Ukraine and Moldova have been granted candidate status to join the EU. It's a major moment in the messy process of knitting this continent together — but is a bigger European Union automatically a better one? This week we chat to Dr. Ilke Toygür about what this all means for Ukraine, Moldova and the EU itself. We're also talking about Venice's new entry fee for day-trippers, sexy Swedish waste disposal, and why Greece and Turkey are fighting over a made-up word.

Ilke is a professor of political science at the University Carlos III of Madrid and a fellow at the Centre for Applied Turkey Studies at SWP Berlin. You can follow her on Twitter here.

This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'Borgen - Power & Glory' and 'She Rides Like The Wind - the story of Alfonsina Strada' by Joan Negrescolor.

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02:20 Good Week? Venice's fee for day-trippers
08:50 Bad Week: The Great Greek-Turkish Portmanteau Row
16:52 Interview: Ilke Toygür on growing the EU
32:13 Isolation Inspiration: 'Borgen' and 'She Rides Like The Wind'
35:11 Happy Ending: Malmö's smutty bins

Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak

Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.

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