North Macedonia Prosecution Pledges Action Over US Blacklisted Mayor

North Macedonia's Prosecutor's Office is working on at least six active cases that are in different stages of investigation and refer to suspicions of abuse of position and fraud in connection with the Mayor of Struga, Ramiz Merko.

The Prosecution revealed this on Thursday after the US earlier this week put Merko on its corruption black list, saying it had information that he has been involved "in significant corruption".

This revelation that Merko was being investigated on six accounts came along with a note from the Prosecution saying: "There are well-founded suspicions of inaction and unprofessionalism on the part of the prosecutors handling these cases."

The Prosecution pledged that, following the US move, it would launch "special investigations" into the work of these prosecutors.

"The Prosecutor's office will immediately check the legality and speed of their action, as well as the possible impact on the course of these cases, on a case-by-case basis. Criminal proceedings will be instituted against all prosecutors who are found to have acted untimely, unprofessionally and under the influence," it added.

The long-standing mayor of Struga is a prominent member of the junior ruling ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI. Merko is the first politician from North Macedonia's ruling alliance to be put on a US black list of people linked to corruption.

The US State Department on Tuesday added that, "while serving as Struga's mayor, Ramiz Merko misappropriated funds and interfered with judicial and other public processes", sparking a guessing game about his concrete wrongdoings.

The Prosecution has shed a little more light but remained similarly vague on the concrete cases.

Proceedings are ongoing...