War on its doorstep has rekindled talk of enlarging the EU

Come this autumn the European Union will enter its longest stretch in five decades without having welcomed a new member. A club that expanded from six countries in 1957 to 28 when Croatia joined in 2013 had appeared to have reached its limits, give or take a few former Yugoslav republics laboriously negotiating their way in. But war on the continent’s eastern fringe has given impetus to the idea that Ukraine should join, perhaps with Moldova and Georgia in its wake. Their process of accession, a decade-long slog at best, could start on June 23rd, when eu leaders meet in Brussels to discuss the issue.