Skopje, 13 December 2023 (MIA) - United States Ambassador Angela Aggeler said Wednesday that designating former deputy PM Kocho Angjushev for significant corruption is not based on suspicions but hard evidence over his involvement in corrupt activities in several cases, Deutsche Welle reports.

"These are not suspicions. We know exactly what Angjushev did," says Ambassador Aggeler.

At today's press briefing, Aggeler said Angjushev has already appealed the decision through his lawyer in the U.S. but this would not change anything.

The Ambassador welcomed the Government's move to put forward a law on opening investigations for those who are placed on the U.S. blacklist, as is the case with the EU and UN lists.

According to her, there is an epidemic of corruption in North Macedonia, prevalent in all walks of life and rising significantly over the past decade. She recalled that the United States has allocated nearly EUR 500 million for the rule of law and good governance in the country over the past 32 years of bilateral ties, but still "we see an epidemic of corruption".

"It is present in all sectors and all organizations, and by naming corrupt actors we can start helping this country to deal with this," said Aggeler.

The fact the Ambassador finds puzzling is that every new name on the list "does not surprise anyone, neither the citizens nor the officials".

Aggeler said that following the blacklisting of Struga Mayor Ramiz Merko in June, no judiciary authority or institution have turned to their counterparts in the U.S. to ask them to share the evidence they have, in order to launch an investigation in the country, for all individuals on the list.