Eastern Macedonia has waited decades for roads that other parts of the country have had for ages - and now, once again, it gets a promise. Deputy PM and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski announced a tender for studies for two express roads: Kochani - Vinica - Delchevo and Radovish - Strumica.

„We are launching a tender for all the necessary studies for the Kochani - Vinica - Delchevo express road, and one for the Radovish - Strumica express road will follow soon," Nikoloski said. According to him, the government is running these projects in parallel with highway construction, to ensure more balanced regional development and better connectivity in the eastern part of the country too.

Here it's worth pausing on a key distinction that announcements tend to blur: this is a tender for studies, not for construction. No deadline, no cost, no contractor - for now there's only a feasibility study phase. And the distance between „we launched a tender for a study" and „the road is built and people are driving on it" in Macedonia is measured not in months, but in governments.

The eastern region deserves this investment, and the connectivity would mean a lot for the people and the economy there. But the citizens of Kochani, Vinica, Delchevo, Radovish, and Strumica have heard announcements like this before. The question isn't whether the study will get done - it's whether this government, or the next, or the one after that, will actually lay the asphalt. Until then, a promise is just a promise.