Várhely: Skopje and Tirana should start EU talks by May 2020


Hungarian Olivér Várhely, who is the Commissioner-designate for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, for two an a half hours on Thursday was speaking at a hearing where MEPs had to test his general competences to do his job in the coming five years. In his opening remarks, Várhely said he would do his best to convince the […]

Hungary’s Supreme Court had rejected the extradition request for Gruevski on August 5


North Macedonia’s Ministry of Justice has been notified on August 5 that Hungary’s Supreme Court had reached a final decision that legal requirements were not met for the extradition of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, as asylum in Hungary had been granted upon his request, stated the Justice Ministry, stressing that formal notification on this […]

Mickoski: No contact with Gruevski since Zaev let him flee


Goran Adamovski VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski yesterday returned from a two-day visit to Budapest and Vienna. In the Hungarian capital, he met with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, while he went to Austria to exchange experiences and information related to his professorial activities at the University of St. Cyril and Methodius. On Friday, he will be […]

Zaev to Gruevski: Come back home and serve your time


 It was a meeting of leaders of right-wing political parties that can prove to be important in strengthening Macedonian-Hungarian ties, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said when asked to comment on Tuesday’s meeting of VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski with Hungarian PM Viktor Orban in Budapest. It’s a very logical thing, he said, two right-wing leaders to […]

Farce with the asylum seeker wearing Maybach sunglasses


An unusual morning scene in the Budapest Court. Former Prime Minister Gruevski with his trademark sunglasses Maybach and a baseball hat, as if he was on a beach in Tel Aviv, entered the courtroom, accompanied by police officers in civilian attire, where they decided on the request of the North Macedonian authorities for his extradition. […]

Gruevski on Facebook after the arrest: A standard procedure after the extradition request


Fugitive former PM Nikola Gruevski posted on Facebook after he was arrested this morning and questioned by a Hungarian court over the extradition request by the North Macedonian government. “Today, a standard procedure was carried out in the institutions in Hungary after the criminal and racketeering government in Macedonia filed an extradition request. The court […]

Budapest court refuses to extradite Nikola Gruevski


Hungary decided not to extradite former Prime Minister, now fugitive, Nikola Gruevski, according to a Budapest court ruling on Thursday. The court said extradition requirements were not met and refused to fulfill the Ministry of Justice’s request for Gruevski’s extradition to North Macedonia. Earlier today, Hungarian media published courtroom photos and video of Gruevski wearing […]

Hungary ratifies North Macedonia’s NATO Accession Protocol


Hungary has ratified North Macedonia’s NATO accession protocol. North Macedonia’s Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi attended the vote at the invitation of his Hungarian counterpart László Kövér. In the Hungarian Parliament, 153 MPs unanimously voted in favor of the ratification, the Parliament Speaker’s Office said in a press release.

Postponing start of accession negotiations was unfair, says Hungarian FM Szijjarto


Postponing the start of the accession negotiation was unfair for your country, because everyone was aware of the schedule and there was enough time for preparation. I find the argument about the lack of time as ridiculous, because you have been a candidate country for 14 years and this is enough time, said Hungarian Foreign […]

Visegrad Group offers strong support to North Macedonia


North Macedonia will always have our support on its road to European Union membership and the votes of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, heard an event regarding the handover of the V4 Presidency. Czech Ambassador Miroslav Toman, whose country takes over the presidency from Slovakia on July 1, said North Macedonia could be certain […]

Gruevski breaks silence in a TV interview: One day I will return


“One day I will return, I didn’t come here to live, but to take refuge from political persecution. I’m unjustly convicted. I fought in court, but I saw that all the absurdities were met for me to go prison,” said former Prime Minister Gruevski in his first TV interview since his escape to Hungary. Gruevski also said that […]

Gruevski to keep his MP term, but without salary


A lawmaker who has been sentenced to a maximum of six months in prison will lose the right to salary and other benefits. That is the essence of the changes of the Law on MPs that were submitted this morning after an urgent procedure in parliament and were immediately added to the agenda of today’s […]

The carefree life of Gruevski in Budapest


As the Public Prosecutor’s Office was announcing that the report on Nikola Gruevski’s escape will be released in the next two weeks, the first photos and video footage of the careless life of the former prime minister in the Hungarian capital of Budapest were leaked. A video from Gruevski leaked yesterday, which was recorded by reporters […]

Skopje waits his extradition; Gruevski roams freely in Budapest’s streets


Macedonia’s Justice Minister Renata Deskoska is expecting Hungary, an EU member country, to act according to European standards and conventions and extradite Nikola Gruevski. She said that her country has the right to demand Gruevski’s extradition. “It’s within the right of Hungarian authorities to take a decision on this, but I expect the government of […]

Former PM Gruevski had written a letter to EU officials before fleeing to Hungary


Before fleeing the country, Macedonia’s former PM, Nikola Gruevski had sent a letter to EU Enlargement Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, EU chief of diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, EU Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic and the chairman of EPP, Joseph Daul. In this letter, Gruevski wrote that the two year prison sentence that he was given relied […]

Hungarian opposition: We demand that the former Macedonian PM Gruevski leaves the country


The leaders of three opposition parties represented in the Hungarian parliament in an open letter called a “disgrace” the granting of asylum by the Viktor Orbán-led government to former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, reports Euractiv. “It is unacceptable that we should learn from the foreign press that the Hungarian government gave asylum in our […]

Deskoska: We still haven’t received response from Hungary for Gruevski’s extradition


The Ministry of Justice has not yet received response regarding extradition request for fugitive former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski from the competent ministry in Hungary, Justice Minister Renata Treneska Deskoska said at Sunday’s press conference. “The proper deadlines for response have not expired. We will wait, if we do not receive response within the deadlines, […]

Gruevski’s extradition still waiting on a solution


The European Parliament has approved a resolution requiring Hungary to extradite former minister Nikola Gruevski to Macedonia. MEP Judit Sargentini also says that Gruevski has left Macedonia through the aid offered by Hungary in order to evade his prison sentence. The MEP considers this as interference in another country’s internal affairs. Zoltan Kovac, secretary for […]