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Unstoppable

Europe’s leaders and their top advisers reveal how the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants on Europe’s shores plunged the European Union into turmoil.

This episode exposes how Europe’s leaders fought over how to deal with the migration crisis that reached its peak in the summer of 2015.

As hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants arrive from North Africa and Syria, Europe divides. The decision by chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe’s most powerful leader, to keep Germany's borders open tests the fundamental principles of the EU to the limit.

Top leaders, from Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker to prime ministers Matteo Renzi and Mark Rutte, and president Francois Hollande, reveal some of the biggest clashes the European Council has ever witnessed.

As Europe is split over whether to share the burden of migrants or toughen up borders, a controversial deal with Turkey – aided by shutting down borders to keep migrants out of Europe – brings the crisis out of control. But the political damage is grave.

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59 minutes

Signed Audio described

Last on

Fri 29 Mar 2019 21:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Narrator Caroline Catz
Series Producer Norma Percy
Editor Sally Hilton
Editor Toby Marter
Composer Simon Russell
Production Manager Amy Tapper
Executive Producer Lucy Hetherington
Executive Producer Greg Sanderson

Broadcasts