In response to the economic and social consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Union has set up a €672.5 billion recovery fund. On 10 May, Lithuania received a first payment of €565 million. On 12 May, Estonia's €953 million plan was approved. On the same day, a Eurobarometer survey highlighted the positive opinion of European citizens on the Union's support to Member States. The Foundation offers you an interactive map of the plans country by country, to check out the amounts and schedules.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Kyiv on 9 May where she met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. She congratulated him for organising Europe Day, which she described as "the beating heart of European values". She recalled the three priorities: the production and supply of ammunition to Ukraine, financial support to the country, and sanctions against Russia. On the same day, the international coalition for the creation of a tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine (Core Group) met in Kyiv. On 11 May, Commissioner Ylva Johansson and the Director of Europol were in Kyiv to meet the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, Ihor Klymenko, and the Minister for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, Iryna Vereshchuk.

On 11 May, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced that the UK has officially given the Ukrainians Storm Shadow long-range air-to-ground missiles. The UK is the first country to provide Ukraine with this type of missile, which is capable of reaching areas controlled by Russian forces more than 250 km away.

On 14 May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people received the Charlemagne Prize in Aachen for their commitment to European unification: "President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for the values that this prize embodies: democracy and the rule of law, freedom of expression and the freedom to create one's own destiny.

On 13 May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met in Rome with Pope Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. On 14 May, he met German President Franck-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, and then had dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. On 15 May, he was in London with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. At each stage, there was much talk of military support for Ukraine.

The Commission presented its spring economic forecasts on 15 May. It forecasts growth of 1% in 2023 and 1.7% in 2024 for the European Union, and 1.1% in 2023 and 1.6% in 2024 for the euro area. It estimates inflation at 6.1% in 2023 and 3.2% in 2024.

On 10 May, MEPs approved the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention on violence against women. The Council must now finalise the ratification of this text. MEPs call on those Member States that have not yet done so (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia) to ratify the Convention.

On 10 May, MEPs adopted two resolutions calling on Serbia and Kosovo to reach an agreement on mutual recognition and normalisation of relations, reiterating their support for Kosovo's application for EU membership and asking Serbia to align itself with EU sanctions against Russia.

The Internal Market and Civil Liberties Committees adopted on 11 May a draft negotiating mandate for a regulation on new EU rules on artificial intelligence systems. The regulation should introduce transparency and risk management rules and the draft negotiating mandate includes a ban on biometric surveillance, emotional recognition and predictive policing AI systems. It must now be approved at the June plenary to start negotiations with the Council.

On 11 May, MEPs adopted their negotiating mandate for the directive on empowering consumers to make the transition to a greener future. On 9 May, they adopted their position on the text to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector. They asked the Commission to set a binding target for 2030 and an agreement on these texts must now be reached with the Council.

AILEM, a Belgian application that offers language courses for refugees, won the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2023 on 12 May in Aachen. Two projects came in second place: the "Mobile Climate Museum" from Lithuania and the "European Correspondent" from the Netherlands. The prize is awarded jointly by the European Parliament and the International Charlemagne Prize Foundation.

On 13 May, the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Summit was held in Stockholm. They discussed the growing tensions in the area, creating pressure on trade, as well as the need for increased technology and foreign and security policy. Sweden and the EU also asserted the need to deepen partnerships and political dialogues in the region. The meeting was attended by participants from EU member states, members of the European Investment Bank, representatives of regional organisations and 26 countries from the Indo-Pacific region, excluding China.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, welcomed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Brussels on 14 May. They discussed the normalisation of relations, peace treaty talks and border demarcation, but also the unblocking of transport and economic links in the South Caucasus region and the rights and security of Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The foreign ministers met on 12-13 May in Stockholm to discuss strengthening the EU's response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. They also held a strategic discussion on the EU's relations with China.

On 11 May, the financial auditing firm EY (Ernst & Young Global Limited) published its first 2023 barometer of France's attractiveness. It reveals that for the fourth consecutive year, France tops the European ranking of destinations for foreign investment. On the same day, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, presented his strategy to accelerate the reindustrialisation of France. On this occasion, he said he wanted "a European regulatory break" in environmental matters.

Until 8 October, the Hôtel de Caumont in Aix-en-Provence is hosting an exhibition on Max Ernst (1891-1976). Through nearly 120 works, this exhibition retraces the steps of this artist associated with the Dada group and Surrealism and highlights his magical and liberated worlds.

Until 4 June, the Palazzo dei Pubblici in Rome is hosting the World Press Photo 2023 exhibition. The exhibition features a preview of the finalists' photos for the prestigious International Photojournalism Award, which each year rewards a number of professional photographers for their best images. This year, Ukrainian photographer Evgeniy Maloletka won a prize for one of his photos taken on 9 March 2022 during the siege of Mariupol in Ukraine.

Until 20 August, the work of Niko Pirosmani (1862-1918) is being shown for the first time in Northern Europe at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. The Georgian artist is a mythical figure in the history of modernist art. The exhibition presents some fifty rarely exhibited works by Pirosmani, on loan from the National Museum of Georgia.

Until 16 July, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Warsaw presents "No Master Territories: Feminist Worldmaking and the Moving Image". The exhibition is dedicated to films and videos about women, made by women. It includes works of great stylistic diversity.

The 2023 edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale will take place from 20 May to 26 November. The Golden Lion will be awarded to Demas Nwoko for his lifetime achievement on 20 May. The 18th International Architecture Exhibition, entitled "The Laboratory of the Future", has as its themes decolonisation and decarbonisation.

The 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will be held from 16 to 27 May. This year's event will be presided over by the Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, twice winner of the festival's Palme d'Or. 21 films are in competition, 12 are not running, including Martin Scorsese's The New Adventures of Indiana Jones.

The 35th Turin Book Fair will be held from 18 to 22 May. This year, it will pay tribute to Sardinia and Albania by offering a programme linked to the Mediterranean culture they share. Many authors will be present during these 5 days.

Until 24 September, the Kunsthalle Bonn is devoting an exhibition to Josephine Baker, a world star who became one of the first black cultural icons of the 20th century. The exhibition looks at her many commitments, from the Resistance to her support for the civil rights movement. It shows how Josephine Baker turned the supposed stigma of her skin colour into her strength, using her fame as a weapon in her fight for freedom and against racism.

Until 30 July, the National Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. The exhibition examines why this saint is a relevant figure for our time, particularly for his inclination to establish a dialogue of peace with the other major monotheistic religions.

Until 3 September, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is organising an exhibition entitled 'Van Gogh in Auvers', which covers the end of the painter's life when he settled in Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris. During this period he was extremely productive.

On 14 May, Sweden's Loreen won the 67th Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. Ukraine, which won in 2022, could not host the competition because of the war on its territory. This is the second time that Loreen has won the competition, enabling Sweden to equal the record for the most wins per country, seven, with Ireland.