US Ambassador to Macedonia Angela Aggeler said that in the coming months the Macedonian public will hear names of official who will be put on US black lists for their corruption. Aggeler pointed out that several US institutions are looking into corruption allegations in Macedonia, which has become a burning political issue after she announced that a team of sanctions experts was in the country at the end of December.

There are a number of different types of sanctions lists. There is not one list and then we are done – there is a continuous review of those who we believe have run afoul of the expectations the US has in order to continue to allow those people in the US or face other kinds of financial sanctions… It’s my expectation that within the coming months we will see a few names. Again, to be very clear, that conversation is one that we have, I have, my team here has with Washington. We are not soliciting the input of people in this country, and believe me, people have shared with this embassy since I arrived here many many names of people they believe should be on some type of sanctions lists and we certainly look at them, Aggeler said.

In her Telma TV interview she again urged the country to implement the so-called French proposal, which requires Macedonia to bring the Bulgarian community into the preamble of the Constitution. She also urged for calm considering the growing tensions between Macedonia and Bulgaria, after a Bulgarian nationalist outburst in Skopje and the severe beating of a Bulgarian activist in Ohrid. She also expressed her support for the press, after top Government leaders Ali Ahmeti and Dimitar Kovacevski strongly rebuked Telma and Alfa TV, but also asked the media not to criticize the politicians in a way that constitutes a personal attack.