the international spotlight -- moldova, a small country with big worries. host: more than 60 migrants, including 12 children and a baby, died after their boat sank off southern italy. they were trying to reach europe. people risk their lives every day in quest of a better life in europe. if we talk of the number of asylum seekers per capita, no other country in the european union has taken in as many refugees as the republic of cyprus. the situation seems to be

getting out of control for this small island country. he works as an aid worker. he shows us a refugee camp near the capital nicosia, an overcrowded site with people living in catastrophic conditions. reporter: there are some 1,000 asylum-seekers living here. for the human rights activist doros polykarpou, the pournara camp in southern cyprus is a scandal. the garbage and puddles are the least of it. he's hoping to get a better idea of the conditions. but he doesn't get very far before being sent away. the security guard also says that filming is banned. >> this is a place that actually is turned into a camp that is out of control, it is not manageable, it's expensive

and it doesn't serve the idea that it was set up. reporter: asylum-seekers who arrive here are only supposed to be registered before being accommodated elsewhere. however, there's little accommodation elsewhere. so, people end up staying here for months. outbreaks of violence are not infrequent. in october 2022, dozens of tents went up in flames. >> people here, they are isolated, they cannot start already working, and thinking of their integration in the society, they just wait day off day on, they eat, they sleep in very unhealthy conditions, especially if it is cold, if there is rain. reporter: outside the camp, polykarpou speaks to a syrian who is willing to talk about the conditions in the camp, anonymously. >> the children won't eat the food here, they're not used to it. the toilets and the washrooms

are indescribably dirty -- the womens' ones, too. my wife almost doesn't dare go in there. reporter: the republic of cyprus registered 20,000 applications for asylum in 2022. almost twice as much as the previous year. officially, there are about 70,000 asylum-seekers living in cyprus, a lot for such a small country. the government says cyprus cannot cope and it's called on the e.u. to help. >> what we need to have in place is a mandatory relocation scheme to help the frontline member states and, b, the necessity to ensure the implementation of the principle of responsibility. reporter: for the cypriot government, the problem lies in the northeastern parts of the island of cyprus, which are occupied by turkey. this is where it says most refugees are arriving from via the ceasefire lines that are only under u.n. supervision.

we decided to travel to the northern part of the island. the eastern mediterranean university in famagusta is one of dozens of universities that fund themselves largely through international students. the numerous private universities here are also an important source of income for the region. but the syrian student and activist ashraf saleem confirms that many of those who register here don't want to stay in the turkish occupied region. >> so they were scammed about the nature of the country because of that or maybe they were not scammed but it's always the same which means they end up being with financial issues, perhaps homeless, perhaps just lonely, mental health issues etc, then they decide to become refugees. reporter: richie mbunga arrived in southern cyprus via the turkish-occupied north. now he is stuck on the island and it could take years for him to get asylum.

>> in the first weeks after pournara, i slept on the streets. i don't have a work permit. but i do now get state support of 214 euros. not enough to live on. reporter: doros polykarpou says that the cypriot government is trying to deter other asylum-seekers from coming. >> we are on one of the worst countries when it comes to giving, first of all, protection to anybody except from those who we don't have a choice not to give, and i mean the syrians right now, even afghanis right now that they are arriving in small numbers in the country, we don't accept them. reporter: back in pournara, he meets two very young somalians outside the camp's fences. one says he's 14 and wants to go to belgium where he has an uncle. they tell him that they don't get any schooling or any other

care here. there's nothing to do but sit around and sleep. and they've been doing that for six months. preparations are at least underway for a better sewage system. cyprus is preparing for more refugees. host: if you were given a choice to move into one of these pretty little houses, far from the hustle and bustle of big cities, would you? well, despite its idyllic beauty, no one wants to live in this spanish village of peña zafra de abajo. mayor lucía nicolás has decided to save her village. and for this, she has managed to bring together all the residents for a very unique photo shoot. ♪ reporter: these spaniards bared all -- including squash farmer juanjo pérez. here, the 68-year-old reenacts the pose he struck last summer

when he and most of his fellow villagers agreed to be photographed nude. >> i just had to take part. they told me there weren't enough people. because we have so few residents, i had no other choice. reporter: peña zafra de abajo is home to just 16 people. they bared their bodies to keep their hamlet from dying out. but here in southeastern spain, the nude photos have raised eyebrows. they now grace a calendar. may's picture is of antonia perea. she wants to show that folks here are more progressive and open than many people think. >> we're just depicted in a bad light. we'd like to be viewed the way people in larger communities are. we pay our taxes, too. but, here in our little hamlet,

we feel sort of left behind. reporter: photographers david cantó and juanjo ramírez had little trouble convincing the locals to take part. ♪ >> in the villages, things function via word of mouth. people see their neighbors doing it and how well they come across. so they spur one another on. reporter: the idea for the calendar came from lucía nicolás, head of the residents' association. at 30 years of age, she's one of peña zafra de abajo's youngest inhabitants. she commends her neighbors' courage. >> it's not only a kind of liberation. we're dispelling stereotypes, too. these aren't pictures of buff bodies.

they're of ordinary people. here folks can show themselves as they are, unlike many of the nude photos we're familiar with. i let myself be photographed, too. and the picture is great! reporter: lucía and her fellow residents also hope to send another message with their photos. since the 1960's, sand and marble have been mined in this area. that's turned the once idyllic landscape surrounding the hamlet into quarries that are a source of noise, dust and dirt. >> there are so many other riches here than that. we have a culture that we want to show -- a wine cellar, a pine tree that must be older than everyone here put together. we simply want to show that we're more than what surrounds us.

reporter: so pedro sánchez was also happy to pose for the calendar. at 100-years-old, he's the pin-up for december, even though he's not totally nude. peña zafra de abajo's oldest resident fondly remembers the days when the hamlet was full of life. we always partied on weekends. one week everyone came to my place and the next week it was someone else's turn. we had a guitar, an accordion and people danced. reporter: pedro sánchez doesn't know if the photo project will revitalize the village. but he says it sure was fun. >> everyone who knows me is surprised that i dared to do it. but i'm up for doing different things like this.

reporter: peña zafra de abajo and its calendar are now known well beyond spain's borders, to the delight of squash grower juanjo pérez, who's discovered an unknown side of himself. >> i no longer have any inhibitions, though i'd never done anything like this before. i'm on board for next time. ♪ in the hamlet they're already making plans for next year's calendar -- with even more residents revealing everything peña zafra de abajo has to offer! moving from spain to the netherlands. amsterdam attracts a lot of tourists in summer. but in winter the city tends to get quite windy and cold. you could be freezing even when you are indoors. that's because most houses are old and not well insulated. and if you wanted to get that fixed you would have to pay a hefty amount. however, there are some good samaritans who are insulating the doors and windows and, in

some cases, even the walls -- all free of cost. reporter: the brigade hops on its cargo bikes and starts its working day at 9:00 a.m. in amsterdam. >> number 111, right? have you rung? come rain, snow or storm, we have to pack up our tools and get on our bikes. we ride out to the customers in any kind of weather. after all, they're counting on us. reporter: francis is the foreman and a co-founder of the fixbrigade. what started out as a volunteer project is now a paying job. today, they've been called out to an apartment share. a quick once-over shows it's going to be a big job. i wanted to show you this -- here along the doorframe's lower edge, you can clearly see a blue stripe.

that means a draft is coming through. here, feel it. if you hold your hand here, you can feel the draft. up here, it's 16 degrees celsius, and down here only five degrees. reporter: leaky windows are all too frequent. two out of three apartments in the netherlands are badly insulated. here, the door seal had simply been glued onto the frame -- a quick and dirty job. >> doesn't the cold blowing in here bother you? >> it does, we have the heating on a lot. >> and this window is nothing more than an opening in the concrete. they just stuff the windows in with no putty, and we have to re-do everything. reporter: lisa and mariska's apartment needs lot of work. the seal along the front door is worn out. and hardly any of the lights have energy-saving l.e.d. bulbs. >> i realized that many things here weren't ideal. but often, i just didn't know how to change it, and i asked

the housing association. but they're not really any help, either. >> no, we actually called them four times to complain about the problems. someone did come by, but for example, they never took care of the insulation. reporter: now, the fixbrigade is taking care of it instead. but only low-income people can get a visit from them. their work is free of charge. the money to pay the employees comes from e.u. grants. now, the project has inspired companies in other towns. >> our clients are people who receive benefits, or they're financially dependent on the state in other ways. some are disabled. others hardly speak a word of dutch. and, if you don't know the language well enough to communicate your problems to the building association, they just brush you off. we hear that over and over. reporter:

about 750,000 dutch people are estimated to be having trouble covering their energy costs. many of them turn to francis and his co-workers. now, six teams are working simultaneously in amsterdam alone. >> we lack tools and materials. instead of once a month, we've got to order new materials once a week now. but that shows very clearly how great the need is among the people in our target group. reporter: this target group often has very little confidence in the authorities but all the more in neighborly projects like the fixbrigade, says francis. the fixbrigade is booked up solid till august. their success is keeping them extremely busy. ♪ host: skiing is by far the most popular winter sport in europe. switzerland alone offers more than 300 ski resorts. but they are having a tough time due to high energy prices and climate change. anton kalberer was never a fan

of these huge resorts. he has been running one of the smallest ski areas, karte, in switzerland for decades. a reason for its popularity is that it is a family-run business. reporter: having the slopes almost all you to yourself. here, there's a sense of freedom that's hard to come by in the swiss alps these days. just 20 kilometers of ski runs, two chairlifts -- and no plans to expand! that's how anton kalberer likes it. for over half a century, he's run the small, family-owned ski resort sarn-heinzenberg in the grisons. at age 92, he still hits the slopes himself! >> i'm not good, i ski like i did 50 years ago! reporter: every day anton kalberer enjoys the stunning view with his grandson denis. anton's father purchased the

ski resort in the late 1960's. his 13 children all pitched in. >> everyone emptied their bank accounts and put the cash into chairlifts. there were a few hundred thousand swiss francs from the bank. but everyone helped, otherwise it wouldn't have happened. reporter: the resort has simple slopes and a hill for sledging. that makes it a favorite with families, in particular. many of the guests are regulars. >> it's the best. not overrun with people and you can let the kids jump around. >> it's small but nice. >> it's not so crowded and it's very familiar. i hope they can keep up. but it's very difficult, i know. reporter: at an elevation of 1700 meters, there's a restaurant and guest rooms. denis has been in charge of the kitchen for three years. he spent much of his childhood up here.

>> looking back, it was a dream for me. in the winter, we drove up here almost every weekend and went skiing. reporter: the mountain is still his home, and his grandfather is his role model. >> he's clearly the boss up here. for me, he's the one who says what's what. reporter: denis wants to preserve the place he loved so much as a child -- even if climate change means there's far less snow in winter. so he says you always need to come up with something new and be creative. >> yes, it's certainly not easy right now. this year has been extremely difficult for many. we couldn't ski here at the start of the season so that was a problem, but at least we had the sledding hill. we made sure it was up and running so people could use that. reporter: in the late 1990's, the family bought a chairlift for a symbolic franc from a larger ski resort that no longer needed it.

but otherwise little has changed here. when it all gets a bit too much for the senior manager, he withdraws to what he calls his concert hall. as larger ski resorts struggle to find ways to cope with climate change and become more sustainable, he's happy with his approach of low-key, family-orientated tourism. ♪ we always took care of the landscape, building only what was necessary. no huge, ugly concrete blocks. so basically it's like it was 50 years ago. reporter: except for the snow -- there's no longer enough. still, anton kalberer is sure his grandson will think of something. host: how do you like to spend your ski holidays? do let us know. we'll be back next week. until then, goodbye, and thanks

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