Report: Germany would pay 42% more in EU budget

Lavish birthday trips to Michelin-starred restaurants in France and sunbathing in Italy — leaked flight data show how the family of ruthless Belarusian president Aleksander Lukashenko lived la dolce vita in Europe.

Germany even tried to mobilise support to turn the due diligence process, designed to prevent human rights violations, into a shield to protect companies from being taken to court. Thankfully this did not gain much traction.

Afghan and Syrian nationals are being abused at EU-funded removal centres in Turkey amid a lack of proper monitoring, says Human Rights Watch. The findings come at a time when Turkey is deporting large numbers of Afghans back to Kabul.

The EU should not be dragged into an intensifying subsidy race — least of all with a country with such deep pockets and the world's reserve currency.

Prime minister Viktor Orbán's government has to implement 27 measures "fully and correctly" before any payment from the €5.8bn recovery fund can be made, or the suspended €7.5bn of cohesion funds can be unblocked.

The EU proposed a plan to use the proceeds from the €300bn Russian Central Bank assets to help reconstruct Ukraine, but suggested the funds should be returned if a peace agreement were to be signed.