Yesterday may be considered another historic event for Albania, because in the space of almost three or four years, Mr. Genscher, Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister of Germany, came to Albania for the eighth time. The first two times he met with the communist leaders. The results are known. Among them, we single out especially his urgent visit to secure Albania’s admission to the CSCE. This was great assistance, because we would have had no support at all had it not been for the government of stability. Yesterday, however, he came to support President Sali Berisha and the first democratic government in 50 years, headed by Aleksandër Meksi. He made this purpose clear at the press conference before local and foreign journalists. Before he entered the Palace of Congresses, the crowd of young people waiting for this distinguished representative of the German people cheered Mr. Genscher. He stopped and greeted them. At that moment we also saw a small German flag held by the young people. This was a spontaneous, modest expression of the great affection the Albanian people, especially the young, cherish for Germany. Our mothers can never forget the days of the exodus to the embassies, when around 3,000 Albanian young men were welcomed with cheers by the German state. They escaped the communist hell and now enjoy life and work as worthy, equal citizens in Germany alongside their German brothers. This is added to all those outstanding positions Germany has taken, and to its support for President, Prof. Doctor Sali Berisha. Thus Germany will make every effort, within its capabilities, for Albania to take its place in the European community. Germany supports our desire for association with the European community. This means that Albania must prepare for a period before entering the Common Market. Mr. Genscher gave his word as a German that his country would support Albania’s admission to all international financial institutions and help it obtain assistance from the Group of 24 so that it can also become a member of the Council of Europe. He emphasized the relevant funds of this organization, since Germany has made a substantial contribution to that fund. It will support us so that Albania, too, can benefit from the contribution of the 24 most developed states. A concrete expression of this goodwill is also the official announcement of a large delegation of German specialists, who will work to draw up a plan of needs and concrete cooperation between the two countries, in support of Albania’s reform and development. “My coming to Albania for the third time,” Mr. Genscher said, among other things, “shows that Germany does not regard Albania as a country of Eastern Europe, because we consider you a country of Southeastern Europe.” At long last, after half a century, and with the definition given by a personality such as Mr. Genscher, we are breaking away from that “East” into which we were grouped against the wishes of a people that has always looked towards the West. Mr. Genscher was asked many questions by the— ...the great affection the Albanian people cherish for Germany, especially the young. Our mothers can never forget how Albanian young men were taken under the protection of alongside their German brothers. This adds to all those outstanding positions Germany has taken throughout history in defense of the Albanian cause. This goodwill between the two peoples was also confirmed in the presentation made by President Sali Berisha and Mr. Genscher about the talks they held together. But what are we asking Germany for through our dear friend Genscher? Help in establishing the rule of law, order and security; in taking the first steps towards turning agriculture around; in restarting the mines; and loans to launch the activities of businesses, so they can do away with the ruinous 80 percent. These are not small requests, and we are not asking them of a foreigner, but of a friend and a country that we regard as a companion and friend. What was Mr. Genscher’s response to these requests? At the beginning of the conversation he said that he had come here to support the new government formed after free and fair elections. Under ... our requests cannot be considered as those of a country in Eastern Europe, because we are considered part and with the definition given by a prominent that “East”—where many questions by Albanian and foreign journalists. He answered benevolently, even giving the questions a great deal of time. Among them, a special place was given to Germany’s position on the right of the people of Kosovo to self-determination. The answer was clear and firm: Germany, like the entire European Community, through the relevant documents of Helsinki and the CSCE, supports the right of every people to self-determination, but this does not at all mean changing borders. He stated that in Europe the time for the realization of ...

(ASSESSMENTS FROM THE STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF ALBANIA, 1991) The benefits of democracy and freedom are being felt more and more each day, on the scale of an uninterrupted chain reaction across all activities in such major spheres as politics, ideology, art, culture, sociology, and the economy. One of the areas into which they are rushing most forcefully, with the strength of a hurricane, is that of information and statistics. It is understandable that a totalitarian and dictatorial regime could not allow—and, indeed, did not allow—transparency or freedom of information. The opposite would have made the economy’s decadence and continual decline towards the abyss stink in the open; it would have exposed the torch that revealed the eternal debacle of the socialist economy; in other words, it would have ruined that façade painted with artificial flowers, which inside contained nothing but rot, sludge, and rubbish. Under these circumstances, the golden gates of information and statistics could not help but be opened to everyone, in complete freedom. A gap of this kind For, although there are fluctuations, growth in production and national income per capita is always guaranteed in a spiral. Only in this way can the preservation of the material standard of living and its further improvement, the continual enrichment of people, be understood. As in every other field, the opposite happened in our country’s economy: misguided economic decisions, experiment after experiment, led with the force of an avalanche not merely to a slowing of growth rates, but to a marked decline in them, until the point was reached where in 1990 we produced and consumed less per capita than in 1980. Thus gross domestic product, which stood at 5,816 lek per capita at the beginning of the decade, reached a level of 5,163 lek by its end, or 12 percent less. The important indicator of national income per capita followed the same course—it fell from 4,568 to 4,030 lek, respectively. These are among the key indicators showing that we were heading towards the abyss, as— had to be opened to everyone, fully and without restriction. A gap of this kind is filled by the passionate and speedy work carried out by the Directorate of Statistics to publish the “Statistical Yearbook of Albania, 1991.” To tell the truth, yearbooks for internal use and even for the public were published under the one-party system as well. But their characteristic was not to provide information, but to conceal it, manipulate it with percentages, hide indicators reflecting the decline of the economy, conceal especially macroeconomic indicators and the standard of living, and hide failures in the main branches of the economy, etc. The new yearbook can be considered a step, a spark that will fill a vital space, like oxygen for a person to breathe, without which one cannot claim to have full and genuine freedom and democracy. This also fulfills one of the dreams of the author of this article, who for years has tried to gather data and figures from every direction, but never collected them completely or accurately, because of the “secrecy” and “locks,” even though he was engaged in macroeconomic studies. In this sense, the imprisonment of information owes a great debt not only to the level of economists’ training and their logic. But just as the past owes it, now it is generously opening the door so that every economist may express their own views on the transition to a market economy with scientific knowledge, confidence, and without hesitation, having at times in Albania, from me ... [?] ... [?] were accompanied by bald, gold-colored façades decorated with artificial flowers, but inside they did not provide what the rest of the world, with which we traded, had. Paradoxes of this kind are incompatible with freedom and democracy. Since I have had the opportunity to get my hands on such a rich document, I cannot refrain from offering some general considerations about the decaying economy of “socialist” Albania. The denial of historical laws that determined humanity’s course toward progress and flourishing, as had been proven in Europe, America, and elsewhere, was the first cataclysm that showed us the failure of Marxism-Leninism and every kind of dictatorship. It took 47 years for this cataclysm, in the form of the Hitlerian experiment, to turn into its opposite and repudiate what had by then been called the barbaric and inhuman “socialism.” And as for the revenge and decay of the fortress with clay foundations called socialism, it came particularly in the last ten years; its foundations began not only to crack, but also to crumble. Thus ... [?] Throughout the world, it is a well-known fact rise rapidly, sometimes more slowly, and in rare cases temporarily remain unchanged.

Honored and respected President of the Republic of Albania, Prof. Doctor Sali Berisha! Under the infamous communist decree No. 201, dated 22.3.1950, on the expropriation of certain private buildings, 900 citizens throughout Albania were unjustly expropriated by a decision. The communist regime did not even convene the People’s Assembly, but the decision was made by an order taking immediate effect, signed by the then Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly and the relevant secretary. It has been more than a year since people began speaking about the return of these properties, but, as is understandable, the monist system and the offspring of the communist system exploited the period of stability and, in the relevant Parliament, never agreed to adopt a decision for their return. As ... [?] It seems to me the decision that justice will undertake ... [?] were sentenced ... [?] Now ... [?] we ask that their properties be returned to us, or all of them to the people ... [?] ... while another group ... [?] the problem is on a bureaucratic road for everyone, when, just as they ... [?] for ... [?] ... In a ... [?] ... some complaints are also being made ... [?] that ... [?] and the properties that have been demolished ... [?] ... democratic and ... [?] ... democracy in Albania ... [?] With deep respect and consideration, on behalf of a group of citizens ... [?] Signed by ... [?] ...

Paradoxes in the socialist economy are well known; they are part of its nature. But it seems to me that the «Statistical Yearbook of Albania» has concentrated and accumulated a multiple of the familiar paradoxes. You can see this on every page and in every table you leaf through. The paradox of paradoxes is the phenomenon whereby, in 1990, the share allocated to consumption was greater than all the national income produced and used. More clearly: of the 12.23 billion lek that was the volume of national income used in 1990, 12.3 billion lek went to consumption, or 70 million lek more. Not only an economist, but any ordinary person or intellectual can ask: How can such a thing happen? For economic science this is unacceptable and mathematically impossible. It is well known throughout the world that, depending on the factors at work, macroeconomic indicators sometimes rise rapidly, sometimes more slowly, and only rarely remain temporarily unchanged. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FEATURES OF THIS FURTHER FAILURE? MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS PER CAPITA AT THE 1980 LEVEL. more slowly, and only rarely remain temporarily unchanged. ... [?]

As long as it is not too late On 18 April 1992, Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi presented to Parliament the program of the government he heads. I do not undertake to critique the program of the new government, but I wish to point out that the program did not mention Civil Protection. In this way, the new government denies the entire population its most elementary and legitimate right, that of ... [?] This will ... [?] It seems that neither the prime minister nor the new government knows about Civil Protection. By way of reminder, Mr. Prime Minister, I will cite some of the provisions of the Civil Protection legal code that have been left open: “Civil Protection is a primary duty of the state” (14 March 1991, Government Acts, register No. 32, page 7). Whereas, Mr. Prime Minister, Civil Protection remains under the authority of the Ministry of Defence, that is, for the year ... [?] ... ... the tasks and places of origin, that is, Civil Protection should deal only with problems or the elimination of the consequences of war and earthquakes that strike military [targets]. I would remind you of the catastrophic consequences of the 1987 earthquake in Armenia, where 20,000 people lost their lives and another 100,000 were injured, and of the devastation, and the forces of Civil Protection of the Soviet Union and the former republics of the European ... of the USSR are the only ones in Europe without ... [?] Today, in the civilized world, powerful organizations exist under the auspices of the United Nations, such as UNDRO (United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator’s Office), IDNDR (International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction), which provide the whole world with technical assistance ...

Mr. Petro Dhimitri, member of the Governing Committee of the RP and editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Republika», declared that he was withdrawing from the Republican Party because of disagreements with the Governing Committee. The Governing Committee repeatedly called Mr. Dhimitri to account, also admonishing him for monopolizing the work of the newspaper and imposing his personal will. There were also troubling instances of unauthorized articles that did not accord with the Party’s policies. But Mr. Dhimitri never took the Governing Committee’s admonitions into account. Given also the fact that Mr. Dhimitri is leaving the Party of his own accord, the Governing Committee decided to dismiss him from his post as editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Republika».