Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, has stated on Sunday that the fugitive former prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, is better to return to North Macedonia from Hungary, as according to Osmani, he is a man who knows a lot about country, but located in another country.
“From a political point of view, it is an issue, which I know will be abused, but from a security point of view, it is not at all wise that in the hands of another country is a man who has been prime minister for ten years and who possesses all state information”, Osmani told Television 21.
Former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski fled to Hungary in 2018, after being prosecuted by Macedonian judicial bodies for abuse of office.
He has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for six criminal offenses, while several other processes are still underway.
“It is better for him to be here and to deal with the court proceedings against him. This would be the best solution”, Osmani declared.
His statement comes precisely at the time when the Macedonian and Albanian opposition have accused the parties in power, the Social Democratic League (LSDM) of Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevsi and the Democratic Union for Integration led by Ali Ahmeti of “working for the return of to former Prime Minister Gruevski that he then divides the VMRO DPMNE and secures the votes for the constitutional changes”.
The Albanian opposition has evaluated as ridiculous the reasoning of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani, who is also the vice-president of the DUI.
Osman’s explanation is ridiculous. Gruevski had enough time to give him the information, if he wanted to”, declared the leader of the Democratic Movement, Izet Mejhiti.
He has publicly asked Osmani if he visited Gruevski in Budapest and if they are preparing to bring Gruevski back to Skopje on October 23 on VMRO Day.
The claims about the “amnesty” of Nikola Gruevski have been rejected by the Social Democratic League.
“Nikolla Gruevski will serve the prison sentence the moment he enters North Macedonia, based on the final decisions of the local courts”, declared the LSDM spokesman, Darko Kaevski.
North Macedonia is in a political crisis, while it risks getting stuck in the process of European integration if it fails to approve the constitutional changes for the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the preamble of SA, as a state-forming people.
The parliamentary majority has not managed to secure two-thirds or 80 of the 120 votes of the deputies in the Assembly, so it is looking for ways to secure the support of the Macedonian opposition.
