TIRANA, Nov. 19 – On Thursday, Albanian police confirmed that former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski used a Hungarian embassy car to flee through Albania and Montenegro to Hungary, where he has been officially granted political asylum.
The police confirmed Gruevski entered the Hani I Hotit/Bozaj border crossing on Nov. 11, early in the morning, inside a car belonging to the Hungarian Embassy to Tirana.
“Citizen Nikola Gruevski exited Albania territory on 11 November, 2018, at 19:11, from Hani i Hotit on the Montenegro border as a passenger in a car with the number plate CD1013A, owned by Embassy of Hungary in Albania,” police said in a press release.
The press release added that at the time Gruevski passed the border, Interpol had not yet issued an arrest warrant, so he was technically not yet a wanted person.
“Interpol Skopje notified Interpol Tirana on 13 November that this citizen was under an international arrest warrant,” the press release added.
On Tuesday, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic also gave details about Gruevski’s escape to Hungary, saying he entered Serbia after passing Albania and Montenegro to further go to Hungary on Nov. 12, with an ID and permit issued in Albania.
“What did you expect? That we’d arrest someone who is not wanted? There was no international arrest warrant yet,” Vucic was reported to have told Serbian media.
Gruevski, who served as Macedonia’s PM from 2006 to 2016, went on the run last week when he didn’t show up to begin serving his two-year-sentence in jail under corruption charges for illicitly buying a luxury limousine.
Last Tuesday, it was made known Gruevski is in Hungary, while on Nov. 20 Gruevski himself declared he was granted asylum by the Hungarian government under the argument the new Macedonian government is politically persecuting him.
Meanwhile, Macedonia, which has seen protests during the last few days against Gruevski’s escape, filed a formal extradition request last Thursday for the runaway ex-PM.
The Macedonian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday the Hungarian government had been urged “to act in the spirit of good bilateral relations and European values” and not harbour its fugitive ex PM.
“We will provide arguments why Gruevski should be extradited to Macedonia. It is an extensive document of some 400 pages, but no matter, the request will be formally sent during these coming days,” Macedonian government spokesperson Mile Bosnjakovski said.
Before fleeing to Hungary, Gruevski insisted that all court cases against him were part of a political set-up fixed by the new Macedonian government and that he would not flee the country.
