FYROM’s ex-PM Gruevski flees to Hungary
The former prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Nikola Gruevski, fled to Hungary yesterday, saying he will seek political asylum in a move that could lead to further disarray in the nationalist VMRODPMNE party he once headed and compromise the government’s efforts in Skopje to ratify the name deal with Greece in Parliament with a two-thirds majority before the end of January.
FYROM said later yesterday that it will seek his arrest in Hungary via an international arrest warrant.
Gruevski, 48, fled after FYROM authorities issued a warrant for his arrest on Monday in the wake of his failure to turn up at prison to begin a two-year sentence he was handed earlier this year on corruption-related charges.
“I am in Budapest now and I am seeking political asylum from the authorities of Hungary. I will always remain faithful to the Macedonian cause and will never give up,” he said in a Facebook post.
Gruevski was forced to resign as prime minister in 2016 after 10 years at the helm.
A police official in FYROM said he left the country illegally, without giving further details.
During his term as prime minister and as the opposition leader, Gruevski reportedly cultivated close relations with Hungary’s rightwing Prime Minister Viktor Orban.