In this week's episode Ivan Vejvoda sits down with European Stability Initiative deputy chairman and Europe's Futures fellow Kristof Bender to discuss a policy that many point to as among the most successful peace projects in the history of the world: EU enlargement. As the Union decides whether and how quickly to extend EU membership to Ukraine and Molodova and formalize their move towards Europe in response to the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kristof and Ivan lead us through the history of the policy and its transformative effect on those countries who have joined the bloc, then ask why the policy seems to have stalled in recent years. Does it make sense to extend membership to new countries for geopolitical reasons? Or should the process be purely meritocratic? Is there a new approach that would offer a clear incentive to candidate countries to make necessary improvements that could sidestep internal EU politics? As deputy chairman of the ESI Kristof Bender has lead various research projects on EU enlargement and on South Eastern Europe. He has worked in South East Europe in various capacities since 1997, including managing higher education projects in Bosnia for the World University Service, serving as Attaché for Humanitarian Affairs in the Austrian Embassy in Belgrade, and working as a researcher for the International Centre for Migration Policy Development . He has also worked as a consultant for various institutions, including the Austrian Federal Chancellery, DFID, and SIDA.