The United Kingdom and nine European countries have formed a new joint naval force. Not within NATO - but as a "complement" to the alliance. They are calling it the European NATO at sea, and London will hold the command. The US? Not part of it.

The agreement, as Royal Navy chief Gwyn Jenkins announced, includes Britain, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Baltic states, and the Netherlands. Canada is thinking about it. The Americans - watching from a distance.

The strategic goal is officially defence against Russian threats in northern Europe. But the reality is different - it is the first serious European attempt to build a joint military force without American leadership. Not as a replacement for NATO, but as preparation for a world where Washington pulls back and Europe has to defend itself.

"Concrete capabilities, concrete military plans, real integration," Jenkins said. It sounds healthy, but it hides something more complex. When Britain commands Norwegian and Swedish forces without an American HQ above it, that is no longer NATO - it is a British project with European passports.

Which circle are we in? North Macedonia joined NATO in 2020 with the promise that the Alliance would be a security guarantor. That was true then. Now, six years later, it turns out NATO is not one thing - it is a bundle of different clubs. Five Eyes, the naval force, the eastern front. The Balkans? As usual, no club of its own.

Who will protect us when Britain pulls back into its northern club and America into domestic politics? This is not a rhetorical question. It is the question the government in Skopje should be asking - not Brussels, itself. Because the time when the Balkans got ready-made security solutions handed down from above is over.