An EU country should not shelter people who have fled their homeland or been convicted there, North Macedonia's foreign minister Timcho Mucunski said today. He was speaking about the case of Iva Mihaylova.
Mihaylova holds both Macedonian and Bulgarian citizenship. In North Macedonia she is charged in a case over a car crash in which a person died.
She arrived in Bulgaria on 13 October. The Basic Court in Kochani then ordered her arrest. North Macedonian authorities said they were looking for her at home and abroad, and Interpol in Skopje asked for her to be arrested and extradited.
Sofia confirmed it had received the request but said it will not search for her, citing its right to refuse to extradite its own citizen.
North Macedonia is a candidate for EU membership and expects all EU members to keep to the highest rule-of-law standards, Mucunski said. He said it is unacceptable for an EU country to be a refuge for suspects who face court cases in their own country.
The minister also recalled what prime minister Hristijan Mickoski said a few days ago: "we have no interest in becoming part of the spectacle around this issue in Bulgaria, which is also linked to the presidential election in the country."