Skopje, 17 January 2024 (MIA) - It is election time and everyone believes appropriate statements should be made. I would not get into any confrontations. Deadlines are not set by the Government, but by law. The very fact that the President also stated, that there is a need to change the Law on IDs in order to extend the deadline, is absolutely not the case, because the Law has never been changed at all to be able to extend the deadline. I believe we should not be under the influence of any emotions at this point that will contribute to creating an additional problem, Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski said commenting on President Stevo Pendarovski's statement.

Spasovski told TV 21 on Wednesday he personally has no problem with extension of the deadline. 

"If the Parliament decides that it should be done, then it should be done, but citizens should also be aware that the obligation is under the Prespa Agreement, which will give another dimension after February 12," said Spasovski. 

According to him, the Law on IDs has not been changed, and unexpired IDs will remain valid after February 12.

Thus far, he noted, about 1,210,000 travel documents, more than 1,100,000 IDs and about 540,000 driver's licenses have been changed.

He also commented on US blacklists. 

"A series of activities and procedures and major support since the independence is the synonym of our strategic partnership. Of course, the restrictive measures adopted by certain countries, you know there are restrictive measures of the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, etc., refer to principles that are most important - in terms of fight against crime, corruption, as one of the strategic priorities of the Macedonian society that requires further work. Yesterday we passed a proposal that will be operationalized through positive legal regulations in relation to individuals or legal entities that are added to the black list of either the United States or the United Kingdom in order to open up space through the bodies of the system, the judicial authorities, to complete certain procedures that are above all in the function of strengthening the fight against crime and corruption, and that is the basis of the decisions," Spasovski noted. 

On the visit to Washington, he said significant meetings have been held to deepen cooperation and the country's future. The meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien, Spasovski pointed out, jointly concluded there was no alternative to the country's European path.

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