VMRO DPMNE party

While Macedonia's Social Democrat-led government is calling for national reconciliation to heal the wounds caused by the deep political crisis of the past few years, the opposition right-wing VMRO DPMNE party is preparing to hit the streets of the capital on Wednesday, to put an end to what it calls Zoran Zaev's "criminal" and "harmful" government.

Macedonia's former chief of the secret police, Saso Mijalkov, who is currently on trial in several high-profile court cases, was detained on Tuesday evening and given a 30-day detention, the Skopje Criminal Court confirmed.

Nikola Gruevski said in a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday that Hungary has granted him political asylum, citing what he said was "politically-orchestrated persecution by Macedonia's new government led by the Social Democrats".

The former Macedonian premier said that if he went to jail, his life would have been in danger as he had heard about a plot to assassinate him.

After the Macedonian Interior Ministry said former prime minister Nikola Gruevski had fled to Hungary and was applying for political asylum there, an EU spokesperson told BIRN that Brussels was following events and hoped the case would not be politicised. 

Amid an ongoing police search for Nikola Gruevski in Macedonia, a message posted on the former prime minister's Facebook page on Tuesday said that he is in Budapest, seeking political asylum from the authorities there.

"In the past few days I have received numerous threats on my life," said the message.

Police launched a wide search for former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski after he failed to show up for three days to start serving his two-year jail sentence for the illicit purchase of a luxury limousine.

By the order of the Criminal Court in Skopje, Macedonian police on Monday confirmed that they had issued an arrest warrant for former prime minister Nikola Gruevski who is to serve his two-year jail sentence.

This was issued after the Appeal Court last Friday rejected the former prime minister's appeal for a postponement of his sentence.

Macedonian businessman Orce Kamcev and former secret police chief Saso Mijalkov are among 13 persons suspected of a series of crimes, as part of a new investigation launched by the country's Special Prosecution, codenamed "Empire".

Several prominent opposition party officials and MPs resigned from their VMRO DPMNE party positions in the past few days, accusing the leadership of isolating the party and taking an anti-Western course which they do not want to follow.

The most recent to resign, on Wednesday, was the head of the party's youth union, Luka Krzaloski. 

The Criminal Court in Skopje confirmed on Friday that it has handed a 'referral act' to ex-premier Nikola Gruevski, saying he should start serving his jail sentence at the prison in Shuto Orizari, near Skopje, on November 8 at the latest.