500 million euros a day. That is the approximate price the European Union is paying for the energy crisis triggered by Iran's blockade of Hormuz. Over 60 days, that adds up to 27 billion euros. Brussels is calling for rapid energy mobilisation. Easy to say - much harder to actually do.

What does "rapid energy mobilisation" actually mean? Boosting LNG imports from the US and Qatar. Firing up old coal plants. Cutting consumption through regulated prices. None of these solutions work in a few weeks.

For North Macedonia, the situation is even more specific. We depend on regional markets, which are wired into the European ones. When Germany pays 200 euros per megawatt-hour, we pay 250 - because we are the end of the supply chain. When Brussels finances its subsidies, we are not on the same list.

Meanwhile, the government in Skopje says nothing about reserves. Do we have electricity reserves for winter? Gas reserves? When was the last public statement about energy plans for 2026/2027? Silence. Everything is "stable", until your power bill is not.

Balkan history shows that energy crises get solved through improvisation and personal contacts. Our region went through one of these in 2008-2009. The political generation back then cut deals through personal relationships - with Russia, with Bulgaria, with Greece. Today's politicians do not have that network. Today everything runs through Brussels.

500 million a day is a huge number. But the small electricity bill of a family in Skopje - that is huge too. When Brussels pays 500 million, a Balkan pensioner pays 5,000 denars for something that two years ago cost 3,000. Same crisis - different scale. Same story. And in both, the users pay, while the decisions get made in places they do not control.