The United States has imposed sanctions on seven people from western Balkan states including the former North Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski.
The Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported that the sanctions were imposed on Monday on the seven individuals because they posed a “threat to regional stability.”
According to a US Treasury Department statement, Mr Gruevski who was prime minister of North Macedonia between 2006 and 2016 is suspected in a number of cases of corruption, money laundering, abuses of office and other offences that took place during his time in office.
“He has continuously evaded capture for his 2018 conviction by a court in North Macedonia on corruption related charges, which represents a serious setback for accountability for corruption and corruption-related activities in North Macedonia,” said the US Treasury in its statement. It also noted that Mr Gruevski was the “owner and director of Hungarian company ICIC KFT, which is registered as a limited liability company in Pecel, Hungary.”
The last president of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marovic who was also included on the list was arrested in 2015 by Montenegro officials on corruption charges relating to construction projects.
In 2016 Mr Marovic signed two plea deals in which he admitted to the corruption charges levelled at him and then fled to Serbia before serving his sentence.
Among the others included on the sanction list were Albanian former MP Aqif Rakipi, Asim Sarjilic a Bosnia Herzegovina MP, as well as other individuals from the region.
“The people designated today constitute a serious threat to regional stability, institutional trust, and the aspirations of those seeking democratic and judicious governance in the Western Balkans,” said Brian Nelson, the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in the statement.
Under the new sanctions the assets held in the US by the named individuals would be frozen and Americans were barred from doing business with them.
The US State Department issued visa bans on political figures in North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina which prevented them from travelling to the US.
