Administrative imbroglio in North Macedonia.
Hundreds of thousands of nationals of this country, which changed its name in 2019, have been “trapped” since Tuesday, when their passports became invalid if they were marked “Macedonia”.
The former republic of the Yugoslav federation, independent since 1991 and then called “Macedonia”, changed its name in February 2019, after a long dispute with its Greek neighbor.
Skopje finally agreed to add the geographical mention “North” to the name of the country – since Athens claimed exclusive use of the name Macedonia for its province located in the north of the country.
And the identity papers of citizens had to be changed by February 12, 2024. The agreement had made it possible to put an end to the Greek veto on North Macedonia's accession to NATO and its rapprochement with the European Union (EU).
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But five years later, around 650,000 Macedonians, or almost a third of the population, still have their old passports – which they theoretically can no longer use since Tuesday.
Interior Minister Pance Toskovsky confirmed that border police had no choice but to respect the law and send old passport holders home.
However, he acknowledged that this was an obstacle to freedom of movement, and added that citizens could sue the state.
Administrative blockages
“I hope that 650,000 people will not need to leave the country today,” the Prime Minister responded in a statement on Tuesday.
“Citizens must report on time and go to the regional offices of the Ministry of Interior to begin the procedure of replacing their documents,” Talat Xhaferi added.
The Macedonians did not really have five years to change their papers: the whole process was slowed down by administrative or technical blockages.
Thousands of citizens have had great difficulty obtaining an appointment to apply for a new passport.
The Minister of the Interior proposed to the interim government to pass a law extending the validity of old passports – this was done last year for identity cards, and on Monday for nearly 270,000 driving licenses.
Their holders now have until the end of 2024 to change them.