Convicted Former Macedonian PM Flees to Hungary

Gruevski pictured in 2014. Wikimedia Commons.

Fleeing right before the beginning of his jail sentence, former Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski was granted political asylum by the Hungarian Immigration and Asylum Office on November 20, says the EUobserver. Gruevski, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2016, fled to Hungary through Albania after his appeal request was denied by the courts on November 9, and his 2-year jail sentence was about to begin, according to Radio Free Europe/

Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Questions remain about his means of escape, though Hungarian diplomats have been suspected of assisting him.

Gruevski was convicted of unlawfully influencing Interior Ministry officials with a luxury vehicle costing €600,000. He also faces three other trials, including a major wiretapping scandal. He is also suspected, along with several close associates, of listening to the phone calls of more than 20,000 people, including political opponents, reported Reuters.

In early 2016, Gruevski was ousted after accusations of illegal wiretapping reached the public. According to the European Commission, the political crisis that followed was resolved with the help of mediators from the European Union, resulting in the Przino Agreement. Gruevski’s party, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity, a right-wing political party, lost their majority to the Socialist Democrats in the ensuing elections in the spring of 2016.

During his tenure as prime minister, Gruevski formed a strong bond with the current Hungarian

prime minister, Viktor Orban. Balkan Insight reports Orban even backed Gruevski throughout his party’s campaign for municipal elections in 2017, which his party lost.

RFE/RL writes that Orban’s cabinet chief, Gergely Gulyas, said, “The Hungarian state had nothing to do with [Gruevski] leaving Macedonia.” Despite this denial, Gruevski reportedly escaped with significant aid from Hungarian officials, including using a Hungarian car to drive past the border and through Albania.Gruevski was last seen by his bodyguards in Macedonia on November 8, the night before his prison sentence was set to begin. He withdrew €100,000 from his bank account before leaving, travelling by car through several countries before finally reaching the Hungarian border and applying for political asylum. Orban said that these events are “an interesting story, exciting, like all crime stories,” according to Deutche Welle.

RFE/RL reports that the Macedonian government filed an extradition request to Hungary, applying through the European Convention on Extradition for the Council of Europe. Gruevski, however, has already been accepted as a political refugee on the grounds of political persecution in Macedonia. Hungary has been criticized by the European Union for being unwilling to accept immigrants in Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis.

“I have not fled from justice, but I have used internationally regulated methods to continue my quest for justice,” wrote Gruevski in a Facebook post announcing his whereabouts, according to the New York Times. “I have decided not to grant their wish to see me in prison, where, from what I have learned, I was to be eliminated, while they are taking the country apart.”

This comes as Macedonia approaches a survey by the European Parliament. Macedonia has been a candidate for the European Union since 2005, and the current trials have been advertised as evidence of Macedonia’s fight against corruption. Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva said that Gruevski “will surely be tried in absentia… This [action of applying for asylum] will not obstruct ongoing trials,” RFE/RL said.