Answer:
The costs of non-sovereignty are high.
European countries are increasingly vulnerable to external pressure that prevents them from exercising their sovereignty. This vulnerability threatens the European Union’s security, economic health, and diplomatic freedom of action, allowing other powers to impose their preferences on it.
To prosper and maintain their independence in a world of geopolitical competition, Europeans must address the interlinked security and economic challenges other powerful states present – without withdrawing their support for a rules-based order and the transatlantic alliance. This means creating a new idea of “strategic sovereignty”, as well as establishing institutions and empowering individuals that see strategic sovereignty as part of their identity and in their own interest. Most fundamentally, the EU needs to learn to think like a geopolitical power.
I don't think that the Commonwealth was actually threatened by the NATO and the EU. While they did have cultural ties, they did not need this organization to keep them. I think that the best answer is the following one: <span>D. the need to sustain the trade flows established during Soviet times.
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Strong economies logically...