Washington has quietly warned its European allies - Britain, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia - that the delivery of American weapons will be significantly delayed. The reason - the war against Iran is draining American military reserves faster than expected. When something you have paid for arrives across the Atlantic late, that means one thing: American stocks are empty, and now it is being decided who will wait.

At the same time, in the past 9 weeks since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, and three weeks after the ceasefire, the State Department has approved over 8.6 billion dollars of military sales - but for Middle Eastern allies. Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates. They get the weapons straight away. Europe waits.

The procedure matters. The administration has bypassed Congress to approve the Middle East sales. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared an „emergency situation" requiring urgent sales, and dismissed Congress's request for a review. In plain terms: American democratic-control institutions are now looked at as an obstacle, not a partner. And that is the process least commented on - and the one that means the most.

What this means for Europe. First - a signal. When you have paid for weapons and they don't arrive on time, that isn't just logistics. It is a message that your security is secondary. In the case of an escalation in Ukraine, of an attack on a Baltic state, of a need for a fast reaction, the reserves that Poland and Estonia had planned for themselves are not there. They have been redirected to Middle Eastern „emergencies".

The Balkans is in a different position, but not exempt. Macedonia and Albania are NATO members. That means they depend on US weapons and logistics in the same way. If weapons for Poland - in NATO since 1999 and a strategic point - are late, what do we think will happen with Macedonian and Albanian needs? We are at the end of the queue - and the queue right now is longer than usual.

The paradox is clear: Trump sells weapons to those who finance him - the Middle Eastern monarchies. Europe, which buys with public budgets and under democratic control, waits. The Balkans, which buys little and pays in its own blood when crisis hits, isn't mentioned at all.