First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic stated yesterday in Leskovac that 2.6 million new passports and 2 million identity cards were issued last year.

Speaking at a ceremony held for handing over equipment for the detection and identification of drugs and alcohol, and computer equipment presented by the City of Leskovac to its police administration, Dacic said that deadlines for the issuance of new personal documents will be extended.

In the last ten years 1.3 million passports were issued. The fact that a large number of people are interested in being issued with new passports shows the positive reaction to visa liberalisation, he remarked.

The final deadline for the issuance of passports and identity cards will be extended, primarily to accommodate the large number of Serbs living abroad, he announced.

Dacic stressed that all applications coming from Presevo to Subotica will be verified and any found to be fictitious will be annulled, as well as any documents issued on the basis of fictitious applications.

In cases of fictitious data on residence charges will be brought against individuals reporting incorrect addresses as well as individuals whose addresses have been given, he noted.