War on its doorstep has rekindled talk of enlarging the EU

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 leaders meet in Brussels to discuss the issue.Few thought Ukraine remotely close to becoming a member of the before it was invaded by Russia on February 24th. Days later, even while enemy troops were marching towards Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a formal request for accession (Moldova and Georgia soon followed). Ukraine’s neighbours already within the bloc, most notably Poland, say giving it the nod is a moral duty. Ukrainians are dying for European values; a promise of a future within the would be a morale-booster on the battlefield and help the recovery once the fighting is done.