Gruevski, Ziobro and others: Viktor Orbán granted asylum to political allies facing legal problems. This will end: the incoming prime minister, Peter Magyar, has announced that he will deport them if they do not leave.
When Hungarian intellectuals described the system of ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as ‘mafia-like’, foreign observers tended to listen with skepticism. However, over the course of sixteen years, there were moments when this was self-evident without the need for words. One such moment was in November 2018, with the flight to Hungary of former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
Shortly before Gruevski, a friend of Orbán, began serving a prison sentence for corruption, he fled to Albania. From there, as DW investigated at the time, Hungarian diplomats smuggled him through Montenegro and Serbia in a swift operation to Hungary, where he was immediately granted political asylum – in a country where, due to Orbán's strict migration policy, refugees had virtually no chance of obtaining a residence permit.
Just one of many others
Gruevski – who remains an undisputed symbol of corruption in his native country to this day – was simply the most well-known of a whole series of similar cases: under Orbán's rule, Hungary became a safe haven for many politicians close to the prime minister who were facing legal problems in corruption cases or who had been sentenced by final decisions.
In December 2024, former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski, who was wanted by the police, was granted asylum in Hungary. In November 2025, his former boss, the former Justice Minister, fled to Orbán's country. Both politicians, who until December 2023 were part of the right-wing conservative government of Mateusz Morawiecki, are wanted on arrest warrants on corruption charges.
Several politicians from Hungarian minorities in Romania and Ukraine have also sought asylum in Hungary in recent years. In most cases, Orbán or other government politicians have claimed that the cases involving those affected were politically motivated.
"We will not be a dumping ground for criminals"
Now, Hungary’s next government wants to get rid of them. In January 2026, when it was announced that Ziobro had been granted asylum in Hungary, Peter Magyar, the winner of the parliamentary elections on April 12, 2025, and his party, Tisza, declared: “Hungary will not be a haven for foreign criminals.” It seems that Magyar now intends to take this seriously.
On Monday afternoon (April 13, 2026), during an international press conference, Magyar answered a question from Polish television channel TVN by stating that his government would extradite Romanowski and Ziobro to Poland. “I suggest they stop going to Ikea and buying furniture, because they won’t be here much longer,” Magyar said. “Hungary is not a dumping ground for internationally wanted criminals.”
Magyar also expects “criminals, even if they are criminal politicians,” to be extradited to Hungary. “We will find a way to extradite them to Poland, if they haven't already fled.” Magyar also mentioned former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski by name.
Escape to the USA?
In both Poland and North Macedonia, Magyar's statement, along with the news of his election victory, immediately became a hot topic in the media and among politicians. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said of the Romanowski and Ziobro cases: "I hope to be able to say to these two gentlemen: Welcome to Poland." He stated that he had already spoken to Magyar about the matter before the elections.
In an interview with Polsat News television on Tuesday (14/04/2026), Ziobro declared that he would always be ready to “fight for the truth,” even “from a prison cell.” The politician did not clarify whether he would leave Hungary or when he would do so. Romanowski stated in a press release: “I will not help Tusk’s government; I will not reveal my plans or my new address.”
According to Polish media, the US is the most likely new destination for both, as the Law and Justice (PiS) party, to which they both belong, maintains close ties to the MAGA movement. Ziobros and Romanowskis have had their passports revoked in Poland, but they may have obtained a 'Genea passport' in Hungary, i.e. a refugee passport.
Quick relationship repair
For the incoming government of Peter Magyar, the extradition of Romanowski and Ziobro to Poland would be an act of great symbolic value and a major public relations success without political risks. Magyar wants to quickly repair the bilateral relations destroyed by Orbán and hopes to secure strong support from Poland within the EU to receive frozen EU funds, which are vital for the Hungarian economy, currently mired in a severe crisis. Magyar’s first trip abroad as prime minister will therefore take him to Poland.
On the other hand, Hungary's new leaders also play an important role for the Polish government, as the right-wing populist conservative president, Karol Nawrocki, is a friend of Orbán, sabotages many of the reform projects of the Tusk government, and has set himself the goal of returning right-wing populists to power.
Where is Gruevski?
In North Macedonia, the extradition case mentioned by Magyar has caused a political storm. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, who replaced Gruevski as leader of the right-wing conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, said his predecessor should go to prison if he returns to the country. Gruevski, who was prime minister between 2006 and 2016, was eventually sentenced to nine years in prison for corruption. “If Nikola Gruevski appears in Macedonia and there is a final decision, he will be arrested by security forces and transferred to serve his sentence,” Mickoski said on Tuesday.
Mickoski and Gruevski were once party colleagues, but relations between them have been strained for years. As early as 2023, there was speculation that the then-Social Democratic government had reached an agreement with Gruevski to return him to North Macedonia, with the aim of weakening Mickoski's position as leader within the then-opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
However, this deal fell through, as the government at the time failed to secure an amnesty for Gruevski through legal channels. Now, however, the leader of the Macedonian Social Democrats (SDSM), Venko Filipçe, has stated that they would welcome Gruevski's extradition.
Gruevski himself has not commented on the matter to date. His current whereabouts are unknown, as he lives a very private life. He was last seen in October 2024 in a restaurant in central Budapest. DW
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