Skopje, 11 February 2024 (MIA) — Belgian Ambassador to North Macedonia Frédéric Meurice said next week a workgroup in the EU would discuss ways of implementing the Prespa Agreement provision that requires the country's passports to state its new name, the Republic of North Macedonia, as of Feb. 13.

Ambassador Meurice, in an interview for Nezavisen published on Sunday, said the EU should reach a common position on the issue instead of leaving each individual member state to decide on its own.

"We still don't know how Belgium will implement the change and how we will treat your citizens without a valid passport," Meurice said. "We still don't have a specific answer to that. However, this is our EU Presidency's responsibility. We will have a meeting at the beginning of next week at the European level.

"There is a workgroup within the EU that deals with such issues and we will work to establish a common position among member states. The worst thing would be to let people pass through Hungary and Serbia, but Austria has a different view. This is what we want to avoid. So, yes, we have to reach more clarity next week on this issue."

According to the Prespa Agreement, the five-year transition period for travel documents containing the country's old name ends on Monday at midnight. mr/