A letter from the Italian Ministry of the Interior has revealed that 25 EU members have agreed to permit free movement with valid passports bearing the name Republic of Macedonia until the end of September 2024, as announced by MP and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Milososki on his Facebook profile.

“This letter, dated 23rd February 2024, from the Ministry of the Interior of Italy to their border police, states that, following the recommendation of the European Commission, 25 EU members have decided to allow free movement with valid passports bearing the name Republic of Macedonia until the end of September 2024.

This decision was not accepted by only two member countries, namely Greece (with an official letter delivered to the Commission) and France (unofficial notification to the EC),” Milososki announced.

The Ministry of the Interior of Italy mentions in the letter that the decision was made in order to protect the right to freedom of movement, and for the period after the end of September, the border police will receive additional instructions on how to act.

In this same period, the procedure of Minister Osmani who hid this information about the decision of 25 EU members, which was then and today is very important for the free movement of hundreds of thousands of Macedonian citizens residing in the EU, was very incorrect. The peak of this carelessness towards the Macedonian citizens was that on February 6th, Ambassador Vesel Memedi (Rome) made a scandal by delivering an official diplomatic note to the Italian authorities in which he declared the travel documents with the word “Republic of Macedonia” invalid.

Unfortunately, it seems that 25 EU member states have a greater understanding of the freedom of movement of Macedonian citizens with valid “Republic of Macedonia” passports than Ambassador Memedi and Minister Osmani, who are paid to protect the interests of the Macedonians, care about it. citizens,” he posted on Facebook.