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The United States has announced sanctions against several people in the Western Balkans, including former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and former senior officials and public figures in other Balkan countries for corruption.
“We have taken these actions in response to the involvement of these former officials in considerable corruption. “Their actions undermined the rule of law, democratic institutions and public processes in both countries and eroded public confidence in their governments,” State Department spokeswoman Ned Price said in a statement.
A senior State Department official told a virtual audio press conference that the United States is committed to helping the countries of the Western Balkans realize their full economic and democratic potential by fighting endemic corruption.
“The United States is committed to holding those involved in corruption accountable and will continue to use all available means to combat corruption and promote regional stability in the Western Balkans,” he said.
The sanctions are from the State Department and the Treasury.
“The designated people today pose a serious threat to regional stability, institutional trust and the aspirations of those seeking democratic and just governance in the Western Balkans,” said under-Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson in a statement.
Treasury Department sanctions also target former MP Aqif Rakipi and businessman Ylli Ndroqi from Albania.
The Treasury Department said organized crime remains a significant threat in Albania.
“Criminal actors remain influential in Albanian politics, using money and violence to channel support for their preferred candidates,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.
“Aqif Rakipi is a notorious former MP from Elbasan, who has a damaging and destabilizing influence on the political processes in Albania”, says the Treasury Department.
The statement says numerous organized crime groups in Albania have offered money, gifts or job promises or favors in exchange for votes for their favorite political party.
“Rakipi has long been involved in organized crime and is closely linked to an Organized Crime Group, within which he has exercised political influence, including corruption. “For example, Rakipi has used his political influence to appoint his friends to key public posts in Elbasan and Tirana,” said the Treasury Department.
While former MP Rakipi was expelled from parliament due to the decriminalization law, his son Ornaldo Rakipi was included in the lists of socialist candidates for Tirana, where he was surprisingly able to be elected MP thanks to a high number of personal votes he received. to collect.
Regarding the businessman Ylli Ndroqi, the Treasury Department said that he is a media owner, whose assets were seized by the Albanian government in 2020 and 2021 for previous criminal activities.
“Ndroqi has used the media that he once had under his control to blackmail Albanian citizens through demands for money and purchase of advertisements in exchange for banning the publication of negative reports in the media,” said in the announcement of the Treasury Department.
Mr. Ndroqi is appointed for responsibility or cooperation, or direct or indirect involvement in corruption.
“While these individuals may have managed to evade justice in their own countries, they will no longer be free to do business with the United States or the international financial system. “As a result of today’s actions, all designated individuals will be blocked from dealing with American individuals and businesses,” a senior Treasury Department official told a news conference.
The State Department statement said that in his official capacity as prime minister, Gruevski was involved in corrupt acts involving the use of his political influence and official power for personal gain.
“In particular, there is credible information that Gruevski abused his position by soliciting and accepting bribes in exchange for government contracts, misappropriated public funds and interfered in the electoral process for the political benefit of himself and his party,” the department said in a statement. of the State ”.
The senior State Department official said the United States’ actions were not intended to convey a political message or “support any political alternative.
“It only has to do with corruption and it has to do with corruption and when we prove it and identify it. “And secondly, we will continue to work with governments in the region to make sure they too fight corruption within the country,” he said.
In response to a VOA question about the fact that often high-profile sanctioned figures are former officials, the senior official said this may have to do with the determination process.
“We target anyone who is credibly found to be involved in corruption, so there is a process for doing so. “And that is why some people ask why we do this because people are no longer in power, because sometimes it takes us so long (to determine),” he said.
“We are not only targeting people who are not currently active or in power. “It is our commitment, of this administration to fight corruption wherever we find it”, said the official.
He added that almost all the destabilizing political actions we see in the region are somehow related to corruption.
“Which means that when political leaders use public resources and make decisions in public office to advance their corrupt goals, it is fundamentally destabilizing,” he said.
The designation for corruption by the United States also included former director of the Security and Counterintelligence Department in northern Macedonia Saso Mijalkov and former prosecutor Gordana Tadic from the chief prosecutor’s office in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to the State Department, Mr. Mijalkov was involved in corrupt acts involving the use of his political influence and official power for personal gain.
In her official capacity as Bosnia and Herzegovina’s chief prosecutor, Gordana Tadic used her influence to intervene in court proceedings, according to the State Department.
Monday’s sanctions also included Svetozar Marovic, the former president of Serbia-Montenegro before Montenegro seceded from the Democratic Party of Socialists for co-operation or direct involvement in corruption, such as misappropriation of public property. expropriation of private property for personal gain, political purposes, or bribery. VOA
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