On 31 May, the 100 deputies of the Saeima, the single chamber of Parliament, elected Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics as President of the Republic of Latvia by 52 votes out of 100 in the 3rd ballot. The 49-year-old will officially begin his four-year term on 8 July. He succeeds Egils Levits, who chose not to stand for re-election.

Europe has changed... This is what the "Schuman Report on Europe, the State of the Union 2023" shows, as it analyses the profound changes that have taken place in Europe, accelerated by the shock of the war in Ukraine. This 17th edition, published by Marie B., includes 19 contributions from leading figures, including Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who hosted the second summit of the European Political Community on 1 June. It also includes 30 original maps and a full set of annotated statistics. The book is available in paper and digital versions in French, and in digital format in English. Order your copy now!

The European single patent system was launched on 1 June. The system involves 17 EU Member States, but other Member States may join in the future. In particular, it should guarantee lower patent costs and uniform protection of intellectual property.

On 31 May, the Council and Parliament reached an agreement on the revision of the fisheries control system to prevent overfishing. This revision should improve traceability, notably by obliging large fishing vessels to be equipped with video surveillance systems. Penalties for exceeding the fishing quotas laid down in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) are also due to be standardised.

The European affairs ministers met on 30 May to prepare for the European Council on 29 and 30 June and discussed the rule of law in Poland and respect of values in Hungary. They adopted three regulations to implement the Windsor framework. They decided to double macro-financial assistance to Moldova from €150 million to €295 million. Seven people were added to the EU sanctions list for actions against Moldova and Ukraine.

On 31 May, the European Union and the United States agreed on the need for a joint code of conduct on artificial intelligence at the ministerial meeting of the Trade and Technology Council. The two sides also discussed semi-conductors, electromobility, mobile networks, online protection and the sustainability of trade.

On 30 May, Denmark announced that it was going to triple its military spending over the next ten years, in particular by concentrating investment in Eastern Europe and the Arctic. Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen stated that the government intends to spend €19.2 billion. In 2022, the defence budget will represent 1.44% of GDP, and the government wants to reach the NATO target of 2% of GDP by 2033.

Around 500,000 Poles took to the streets of Warsaw on 4 June to demonstrate against the government led by the Law and Justice party, in favour of democracy, free elections and the European Union. With parliamentary elections scheduled for the autumn, the demonstration was organised by former prime minister Donald Tusk, leader of the main opposition party, the Civic Platform (PO).

From 29 to 31 May, French President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Bratislava for the 2023 edition of Globsec's annual forum on security issues. It was the first time that a French head of state had attended. Discussions centred on continued support for Ukraine, Europe's resilience in the face of war and mitigating the global consequences of the conflict, particularly in terms of the economy and energy. In her speech, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen rejected the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, which would not put an end to the invasion and would only consolidate the territorial gains made by Russia since February 2022.

On 31 May, Georgian President Salomé Zourabichvili debated with MEPs. She called for her country to be "reunited with its European family" by obtaining EU candidate status for Georgia by the end of the year. The day before, she had held talks with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. He said that the European Council would discuss Georgia's application in December, after the Commission had published a report on the implementation of the twelve priorities set by the Union.

On 3 June, the European Union condemned the violence perpetrated in Kosovo against citizens, soldiers of KFOR (the international armed force deployed by NATO), law enforcement agencies and the media. It calls on Kosovo and Serbia "to take immediate and unconditional de-escalation measures". Tensions have increased since the Albanian mayors whose election was boycotted by the Serbian population took office, and the resignation of a majority of Serbian civil servants from Kosovar institutions.

45 heads of state and government met in Moldova on 1 June for the second meeting of the European Political Community. They discussed joint efforts for peace and security, energy resilience, connectivity and mobility in Europe. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated that the formation of an air defence coalition was decisive and expressed once again his wish to see Ukraine join NATO. European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian to discuss the peace process between the two countries.

With one week to go before the general elections in Montenegro, a poll shows that the PES ("Europe Now!", centre) will win 29.1% of the vote, against 24.1% for the ruling Democratic Socialist Party (DPS). The Democratic Front (right) is credited with 13.2%.

On 30 May, the IMF announced that it had reached an agreement with the Ukrainian authorities for economic support under its financing facility programme. In fact, since 31 March, a four-year agreement had been reached between the IMF and Ukraine, for total aid of around $15.6 billion. This first decision by the IMF paves the way for the IMF Board to consider an initial disbursement of almost $900 million in aid to Ukraine.

A meeting of NATO foreign ministers was held in Oslo on 1 June. Discussions focused on preparations for the Vilnius summit on 11 and 12 July, increasing aid to Ukraine and ways of ensuring that this aid is sustainable. The question of Sweden's membership following the re-election of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also addressed.

According to Eurostat estimates published on 1st June, the unemployment rate was 6% in April in the European Union, stable compared to March, and 6.5% in the euro area in April, down 0.1 points compared to March.

On 1 June, the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its annual report for 2022. It lists the issues facing civil society and governments in the fight against discrimination and the protection of human rights. The report focuses in particular on the consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Until 8 January 2024, the Louvre Museum in Paris, in partnership with the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, is hosting an exhibition combining the Neapolitan museum's most remarkable masterpieces with those of the Louvre. Thirty-three paintings from Capodimonte will be presented to the public, providing an overview of Italian painting in the 15th and 17th centuries and shedding new light on the collections of the two museums.