Tetovo-Gostivar at 8.4 percent. Gostivar-Bukojčani at 60 percent. Kičevo-Ohrid with 14 protective galleries and a finish line at the end of 2026, full functionality in the first quarter of 2027. That's the picture of West Macedonian motorways today - according to the government, a "strategic goal". According to reality - three different speeds of construction.

Kičevo-Ohrid is close to the finish. 200,000 trees have been planted to protect against erosion, 14 protective galleries are being built at high-risk spots. The remaining hurdle - UNESCO approval for the Trebenište-Kafasan section, which passes through the protected Lake Ohrid zone. Without that approval, there's no full functionality.

Gostivar-Bukojčani is in the middle. 60 percent ready on 11 of the planned 31 kilometres. A camp for 1,200 workers, an active concrete plant, and - notably - a 7-kilometre bridge already functional in both lanes. That's the kind of infrastructure that would be a press-conference moment in the EU. Here it's a line in the standard report.

Tetovo-Gostivar - this is the embarrassment. Only 8.4 percent ready on 14 kilometres. The completion deadline has been pushed to December 2029 due to "inactivity of the previous administration". That's political shorthand for what the public has been watching for the past 7 years - empty machines and empty promises.

When all three are done, the Skopje-Ohrid drive will be 20 kilometres shorter and an hour and 15-20 minutes faster. That's real benefit for the region, for tourism, for business. The question is - how many more years will the people of Ohrid and Tetovo wait for infrastructure that neighbouring Croatia or Romania builds in five? The Balkans have had this picture for decades - big plans, small results, and the constant offloading of blame on "the previous lot".

3,000 plots have been expropriated, 2,483 finalised by May 2026. That's a number that says the work is progressing - and simultaneously says another 517 plots are still in court. The Balkans, and their motorways, always live on that edge.