The US ambassador to North Macedonia pointed out that "the US blacklist is definitely not closed" and that other names will be named, not only politicians, BGNES reports.
"The placement of former Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi and Judge Enver Begeti on the US blacklist means that individuals whose criminal activities undermine the values of security, stability and governance in North Macedonia will also be held accountable," Angela Ageler told a press conference at the US embassy in Skopje today.
BGNES recalls that on 9 December the US imposed sanctions against former North Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi and Court of Appeals Judge Enver Bedjeti for significant corruption.
The State Department highlighted that Grubi and Bedjeti had accepted bribes to undermine legal proceedings related to the criminal conviction of Sasho Miyalkov, former director of Macedonia's Security and Counterintelligence Directorate (DBC). Grubi was deputy prime minister in the government of Dimitar Kovacevski. Miyalkov was sanctioned in 2022.
"We do not need to give evidence or information to local institutions. The evidence is available. If we can find them, Macedonian institutions can too," Ageler said.
The U.S. ambassador said he expected "action" in the Grubi case, as in all similar cases.
She noted that she had informed Prime Minister Christian Mitkoski last night when the decision was announced, and they had spoken about this topic this morning. | BGNES
