SDSM claims that Nikola Gruevski is preparing a new escape. Specifically: people connected to Viktor Orbán are transferring money to third countries, and Gruevski - who holds multiple passports - is planning to leave for a new country. Additional allegation: Prime Minister Mickoski has not sent a single extradition document.

Gruevski has been in Hungary since he fled Macedonia in 2018, convicted to two and a half years in prison for corruption. With Magyar having toppled Orbán's coalition, the framework for his protection in Budapest may be changing. That could be a motive for a new escape - or just opposition political speculation.

Mickoski and VMRO did not comment specifically. The responsibility for submitting an extradition request is the state's - not the parties'. Whether the request exists or not is a verifiable fact, but only if someone checks. Citizens have a right to know whether Macedonia has officially sought Gruevski's return or not - and the answer cannot wait for the next election campaign.