While four countries held intergovernmental conferences the same day and moved forward toward the European Union, Macedonia stood still. It was precisely that image that SDSM leader Venko Filipče used before the National Council for European Integration to give it a name: „the deliberate stalling on the road to the EU is a coup.”

Heavy words - but the fact they rest on is hard to dispute. Macedonia remains the only candidate country without a single open chapter in the negotiations. The same day Skopje was counting zero, Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine were holding intergovernmental conferences. When neighbors and countries fighting a war overtake us, the question „who's to blame” is no longer rhetorical.

Filipče also pulled out the latest European Commission reports - on the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, the fight against corruption, media freedom and Russian influence in the region. These aren't topics the opposition brags about; they're the red marks that keep the train parked in the depot. He also demanded an explanation from ambassador Mihalis Rokas about the consequences of the prolonged stalemate, including access to European funds.

The argument for development is concrete, not patriotic pathos. Membership brings money and structural support that don't come from anywhere else - Bulgaria and Croatia are examples of states transformed precisely through accession funds. The prolonged stalemate, Filipče warns, risks leaving Macedonia outside the Union's next seven-year budget allocation.

Of course, this is an opposition leader's speech, and the share of the burden that belongs to his former government doesn't vanish just because he now sits on the other side. But „coup” is a heavy label that demands a heavy answer. Instead of counter-labels, the only question worth asking is: why, after the resolved dispute with Greece and after NATO, does the train to Brussels still stand motionless - and who will answer for it if it leaves without us?