Former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski responded to the decision of the US Government to blacklist him for alleged corruption. Gruevski, and his cousin and former security chief Saso Mijalkov, are barred entry to the US and any their property there will be frozen.

For a while there was talk about what was announced today. High Government officials from Macedonia were open about lobbying for this outcome. My years long efforts to resolve the name issue in a different way than it was eventually resolved, my decisions linked to the migrant crisis and the closure of the Balkan corridor in 2016 and several other decisions in which I tried to preserve Macedonia’s national interests irritated some countries and gained my enemies such as George Soros, who invested a lot of effort and money to bring down my Government. I regret the decision of the State Department. The allegations against me are incorrect and come from the years long political persecution I faced in Macedonia. Even though I have no property in the United States, I feel a sense of great injustice because I worked honestly and responsibly and fought for our state and national interests, while trying not to endanger the interests of Macedonia’s allies. I was never driven by personal, financial or material interest. I will continue to fight to prove the truth. I will continue to fight for Macedonia, Gruevski said.