Venko Filipče, leader of the opposition SDSM and chair of the National Council for European Integration, used a meeting with a delegation from the French Senate in Parliament to say what the opposition keeps repeating at home: the government promised a better negotiating position and a predictable process, and there is no visible result.

"If this government secures better terms in the negotiations, or a guarantee that we won't be blocked again on the EU path in the future, we will support it. But the question is what happens if there are no guarantees and none are secured - and for how long they will keep trying to secure some kind of guarantees, because time is passing," Filipče said.

As his argument he pointed to the countries mentioned as having a realistic path to membership before the end of the current European Commission's term: Montenegro, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine. Macedonia is not among them. Filipče warned that waiting longer also raises the question of the country's place in future EU budgeting, and that any changes to pre-accession financial support could be an additional risk.

Then came the list of complaints. Filipče said he was particularly concerned about the prime minister's public interference in and pressure on the judiciary and the prosecution, as well as the insufficient budget for the justice system. He also brought up media pluralism: according to him, around 40% of the country's media are owned by people close to former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, while Serbian channels, he says, come in through Serbia's Telekom with a licence "unlawfully obtained" from the independent regulator.

None of this is new to a domestic audience. The only new thing is that it was said in front of foreign guests, at a time when the government is asking the EU to mediate with Sofia. Complaining to foreigners is every opposition's favourite genre - but that doesn't make the questions any less valid.

Filipče wrapped up by assuring his guests that SDSM remains committed to the European path and thanking France as a "traditional friend". The government, for its part, keeps insisting on guarantees before the next step. If both government and opposition say they want the same thing, the question for citizens is a different one: who will say when waiting stops being a strategy and becomes wasted time?