Belgium’s PM Bart De Wever has thrown quite a spanner into the EU’s plans to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine. But what’s really behind Belgium’s resistance and could one country derail Europe’s entire Ukraine strategy?

Even after discussions and negotiations dating back to 2008, member states in the European Council couldn't come to a unanimous position on the planned EU equal treatment directive.

Under the second Ursula von der Leyen commission, Ukraine and the rest of the countries in Europe’s east absorbed the largest part of the EU’s foreign policy bandwidth. This is making the EU a regional power, not the global one it wants to be, warns Carnegie Europe.

EU states are struggling with upcoming border rules that critics say could led to detention-like centres. Under the new regime authorities will have only seven days to screen a prospective asylum seeker.

Today, we kick off an anniversary campaign to convince new supporting members to join EUobserver's mission of providing the information citizens need to safeguard EU democracy.

Russian spies are still active in the EU capital and have a "higher risk appetite" than before the Ukraine war — despite Belgium's efforts to push back against their plots.