Skopje, 13 February 2024 (MIA) - Ministers will put forward a proposal for free-of-charge replacement of driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates until the end of the year, said SDSM leader Dimitar Kovachevski on Tuesday.

Kovachevski said over 1,2 million passports and 550,000 driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates have been replaced thus far, noting that the number of issued documents has been affected by the two-year covid pandemic, which disrupted production and supply chains, accompanied by the physical distancing measures.

"Nevertheless, a significant number of the passports have been replaced. Spreading panic and giving populist statements does not solve the problem but only serves for self-promotion. Therefore, the SDSM MP group, together with the Speaker, who comes from our ranks as well, managed yesterday to quickly reach consensus on extending the deadline of the validity of documents for internal use. At a Government session later today, our ministers will put forward a proposal for free-of-charge replacement of driving licenses and vehicle registration certificates until the end of the year," Kovachevski told reporters.

He expressed hope that the Ministry of Interior would manage to procure passport templates in time, considering they are not manufactured locally but in Germany.

The SDSM leader said the process of replacing all identification documents is a large operation that arises from an international agreement ratified by the parliaments of North Macedonia and Greece.

"Let me also express regret over the ordeals that the citizens are going through, because it is not simple to lack these documents. But this is a process that we all must go through. In addition, we have seen the adverse effect of giving populist and false statements, something that we have witnessed over the past four years, with some politicians saying people should not replace documents because they would reinstate the country's name. Now we see those same politicians in the Government, but they are not saying that the name would be reinstated and the Constitution changed," noted Kovachevski.

MIA file photo