Timčo Mucunski, the foreign minister, in Brussels before the EU Foreign Affairs Council led by Kaja Kallas, repeated words the Balkans has heard countless times: enlargement is a „strategic imperative" and the Western Balkans has to stop being Europe's „grey zone."

The main message to the member states reads: „We need to break away from the bilateralisation of accession criteria." Translation for those who don't speak diplomatic: fewer questions from Bulgaria, Greece and Croatia. More technical chapter. Less political veto, more reforms. The question is whether Brussels actually has the will for that, or whether Mucunski is speaking into a room that has already decided the answer.

The minister lists the results: the reform agenda, „concrete results in the last few months," and 100 percent alignment with the EU's foreign and security policy. That's the standard recital. From Skopje's vantage point, it's true. From Sofia and Athens' vantage point - technically met, politically inadequate.

The Council's agenda covered topics on which Macedonia has no vote: Russian aggression in Ukraine, security, energy independence, digitalisation. Mucunski used the moment to say Macedonia „is ready to be a secure and predictable partner." We've been ready for 20 years. Maybe it's time to ask Brussels why partnership means waiting.

For citizens this is not new messaging - it's the same message in a new season. That's what makes it easy to read and hard to comment on. The words are the same. We measure the results in years, not press releases. The only question is when Kaja Kallas will decide whether „grey zone" is a diagnosis, or simply a political category that suits the EU.