Gruevski granted asylum
November 22nd, 2018As both the former Macedonian Prime Minister himself and unofficial sources quoted by the leading government daily suggest that Mr Gruevski has been granted political asylum in Hungary, commentators express diametrically opposing views on the procedure employed by the Hungarian authorities.
In 168 óra, Zoltán Ágoston writes that no convicted criminal has ever been granted asylum in Hungary as rapidly as Mr Gruevski. The authorities only needed a week to examine all the intricacies of the matter and since he was driven to Budapest from Albania by Hungarian diplomats, Ágoston presumes that the decision to grant him asylum had been taken beforehand. He also quotes a statement by the US State Department which described the trial in which Mr Gruevski was sentenced to two years in jail for corruption as ‘exhaustive and transparent’.
On 24.hu, Zsolt Kerner acknowledges that the judiciary in Macedonia is not independent, for instance charges against the current Prime Minister have all been dropped since he was elected. Nevertheless, he believes this time the Macedonian court was right in finding Gruevski guilty of corruption. In his concluding remark, he writes that the main beneficiary of the latest developments is Russian President Putin who intends to block Macedonia’s acceptance as a NATO member with the help of Mr Gruevski.
In Magyar Idők, Zsolt Bayer dismisses speculations that Gruevski’s escape was orchestrated by President Putin of Russia. He also angrily condemns opposition leaders, mentioning Ferenc Gyurcsány by name, who insinuate that PM Orbán is preparing the ground for his own escape sometime in the future. He quotes a dozen examples of convicted foreigners getting asylum in France and Belgium to prove that the case is far from being as unique as opposition outlets claim. He believes Gruevski’s ‘real sin’ is his resistance to the wave of uncontrolled immigration two years ago when he confronted ‘Soros-funded NGOs’ who he claims are by now in control of the press in Macedonia. The Special Prosecutor’s Office which indicted Mr Gruevski was also set up as a result of pressure by ‘Soros organisations’, Bayer writes.