EC: Failure to Meet Criteria May Lead to Abolition of Visa-Free Regime

After public speculations appeared that Macedonia could lose the visa-free regime with the EU due to forged passports in the Ministry of Interior, the European Commission reminds that the security of personal documents is crucial. “What we can say is that the issue of document security is one of the conditions for visa liberalization, according to which visa-free countries have an obligation to adopt and implement appropriate administrative measures,” the European Commission spokesman told correspondents. They add that the fulfilment of the conditions for visa-free regime is under constant supervision, and a report on the situation with these criteria is submitted to the Parliament and the Council every year for each country that is exempted from visas with the EU.