Skopje, 13 February 2024 (MIA) - Driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates will be replaced free-of-charge starting Wednesday, including travel documents for Macedonian citizens currently abroad. In countries where there is are no diplomatic consular representatives, travel documents will be published online or delivered by mail. A reward in the amount of one salary will be paid to administration employees for their efforts in issuing documents, Deputy PM for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi and Additional Deputy Minister of Interior, Mitko Bojmacaliev announced the Government’s decision at a Tuesday press conference.

"As of today, the Ministry of Interior is tasked with taking over all legal acts, namely the replacement of driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates for all citizens of North Macedonia. While, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is charged with issuing travel documents for all citizens living abroad, so that the fee of the travel document is zero or free-of-charge. Additionally, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also tasked with taking actions to ensure that the issuance of travel documents in countries without diplomatic consular representatives be done online and is sent by mail, so that our citizens living abroad avoid additional costs to obtain the documents," Bytyqi said.

With this, he added, we believe we are meeting the needs of all citizens, following the different interpretations and misunderstandings, so that by the end of the year all citizens act accordingly and acquire travel or other needed documents, which are related to the changes made in the law.

Minister Bojmacaliev noted that the Ministry of Interior will be responsible for changing driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates bearing the country’s old name.

"The Ministry of Interior is already preparing all internal acts, which the Interior Minister and I have to sign," Bojmacaliev said.

He added that employees at administrative services tasked with replacing personal documents will receive an additional salary in the amount of the previous salary. Interior Minister Panche Toshkovski and he signed that act.

The Government’s decision is based on a decision made by the working group, which two weeks ago was tasked with finding a solution for driving licenses, vehicle registration certificates, travel documents, and everything else related to changing or prematurely changing documents due to the legal provisions following the constitutional amendments and the change of the country's name.

When asked whether citizens will be refunded, Bytyqi said that the matter will be discussed at a government session.

"We will discuss the matter in the Government. We will see how feasible it is. Unfortunately, we are entering a pre-election period where we have limitations on what we can do, and therefore we believe that what we did today is the least we could do at this moment for all citizens of our country," he added. ssh/sk/

Photo: MIA archive