President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova received the European Parliament's standing rapporteur for Macedonia, Thomas Waitz, who came accompanied by the head of the EU delegation, Ambassador Michalis Rokas. The agenda was familiar to the point of boredom: unblocking the accession process, enlargement policy and the use of the veto. The meeting took place ahead of this year's European Commission report.

Siljanovska-Davkova praised Waitz's "objective approach" and his position that bilateral issues should be kept separate from the formal accession process. Then she played the legal card. She invoked Articles 4(2) and 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union - the ones that require respect for the national identity and constitutional structures of states, and oblige members to cooperate sincerely and not undermine the Union's objectives. The abuse of the veto and bilateral conditions tied to identity, history and language, she argued, are in direct conflict with precisely those provisions.

The President also recalled the painful compromises made over past decades in the name of European integration, to conclude that not only is there no membership - negotiations haven't even begun. It's a short sentence, but behind it stands an entire generation of politicians who kept promising a date.

Both sides

According to a statement from her office, Waitz explained his "good intentions, neutrality and commitment", briefed the President on everything that has been undertaken in Macedonian-Bulgarian relations, and pointed to "the real dominance of politics". Then he delivered the formula Skopje has been hearing for years: friendly steps are needed from both sides, and the EU is firmly committed to enlargement.

The first part is unusually honest. "The real dominance of politics" is diplomatic language for saying the process isn't run on merit, but on who sits at the table with a veto. That is exactly what Siljanovska-Davkova is complaining about. The second part is what makes that honesty useless. When one country changed its constitutional name just to reach the door, and another keeps that door shut, "steps from both sides" only sounds like balance on paper.

The Commission's report will be out soon, with the same words about reforms, will and perspective. The question is how many more times we'll hear that the Union is "firmly committed" to enlargement, while negotiations for Macedonia haven't even started.