Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said he believes an opposition party leader was involved in helping his predecesor Nikola Gruevski flee the country to aviod serving a jail sentence.

Zaev told Skoplje TV station 24 that he suspects that VMRO DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski helped fellow party member Gruevski leave Macedonia and seek asylum in Hungary.  

Gruevski was sentenced to a prison term for abuse of power in the purchase of a luxury Mercedes car for the government. He is reported to have crossed in Albania and made his way to Hungary via Montenegro and Serbia.  

According to Zaev, Mickoski had meetings with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic just before Gruevski fled but added that he could not say for sure whether they discussed his escape because the issues they talked about were not disclosed.  

“We all know his escape had outside help. Mickoski went to see Vucic and Orban and did not disclose what they discussed. Why did he wait for Vucic to return from Turkey? Mickoski revealed nothing and then this happened. I suspect he was involved according to the information I have,” the Macedonian prime minister said.  

He said there had been indications but no concrete information about Gruevski’s intentions to escape.