Europe and Geopolitical Transformations — Strategic Repositioning as an Alternative to Processes of Degradation

By Dragana Trifkovi?, General Director, Center for Geostrategic Studies

The geopolitical conflict between Europe and Russia, manifested through Brussels’ confrontational and disciplinary policy toward Moscow, has led to systemic destabilization across the continent. This is reflected in political instability, the deepening of the economic crisis and deindustrialization accompanied by social tensions, the accelerated erosion of democratic institutions, and the decline of citizens’ trust in the system.

Political Dependence as the Cause of the Legitimacy Crisis in the European Union

For the political elites in Brussels, systemic destabilization has emerged as an unexpected outcome of the measures undertaken against Moscow, despite numerous warnings from independent analysts that such a trajectory was highly probable. This fact underscores the limited capacity of contemporary European political elites to adopt realistic geopolitical assessments, a limitation largely stemming from their political dependence and lack of strategic autonomy. The adoption of a realistic geopolitical perspective, grounded in the realities of international relations, requires reliance on objective analyses of geopolitical processes. In contrast, the decisions of the European bureaucracy have been driven by ideological convictions, short-term political interests, and external pressures—primarily from the United States and various corporate and financial lobbies.

The problem, therefore, is not confined merely to a lack of expertise, but more fundamentally to the moral and political dependence of contemporary European leaders. Many have failed to demonstrate sufficient personal and institutional independence to defend the authentic interests of their states and citizens. Consequently, the European political elites exhibit a limited capacity to confront internal challenges and to take steps toward restoring public trust. This deepens the institutional and normative crisis within the European Union, which some authors describe as a process of Europe’s “collective Weimarization”—a gradual erosion of democratic legitimacy and social cohesion under conditions of growing distrust and instability. It is, of course, evident that Europe is neither homogeneous nor unified, and that within the framework imposed by the EU there are member states whose leaders openly oppose Brussels’ misguided decisions. https://geostrategy.club/sr/europe-and-geopolitical-transformations-strategic-repositioning-as-an-alternative-to-processes-of-degradation/