The preliminary investigation into Nikola Gruevski's escape from Macedonia has been closed. Who helped him flee remains a mystery. Not a single name, not a single charge - as if he left the country invisible.

The former prime minister fled justice in November 2018 and surfaced in Budapest, where Viktor Orban granted him political asylum. Eight years later, the investigation ends without answering the most important question: who in Macedonia helped him cross the border?

In Hungary, Gruevski lives fairly openly - he has a company, does consulting work. Orban's fall and the new Magyar government theoretically reopen the question of extradition. But "theoretically" and "practically" are two very different things in Balkan diplomacy.

A preliminary investigation closed without results. A classic Balkan epilogue - enough documents to say "the case was worked on," but not enough willpower to find the truth. Who helped Gruevski? That question is now archived, not answered.