Athens is declared tutor of Albania - Criticism of the 1943 collaborators does not justify the 1993 collaborators - Selling national interests is neither political balance nor Europeanism - REP. 2006 83, It is difficult to find in the recent history of the SP, or in the old history of its predecessor, a document that sets out, at least publicly, such an openly anti-national platform as the joint declaration of the Socialist Party of Albania and the Panhellenic Movement (PASOK), published on 17 June 1993. Today is not the time to delve into the historical, ideological, or family motives that compelled the SP leaders to sign such an anti-Albanian document. But since it implicates and formulates the political strategy of the two main opposition parties in our two countries today and, naturally, has consequences for national interests, we consider it worthwhile for the public to examine its basic details. The current leadership of the SP declares its strategy for historical relations with Greece, which means that Greece is given priority in building all of Albania’s bilateral relations, in its relations with all the other countries of the region and beyond. This SP platform is valid only insofar as it aligns with Albanian national interests. The thesis of “Athens as Albania’s tutor” is not new in Albanian political history. At least, it dates back to the creation of the Albanian state, when Athens and its agents in Albania constantly trumpeted the need for its tutelage over the Albanians. The Greek lobby in Albania, which in the case of the Joint Declaration has donned a socialist mantle, is taking up and putting back into circulation this thesis, with the ridiculous and childish argument that Greece is the only Balkan country that is a member of the Community. According to this logic, the other Balkan countries that aspire to European integration should also seek and accept Greece’s tutelage. To seek a tutor in politics means accepting two conditions: first, that you, whether as an opposition party or as a government, are incapable of governing on your own or independently formulating and implementing domestic and foreign policy; and second, that your degree of dependence on the tutor is such that it compels you to accept the position of a vassal. The Joint Declaration not only hands Albania over to Greece, but, in its former-Yugoslavia zeal, it says there is no Serbian aggression in Bosnia, where 200,000 people have been killed in one year, including 14,000 children; no barbaric policy by Millosheviç against all the non-Serb peoples of former Yugoslavia; no genocide and occupation of Kosovo by Serbia. The Joint Declaration contains the Greek positions and stances on the war in Bosnia, the crisis in former Yugoslavia, and the prospects for resolving it. Anti-Albanian and pro-Greek zeal goes so far as to promote the Serbian and Greek thesis opposing the Albanian question and international community military interventions in the region, which means opposing not only direct intervention but also control of the skies and control of the Adriatic The current leadership of the Socialist Party represents neither the body of its ordinary members, much less the people, who above all [text unclear] for Albania. And the people have a memory as hard as iron, enough to remember who tried to put obstacles in their way, on the long and arduous road toward the national question. … of the strike … The current leadership of the PS announces its strategy for relations with the Greek minority, which means that this is a priority in building all of Albania’s bilateral relations, among all the other countries of the region, and with international political mechanisms and organizations, and beyond. Making relations with Greece a priority is the same foreign policy in two directions: first, through its foreign-policy methodology and, second, through European integration, giving it every opportunity to formulate an interest for the public in its speech and in its basic positions. To recall the factor … first, that you, as a party or as a government, are not capable of governing on your own, nor of independently drafting degree of dependence on others is such that it forces Declaration, not only [unclear] Albanian tyrants of Greece, but in its phil-Greek zeal goes so far as to seek to favor Greece in all the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, asking that Greece be given the bill, and asking the European Community, in the most undignified manner, to leave its multifaceted policy on the Balkans in Athens’s hands. At the very least, this may be called political corruption; at worst, it is clear what it is. A bilateral document in which the fate of the Albanians of Macedonia is not mentioned at all: how can an Albanian sign a bilateral document in which Çamëria is not mentioned, nor the interests and rights of the Cham people in Greece, who are four times more numerous than the Greek minority in the south? How can an Albanian sign a document that speaks about the Balkans but mentions neither Serbia nor Milošević as aggressors? Only those who formulate the PS’s foreign policy beside the Puppet Theatre square in Tirana could accept this. The current leadership of the PS speaks about the Balkans in the language of Sofo Lazri in 1988. For them, there is no Serbian aggression in…

The former ministers of the Party of Labour, the old ones, can now be seen rarely, very rarely, on some afternoon in Tirana’s bars. There are no more Party of Labour ministers. Now there are new politicians seeking to build democracy, in new right-wing parties, such as the Socialist Party, or even newer ones. Only the Party of Labour’s ministers are no longer around. Will you believe that? Namik Dokle, a new politician, among the youngest of the PSSH. Not for any former Yugoslavia or for its prospects for resolution. and control of the Adriatic. Kastr(i)ot Islami. Who said Doctor Islami was ever a minister? But even if he was, what dog’s rule is there that won’t let him become a minister again? Make him a minister and you’ll see that the peasants will buy tractors and combine harvesters and won’t work the land with oxen or old tractors. So make him Minister of Agriculture and see. Just don’t make him Minister of Education, because then the students will be called upon to demand that Islami become president. But Dokle can become president and, you understand, we can’t upset Dokle. Fatos Nano, you are among the new politicians. Have you ever seen him in a minister’s chair? He may have appeared … about the prospects of … The Socialist Party, or even newer ones. Only the ministers of the Party of Labour are no longer in … are you convinced of this? Namik Dokle, a new politician, one of the youngest in the PSSH. He has never been a minister of the Party of Labour, not for a single day. Not Minister of Public Utilities, certainly not Minister of Internal Affairs. Nor Minister of Trade or Telecommunications. He has never been Minister of Foreign Affairs. But Dokle is clever, educated, witty, and has never been a minister. It is just that he was the Minister of Propaganda of the Party of Labour. Minister of Propaganda, which means minister of prisons, minister of the shackles on freedom of speech, minister of… Gramoz Ruçi. He, too, The Party of Labour … The Socialist Party, … the prisons of the Albanian cells. Try making Ruçi a minister. And you will see the cell prisons turn into holiday camps. Fatos Nano, the youngest among the young politicians. Have you ever seen him in a concentration camp? He may have shined Adil Carcani’s shoes, but he has never been a minister. Why shouldn’t Nano be a minister? Fehmi Avdiu. An old and new politician. Never a minister. A judge and investigator, yes. Why shouldn’t he be, for example, Minister of Economy and Finance? In fact, he has no experience, but he can play the minister’s role. And a lot can be gained if Angjeli and his double masters win. Anastas Angjeli, never a minister. Make Angjeli a minister. He has ability. if Angjeli and his double masters win. Make him Minister of Agriculture and you will the students will get bored of asking for Islami to we can’t upset Dokle. Moikom Zeqo. He never thought of becoming a minister during the time of the Party of Labour. Even when he was the Party of Labour secretary’s associate in culture, Moikom did not think of becoming a minister. Poor fellow. At least he should have thought about it. Because if he had, despite all the work and books he produced, they would have made him a minister. Let him become one now, Minister of Public Order and of writers and artists. Kadare will be very pleased. Leontiev Cuçi. Minister, and how! To seat this man in a minister’s chair and not want to make a writer of him. Where has this … come from? (continued on page 4)

- The DP must not fall into the rally trap, just as it fell into the promise trap… No Albanian or foreigner who wants to do something good for themselves in Albania can remain indifferent to the electoral atmosphere, resembling an atmosphere of a tendency, resembling that of politicians. ARBEN BLLACI No Albanian or foreigner who wants to do something good for themselves in Albania can remain indifferent to the electoral atmosphere, resembling an atmosphere of a tendency, resembling that of politicians, who in recent years in Albania were never supported in the true sense of the word. With all its sadness, this is understandable. First, because the initiators of such an action are the SP, which throws things into confusion and covers up, uncovers the campaign in advance and, with the power it had, exploited it so quickly that [text corrupted], as it suited it; the DP, which … … (continued on page 4)

LAZER STANI “Politics is no business for poets,” a wise man once said. Put another way, crime is the business of poets, of practitioners of art in general. The poet’s task is to give voice to what Oktavio Paz calls “the other voice,” to record it in words—not merely to record the work of the heart in an electrocardiogram, but to capture experiences in all their fluid, elusive spiritual nuances, entirely legible, as well as what is unreadable to existence, since within human beings there is a poetic tissue of feeling and perception. The prose writer, too, must do the same in the laboratory of their confused creative work, during the active time of creation, the active time of art. But how long is this active time of creation compared with the other time that the artist lives not as an artist but as one of society’s ordinary people? At least for Albanian writers, this active time of creation, the time of art, seems to me to have been greatly reduced, drowned out and driven away by the other time which, if judged by the concept of artistic time, is dead time. Spread out and dispersed, stimulated also by numerous external motives, this dead time is exerting constant pressure on the active time of art, making it retreat and contract, compressing and reducing it so much that, at a certain moment, it approaches zero. The absurd and unacceptable politicization of the spirit, difficult economic conditions, difficulties in publishing, the disorientation in the [unclear] of a world that fails to be reborn—all of these together, not to mention other factors, have constricted the time of art so much that creators’ active time for creation has turned into passive time: writing continues as if by inertia, as if in observance of an ancient ritual, just like dozens of other rituals that people have repeated for thousands of years without caring about their content, meaning, or usefulness. They simply follow a custom, as Borges would say. The amorality of a time that restricts and atrophies the active time of art (which you could also call the time of the spirit) to a minimum is incomprehensible and beyond challenge. If the active time of art is also the active time of the spirit (and this is what I believe), then the atrophy of this time means spiritual [text cut off] … (continued on page 4)

“Why should it be called only a ‘Republic’? What kind of Constitution is this? If it is not called only a ‘Republic’, why should it be called a ‘Democratic Republic’? What is this ‘Democratic Republic’?” N., the madwoman from Tirana, was shouting this on Friday and Saturday morning in front of the Privatization Agency. “The content of the Constitution doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter whether it is good or bad. I am a lawyer. I have experience too. The quality of the laws doesn’t matter. Why did the Constitution arrive on the 16th? And why were these deputies dismissed? What do deputies have to do with the Constitution? Ah, as for the deputies… Yes, one has gone missing… Yes, yes, he is missing. He has these features: thin, [unclear], with black hair, slightly receding on top of what he has for a head. Thin moustache, [unclear] in color. If you find him, I want you to contact the criminal section…” “Will a mania be played out? According to what you hear from the leftists. That’s what they say, the mathematical calculations. But it could be otherwise too. Wait and see. Our party is for sale in all the state offices and elsewhere for 25 years…” At the end, D. whispered to me: “Leave this. Our refugees in Greece have been [unclear]; they will become property owners…” In the history of independent Albania. I see it here … from … and in … These politicians and [unclear]—if you wake up to the best of … The draft law on opening the files! A law to open the files? If you have a file, if you were a Sigurimi spy and you make laws to open the files, you can’t claim that you had a file. You Albanians should make laws to open the files! And among the latest revelations of this pathological Albanian [text unclear]. In the coming elections, history belongs to the leftists. If they come to power, our 200,000 refugees in Greece will become property owners. The Greeks will work for these Albanian owners. As a party, we are ready to reconsider. We announce the construction of a house. We have an apartment with 6 rooms and a kitchen, and we will exchange it for one room and a kitchen. The price is reasonable. Let B. Zeneli accept me into the Socialist Party. The etymology of the word corruption is ancient. In modern Albanian it translates as entanglement through irresponsibility. If today’s ministers are corrupt, then we former ministers are forgiven for our corruption. On the last page: KROKMAN

On 16 June 1993, Mr. Babri Gado received the Polish ambassador in Palestine, at the latter’s request. Relations between the two peoples were discussed, as well as concrete steps that could also be taken in the field of economic cooperation. On the same date, Mr. Gado held talks with Poland’s chargé d’affaires, Mr. Jerzy Zawidbonke. Views were exchanged on political developments in Poland and Albania. Relations between the two countries have gained good momentum. The Chancellor [??] of Gdansk is cooperating very successfully with our shipyard in Durrës. … have been signed, and other agreements are under consideration. Kompas | Republika…

1. Nexhmije Hoxha, in an interview she gave to Italian Television, declared: “A democratic state is not being built in Albania, but revanchism.” Fatos Nano, Namik Dokle, and ‘ZP’ have often declared: “The Albanian state is a revanchist state.” Here is a riddle: Is Nexhmije Hoxha in an alliance with Dokle and Nano, or are Dokle and Nano in an alliance with Hoxha? Whoever gets it right will be unrivalled. 2. The Socialist Party boycotted Parliament over the Constitution, because it had not been presented to the entire Commission on the 16th. The PSD also declared that it would not enter Parliament until the Constitution arrived. Here is a riddle: Is the PS allied with the PSD, or is the PSDSH allied with the Socialist Party? The winner will become a member of the free owners’ association. PERTIT SKENDERI