April 12 (SeeNews) - The U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on seven individuals and one entity in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro for being engaged in destabilising and corrupt behavior, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said.
The designated individuals are former Member of Parliament (MP) Aqif Rakipi and media owner Ylli Ndroqi from Albania, as well as MP Asim Sarajlic and former chief state prosecutor Gordana Tadic from Bosnia, OFAC said in a statement on Monday.
In Montenegro, the targeted actors who threaten the stability of the region through corruption are former president of the common state of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marovic. The State Department is also imposing sanctions on North Macedonia's former prime minister Nikola Gruevski and his Hungarian-based company I.C.I.C. KFT, as well as Sasho Mijalkov, former chief of the counterintelligence service in North Macedonia, OFAC added.
“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,” the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson, said in the statement.
Due to the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the designated individuals or entities that are in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC.
Furthermore, the State Department is instituting a visa ban for the individuals from North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.