Skopje, 18 December 2021 (MIA) - French Ambassador Cyrille Baumgartner in an interview with TV Alsat's “360 Degree” show said that it can be expected French President Emmanuel Macron to take steps to facilitate the Sofia-Skopje dialogue, to take the initiative to move things forward. In the interview, he did not disclose what specific moves are considered, but stressed that the start of accession negotiations between the EU and North Macedonia is something that everyone wants. “I think your next question will be - what exactly is it about, but I would remain discreet, because the most important thing is to be efficient, to have activities that will allow the process to be unblocked and to achieve the result that everyone wants today, and that is resolving the situation as soon as possible to start EU accession negotiations. It means that we are not in a phase of public communication, but in a phase of mobilization, and to increase the chances of success sometimes we need to be very discreet, because the most important thing is to be convincing and have a rational approach that will eventually bring the desired result,” Baumgartner said. In regard to the language, he underlined that the Macedonian language is spoken in North Macedonia and that he has no dilemmas about it. “No one will be able to force the two countries to approve something that will be unacceptable to them and that will require moving away from the red lines. Within those parameters, progress should be made, a solution should be found, and once that is achieved, we will need to agree on a negotiating framework, which will enable the opening of accession negotiations, without delay," Baumgartner stressed. France will take over the EU presidency on January 1, 2022 and Baumgartner said June is the deadline, but the goal is for the North Macedonia’s accession negotiations to start earlier. Reminding that France will hold presidential elections in April, parliamentary elections in early June, he noted that the opportunities for action in Paris during the elections will be limited, because "we will find ourselves in a period in which we are obliged to remote." “The General Affairs Council of the EU has reached new decisions on opening negotiations as soon as possible. "I'm convinced that the opening of accession negotiations will happen, but the question is when, that is, when that result will be achieved. The message given during the Council is the sooner the better," Baumgartner said, who also referred to the EU-Western Balkans summit, announced by Macron. In the interview, he noted that this is not a conference that will not only be dedicated to North Macedonia and Albania, but the focus will be on a broader regional context, on topics that encourage European interest in the region and may include enlargement issues.