It is ironic and a paradox for a country that is an EU member to grant asylum to a felon, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Dimitrov at today’s joint press conference with his Danish colleague, Anders Samuelsen.
He also said that in the process of solving this case with Hungarian authorities, it will insist on obeying the rule of law and it will take into account all national interests including the interest of having good relations with Hungary.
-I think that the case with Gruevski can be filed under terms such as irony and paradox because it’s about a person under which rule the European Commission defined Macedonia as a captured state. We have a conclusion from the Council for general matters dated from June this year, where a legal conclusion is demanded and accountability about the indications for felonies that have come out of the wiretapped conversations. This was supported by the European Council.
And now Macedonia as a country candidate is doing everything in its power regarding the law to rule. And it really ironic and a paradox for a man that is convicted, a felon that is facing four other charges and five other investigations underway to be granted asylum by a member state. We are in difficult territory now and will take into account our interests among which is the interest for good relations with Hungary in the process of what we should do and how shall we do it – said Dimitrov.
He announced that he will meet with his Hungarian colleague Péter Szijjártó on the margins of the ministerial meeting with NATO on the 4th and the 5th of December, where they will openly talk about the case.
When asked whether there is any danger if other countries follow Hungary’s example, to accept its objections regarding the situation in the judiciary and to block our road towards the EU and NATO, Dimitrov said that he will insist on its principles and state interest.
-Not everything that is happening is our will. It is up to us to insist on principles, to explain. Anyone who has been following the situation in Macedonia and all the reports from 2015 and up to this point, will know how to asses, among other issues, what is really happening, Hahn’s statement and Washington’s stance. We shall work on that to keep to our principles and to the country’s interest – said Dimitrov.
