the three of which are not democracies so that's quite worrying let's bring in our correspondent peter craven who's been following all of us from outside the presidential palace peter you've been standing there you know give us an idea of what's been happening and what is actually on the agenda we've just seen that handshake between the two leaders what's going to happen next we don't know a whole lot do we. we know practically nothing about what is on the agenda but we have to assume that i think that was very interesting that donald trump just now mentioned the whole issue of nuclear arms and nuclear proliferation that is something that he's been under a lot of pressure to take into this such a discussion with him there was some anxiety though in the intelligence community in the u.s. that this is one area where he doesn't know the facts the way the. will absolutely will have a game plan set out so they were worried that he was going to have rings run around him on that issue but he mentioned it and i think it will go in there i also think here the reference to xi jinping was interesting an

you know he's peter craven there reporting from health sinky with me now. on the list of u.s. european affairs with the aspen institute him but then tyson thanks for coming in the europeans warry trump may make very serious concessions something like recognizing russia's annexation of crimea for instance all those worries justified well to quote the president himself will have to wait and see you know he's been on record basically saying everything under the sun from the citizens of crimea want to be part of russia during the campaign to saying that it was obama was soft on russia that led to the attic sation of crimea and why did he get a pass he's going to be tougher so we have a pen a plea of different perspectives here ok so as you say we'll have to wait and see one of the things you mentioned just there i think was was a twitter quote has been on twitter this morning saying i'm of the other things that relations between the u.s. and russia have never been worse thanks quote to u.s. food and stupidity a reference to his biggest barack obama doesn't that we can though his o

our political correspondent peter craven has been following the latest developments for us and joins us in our studio hi peter we heard that say her friend michael are meeting again today can they find a way out of this crisis very much remains to be seen there are in fact two important meetings one in an hour's time where parliamentary members of the c.s.u. in the c.d.u. are coming together with votes going showing blair who have the viewers will remember is the former german finance minister now the spokes speaker of the bundestag the german parliament he's saying the those two parties are staring into the abyss that could have grave consequences for the for the whole architecture of german politics if these two conservative parties were to pull apart and then later today the meeting you've mentioned as well at five o'clock this afternoon here local time hosts a whole for an anglo-american coming together for another attempt to try and compromise to try and find some consensus between themselves and the two parties but they met on saturday for two hours they sucked wine they spoke l

hour at a political correspondent peter craven watching this press conference with us peter we should say that you have been to many of these summer annual summer press conferences and you did mention that you know i'm going to call started this is very typical on the american way talking about ordinary issues facing ordinary people yet the questions that we start just face are the ones that have been really dominating the headlines both trans-atlantic relations the pressures facing beyond german borders and also she immediately talks about an international framework very much where you have the world of trump angle of merkel of the european see international politics always based on values based and based on international agreements and can consensus how difficult has it been for her to hold that line which has come very much under fire hasn't she recently donald trump has just marauders across europe. chucking grenades at nato chucking grenades in a number ten downing street are calling germany a foe on the international trade it's tough times for germany very keen to hear what i'm

alone a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven now when people go shopping what they're mainly looking for is cheap whether it's holidays fashions or food and drink the formula is so often the same the cheaper the better but that also means cheap labor people who work long hours and often shocking conditions for poultry wages and are first.

threats of separation continue to loom let's get some analysis from our political correspondent peter craven who is joining us here in the studio this morning peter so much at stake what should we expect today. we don't know. the truth about so i suppose you know when you listen to very seasoned jim journalists there saying they have never seen confusion like this before and they don't know what is going to happen next yes we do know what is going to happen next marco and so who are going to meet this afternoon at five o'clock in the afternoon for another showdown or another you know every so what football these days because of the world cup for another cup final what's going to come out of it we don't know. and if we're trying that analogy a lot has of unknowns have also come out of the world cup that we'll see how it shakes out here we know that merkel though in the meantime that she has recognized that this is a really you know serious moment for conservative unity and she spoke about that yesterday i would just like to have a quick listen to what she said in her own words. everyone knows

o and a very warm welcome to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin with this question to the full veils worn by some mostly women and european countries stand for oppression and isolation or rather perhaps the symbol of self-expression garments like the nick of remain relatively rare here in europe but they've been probably.

hello and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and this week we begin with the latest turmoil in the united kingdom over briggs it the british exit from the e.u. that's set to become a reality on march twenty ninth next year but the debate on whether it should be a hard or soft brags it is becoming increasingly bitter things look to have come slightly went.

hello and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and congratulations are due to friends for their impressive victory at the soccer world cup in russia beating croatia four two in the final there were ecstatic scenes when the players arrived back in paris this is of course the second time that the law has won the most coveted prize in world.

hello and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and congratulations are due to france for their impressive victory at the soccer world cup in russia beating croatia four two in the final.

a low and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and congratulations and you to france for their impressive victory at the soccer world cup in russia beating croatia four two in the fight.

a very warm welcome to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin with this question to the full veils worn by some muslim women in european countries stand for oppression and isolation or are they perhaps the symbol of self-expression garments like the knee cab remain relatively rare here in europe but they've been.

hello and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and congratulations are due to france for their impressive victory at the soccer world cup in russia beating croatia four two in the final there were ecstatic scenes when the players arrived back in paris this is of course the second time that the three call law has won the most coveted prize in world soccer.

a very warm welcome to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin with this question to the full veils worn by some muslim women in european countries stand for oppression and isolation or are they perhaps a symbol of self-expression garments like the niqab remain relatively rare here in europe but they do.

hello and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and congratulations are due to france for their impressive victory at the soccer world cup in russia beating croatia four two in the.

a low and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and congratulations and you to france for their impressive victory at the soccer world cup in russia beating croatia four two in the final there were ecstatic scenes when the plaza arrived back in paris this is of course the second time that the he keep trico law has won the most coveted prize in world soccer.

well our political correspondent peter craven is here to fill us in on the deal peter first of all what has changed to make this agreement possible has chancellor merkel simply caved into the demands of her interior minister it's interesting wording caved in i don't think she has caved in but i think she is bending over backwards to get a compromise. he's here with whole say whole for as we saw in our report just now she is determined to keep her coalition government together she is determined to keep all say they hope for on board although he has been putting her under massive pressure in recent weeks and the way she's doing it is these transit centers is that being cold you called it a holding center you know people have been calling these anchors sent this whole say over reception centers hot spots whatever you call it they've been much discussed for three years now originally the conservatives here in germany wanted these transit centers at the beginning of the so-called refugee crisis back in two thousand and fifteen they want to deport all migrants all refugees coming to germany i

zero in a very warm welcome to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin with this question to the full veils worn by some muslim women in european countries stand for oppression and isolation or are they perhaps the symbol of self-expression garments like the new cab remain relatively rare here in europe but they've.

and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and this week we begin with the latest turmoil in the united kingdom over breaks at the british exit from the e.u. that's set to become a reality on march the twenty ninth next year but the debate on whether it should be a hard or soft brags it is becoming increasingly bitter things look to have come slightly when to resume a gathered cabinets of her official country residence however within days her brags it minister had resigned quickly followed by foreign minister boris johnson one of the leading break city areas. and there's the dispute rumbles on many people are deeply worried about what it will mean for the highly sensitive border between northern ireland and the you but there's another border concern. that's right and we are population fifteen thousand a tiny british protectorate in the caribbean the didn't even get to vote in the braggs it referendum the fear now is that the island will be cut off from its immediate neighbor which belongs to france in fact concern is so great that people like the very popula

and let's bring in our correspondent peter craven he's covering today's summit in helsinki for us and joins us for more now peter if we can put you up here. all right there you are peter we can see you now both leaders as we said expected any minute now to sit together but very little information here on what's on the agenda what are we expecting to be on the table good question your guess your guess is practically as good as mine i would have to say just just to keep you up to date with what's happening we just have to finish president and his cavalcade coming down this main street on the waterfront here we're expecting donald trump to show up any time now and then obviously though he may have putin has been delayed at the airports and just across there behind me is the presidential palace that you were mentioning where they're going to be meeting and as i say not very much of a clear idea about what's on the agenda or it could be ukraine it could be crimea syria nuclear proliferation almost certainly there are kids ations that are now being leveled once again against a lot of new pu

heads often to the summer break peter she was fielding questions there our political correspondent peter craven with us first of all about social cohesion and this is something she actually opened her statement with to say that her government is trying to strengthen social cohesion overcome division this has become a very polarized atmosphere both in politics and in the public and this whole idea of cohesion was one of the banner headlines for the coalition agreement that helped create the new coalition government that is now in office cohesion was one of the really big watchwords and it's very much an angle or merkel word cohesion compromise. consensus these are very much anglo-american concepts and the very point here was. the figure that was quoted sixty percent of the population suddenly don't think compromise is important there's a very strong notion there of a very changing german society yeah let's go back to a chance i think she's building a question now about relations with israel i think that the protection of minorities as part and parcel of democracy is crucial and i think that sinc

and did over his peter craven is covering today's summit in helsinki for us first of all peter why helsinki why are the two men meeting in the finnish capital. well christopher for more we gather this was a suggestion that came from donald trump itself himself he put that suggestion to his team he said he wanted to have a backdrop that would be monumental no i when you look behind me and you see the president's palace across there the yellow fronted building where the press conference is going to take place between putin and trump this afternoon it doesn't look exactly monumental and i think when we talk about monumental in a backdrop i think what donald trump was referring to was that what we all know is that helsinki has been a venue down the years for big summits east west summits the united states and russia the united states in the soviet union not least the famous summit that led to the helsinki declaration accords back in one thousand nine hundred seventy five and that really led to invention through the process of doing more to the final demise of the soviet union i don't think anyt

now in a very warm welcome to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin with this question do the full veils worn by some muslim women in european countries stand for oppression and isolation or are they perhaps a symbol of self-expression garments like the niqab remain relatively rare here in europe but they've been prompting heated debate for a number of years now and many argue that they are not appropriate in an open society in recent years france belgium the netherlands bogan area and austria have all banned full veils and women who wear them in public can be fined for doing so and now denmark is following suit focused on europe's all of a salad caught up with one muslim woman called sarah who is not prepared to accept what she sees as an infringement of liberty. sarah is fighting for her faith or at least her interpretation of faith she made the decision to veil her face years ago but from august the first if she does so in public she'll be breaking the law a violation of her personal rights in her opinion i feel very disappointed i feel like i thought we lived in a free

a low and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and congratulations are due to france for their impressive victory at the soccer world cup in russia beating croatia four two in the final there were ecstatic scenes when the players arrived back in paris this is of course the second time that the law has won the most coveted prize in world soccer after it won the trophy on home soil in one thousand nine hundred ninety eight now back then it was hoped that what was a very much a multicultural team would help to unite a multicultural but divided country but that's not quite what happened in france remains a society dogged by tensions over race but perhaps just perhaps killian ember pay with his huge flat and likeability will make a difference focus on europe says ella durga has been gauging the mood in france beginning in a stronghold of the far right. finds an obvious celebrated france's world cup victory on the town's market square to take you know enthusiasm was reserved for striking back pain son to an algerian mother and cameroonian father. was in washin

alone a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven now when people go shopping what they're mainly looking for is cheap whether it's holidays fashions or food and drink the formula is so often the same the cheaper the better but that also means cheap labor people who work long hours in often shocking conditions for poultry wages and our first story takes us to spain where workers toil under gigantic plastic greenhouses like these ones in el maria in the spanish region of under luisita it's one of the most fertile parts of the country and q. cumbers peppers and tomatoes are exported across europe but it's the human cost is appalling many of these agricultural workers are employed illegally some have risked their lives to cross the mediterranean from africa it make shift vessels and they live in often terrible conditions also produce vegetables at rock bottom prices the giant retailers demand for people like quality though from garner there's a very different price to pay. kwasi a woman who is showing us around his makeshift hut fifteen years ago he journeyed from

oh in a very warm welcome to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin with this question do the full veils worn by some muslim women in european countries stand for oppression and isolation or are they perhaps a symbol of self-expression garments like the niqab remain relatively rare here in europe but they've been.

of get some more analysis on all of this are joined by our fellow correspondent peter craven to go a little bit deeper into the details and what this means for the german government and peter you know it's quite unusual to have a very public reffed at least between the c.d.u. c.s.u. or is it well they owe as rupert just pointed out they are sister politics they've been working together as a conservative caucus here in germany for many many decades but now they're really at each other's froze this is not the way that i'm going to medical normally don't think she's normally cool calm and collected very much the pragmatist but she's now been drawn into it what it what has been described as as an end game with hosts a whole you know there's been all sorts of talk about ultimatums guns being put to the chancellor's head and you know that's of that's not the angle america world as we know it to will metaphor that's been used to describe jose hope his behavior is that he's climbed up a tree and then climb still further and climbs and he doesn't know how to get back down he's in a panic and h

peter craven reporting from helsinki. and we're not going to go to moscow to our bureau chief there yuri. yuri give us the russian perspective on the summit you know what is president putin hoping to get out of it well as we've heard from peter grant in the housing he is absolutely unpredictable what the u.s. president could promise his russian counterpart is a big or possible big deal and what we're looking at putin could promise donald trump trump in return but i think the expectations are different in moscow and washington for the russians it's enough that it's happening at all and that the symbolism of meeting is absolutely satisfying in itself the summit comes as the kremlin is looking for an exit of its international isolation without crossing its own red lines and trump can still give legitimacy on putin by meeting him as president and that's why today's missoni today's meeting is a great symbolic boost for russia's interests ok so symbolism yury is the key interest in a sense from the moscow perspective could we s