Russia's invasion of Ukraine has unified the Western alliance, with relations between the United States and Germany at the forefront. Their shared geopolitical vision is counting on big commitments both sides have made.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, over 7 million people have fled the country. Multiple reports have outlined the specific difficulties that African refugees faced as they attempted to cross the Polish border and enter the European Union. Georgina Robertson and Sophie Samaille take a look at a Facebook post falsely claiming that refugees from Africa were shot at by Polish police.

The executive body of the European Union has recommended that Ukraine be granted EU candidate status. Kyiv has sought candidate status since 2014.

The war with Russia is now mostly being fought in the country's east, meaning many who fled the invasion can return home to see what's left and try to rebuild. Ukrainian authorities say at least 2 million have returned in the last few weeks. Jan-Philipp Scholz reports from Bucha.

The European Commission has recommended candidate status for Ukraine. Just over three months after being invaded by Russia, Kyiv has cleared the first hurdle on the road to membership.

Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief has called for Russia to end its blockade of Ukrainian ports. His comments come ahead of a meeting of the bloc's 27 foreign ministers.

For the latest edition of Europe Now, we head to Poland and Hungary. These two EU members both border Ukraine and have both taken in large numbers of Ukrainian refugees. But on more political issues, their governments' responses to the war have been drastically different. Our team meets lawmakers from across the political spectrum of both countries to discover why the Polish and Hungarian governments have taken such different stances. We also explore other key issues, such as the ever-expanding EU files on degradations of rule of law.

EU leaders are in Brussels to discuss the membership bids of Ukraine and Moldova. Meanwhile, the European Parliament has voted heavily in favor of the two countries' getting candidate status.

President Vladimir Putin has slammed the West as Russia is hit by sanctions. He called on emerging economies to cooperate with Russia as the Kremlin seeks to reroute trade.

German energy official Klaus Müller has said the country's gas situation is stable but predicted higher prices for consumers. He also said that Germany can last another 2 1/2 months without Russian gas.

June is Pride Month, a celebration of the world's LGBTQ populations which also serves to continue the fight for equality and justice for the community. Activist Anna Sharyhina joined us on Perspective for a conversation about LGBTQ rights in Ukraine before and since the Russian invasion. Originally from Kharkiv, she co-founded the Ukrainian NGO "Sphere", which works to provide a safe space for the country's queer community and organised Kharkiv's first Pride parade in 2019.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild war-scarred Ukraine. What does he mean by that?