China and Hungary on the spot This WEEK

Both European Council president Charles Michel and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are expected to warn Chinese president Xi Jinping not to undermine EU sanctions against Russia or send it military support.

Similar warnings were issued at a recent EU summit in Brussels by Finland's prime minister Sanna Marin.

"If China helps Russia, then the sanctions will not work as we want," she said, adding that the EU needs to make sure that "they are on the right side of history".

With millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine and many more expected, the EU is also seeking to better coordinate their arrivals and reception.

The task will be discussed on Monday (28 March) among EU home affairs ministers in Brussels. Their immediate focus will be on Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, which all share a border with Ukraine.

Ministers are also set to discuss where refugees settle among EU states, as well as how to better assistMoldova, a country that is not in the EU but also straddles Ukraine

Earlier this month, the EU triggered a temporary protection scheme that provides residency and other rights to Ukrainian refugees throughout the member states up until next March, alleviating pressure on national asylum systems.

The scheme has been heralded as a joint display of rare solidarity among the EU states. But it also stands in sharp contrast to the poor and sometimes abusive treatment handed out to refugees fleeing wars and persecution in other regions of the world, including the Middle East, Central Asia or Africa.

Also on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is set to brief European lawmakers on the foreign affairs committee on the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its consequences for Europe's security.

A delegation of MEPs from the foreign affairs and defence committee are planning to travel to Moldova in the second half of next week to assess the security situation and the influx of refugees.

The gender equality committee on Tuesday (29 March) is expected to hear from home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson on the situation of women refugees fleeing Ukraine.

The first package on circular economy, including policy initiatives on sustainable products, is scheduled to be published by the EU commission on Wednesday

Hungarian election

On Sunday (3 April), Hungarians will go to the ballot boxes in a high stakes general election. Prime minister Viktor Orbán, who has been in power since 2010, and will face a united opposition for the first time.

The election will be overseen by a full-fledged election observation mission of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe), as persistent issues over media freedom and democratic backsliding have raised concerns over the fairness of the election.