we share a lot of approaches of the french government not all of them but a lot of them and of course we want to strengthen the social aspect within the european policies and the democratic spectrum our. points of view meet at these points now on monday the current party had all of soil it's described this upcoming grand coalition as not being a marriage of love and what kind of a marriage do you expect. well it's going to be a partnership i hope a partnership in which we argue and we don't have the same opinions all the time we have very different parties the three of them in the coalition and i think it's good for democracy that you see that we are not one big. anonymous political mass we are three different parties with different political opinions trying to find compromises and good ways to govern this country and i think we've done that quite well within the last four years and we're willing to do it better even the

next but it was a close call for your social democrat party which now also narrowly escaped what can be seen as a european trend really for social democrats parties who've lost really meaning who've been suffered crushing defeat in other countries just to mention france how will you be able to get your party base onboard and convince them that yes you can completely renewed while being in what many saw is that as a busa relationship almost with chancellor merkel in this cabinet well times are tough for social democratic parties all over europe that is true but the stories are very different in the countries and i think for germany it is very important to show that we are different from the christian democrats that was something that we didn't do good enough the last four years and to make clear that real social policy can only take place in germany with social democrats we have the the draft treaty of the jamaica. so-called jamaica parties so the christian democrats with

the green party and the liberals and we've seen the social aspects nearly didn't take place in this draft treaty so. i think we have to make that very clear because germany is a very strong country it has a strong economy but there are still many people that don't participate from the wealth and the process and that is our challenge to to really make life better for them. the justice minister in the next cabinet michael thank you very much for the interview thank you. turning now to russia and its presidential election on sunday some are calling it the no surprise as a whole lot of work putin is all but guaranteed to clinch another six year term the russian media are firmly behind him there's little in the way of criticism in its two thousand and seventeen ranking of one hundred eighty countries for press freedom russia came in at number one hundred forty eight in part three of our series russia votes we take

a look at some of the difficulties faced by russian journalists. reporter powerful new coolant dared criticize the kremlin's policies in syria now he risks his freedom video i open the door to armed police officers and two plainclothes secret service agents were standing there. dimitris go to the top was an editor at a state owned t.v. station until his employer fired him now he's breaking his silence i think everything is centrally controlled with notices and bans state television cannot show that the state has problems. with. the two used to belong to different political camps now both are in danger. in moscow only a handful of journalists like the coolant are willing to investigate and address

taboo topics human rights violations harassment in the military terrorism the secret service first noticed mccool and when he interviewed a russian member of i.a.s. they accused him of justifying terrorism in general they took forty copies of this magazine as evidence. but it doesn't mention syria or terrorism. and apparently their only reason was that my brochure that dealt with completely different topics had a black cover. scoreboard tof was a news editor at the state owned broadcaster rosia one day he says his boss was drunk and beat him up when dmitri tried to take his boss to court he was fired. apparently the station wanted to cover up the incident dimitri feels betrayed and has started to fight back against a system he once supported. as an editor i get these so-called stop lists of people

in topics we want allowed to. for example when people were protesting against we remained silent for nearly two weeks it was only towards the end of the second week that we were allowed to mention the protests but we had to dismiss them as harmless child's play we weren't even allowed to mention the name of the political opponent no bunny and we weren't allowed to report to the demonstrations even though they were happening in one hundred two cities. on march eighteenth russia is set to go to the polls many expect the outcome to be rigged but there will be little mention of that on state controlled media where the election will be portrayed as honest and fair opponents claim governmental agencies suppress any criticism of the system. for example from news or as a supervisory agency that makes our lives difficult. and critical articles.

and they claim it's to protect children. even for younger generations but television is the most important source of information to fifty four percent of the viewers between eighteen and twenty four prefer the news from c a one. but insiders say the russian state controls almost all broadcasting stations and uses them as an important propaganda tool and their power expands beyond mere reporting. when i show it first my lawyer didn't believe just how powerful my station was she thought i was exaggerating but when the court rejected our case for the fourth time she started to realize something was very wrong with. the way agencies treated us journalists how they deny us access to courts arrest said protests search our homes. it all goes to show how little regard the state has for us. in the past years the

situation is only worse and it's so bad. everybody who decides to take up this job can expect to be murdered someday. as different as new coolants and score of botox experiences are they both seem to show two sides of the same coin the same principle play along keep your mouth shut or find a different job as the saying goes in russia either you're with us or against us. well one of the candidates openly against the policies of president putin is grigory yavlinsky the economist and former deputy prime minister is one of the best known opposition figures in the race our moscow bureau chief yuri or chateau talked to him about his campaign. mr yavlinsky you work in government in the soviet union after that a supporter of president yeltsin later you opposed him and he successive. now you are a presidential candidate why them is that you moment. because russian politics is

very dangerous. because the economy is broken. and because russia is becoming increasingly isolated. it's my view that russia is a brutal for terror in state where political opponents a murdered. by the one i knew there would be more poignant but what if you weren't always allowed to take part in past elections this time around it worked these elections more fair and transparent. these elections are not true elections. but politically they are an opportunity to reach many people and tell them that russian politics is leading us to degradation to isolation and to poverty. and there's also the danger of a military conflict. beyond this do you agree with the war on our part and both.

of those three where you know. according to polls you have the least support from the voters what are you hoping for when i should be meeting and. i'm not interested in polls. i'm more interested in how many people hear the warning shot and see the alternative that i'm offering. numbers don't play any role in russian elections. everyone knows that putin could easily win with one hundred forty six percent of the skeptics think maybe one hundred forty three but then the optimist correct them with a prognosis of one hundred forty seven percent before. me. let's talk about the opposition in twenty eleven intended for you took part in protests against election fraud back then it looked like democracy which we know about but didn't what is stopping the position in russia from becoming

a united force you know we're. in two thousand and eleven and two thousand and twelve we didn't have a program even an opposition leader. when you overthrew the opposition back then was politically immature. and it squandered its chances. but. more than that with out own mistakes led to the introduction of hard repressive laws. there was a crackdown on the entire opposition in russia even the the going to that there was trouble a premium for eve live. soccer where you. i want to get to the bravery and professionalism of all the emergency services doctors nurses and investigation teams who have led the response to this appalling incident and also to the fortitude and also to the fortitude of the people of souls free and let me

reassure them that public health england have made clear the ongoing risk to public health is and the government will continue to do everything possible to support this historic city to recover fully. this is speaker on monday i sent out to mr scriptural and his daughter were poisoned with an not a chalk a military grade nerve agent developed by russia based on his capability combined with a record of conducting state sponsored assassinations including against former intelligence officers whom they regard as legitimate targets the u.k. government concluded that it was highly likely that russia was responsible for this reckless and despicable act and the only two plausible explanations. this was a direct attack by the russian state against our country or conceivably the russian government could have lost control of a military grade nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others mr

speaker it was right to offer russia the opportunity to provide an explanation but their response has demonstrated complete disdain for the gravity of these events. they have provided no credible explanation that they could suggest they don't control of then agent no explanation as to how this agent came to be used in the united kingdom no explanation as to why russia has an undeclared chemical weapons program in contravention of international law. instead they have treated the use of a military grade nerve agent in europe with sarcasm content and defiance. so mr speaker is. no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of mr script powell and his daughter and for threatening the lives of other british citizens in salzburg including detective sergeant nick bailey this represents an arm all full use of force by the russian

state against the united kingdom. and as i set out on monday it has taken place against the backdrop of a well established pattern of russian state aggression across europe and beyond is must therefore be met with a full and robust response beyond the actions we have already taken since the murder of mr litvinenko and to counter this pattern of russian aggression elsewhere . as the discussion in this house on monday made clear it is essential that we now come together with our allies to defend our security to stand up for our values and to send a clear message to those who would seek to undermine them. this morning i chaired a further meeting of the national security council where we agreed immediately actions to dismantle the russian espionage network in the u.k. urgent work to develop new powers to tackle all forms of hostile state activity and to ensure that those seeking to carry out such activity cannot enter the u.k.

and additional steps to suspend all planned high level contacts between the united kingdom and the russian federation. let me start with the immediate actions mr speaker the house will recall the following the murder of mr litvinenko the u.k. expelled for diplomats. under the vienna convention the united kingdom will now expel twenty three russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers they have just one week to leave this will be the single biggest expulsion for over thirty years and it reflects the fact that this is not the first time that the russian state has acted against our country through these expulsions we will fundamentally degrade russian intelligence capability in the u.k. for years to come and if they seek to rebuild it we will prevent them from doing so . second we will urge and develop proposals for new legislative powers to harden

our defenses against all forms of hostile state activity this will include the addition of a targeted power to detain those suspected of hostile state activity in the u.k. border this power is currently only permitted in relation to those suspected of terrorism and i have asked the home secretary to consider whether there is a need for new counterespionage powers to clamp down on the full spectrum of hostile activities of foreign agents in our country. mr speaker as i set out on monday we will also table a government amendment to the sanctions bill to strengthen our powers to impose sanctions in response to the violation of human rights in doing so we will play our part in an international effort to punish those responsible for the sorts of abuses suffered by say mike mates. and i hope as with all the measures i'm setting out today that this will command across party support. mr speaker we will also make full use of existing powers to enhance our efforts to monitor and track the

intentions of those traveling to the u.k. who could be engaged in activity that threatens the security of the u.k. and of our of our allies so we will increase checks on private flights customs and freight we will freeze russian state assets wherever we have the evidence that they may be used to threaten the life or property of u.k. nationals or residence and led by the national crime agency we will continue to bring all the capabilities of u.k. law enforcement to bear it get serious criminals and corrupt any there is no place for these people or their money in our country. mr speaker let me be clear while our response must be robust it must also remain true to our views as a liberal democracy that believes in the rule of law. many russians have made this country their home abide by our rules and make an important contribution to our country which we must continue to welcome me but to those who seek to do is harm my

message is simple you are not welcome here. mr speaker let me turn to our bilateral relationship as i said on monday we have had a very simple approach to russia engage but be aware and i continue to believe it is not in our national interest to break off all dialogue between the united kingdom and the russian federation but in the aftermath of this appalling act against our country this relationship cannot be the same. so we will suspend all planned high level bilateral contacts between the united kingdom and the russian federation this includes revoking the invitation to foreign minister lavrov to pay a reciprocal visit to the u.k. and confirming they will be no attendance by ministers or indeed members of the royal family at this summer's world cup in russia finally mr speaker we will deploy a range of tools from across the full breadth of our national security apparatus in order to counter the threats of hostile state activity while i have set out some of

these measures today members on all sides will understand that there are some that cannot be shared publicly for reasons of national security and of course there are other measures we stand ready to deploy at any time should we face further russian provocation. this is because none of the actions we take are intended to damage legitimate activity or prevent contacts between our populations we have no disagreement with the people of russia who have been responsible for so many great achievements throughout their history many of us looked at a post soviet russia with hope we wanted a better relationship and it is tragic that president putin has chosen to act in this way. but we will not tolerate the stretch of life of british people and others on british soil from the russian government nor will we tolerate such a flagrant breach of russia's international obligations mr speaker as i set out on monday the united kingdom is not stand alone in confronting russian aggression in

the last twenty four hours i have spoken to president trump chancellor merkel and president. we have agreed to cooperate closely in responding to this barbaric act and to coordinate our efforts to stand up to the rules based international order which russia seeks to undermine i would also speak to other allies and partners in the coming days and i welcome the strong expressions of support from nato and from partners across the european union and beyond. later today in new york the u.n. security council will hold open consultations where we will be pushing for a robust international response we have also notified the organization for the probation of chemical weapons about russia's use of this nerve agent and we are working with the police to enable the o.p.c. w. to independently verify our analysis. this is because this was not just an act of attempted murder in saul's free nor just an act against the u.k.

it is an affront to the program on the use of chemical weapons and it is an affront to the rule space system on watch which we and our international partners depend we will work with our allies and partners to confront such actions wherever they threaten our security at home and abroad and i commend this statement to the house . thank you mr speaker i would like to thank the prime minister for advance of his statements and echo absolutely her words about the service of our and if you're just joining us you've been watching british prime minister theresa may addressing parliament on the case of a former russian spy poisoned on british soil a she was saying that the russian state is responsible for the attempted murder of the former spy service cripple and his daughter in the british city of solsbury and she said it was an unlawful use of force and she detailed a series of measures one of them being the u.k. expelling twenty three were russian diplomats we have correspondent berkut mass

standing by for us in london she has been following the theresa may statement for us there and we have our correspondent with us here in studio charlotte charles some pill good to have you brought both of berkut let's start with you what do you make of these measures that theresa may outlined. strong words from reasoned me in the house of commons and she describes the disdain and sarcasm of the russian government to the to what's happening here in the u.k. and the deadline and that she's given the russian government in order to explain what happened so of course twenty three diplomats expelled she says it's about espionage it's about having identified these russian diplomats as belonging to the espionage network and she wants to make sure the dots are destroyed or that this is hidden that other measures as well nothing that we thought might happen for example

when it comes to media there was talk about having measures against the russian state broadcaster r.t.e. this was met in russia with a lot of anger and they said that as a retaliation the u.k. media will not be allowed and you will russia but of course expulsion as as a of twenty three diplomats is definitely something that's going to cut their relations even further russian you can relations and the british prime minister saying that they will have all one week to leave very good charlotte coming to you know another one of those measures was suspending high level bilateral talks tell us more about that yes they said that she didn't want to break off all dialogue with russia but she was very clear that the relationship simply can't be the same after something like this now let's be very clear this is very serious what's the reason may has outlined here we haven't seen anything like this in thirty years i

mean let's look back at two thousand and six alexander litvinenko he was a russian diplomats living in london he was poisoned with polonium two ten often that only four russian diplomats were expelled from the country now we've got twenty three so that's a radical shift in the way the u.k. response to something like this you know certainly very strong words as bigger it was so. theresa may saying there that this relationship cannot be the same a bigot coming back to you this comes after theresa may had actually said and ultimatum didn't she for russia to give an explanation for what happened with the poisoning a circus cripple and his daughter and tell us what happened up to up until now. well russia of course did not really. cooperate in this investigation they russia said that they needed to have a sample of the nerve agent they really they completely denied that they had anything to do with that and they basically said that is was ridiculous it was kind

of a u.k. ploy to discredit russia and that the raf the russian government was not at all involved in anything like this so now to resume a has not put in any of these arguments and she expressed the disappointment of russia not engaging and not cooperating in this investigation and this or of course least the british government to believe that russia was responsible she said that russia hadn't offered any explanation for example of having lost control of the agent and as a consequence it means that the russian government must be responsible and it's highly likely that russia was responsible for this attack. coming to you know this is a case that certainly has drawn the attention of the international community how much can theresa may count on her allies here she mentioned that in her statement as well yeah we've had a number of robust responses so far from the u.k. allies we know that there's going to be an emergency meeting this evening of the

u.n. security council we've heard from nato that they'd like an immediate response from russia as to what exactly has taken place hey we've heard from the united states u.s. president donald trump has said he is with the u.k. all the way germany france all of them have condemned this attack so really people on lining up to support the u.k. here the announcement that we've had today they are just domestic responses to what's taken place that we haven't heard yet of any official official international response as they more likely to come a little bit later so it can be very interesting to see what happens as we learn more more about this attack and what the international community decides to do as you are saying charlotte this is a huge diplomatic route. what we heard from moscow if anything yet well as big it was saying that they've denied any involvement they've had a very strong response to this assegais lover of the foreign minister has even suggested that this is part of a propaganda efforts to discredit russia he was he was very angry that we've also

heard from the embassy in russia they've said that if these sanctions if sanctions are imposed on russia expect sanctions in return so this really isn't something that's going to go away quickly it's very likely that we're going to see now tit for tat measures in place between the you can russia so that means we could see british diplomats now being expelled from russia it's very possible that that can happen you know we can't speculate too soon but the likelihood is that there will be a fan response from russia from this meanwhile police in the u.k. are still trying to figure out exactly what happened tell us more about where the investigation on this entire case is out right now. well there's a not just the police are also soldiers involved in the investigation and they are still trying to determine of course how exactly how exactly this attack happened and who basically who's done it we've also not just had the attack on the former russian spy in the stores and we've also had another suspicious case of another

russian amachree was found dead in the london and this is something that also the british and to tara police are investigating they say it's not something that they linked directly to the attack on saudi screwed palin's daughter bought just because of the connections that this russian emigre had that they do treated a suspicion that was an unexplained death and it's also an anti terror investigation so we've got two major investigations concerning russian citizens that where the found out all were being attacked on the u.k. cell and of course for british people it's nothing especially for people in salisbury where the attack happened with a nerve agent people were very angry they felt that they were not so they were not properly informed by the u.k. government because it really took several days for the u.k. health of thirty's to urge people to well wash themselves wash their clothes if

they were in the center of salt spray into anywhere near where the attack happened so there is quite something that makes people in the u.k. quite nervous coming to you know you know everyone looking to theresa may after she had set that ultimatum for russia and didn't receive the answer that britain had wanted an explanation for what had happened in this case how do you think these this this basically this or these measures that she's laid out today in her statement how do you think that's going to go down in britain well it was poisoned in two thousand and six for diplomats were expelled as i as i said and there was the suggestion that that simply didn't go far enough that they should have done more this is now was happy. and we've had the three diplomats expelled we've also had a lot more from to resume a she said for example that she doesn't want the world family from attending the world cup that's a very interesting one that's really going to jamaica show that when the world cup happens in russia this summer she's also said that she wants new sanctions those found guilty of violating human rights very interesting though she did emphasize

that those who are living in russia who aren't guilty of any crimes who are as she said abiding by our laws and our values will not be touched by any of this she wants to protect u.k. values and show that this is only going to affect those violating what do you k. stands for how significant of a rift is this in relations between the u.k. and russia i mean this is unprecedented we haven't seen anything like this in over a decade when they've been young who was killed we really can't underestimate what the result of this is likely to be of course we had the russian an extension of crimea we had the downing of the plane over ukraine but this is something very serious the fact that it's a british citizen on british soil really is a violation of conventions between the you can russia or you know we've heard from a truce or made that she has the support of her allies in the e.u. also from nato how much support has she had in the u.k. for taking this tough line on russia. she has

a lot of support i found a lot of labor m.p.'s really praising her recent statement on russia and taking a family line against russia of course there are some critics who say well the tory party like jeremy coughlan their leader of the labor party accused of taking russian money that was something that he criticised but i think that was something a lot of offers parliamentary colleagues weren't actually so happy about so generally there is a lot of support for taking a strong line against russia because it is something that that hurts the country and to resort to reason may who's actually quite embattled and not having made such a good figure in the negotiations recently it's.