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Maliqi: Expansion of US sanctions, a message for discipline of actors in the region

Agon Maliqi

Political analyst Agon Maliqi, on the "Tempus" show on KTV, said that the expansion of US sanctions sends a clear message to actors in the region: those who violate the red lines of security policies may face consequences.

"I believe that the main political message is that we are still watching you, in a way we are seeing what you are doing, it is a re-emphasis of the urgency, that is, some kind of marketing effort that we have invested in. All this security infrastructure is our product," said Maliqi.

He emphasized that this action aims to discipline regional actors, while those who end up on the sanctions list for corruption often have connections that negatively affect security policies.

"So, a corrupt official becomes somewhat vulnerable to the influences of other powers because he is included in certain networks."
"So, it becomes a problem beyond corruption, it becomes a security problem for that country but also for the United States of America," Maliqi added.

He also said that the US is sending a signal to the Balkans, a region that is now seen as peripheral but still important.

"And they want to say that somehow they are at the end of their patience with the unresolved problems of the Balkans. That is why they no longer have patience for players and actors who prolong this kind of agony of solutions that we know will be," he emphasized.

Maliqi mentioned the fact that these measures come at the end of the Biden administration's term, including changes to executive orders that expanded the base of punishable offenses.

"This order has existed since 2001, has undergone various evolutions and now comes at the end of the Biden administration's mandate, thus expanding the net of what can be considered a sanctionable act. So, including the attempt to engage, not just engage," said Maliqi.

He added that the largest sanctions on Russia were also imposed in the final weeks of Biden's term, emphasizing that this is no coincidence.

"My suspicion, at least, is that this is not a coincidence, that major sanctions against Russia are being implemented this week, the largest and most punishing ones were implemented in the last weeks of the Biden administration," Maliqi continued.

According to him, some regional actors have consistently obstructed US strategic goals./Oath for Justice