In the middle of the big political quarrels, sometimes the news is a single finished street. The mayor of the Čair municipality, Izet Mexhiti, announced that the paving of "Fan S. Noli" street is done, a project that was, as he put it, "delivered to every standard."

A paved street is hardly a sensation - but for the residents who walk it every day, it means more than any political speech. Infrastructure is one of the few areas where the work is visible instantly: there's asphalt, or there isn't. Which is exactly why announcements like this, routine as they sound, are actually a measure of what a municipality really does.

Still, Balkan skepticism demands one more question - "to every standard" is a phrase thrown around often and verified rarely. The real test for any new street isn't ribbon-cutting day, it's how it looks after the first winter. Until then, every promise of quality stays exactly that - a promise.