The US has blacklisted the mayor of Struga and a senior official of the co-ruling Albanian DUI party, Ramiz Merko, over his involvement in corruption cases and meddling in judicial decisions, the State Department announced today.

Ramiz Merco, his wife and three adult children are now barred from entering the US, the State Department announced.

“During his tenure as mayor of Struga, Merco embezzled funds and interfered in judicial and other public affairs, undermining public confidence in North Macedonia’s democratic institutions,” the State Department said in a statement.

According to the State Department, the decision to blacklist Ramiz Merko “sends a message that the United States stands with North Macedonia in promoting stability by strengthening democratic institutions and addressing deficiencies in functioning of the rule of law”.

Ramiz Merko, of Albanian origin, is the third politician from North Macedonia to be put on the US “blacklist”. In April 2022, the US State Department “blacklisted” the former Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, holding him responsible for a series of “serious corruption cases in the country” which “undermine the functioning of the rule of law and undermine peace and stability in the Western Balkans region,” as well as the former head of North Macedonia’s secret services, Saso Mijalkov (a first cousin of Nikola Gruevski).

It is noted that last December the USA sent a team of experts to Skopje to identify corrupt actors in North Macedonia and had warned that they would impose sanctions against them.

66-year-old Ramiz Merko is serving his fourth term as mayor of Struga, a lakeside town next to Ohrid, and has also served as an MP, as well as a minister without portfolio in Zoran Zaev’s first government. He is also the head of the party organization of the DUI in Struga.

DUI is the largest Albanian party in North Macedonia, led by Ali Ahmeti.