Skopje, 2 December 2021 (MIA) – It is better not to expect a positive outcome so that we don’t get disappointed, but we must resume our efforts, says Deputy PM for European Affairs Nikola Dimitrov on expectations and announcements for unblocking the start of North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations at the General Affairs Council (GAC) in December. “We have the responsibility to tell citizens that it would be better to be surprised by a good outcome than be disappointed from a bad one. Considering the time constraints, since we are just days away from the December 14 GAC, I believe it would be highly irresponsible to create any expectations. The form of the Council meeting is less important. If we manage to reach a dignified, European solution, since the issue has started to cause pain everywhere, then there is going to be will, including by the Slovenian Presidency, to schedule an extraordinary GAC. Following the experiences we have endured, we must not embrace dates. The signals coming from Sofia point to them expecting a process in bilateral relations that would help close the issue step by step. The parliament will obviously have a role there,” Deputy PM Dimitrov told Klan TV. According to him, it is now important to hold a meeting with the new government in Sofia, which is set to steer the process of overcoming the bilateral dispute. “It is very important for us, for the people first and foremost, but also for all others in the region who saw hope in the decisive steps we have made in recent years, to finally start the EU accession negotiations. It is important to do something. This will depend on the bilateral communication with Bulgaria but also on the will by third parties, the ones who have a stake in this, because this issue has become a European issue, not only a bilateral one, affecting EU policies in the region. In this regard, there is a real context to make something happen, we must keep punishing for a breakthrough,” notes Dimitrov.