BUDAPEST, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban defended the granting of asylum by his country to former prime minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski in a radio interview given to public station MR1 here on Friday.

Those who attack Hungary for approving the refugee status to Nikola Gruevski and those who are attack Hungary for its anti-migration policy are the same, Orban said.

His government granted the refugee status to Gruevski on Nov. 20, a measure that has drawn criticism against the Hungarian government both from opposition parties in Hungary, and from international organizations, as Gruevski was convicted of corruption, and sentenced to jail in Macedonia.

According to Orban, the organizations that are most likely to blame the Hungarian government are the ones of George Soros, the Hungarian-born elderly American billionaire.

"Since Gruevski has been known to step up against these Soros organizations, it is no wonder that they are keeping track of his life," said Orban.

He recalled: "Gruevski was the first Balkan politician to build a fence, and began to stop the flow of migrants, a step in which Hungary had provided assistance."

Hungary was also hit by a migrant wave in 2015, with close to half a million migrants crossing Hungary towards Western Europe. Orban had built a fence on the Hungarian border with Serbia since then to stop potential flows of migrants.

He also explained that the procedure of granting refugee status was not conducted by the government, but by the Immigration Authority, "the government is only responsible for guaranteeing the framework of the procedure, the rest is the duty of the authority, and then the government accepts the authority's decision," he added.

On the issue of the extradition request submitted by Macedonia, the Hungarian prime minister said there was also a legal process, which the Hungarian authorities would examine and process.