Former Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi, who was sanctioned by the US, said he was retiring from politics and public life.
"Dear citizens,
Throughout my public life, I have been uncompromisingly committed to the equality of Albanians in North Macedonia, to a region at peace, to full integration into NATO, to a strategic partnership with the United States, and to membership in the European Union," Grubi wrote on Facebook.
The former deputy prime minister added that "in front of God, family and friends" he was "as pure as a tear", but said he did not want to be a liability for his party, the Democratic Union for Integration (the largest party of Albanians in North Macedonia).
"This is a difficult decision, but necessary for the peace of mind of my family and the preservation of my personal and political integrity, as well as to support the continuity of the work and dedication of our leader Ali Ahmeti," Grubi wrote.
BGNES recalls that on 9 December the US imposed sanctions against former Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia Artan Grubi and Court of Appeals Judge Enver Bedjeti for corruption.
The State Department said that Grubi and Bedjeti accepted bribes to undermine the 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. For more than ten years he was a "complete master" and unchangeable head of the services during the rule of his cousin, the exemplar Nikola Gruevski, who fled the country in 2018 and received protection from Viktor Orban in Hungary. | BGNES
