The US administration put Artan Grubi, former First Deputy Prime Minister and right hand man of DUI party leader Ali Ahmeti, on their black list. Along with Grubi, judge Enver Bexheti was also placed on the list for “significant corruption” and both will be banned from entering the United States.

The Department of State is publicly designating Artan Grubi and Enver Bexheti for their involvement in significant corruption by accepting bribes to undermine judicial processes tied to the criminal conviction of Sasho Mijalkov, director of (North) Macedonia’s Administration for Security and Counterintelligence (UBK). Mijalkov was designated in 2022 for significant corruption.. As part of this action, Grubi’s immediate family members are also designated, the decision states.

US Ambassador to Macedonia Angela Aggeler issued a social media statement saying that “the designation of Artan Grubi and Enver Bexheti is evidence that political interference in the judiciary cannot – and will not – be tolerated. The United States will continue to name those who engage in significant corruption that undermines democratic institutions and corrodes public trust. No one is above the law, and accountability is essential for progress, Ambassador Aggeler said, adding “corruption has consequences” and “justice is blind”.

The move comes as DUI is trying to create ethnic tensions, by demanding that the Constitutional Court (whose justices are largely elected by DUI and SDSM) stops deliberation on a controversial law on the use of the Albanian language. Grubi, formerly head of a group of nationalist football hooligans, was also suspected in the recent burning of Macedonian flags during unruly Albanian celebrations of their Independence Day across Macedonia – moves that caused outrage.

DUI is notorious for the numerous corruption allegations accumulated over its two decades in power, and the fact that almost none have been investigated. Mijalkov, the once powerful state security director, faced numerous corruption and abuse of office charges, but largely made a mockery of the cases, as he was either allowed to serve token sentences under an extremely liberal prison regime, or had the cases overturned with the help of the controversial changes to the criminal code pushed forward by DUI and SDSM.