Richard Nephew, US State Department Corruption Coordinator, stated in an interview with the Voice of America in Albanian language that they couldn’t share more details as to why the Struga Mayor Ramiz Merko was added to the so-called US “black list”.

“The decision was made because the State Secretary Blinken had credible information suggesting that Merko was involved in a large corruption. Hence, in accordance too the law, when the State Secretary comes up with such conclusion, there is a legal obligation to start the procedure, as it happened on Tuesday”, Nephew told Voice of America.

Responding to the question on what specific evidence was this decision based, the US Corruption Coordinator said that it is about abuse  of financial assets and interference in court procedures.

“You know, regarding the nature of the decisions and their legal grounds, that is all information we can share with the public about this case”, Nephew added.