Skopje, 27 February 2024 (MIA) – Speaker of Parliament Jovan Mitreski said Tuesday that international agreements cannot be amended with other laws, when asked if the majority in Parliament will support an extension of the validity of passports bearing the country’s old name at Wednesday’s session of the legislative body.

“The information I have is that this law will not solve the issues and is contrary to article 118 of the Constitution in the sense that international agreements are a part of the internal legal order and cannot be amended with other laws, so the final decision will be announced during the day,” said Mitreski.

Last week, opposition party VMRO-DPMNE urged the ruling majority to support an extension of the validity of travel documents. The party said 15 MPs from the ruling majority are necessary to adopt the law alongside the VMRO-DPMNE MPs. “Otherwise,” it said, “the ruling MPs should give up on their diplomatic passports with which they travel unobstructed, whenever and wherever they wish”.

In response, SDSM leader Dimitar Kovachevski said any legal amendments extending the validity of passports bearing the country’s old name would be in vain, since it would have to be agreed with Greece and the European Union. The Government would first need to secure approval from the EU member states and the other signatory of the Prespa Agreement – Greece, and only then discuss legal amendments, he said.

Photo: MIA