Skopje, 21 January 2024 (MIA) - The Ombudsman has received complaints from citizens regarding the travel documents that must be replaced with the country's new constitutional name by February 12, 2024. Complaints were mainly regarding impossibility of making an appointment for issuance of documents and the fee for replacing the documents. Complaints have also arrived after the holidays that citizens could not get the new documents within eight days.

In an interview with Radio Free Europe, Ombudsman Naser Ziberi said the Ministry of Interior will be called to explain the delay in the issuance of documents. Ziberi claims that there is a lack of application forms for bilingual travel documents, and he thinks this is the case for the rest of the documents as well. 

"The complaints started arriving after the New Year's holidays, and we will address the Ministry of Interior as to why there has been a delay in the issuance of the documents already prepared. I assume that those travel documents have been already prepared and we will react. I've learned from certain unofficial conversations that there is a lack of application forms. I can confidently say that there is a lack of forms for bilingual travel documents, but I think there is also a lack of forms for the other documents as well," said Ziberi. 

Asked whether he intends to run for president again, Ziberi said he had no such plans, adding that he also gave up on the possibility of being prime minister.  

"No, definitely not. I also gave up on the possibility of being prime minister in the last three months, so I put an end to my political engagement," Ziberi said, adding that he has been offered the possibility to be caretaker prime minister.

Photo: MIA archive