| EU leaders must now give the green light for Ukrainian EU membership and prepare for a new round of enlargement, says European Council boss Charles Michel. That process could start at the EU summit in Granada today, paving the way for the European Commission to formally recommend accession talks in the coming weeks and for EU leaders to possibly approve it at a summit in December. Enlargement is one of the great symbolic successes of the EU and a rejoinder to its critics. After all, if the EU is a busted flush, why do new countries keep wanting to join? But the long-term logic of EU membership for Eastern European and Western Balkan states is one thing. In getting there, EU leaders will have to show an uncharacteristic degree of altruism. This week has seen the first serious rumblings of discontent from national capitals. After several years of disputes with Brussels over the disbursement of billions of euros in post-pandemic recovery funds, Viktor Orbán’s Hungarian government suddenly has the leverage it has been looking for. While leaders were enthusiastic about giving Ukraine and others EU candidate status, there is more reticence about actually making good on the promise of membership. Why so? For one thing, EU enlargement is expensive. | 
