European Interest

More trouble for fugitive ex-FYROM PM

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Between 2009 and 2015 Nikola Gruevski and others “provided finances from anonymous and illegal sources” to the party, prosecutors said in a statement.

Prosecutors in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) filed two new indictments on November 22 against fugitive former premier Nikola Gruevski.

To evade a two-year jail sentence in FYROM, Gruevski fled to Budapest. A close friend to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, he was granted asylum.

As reported by FRANCE 24, a special prosecution team appointed to probe alleged crimes committed by Greuvksi’s administration, submitted two new charges accusing him of “illegal financing” of his political party VMRO-DPMNE, and unlawful construction of its headquarters.

Between 2009 and 2015 Gruevski and others “provided finances from anonymous and illegal sources” to the party, prosecutors said in a statement.

He and a party official also allegedly secured “disproportionate benefit” of over €8m for the party in an illegal contract with a building company, it said.

According to AFP, Gruevski pulled off a dramatic escape, passing through Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia before reaching Hungary, where he said this week he had been granted asylum.

Skopje has demanded his immediate return, while the EU is looking to Budapest for answers.

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