17.10.93 Through an interview in the newspaper “Koha Jonë,” lawyer Spartak Ngjela, in his capacity as chairman of the AD Assembly, informs Albanian public opinion that a delegation from this party will go to Belgrade. Referring only to the facts, it must be acknowledged that the politicians Ceka, imami and Ngjela (members of the delegation) will sit at negotiating tables face to face with war criminals, at the very least with their dilemmas. What will be discussed with the criminals is something the aforementioned gentlemen have certainly decided and set out in detail. In any case, let us recall that in politics one enters such specific negotiations according to a classic principle: when you are sure you will gain something, or when circumstances leave you no other alternative. Uncertainty does not seem to be the reasoning of politician Ngjela when he declares: “Nothing bad can come from talks.” The truth is that good can come from talks, but bad can come too. The criminal Millosheviç and others have already been exposed in the eyes of world opinion as demagogues as well. In every instance they talk about peace and friendship, but in reality they have always done the opposite, plunging Yugoslavia into bloodshed. So Millosheviç is a criminal, but he is also a seasoned demagogue. “I would say that we are going to Belgrade for a realistic stance,” politician Ngjela continues in his statement. So, according to this statement, realists (the Albanians) and demagogues (the Serbs) are expected to face each other in Belgrade. We will learn what will come of this meeting of such opposites when the delegation returns from Belgrade. In any case, we can say in advance that if the meeting is to have any result, then one side will have to give way. This means that either the Albanian realists will turn into demagogues, or the Serbian demagogues will become realists. And if the latter happens (that is, Millosheviç becomes a realist), the world will witness the longed-for miracle, in which the three Albanian politicians will accomplish what has long been dreamed of: defeating Millosheviç. “Are you afraid to go to Belgrade? I mean, of Albanian public opinion,” the journalist asks politician Ngjela. “No... because we are very clear about the national question,” Ngjela replies. Here the lawyer gives an answer befitting his profession, not a politician’s answer. Because, as politicians, he and his colleagues have still not convinced us that they are clear about the national question. Being clear about the national question means, first of all, defending the nation, at least from those who have directly harmed it. And the lawyer’s party has not only never done this; the facts show the opposite. from those who directly threaten this, but the facts show the opposite. The blindness to seize power as soon as possible is tying the lawyer’s party to the length of the Slavo-Greek cordon. The Greeks and Slavs have insistently demanded that this cordon extend beyond, and to Shënjër as well. To achieve the restructuring that should have been carried out on the other side. And almost everything of Albania was being drowned in Europe. And now, most recently, the AD delegation in criminalized Belgrade. All of this comes from the blindness for power. And let us recall that only a few days ago, during the defense of the outcome of the elections in Greece, the Greek embassy became the spokesperson for the campaign following the election results. While many followed these elections with excitement, among those listening to the voices of Ceka, Pashko, Doda, Zogaj, who were tracking the results of the early elections in Albania almost hour by hour, was also Mr. Gjinushi. After much discussion, it was agreed that these elections would be held in March. Only the shameless Ceka insisted they be held sooner. Perhaps the AD’s visit to Belgrade will bring new ideas, energy, and dreams. Perhaps it will also bring earlier election dates. Let us wait. Powerful Belgrade does not bark for nothing. All the more so when you too are going there with realistic aims...

Lenin’s mummy is fake Lenin’s mummy, preserved in the Mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square and always guarded by an honor guard, is fake. What is seen in the Mausoleum is simply a vulgar wax statue. This is the opinion of British expert Desmond Henley, who recently claims that it is impossible for the last remains of the father of the Soviet revolution to have been preserved so well, as they have been presented to visitors for 70 years. “The Russians do not have, and have never had, the ability to carry out such perfect work. The statue of Lenin that stands in the Mausoleum is just a wax doll,” emphasized Henley, who over 50 years has carried out 40,000 human-body embalming procedures.

The daily “Dien” and, respectively, weekly and monthly magazines have been permanently shut down because they are the organs of the new parties and movements that organized the revolt of October 3–4, which ended with the attack by the law-enforcement forces on Parliament.

Former Yugoslavia The National Bank of Yugoslavia issued a 50,000-dinar banknote on Thursday in a desperate battle against catastrophic daily inflation of 20 percent. This banknote is worth 4.5 dollars at the black-market exchange rate, reports the Belgrade-based news agency Tanjug.

Sixteen months of sanctions have brought Serbia completely to its knees, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. Official figures indicate a 25% decline in mortality in Belgrade, due to many infectious diseases that had disappeared long ago, such as typhoid, dysentery and tuberculosis. There are also, as the Belgrade press reports, still some paradoxical cases, such as the removal of pacemakers from the bodies of the dead in cemeteries and their reuse, at exorbitant prices, in the cardiac wards that need them.

After an upheaval, or a change of regime, the warring parties, once they recover from their initial daze—the victors from the intoxication of victory, the defeated from the terror of defeat—turn their attention to history. The defeated, in order to preserve something; the victors, in order to rewrite history. In a country’s relations with its personalities, the country’s size and stability on the one hand, and the power of the personality on the other, always play a major role. Read on page 3 Portrait of a man wearing glasses.

On Friday, Senator and former President of the Italian Republic Francesco Cossiga met with representatives of parliamentary political parties. Mr. Cossiga spoke about the need for political parties to exist as a factor without which the governance of a country under democratic conditions cannot be understood. He developed this idea as a current issue for discussion, also in connection with the major debate now under way in Italy and political developments in the countries of Eastern Europe. According to Mr. Cossiga, the Anglo-American system of democratic groupings that alternate in governing the country has proved to be the most suitable. The chairman of the PR, Mr. Godo, said that at a meeting with all the parties it is difficult to give a common answer to the many issues Mr. Cossiga raised for discussion in his speech that morning and during the meeting. But Albanians should at least reach agreement on some key issues, such as the political direction of the state. Some say that Albania’s roads to Europe pass through Greece, just as it was said in 1947 that Albania’s roads to Moscow passed through Belgrade. At last, it must be determined where Albania’s roads to Europe really pass. According to the Republican Party, our relations should be developed first and foremost with Europe’s major states, among ...day, groups that are formed alternately in the governance of the country has proved to be the most suitable. After the representative of the PDNJ praised Mr. Cossiga’s qualities, Mr. Servet Pëllumbi spoke on behalf of the Socialist Party. He mentioned several developments in democracy in Albania and focused on the arrest of the chairman of the PS, Fatos Nano. roads to Europe developed first and foremost with Europe’s major states, among which the closest is Italy. Mr. Ali Spahia, as a representative of the PD, also agreed with this view. The PSD representative Haxhi Aliko and another PD representative, Mr. Dylber Vrioni, also spoke at the meeting.

Reflections after a report to Parliament The annual report on the work of the State Control Service, presented by Blerim Cela, provided an example of work that was not only extensive, but also professionally qualified. It itself showed that a democratic state cannot accept an action of corruption of the same kind, of skyscraper-color grade. This report invites all groups in their field to descend to the parliamentary level not with sophistry, but with concrete work. Meanwhile, everyone has views on corruption. Corruption cannot be fought by the State Control Service alone. Every institution has a duty to fight corruption within itself and outside it, just as it must do so in every way; what is more important is that corruption should not be understood only as direct corruption, but also as financial corruption and other things. Thus, in an all-encompassing way, including through the establishment of a general system, open to every kind of corruption arising from suspicions of weak morals; but if something may be corruption, then the officeholder has no reason to take a decision. The Congress of the infamous party. Just as I would call nepotism an extremely tainted form of corruption, which reduces the work of the state to a family affair, where the entire health [sic] of the director or minister, the head of the family, is involved. This, then, would be a worthwhile field to bring to the parliamentary level. Parliament’s authority would gain new dimensions if it made these derivatives of corruption its own, in a completely open manner and with concrete facts. The subject of corruption is not to be born amid that frenzy of slander against people in various fields. This brings us to a broad subject: that of creating a moral climate consistent with our national standards of education and an honest way of life. One thing is clear: corruption is not something that first appeared in the criminal [sphere?], but a phenomenon that has flowed through history, and its communist expression has had these phenomena for some time. The phenomenon of fighting corruption extends from intentional theft to hypocrisy and lies.

The Minister of Defense, Safet Zhulali, signed in Tirana on October 14 the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Defense of Albania and the Department of Defense of the United States of America, following the signing of this Memorandum days earlier in Washington by the United States Secretary of Defense, Les Aspin. The Editor

Former Italian President Cossiga faces the journalists “I am now retired, and someone who is retired does not hold press conferences,” says Francesco Cossiga, former President of the Italian Republic from 1985 to 1992, who is visiting Albania for the second time. “I am now retired, and someone who is retired does not hold press conferences,” says Francesco Cossiga, former President of the Italian Republic from 1985 to 1992, who is visiting Albania for the second time, and once again gives some of his time to journalists. Indeed, according to many Italian journalists, Cossiga is regarded as one of the most amusing presidents and one of the most willing to talk to journalists. “The first time I came to Albania, I came as President of the Italian Republic, on an unexpected visit at a dramatic moment, the time of the exodus, when dramatic decisions had to be made. Now I come with other responsibilities and obligations. The only constitutional position I retain is that of senator for life, which is very convenient,” says Cossiga. A professor of constitutional law, although “I have given that up,” Cossiga says, “has taken part in founding in Albania a foundation called Shpresa. This is an initiative of an Italian cultural enterprise that aims to develop forms of cooperation in the cultural and artistic fields and to encourage the free exchange between Italy and Albania. “I came to Albania in 1 hour and 10 minutes. In the same amount of time I went (from Rome—my note) to Sassaro in Sardinia, where I was born. It takes me longer to get to Turin.” Cossiga says, adding, “I am happy to observe that my country has also contributed to yours, although I do not want to rank who has contributed more. I must say that I have been amazed by the change in the situation in Albania. A country like yours—the most isolated in the world—has made progress not only in the material field, but also psychologically.” Not wishing to comment on the positions of the Italian government, Cossiga says, as a member of parliament and as a citizen, that “Europe has never made a good showing regarding what has happened in Bosnia. One cannot remain so indifferent to the massacres taking place there.”

The madwoman N was seen these days on the streets of Tirana with a large sheet of cardboard wrapped up with a red cart. “She’s gone mad about the leaflet,” said one of her most regular followers. “Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, at 6 in the afternoon there will be a [trragi?]. It’s no secret, but I want the journalist to find out too,” the madwoman told the curious and passersby. On Saturday morning (although the announcement had been made for the afternoon), madwoman N marched in front of the station with the cardboard in her hand, followed by a group of amateur photographers. At exactly the announced time she climbed onto a high-sided vehicle and, after untying the red cord, shouted: “After consulting all the chairmen of political parties, parliamentarians and non-parliamentarians, and representatives of the association ‘OMONIA’, on the basis of the main constitutional provisions and in defense of the people who expressed themselves in the elections supposedly held on October 10, today I announce the composition of the new Greek government.” Prime Minister, Fatos Nano Deputy Minister attached to the Prime Minister, Vitin Çuli Minister of National Defense, Panajot Barka Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kosta Makaniadhis Minister and Deputy Minister of the Treasury, Anastas Angjeli. Minister of Education, Administration and Police, Paskal Milo. Deputy Minister of Culture, Pirot Zogaj Minister for Macedonia-Thrace, Spartak Ngjela President of the Ministry of the Presidency, Neritan Ceka Minister of Agriculture and Labor, Theodhori Beli Minister of Information, Namik Dokle Female Minister... “You’re in Albania here, not Greece,” interjected a man around 40. “Get lost, man, you haven’t got a clue about politics. I’m neither in Greece nor Albania. I’m in the Balkan Confederation,” said the madwoman, and quite suddenly tore up the sheet and walked away, threatening: “What do you know about politics? The one thing I have is that I haven’t read the commander’s book ‘Two OMONIA’, based on constitutional provisions. You still haven’t understood that the era of peace, understanding, dialogue, and tolerance is dawning in the Balkans. You are destroying Albania. Even the meetings I hold with the Serbs are for defense. You’ll see—you’ll see what history has in store for you!” After this, madwoman N, with a ceremonial stride, headed toward the bus station on Enver Hoxha Street, where she sang at the top of her lungs and, fist raised, shouted: “Conferences on the hour. Today they sing, the great one, and everyone pretends as in the March ham...” The Chronicler

The law needs changes

The editorial staff of the newspaper “Republika” has familiarized itself with the contents of the Press Law and, in general, its content does not directly threaten its integrity. Nevertheless, this law has shortcomings that neither allow nor create the conditions for producing a modern, up-to-date newspaper. - First, no law, however good, can be copied directly. A direct copy, however good, is nothing but a poor caricature. This law needs changes to reflect Albania’s specific circumstances. - Second, the law is burdened with many technical and general elements that make its interpretation and effectiveness extremely difficult. - Third, the main professional objection is that this law limits the right to keep the source of information secret. We demand that this right be absolute, since it is the basis of the journalistic code. - Fourth, there are 8 articles on confiscation, and not one of them specifies the cases and reasons for which confiscation may be carried out. Moreover, confiscation is an extremely outdated measure. - Fifth, Article 4 restricts the press’s right to information more than it guarantees it. - Sixth, under Article 10, all writings published for payment must be clearly identified with the word advertisement. This article is unacceptable and extremely outdated. My question is: can the word advertisement, for example, be printed in death notices? - Seventh, the publisher’s liability when committing a criminal offense is normal, but when the publisher is not legally a criminal [subject], there is no way to punish them. On the other hand, the maximum fine is extremely high and absurd and does not correspond at all to the reality of Albanian wages. - Finally, this law effectively forces the publisher to put the newspaper under conditions of complete self-censorship. The meeting [ends] with the hope that the President of the Republic will return the law to Parliament so that the necessary corrections can be made. THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE NEWSPAPER “REPUBLIKA”

In issue 223 of the newspaper “Republika,” in the note “Jashar Melzenxhuni gathers the organizer,” the name Shpresa Dedei was mistakenly used (having been substituted for someone else). The editorial staff of the newspaper “Republika” apologizes to the above-mentioned person. THE EDITORIAL STAFF