Mickoski on the Hungarian loan: I am not afraid of an investigation

Hristijan Mickoski, prime minister of North Macedonia, said he was not concerned about the investigation related to the Hungarian loan, Telegrafi Macedonia reports.

During the presentation of municipal vehicles, Mickoski was asked about investigations in Hungary into suspected abuse of office and mismanagement at the state-owned Eximbank, which also involve the one-billion-euro loan intended for North Macedonia. He described the matter as an internal Hungarian issue and expressed hope that the institutions there would issue a statement regarding the loan.

“I am absolutely not afraid because all of this is part of our strategic partnership and has been confirmed by both parliaments and governments. The funds have been spent transparently. I am grateful to Hungary as our strategic partner because, at a time when we were trying to pull the country out of bankruptcy due to the debts of the bandit government of SDSM and DUI, they were the first to come to our aid,” Mickoski said.

According to Reuters, the investigation was announced on Tuesday, September 1. It focuses on four cases referred by Hungary’s Ministry of Economy and Energy after an internal audit uncovered irregularities dating back to the previous administration.

For the purposes of the investigation, on August 31 investigators seized thousands of pages of documents from the Interior Ministry. The materials, collected during the review conducted by the ministry itself, are expected to provide further evidence of the reported crimes.