Selim Ibraimi- A decade after the Brexit vote and nearly six years since the UK officially left the EU, European member states of the union and NATO are adjusting to the new world.
Since the UK left, almost all financial institutions have moved to Germany and Poland. Political and security aspects continue to pass into the hands of Germany and Poland as well. Although Berlin and Warsaw are becoming the two states on which Europe depends in future wars with Russia, just as the Habsburgs were dependent on Poland in the war with the Ottomans, today strategic underwater investments and the establishment of alliances are seen as a necessity.
In our time, the discussion after the Cold War has been whether NATO will continue to help member states in the event of a humanitarian emergency and an attack, which has been proven and possible as in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, etc., but in the current situation, NATO articles 4 and 5 in certain areas of Europe in the future will be very difficult to activate.
Now let’s get down to more current issues, which have to do with Europe’s past and the surrounding empires in the context of the NATO Summit to be held in Ankara on July 7-8.
A week ago, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in Brussels for a meeting with senior officials of the alliance’s member states, was harsh toward European partners.
This indicates the emergence of a major American question in their commitment to allies in Europe and beyond. So last Wednesday, five of NATO’s most powerful European member states, otherwise known as the E5, held high-level talks in Berlin. Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Poland discussed continuing support for Ukraine, Europe’s role in resolving the conflict with Iran, etc.
Whereas centuries ago, when the West and the Ottoman Empire were divided, with limited and sometimes interrupted cooperation due to successive conflicts, military cooperation is now increasingly on the horizon to fill the vacuum or space that the United States is leaving in Europe with the adaptation of its military forces and economic influence.
Can European states, NATO members, and Turkey find a way to counter China and Russia in other areas, such as undersea cables and much more, where the West’s and Turkey’s adversaries have an interest in damaging former and current powers? This is a big question mark since China has already made a major revolution in this direction, in the surrounding straits in the Pacific, and on the islands it owns.
As is known, most of the Internet relies on undersea cables. Whoever dominates this area will, in fact, rule the world in the coming decades. This also reminds us of the saying of Sir Halford Mackinder (1861-1947) with his Heartland theory. European countries have invested 5.8 billion euros to secure these critical lifelines in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean. According to an EU announcement that aims to strengthen regional centers, the EU can stop potential threats in real time if it keeps these centers active, along with modernization that should be supported by financial means.
According to a report published in Balticwind, the EU has allocated 533 million euros for undersea cable projects.
From 2021 to 2024, 420 million euros were invested. In February 2026, the European Commission (EC) added another 347 million euros for strategic cable projects.
In this regard, Turkey and Poland, which are becoming undisputed regional and global powers, will have to increase such capacities to compete not only with European countries that have a tradition in this field, but also beyond.
At the same time, it would make them equal and rival the E5, just as they once were in the Middle Ages and beyond. In the context of the summit in Ankara, the same will also bring to light the possible differences between NATO members and Europe itself, with the desire to regroup, to adapt, and readjust to the new world of selective American withdrawal. In all situation seems that Europe is ready with its current states to lead in international politics and, of course, in the new world.
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