SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
According to the Hungarian authorities, a possibility of former PM Nikola Gruevski being extradited doesn’t exist. As Justice Minister Laszlo Trocsanyi said an interview with ECHO TV on Tuesday, after the approval of the asylum request, Gruevski cannot be delivered to “a country in which he is a target of persecution.” The following day, in Macedonia, FM Nikola Dimitrov didn’t reveal the next diplomatic steps in the case, following the note of protest. “That way, I would harm the process. However, in the solving of the case with the Hungarian authorities, Macedonia will insist on respecting the rule of law and take into account all national interests,” he stressed. In Dimitrov’s view, it’s ironic and paradoxical for an EU member to grant asylum to a convicted person. The decision to approve the asylum request was described by the FM as a problem of both Macedonia and the EU. “It calls into question its credibility and the rule of law principle,” Dimitrov noted. Macedonia’s Justice Ministry will request for the decision on Gruevski’s asylum to be recalled. Minister Renata Deskoska said a request would be sent to Hungary for the authorities to re-examine it. In her view, the opportunity to recall asylum was envisaged as a result of the new changes to the asylum legislation in the country. If Gruevski isn’t given Hungarian citizenship, his asylum permit will be put up for review after three years. “The Government is thinking about sending a request for the decision to be recalled because if the decision is founded on certain facts, which are not the way they are, the state has a right to annul that decision,” the Minister underlined. Greens MEP Javor Benedek tweeted a letter sent by him to the EU’s Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, about the case.
