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Former PM of Macedonia requests asylum in Hungary: official

Europe Materials 15 November 2018 02:36 (UTC +04:00)
The former Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski requested asylum in Hungary, according to official sources here on Wednesday.
Former PM of Macedonia requests asylum in Hungary: official

The former Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski requested asylum in Hungary, according to official sources here on Wednesday, Xinhua reports.

"Nikola Gruevski has submitted an asylum request to the competent Hungarian authority. The former prime minister of Macedonia has made a declaration of his intention to submit a request for refugee status in Hungary," according to a statement published by the Prime Minister's Office.

"Given that he was prime minister of his country for ten years, for security reasons the Hungarian authorities have allowed Mr. Gruevski to have his asylum request submitted and heard at the headquarters of the Immigration and Asylum Office in Budapest," the statement added.

"The Immigration and Asylum Office will conduct the asylum assessment procedure in accordance with both Hungarian and international law," the statement specified.

The statement recalled that Macedonia was a strategic partner and an important ally of Hungary.

The statement underlined: "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 prime minister'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 statement concluded.

On Tuesday, the Macedonian Ministry of Interior confirmed that Nikola Gruevski has fled to Hungary.

In a post on Facebook, Gruevski wrote that in the last few days he received numerous threats.

"I am in Budapest now and I have asked for a political asylum from the Hungarian authorities. I will remain loyal to Macedonia' cause. I will never give up," wrote Gruevski.

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