EÒRPA RETURNS TO BBC ALBA
Wednesday 29 September, 8.30pm on BBC ALBA
The BBC’s award-winning current affairs series, Eòrpa returns to our screens with compelling stories on current issues from across Europe.
The topics which will be examined in the first of the new weekly series will include, current political controversy in Poland, how funding for historic sites in Greece is coming under pressure as a result of national budget cuts, as well as an assessment of the deportation of Roma from France.
Last week, a controversial cross which had stood for six months in central Warsaw was taken down. It had been there in remembrance of the ninety-six people who died in the Smolensk air crash, many of whom were the country's prominent figures. However, the cross also caused many questions to be raised about the role of the church in Polish society.
Eòrpa reporter, Iain MacInnes, spoke to a supporter of the cross, Miłosz Stanisławski. Miłosz said: “The defenders of the cross, and I am one of them, want to have the cross present in a public space and want to commemorate the catastrophe and its victims in an appropriate way, in the place where the cross is.”
However, many in Poland question how appropriate it was to link religion and politics so closely, and demonstrated for the cross to be moved.
Dominik Taras told Eòrpa: “I've set out the problem we have in this state - that there's a division. That it's no accident that so many people have gathered near the Presidential Palace. The demonstration itself was fun, I have to say - and that was the point. We cannot fight people with fists and aggression. So we went there to mock them, to laugh at them.”
Also in the programme, reporter Darren Laing examines how budget cuts in Greece are affecting funding for historic sites. As well as archaeological work being affected, museum and historic site employees complain about their conditions of employment and not being paid.
Speaking to Darren, a museum security guard, Gregoris Nikodimitropoulos, said: “A lesson politicians can learn from, and one of the things I remember learning in school is when Alexander the Great was preparing to go into battle he refrained from drinking water just so he could be like one of his soldiers. This was the only way he could convince his soldiers to join him in battle. You cannot say that the country is experiencing an economic crisis when at the same time you are eating from golden spoons,”
The final report will follow journalist Roddy Munro’s assessment of the deportations of Roma from France.
Produced by BBC Gàidhlig, Eòrpa will commence on BBC ALBA on Wednesday 29 September at 8.30pm and weekly thereafter. The programme will also be repeated on BBC Two and will be available on BBC iPlayer.