Notice Mr. Petro Dhimitri, member of the Steering Committee of the PR and editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Republika", stated that he is leaving the Republican Party because of disagreements with the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee has repeatedly called Mr. Dhimitri’s attention to issues, also making remarks about personalized monopolization and personal diktat. Also troubling have been cases of departures from the burden that do not align with the Party’s policy. But Mr. Dhimitri never took the Steering Committee’s remarks into account. Since it has also become apparent that Mr. Dhimitri is leaving the Party of his own will, the Steering Committee decided to dismiss him from the post of editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Republika".

On 18 April 1992 Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi presented in parliament the program of the new government for taking the country forward. While It Is Not Too Late What Will Become of Civil Defense On 18 April 1992 Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi presented in parliament the program of the new government for taking the country forward. I do not claim to be in opposition to the new government’s program, but in any case this program did not mention Civil Defense. Yet, in a timely manner, the new government begins by addressing the most basic and vital needs of the people: civil protection, and after that the natural and wartime catastrophes. This page aims to a [?]. Apparently neither the prime minister nor the new officials know Civil Defense. As for the prime minister, I would remind him of some provisions of Italy’s Civil Defense law, which states that "Civil Defense is a primary duty of the state" (1 March 1981, Article 6, register 32, page 7). Meanwhile, the 2011 Prime Ministerial decree on Civil Defense in Italy states that it remains under the Ministry of Defense, but comes with assistance in the name of experience, and governs the former Soviet Union. Civil Defense deals especially with the problems of eliminating the consequences of war, powerful earthquakes, fires, and not least the catastrophic consequences of the 1987 earthquake in Armenia, where 20,000 people lost their lives and 100,000 others were injured. The interventions of the Soviet Union’s Civil Defense forces proved valuable and provided assistance, operating without moral mediation and BIRA, our only country in Europe without a Civil Defense law (1). Today in the civilized world there are powerful organizations under the care of the United Nations such as UNIDRO [?] (the office of the United Nations Coordinator for disaster relief), IDNDR (International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction), which provide technical and tactical assistance to the entire world without interest. ALBAN XHULI (To be continued on pages 3-4-5)

Yesterday can be considered another historic event for Albania, because after nearly a quarter of a century, Mr. Gensher, Germany’s Deputy Chancellor and Foreign Minister, came to Albania for the third time. MR. GENSHER EXTENDS GERMANY’S SUPPORTIVE HAND Yesterday can be considered another historic event for Albania, because after nearly a quarter of a century, Mr. Gensher, Germany’s Deputy Chancellor and Foreign Minister, came to Albania for the third time. During his first two visits he met with communist leaders. The results followed. Among them, we particularly note his urgent arrival to help secure Albania’s admission to the CSCE. And this was a great help, because no backing comes without cost, or so it seemed, for the stability government. Yesterday, however, he came to support President Sali Berisha and the first democratic government in 50 years, headed by Aleksandër Meksi. He made that aim clear at the press conference before local and foreign journalists. Before entering the Palace of Congresses, crowds of young people waiting for this distinguished representative of the German people cheered for Mr. Gensher. They stopped us and greeted him; at that moment we also saw a small German flag held in the young people’s hands. This was a small but sublime expression of the great affection that the Albanian people, especially the youth, hold for Germany. Our mothers can never forget the days of the exodus to that Germany, when hundreds of Albanian boys were taken under the protection of the German state. Those Albanians were saved from the communist hell and now live and work as worthy, equal citizens in Germany alongside their German brothers. This was an ascetic gesture through which we expressed our gratitude before history in defense of the Albanian cause. More concretely, this friendship between the two peoples was also proven in the exhibition presented by President Sali Berisha and by Mr. Gensher during the talks they held together. What, then, are we asking of Germany through our dear friend Gensher? Assistance to establish the rule of law, order and peace; to take the first steps in reforming agriculture; to put ministers to work; and to abolish the ruinous 80-percent levy. These are not small matters, and we are not asking this of a stranger but of a friend and a man we call a comrade. So how did Mr. Gensher respond to these requests? From the very start of the conversation he said that he had come here to support the new government formed after the free elections, as well as the president, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha. Germany will therefore make every effort, within its budget, to help Albania stand on its feet. This is European support. Germany backs our wish to associate with the European community. This does not mean that Albania should be kept for a long period before entering the Common Market... Mr. Gensher gave Germany’s word that his country would support Albania in being admitted to all international financial institutions and would provide two to three years of assistance so that it could also apply to the European Council. He emphasized the relevant funds of this organization, because Germany makes a significant contribution to those funds. It will support us so that Albania too may benefit from this contribution of the 24 most developed states. A concrete expression of this goodwill is also the official inclusion in the large delegation of German specialists, who will work to draft plans for requests and concrete cooperation between the two countries, in support of Albania’s reform and development. My coming for the third time to Albania, said the German foreign minister, shows that Albania is not regarded by Germany as a country of Eastern Europe, but rather as one of Southeastern Europe. Finally, after half a century, even with the definition given by a personality such as Mr. Gensher, the people express it: "East" to which they were grouped against the people’s will, and from which they have always looked toward the West. Mr. Gensher was asked many questions by Albanian and foreign journalists. He answered them very coherently, allowing ample time for the questions. Among them, one particularly concerned Germany’s stance on the right of the Kosovar people to self-determination. The answer was clear and firm: Germany, like the European Community, possesses the relevant Helsinki and CSCE documents recognizing the right of every people to self-determination, but this does not in any way mean a change of borders. He declared that this is a reality in Europe. PETRO DHIMITRI (To be continued on page 4)

Honorable, highly respected President of the Republic of Albania, Doctor Sali Berisha! Mr. President, Do Not Delay the Return of the Property Seized by Communism Honorable, highly respected President of the Republic of Albania, Doctor Sali Berisha! According to the communist decree of division no. 700, issued on 22 March 1950, "On the nationalization of certain private buildings," around 900 citizens were unlawfully robbed; the communist regime did not even wait for the People’s Assembly to meet, and with the agreement of the then Presidium of the People’s Assembly and the relevant secretary, it was enough for the place. It has been more than a year since the return of property to former owners began, following the change in the political system and communist rule in our country. The returns are still pending in Albania to resolve a 46-year-old issue, made difficult and miserable by exactly the opposite. I do not know how this decree has stood and for what reason there has been a delay. If there are sanctions for these properties, I have not seen any, from the point of view that they belong to the descendants of the owners, and nothing else. If our rights were restored, a large part of the affected citizens would be relieved. I am not writing for myself. I was never a large property owner. But I address the President as a just man who knows what property is. These lines arise from civic concern, from the need to establish justice and finally part ways with the injustices of communism. If property is sacred, then it must be returned to its lawful owners or their heirs. With respect and confidence that you will resolve this issue in the spirit of justice and democracy. With respect and deep consideration, a group of citizens concerned by the delay in the property issue No. 891

The benefits of democracy and freedom are being felt more and more each day in the encouragement they bring out of the irreparable, which affects all activities in fields as major as politics, ideology, art, culture, sociology, and economics. TUMBLING DOWN THE ABYSS OF AN ECONOMY... (REFLECTIONS FROM THE STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF ALBANIA, 1991) The benefits of democracy and freedom are being felt more and more each day in the encouragement they bring out of the irreparable, which affects all activities in fields as major as politics, ideology, art, culture, sociology, and economics. One of the most important and urgent successes is the opening up of information and statistics. It is understandable that the totalitarian and dictatorial regime would not allow, as indeed it did not allow, transparency or freedom of information. The opposite would have caused the entire economy in that dark decade to continue sliding toward the abyss, would have lit the torch that would reveal the drowsy nature of the socialist economy, and would have shattered that painted façade of artificial bricks that contained nothing inside but decay, sludge, and rot. In these circumstances, the gates of that information and statistics could not remain closed to everyone. Such a void has now been filled, with great enthusiasm, by the publication "Statistical Yearbook of Albania, 1991" by the Directorate of Statistics. For the first time, data that were genuinely intended for internal or even public use will truly become available, not only published but also mobilized. These are characteristic not only for the data themselves, but for publication and manipulation with responses, signs of evasions that aimed at the collapse of the economy, especially the concealment of macroeconomic indicators and living standards, and the damage done to what was once the real economy. I can regard the new yearbook as a step, a spark that will fill the vital space, the oxygen for human breathing, without which one cannot work and live as a free, democratic, fully cultured person. In this sense I also acknowledge one of the motivations of the author of this article, who for years had tried to gather data and figures from here and there, but had never managed to collect complete and accurate ones because of the "secret" - the "two-tier" system, despite dealing with macroeconomic studies. In this sense I rejoice in unprecedented information, a huge gap not only at the level of economics teaching and their logic. But as the chairman has left the void behind, he is generously opening the door so that every economist can say, calmly, confidently and without hesitation, his own word about the transition to a market economy, first of all by making use of the country’s powerful potential. The positive assessment of the yearbook will be shared by every economist. This becomes even more significant when each of us sees in it not only achievements but also shortcomings. And it must be acknowledged that here much more remains to be done in order to reach European standards, which in this field may be at least possible and relatively quick to achieve. I raise the problem that information should be varied and provided over short time periods, not only annually but also monthly and quarterly. In other words, economists and the entire population should be given more information; indeed, information should not be hidden, nor should there be limits to information. The time has passed when we kept secrets and the population was separated from our researchers, while the whole world had the data and we had been used to having nothing. Paradoxes of this kind are incompatible with freedom and democracy. Nevertheless, given the opportunity to have in hand material from which one cannot refrain from offering a few reflections and remarks on the rotten economy of "socialist" Albania. The denial of free property and the bitterness caused by the entire twenty-year process toward private ownership, with the granting of real freedoms in Europe, America and everywhere, was the first cataclysm faced by the witnesses of Marxism-Leninism and dogma. It took 47 years for this cataclysm, long tormented and suppressed, to turn into its opposite and for the barbaric and inhuman path called socialism to be repudiated. And the revenge of decay upon the foundations of what was called socialism came especially in the last ten years: it began not only to crack but also to crumble, so that the whole structure would collapse, while the people kept themselves alive with humanitarian aid from foreigners. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FEATURES OF THIS YEARBOOK? MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS PER CAPITA BELOW THE 1980 LEVEL. Throughout the world it is widely accepted that, depending on the factors at work, macroeconomic indicators at times rise rapidly, at times more slowly, and in rare cases temporarily remain unchanged. Thus there are fluctuations, but in general the growth of production and national income per capita is always guaranteed. Only in this way can the maintenance of material living standards and their further improvement, the uninterrupted enrichment of people, be conceived. As in every other field, the opposite happened in the economy of our country. The wrong economic policy, experiment after experiment driven by shallow-minded forces, did not merely slow the pace but visibly reduced it, until a moment was reached when in 1990 we produced and consumed less per capita than in 1980. Thus the gross domestic product, which stood at 5,816 lek per person at the beginning of the decade, fell by the end to 5,163 lek, or 12 percent lower. The same trend can be seen in national income per capita, which fell respectively from 4,569 to 4,030 lek. These are among the clearest indicators showing that we were not moving toward growth, as we often speak of it in figurative and softened terms, but were in reality and without stopping rolling down into the abyss. IMBALANCE IN THE USE OF NATIONAL INCOME. The paradoxes of the socialist economy are well known; they are part of its nature. But in the "Statistical Yearbook of Albania" it seems to me that the many absurdities characteristic of it are concentrated and gathered together. One flips through it. The paradox of paradoxes is that in 1990 the portion that went to consumption was greater than the entire national income produced and used. More clearly: of the 12.23 billion lek of national income used in 1990, 12.3 billion lek went to consumption, or 70 million lek more. Not only every economist, but every ordinary person and intellectual can ask: How can such a thing happen? Economically, this is unacceptable and amounts to a catastrophe with deadly consequences not only for today but especially for the future. It is Dr. TEODOR KARECO (To be continued on page 2)