Skopje, 5 February 2024 (MIA) — Caretaker Prime Minister Talat Xhaferi told MIA that Tuesday's government session will review proposed solutions to the passport issuance problem, considering the Feb. 12 deadline by which citizens' old passports need to be replaced with new ones bearing the new name of the country, the Republic of North Macedonia.

He said different options would be considered to reach a feasible solution.

He added that diplomatic missions abroad would help citizens out of the country to return despite their old passports. 

"Bearing in mind international travel is impossible without papers, the state has a network of diplomatic and consular missions that have the authority and duty to issue appropriate documents for one-way travel in such cases so those citizens can get to the institutions inside the state and make sure of an urgent issuance here," Xhaferi said.

He said that roughly 10,000 citizens a day nationwide were submitting applications for new passports, ID cards, driver's licenses, and vehicle permits. mr/