Bulgaria, Nikopol. A view of Turno Magurele industrial area. Turno Magurele industries caused a massive pollution of the area. At the beginning of the 2000s, many inhabitants of the Bulgarian town Nikopol owned gas masks because the high air pollution caused by the fertiliser factory on the Romanian side of the Danube.
France, La Mongie. A view of a building belonging to a ski resort. According to the European Environment Agency, Europe’s mountain regions may suffer some of the most severe impacts of climate change. Increasing temperatures can change snow-cover patterns and lead to water shortages and other problems such as reduced ski tourism.
Germany, Seebad Prora. Germans visit the Sea resort complex under renovation in Seebad Prora. The complex was built by Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1939 as a beach resort. It consisted of eight identical buildings and was 4.5 km in length parallel to the beach, with the surviving structures stretching 3.0 km.
Although the buildings were planned as a holiday resort, construction was not completed and they were not used for this purpose. During the Allied bombing campaign, many people from Hamburg took refuge in one of the housing blocks, and later refugees from the east of Germany were housed there. By the end of the war, these buildings housed female auxiliary personnel for the Luftwaffe. The Soviet Army’s 2nd Artillery Brigade occupied block 5 of Prora from 1945 to 1955. After 1956 the buildings became a restricted military area housing several East German Army units. After the German re-unification the building was first supposed to be demolished and them it became a landmark building. In 2013, a German company bought the rights to refurbish Prora and market the units as summer homes, refurbished apartments in complex were on sale for as much as 700,000 euros ($900,000) apiece.
Czech Republic, Frantiskovy Lazne. A view of a luxury hotel room of Frantiskovy Lazne Spa town read the paper inside the thermal structure. The town was founded in 1793 and until World War I it hosted aristocrats, writers and others notable people. With the great depression Frantiskovy Lazne the town lost most of its patronage and started the decline of the place; after World War II most of the Germans living in the town were expelled under the the Benes decrees and the spa was nationalised under the rule of the Communist Party. After the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the Communist Party, a company named Lazne Franzensbad, owned mainly by one family, bought the the Spa facilities. Today most of the tourist visiting Frantiskovy Lazne are Germans.
Bulgaria, Svilengrad. A petrol station with photos of Putin and Harley Davidson. A percentage of Bulgarian is not happy with the entrance of Bulgarian in the European Union and would prefer a closer alliance with Russia. In the last years several European Countries opened to a closer alliance with Russia.
Lithuania, Plokščiai, August, 2020. The entrance of Plokštinė missile base. In September 1960, the Soviet Union started the rapid construction of an underground military base. It was one of the first in the Soviet Union, near the village of Plokščiai in the Lithuanian SSR. In 1960, more than 10,000 Soviet soldiers started to secretly work in the Žemaitija National Park for over two years. The base was regarded as one of the top Soviet military secrets, only to be revealed by U.S. reconnaissance in 1978. The Plokštinė nuclear missile launch site started operating around three years after it was established. Lithuanians discovered the existence of the base only after the URSS military forcer left the country. After twelve years of operations, the site was shut down. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the site was abandoned and not maintained, now hosts the Cold War Museum, opening one of the four existing silos for visitors.
Bulgaria, Bardaski Geran. A MIG plane, Russian Cold War jet fighter aircraft in front of the Town Hall. In Bulgaria are still present several war-related monuments. These Russian Military monuments, standing in the places where they are displayed, are slowly deteriorated by the weather recalling an era that already ended. Most probably if tomorrow they would desassear the people wouldn’t notice the difference.
Germany, Boxberg. A view of Boxberg Power Station, a lignite-fire power station. Before the German unification, it was part of the so called “Black Triangle”, a border region shared by Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, long characterized by extremely high levels of pollution. Despite Germany is planning to be a removable energy country, lignite and coal power station are still active.
Italy, Ventimiglia. A migrant stands in fron of the Mediterranean Sea close to the Border between Italy and France. France intensify the controls on the border with Italy suspending the Schengen Treaty. The migrants that try to cross illegally the border between Italy and France have to hike several hills and ford at least one river; the trails is quite difficult and, according to the NGO Anafé, in 2018 at least 30 migrants died trying to cross the border.