Relations have become strained in part because of the lack of personal contact between ministers

After a series of crises and big gains for Eurosceptic populist parties, the European Union is especially vulnerable to the coronavirus.

Are Germany and northern European countries prepared to let the pandemic kill the European Union?

That is the explosive question asked accusingly by Italy, France and Spain as the contagion exposes, as never before, deep rifts and resentments at the heart of the EU.

Belgium is implementing confinement guidelines for the public that are scheduled to be in place until April 19 EPA

At issue are demands from the hardest-hit countries for the EU to share the enormous financial costs of fighting and then recovering from Covid-19. Doing so would mark a significant step to federalism. Failing to do so may tear the EU apart.

Europe’s biggest political test since the end of the Second World War is manifested in a row over