“Nikola Gruevski has submitted an asylum request to the competent Hungarian authority. The former PM of Macedonia has made a declaration of his intention to submit a request for refugee status in Hungary,” Hungarian PM Viktor Orban’s Office said in a statement on Wednesday. As it was added, given that Gruevski was his country’s PM for ten years, for security reasons, the Hungarian authorities have allowed him to have his asylum request submitted and heard at the headquarters of the Immigration and Asylum Office in Budapest. “The Immigration and Asylum Office will conduct the asylum assessment procedure in accordance with both Hungarian and international law. Macedonia is a strategic partner and an important ally of Hungary. Good cooperation between the two countries is an important cornerstone for the development of the Balkans region and the security of Europe. The Macedonian government of the day is a partner of Hungary in interstate relations, and therefore we in no way wish to intervene in the internal affairs of sovereign countries, and we consider the assessment of the former Macedonian PM’s asylum request to be solely a legal issue. In accordance with Hungarian law, the Hungarian authorities shall not provide further information relating to the details of the asylum procedure prior to completion of that procedure,” the Office pointed out.