a very warm welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery glad you could join us years into the european debt crisis things may finally be looking up for greece the economy seems to be making some.

hello and welcome i'm michel henery it's good to have you with us. a series of demonstrations have been planned across spain as a political standoff between the spanish and cuts alone and governments continues madrid has called last night's referendum in catalonia illegal because one government meanwhile continues to stand by its promise to to declare independence even as its leader met with a newly formed team of mediators. if the council on president's power struggle with spain is to end any time soon he will need the help of mediators like those he met on friday. in a sign he may be listening to his guests karla's which demand said he will update parliament on the current political situation on tuesday and in doing so he avoided breaking a constitutional ban on a session scheduled for monday. his party called it a gesture of goodwill. and. the president of cuts alone you know has a great opportunity to make the real statement he made a few days ago which is to start a dialogue. meanwhile in madrid a possible change in strategy for the first time t

hello and welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery catalonia nationalists have sought autonomy and.

a very warm welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery glad you could join us.

hello and welcome i'm michel henery it's good to have you with us massive demonstrations are happening in spain's biggest cities right now as the tussle over catalonia independence moves onto the streets and barcelona thousands of people wearing white gathered near the mayor's office to call for dialogue between supporters and opponents of independence for the region at the same time people for spanish unity have flocked to the center of the spanish capital madrid. correspondent fenny fish ours in barcelona for us funny he's been at that parcel and demonstration can you tell us the message that is that's come out of it. michel this demonstration is just about to wrap up but you can still see a few people behind me wearing white t. shirts away or actually carrying a wide balloons signs to express basically that they want peace and they demand a dialogue i've also seen signs that read are blameless let's talk or ob-la most which means can we talk which is a good question if you look at the course of the week and the exchanges the verbal exchanges between mother and barcelona a lot of peo

hello and welcome i'm michel henery it's good to have you with us. catalan his regional government has announced the final results of last weekend's on authorized independence referendum it says ninety percent of votes cast were in favor of separation from spain but there are signs the two sides could be softening their tone in the standoff a tough spanish official has apologized to lance injured by police violence during the vote and catalonia as leader has met with a newly formed team of mediators. if the connell on president's power struggle with spain is to end any time soon he will need the help of mediators like those he met on friday. in a sign he may be listening to his guests karla's which demands said he will update parliament on the current political situation on tuesday and in doing so he avoided breaking a constitutional ban on a session scheduled for monday. his party called it a gesture of goodwill. and. the president of catalonia has a great opportunity to make the real statement he made a few days ago which is to start a dialogue. me

hello and welcome to focus on europe i michelle henery catalonia national have sought autonomy and independence from spain for decades cattle were asked.

hello and welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery once the dust settled after what.

hello and welcome i'm michel henery it's good to have you with us i'm not a rally is expected in barcelona today against plans by catalan leaders to declare independence this comes after a referendum was held in the region last week which the central government has called illegal and a television interview spanish prime minister mariano rajoy warned he won't rule out suspending catalonia regional autonomy to stop separatists from splitting from madrid. like lovers will have you know we have to return to legality and go back to normal but that's with the affirmation as early as possible that there will be no unilateral declaration of independence and all spain will continue to be saying it and it will continue to be spain for a long time is plenty of us to give him the spine yeah you know what to give don't do it on which at the end. a correspondent is in barcelona covering spain's deep as a political crisis in decades q ork yet another warning from the trib and mariano rajoy well let's stop the regional government of barcelona from declaring independence on tuesday. but the big question he

a very warm welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery glad you could join us years and to the european debt crisis things.

hello and welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery catalonia nationalist have sought autonomy and.

a very warm welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery glad you could join us.

hello and welcome i'm michel henery good to have you with us a massive rally is expected in barcelona today against plans by cut a line leaders to declare independence this comes after a referendum was held in the region last week which the central government has called illegal in a television interview spanish prime minister mariano rajoy warned he won't rule out suspending catalonia regional autonomy to stop separatists from splitting from madrid. like leverage where we have to return to legality and go back to normal that's with the affirmation as early as possible that there will be no unilateral declaration of independence spain will continue to be spain and it will continue to be spain for a long time it's been you're watching it here in the spine yeah you know. which. correspondent york math test is and barcelona covering spain's deep best political crisis in decades york there's a huge demonstration against independence happening right now tell us what's going on there. i just moved out of the middle of the demonstrations with this taking place a couple of kilometers from wher

i'm michelle henery. one of the biggest topics in germany right now is the election.o we are taking a close look at democracy -- and just how fragile it can be. ♪ ♪ imagine you are a law abiding citizen, of legal age, who lives

i'm michelle henery.e the dust settled after what could be described as a polititical earthquake, one tht shook the whole of europe, the german election changed the country's political landscape. it was a bitter victory: chancellor merkel and her party lost about a fifth of their core supporters. while the christian democrats remain the strongest group in the bundestag, they will have to search for new partners to govern. their former coalition partners, the social democrats, announced they were going into opposition.

i'm michelle henery.nce the dust settled after what could be described as a political earthquake, one that shook the whole of europe, the german election changed the country's political landscape. it was a bitter victory: chancellor merkel and her party lost about a fifth of their core supporters. while the christian democrats remain the strongest group in the bundestag, they will have to search for new partners to govern. their former coalition partners, the social democrats, announced they were going into opposition. the election was long ridiculed as boring until in its final weeks when the makeup of the german parliament was anyones guess. the vote turned out to be a disaster for the country's second largest party, the social democrats, who had their worst poll showing in post war germany. yet, it was a triumph for the right wing populist party the afd. our reporter visited, essen, a city in western germany and showed us how this long time social democratic stronghold was swiftly ousted by the afd. th

hello and welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery catalonia nationalist have sought autonomy and independence from spain for decades catalans were asked in an illegal referendum if this is what they really wanted after majority announced that the vote was unconstitutional police were sent from all over saying to block people from voting from even entering the polling stations and they did so by force spain's government later declared that despite the guests for independence there had been no valid referendum. separatist movements are nothing new in europe given the continent's history and multitude of cultures a desire for sovereignty among certain groups is understandable and in spain it's not just catalonia nationalists who are pushing for independence but also people from the basque region in the north west despite the violence surrounding the recent independence referendum in catalonia basque separatists there say they now feel more determined than ever. it's a busy day for a newsstand operator isabel about taking. here in bed when the basque country the catalan independence

i'm michelle henery. one of the biggest topics in germany right now is the election.o we are taking a close look at democracy -- and just how fragile it can be. ♪ ♪ imagine you are a law abiding citizen, of legal age, who lives in a country that proudly boasts of its commitment to democracy -- yet, you are not allowed to vote. that is the case for julian peters, a 29-year-old man from the northwest of germany. he is one of over 80,000 people denied this basic right because they are disabled. while many other european countries have lifted traditional restrictions, julian and his family wonder why germany has failed to do so. reporter: julian peters is taking a close look at the candidates' campaign posters. he takes an active interest in politics and the upcoming election. so who's that? julian: christian lindner. reporter: and what do you think of him? julian: he looks better now. he's wearing a dress shirt . reporter: 29-year-old julian also has opinions on the candidates' platforms, but because he has down syndrome and his parents have power of attorney, he's not a

i'm michelle henery. catalonian nationalists have sought autonomy and independence from spain for decades. catalans were asked in an illegal referendum, if this is what they really wanted. after madrid announced that the vote was unconstitutional, policemen were sent from all over spain to block people from voting, from even entering the polling stations. and they did so by force. spain's government later declared that, despite the yes for independence, there had been no valid referendum. separatist movements are nothing new in europe. given the continent's history and multitude of cultures, a desire for sovereignty among certain groups is understandable. and in spain, it's not just catalonian nationalists who are pushing for independence, but also people from the basque region in the northwest. despite the violence surrounding the recent independence referendum in catalonia, basque separatists there say they now feel more determined than ever. >> it is a busy day for newsstand operator isabel lopategi. h

i'm michelle henery.onian nationalists have sought autonomy and independence from spain for decades. catalans were asked inin an illegal referendum, if this is what they really wanted. after madrid announced that the vote was unconstitutional, policemen were sent from all over spain to block people from voting, from even entering the polling stations. and they did so by force. spain's government later declared that, despite the yes for independence, there had been no valid referendum.

hello and welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery once the dust settled after what could be described as a political earthquake one that shook the whole of europe the german election changed the country's political landscape it was a bitter victory chancellor merkel and her party lost about a fifth of their core supporters while the christian democrats remain the strongest group in the bundestag they will have to search for new partners to govern their former coalition partners the social democrats announced they were going into opposition. the election was long ridiculed as boring until its final weeks when the make up of the german parliament was anyone's guess the vote turned out to be a disaster for the country's second largest party the social democrats who had their worst poll showing and post-war germany yet it was a triumph for the right wing populist party the a.f.d. our reporter visited essen a city in western germany and showed us how the long time social democratic stronghold was swiftly ousted by the f.d.a. the city of essen is this politician's home town but since the ge

a very warm welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery glad you could join us across europe all eyes on the small north east region of spain in the wake of the recent catalonian referendum deemed illegal by the spanish government catalonian separatists hope to split from the rest of spain in parliament catalans president pushed him on said he wanted independence but only after negotiations with the spanish government a message that was welcomed by his followers freedom and independence these are fundamental european values proudly written in too many constitutions this freedom however also has limitations sometimes the price of freedom can be hotly disputed consider spain not every catalan believes that freedom means independence as a result many communities where some residents call for unity while others and cyst on independence are being torn apart like in the village of mont blanc. his all of us are nearly right have andrea is hoping the catalonian independence movement will also soon bear fruit here in month long they've been fighting to split from the rest of spain for a long t

a very warm welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery glad you could join us years into the european debt crisis things may finally be looking up for greece the economy seems to be making some strides towards recovery albeit slowly that's the good news but the bad news much of the country hasn't noticed a third of greeks are at risk of poverty and retirees are feeling it most some are losing their homes because they cannot live on their incomes. their pensions are meager because there's too little money in the state coffers too many people avoid paying taxes. which results in a loss of more than ten billion euros in taxes a year to change that the government has sent out an army of tax inspectors to shake things up by visiting businesses unannounced our reporter all of a zealot one along with two of them. when night falls in athens. to pinnacle start their patrol through the amusement district of pluck out. the two inspectors are on the lookout for tax daughter of. their suspicions are aroused in this cocktail party. there are no bills on the tables. it looks as if the owner is selli

a very warm welcome to focus on europe i'm michelle henery glad you could join us across europe all eyes on the small north east region of spain in the wake of the recent catalonian referendum deemed illegal by the spanish government catalonian separatists hope to split from the rest of spain in parliament cover wants president bush to mind said he wanted independence but only after negotiations with the spanish government a message that was welcomed by his followers freedom and independence these are fundamental european values proudly written into many constitutions this freedom however also has limitations sometimes the price of freedom can be hotly disputed consider spain not every catalan believes that freedom means independence as a result many communities where some residents call for unity while others and cyst on independence are being torn apart like in the village of mont blanc. his olives are nearly right have been drilled is hoping the catalonian independence movement will also soon bear fruit here in month long they can fighting to split from the rest of spain for a long ti