Recognizing the communist East does not seem to be easy… In Sunday's issue, “Republika” published a notice, accompanied by a photograph, about the appointment of Linda Crammond as deputy head of the BBC's Albanian section. Almost convinced that our congratulations would not reach Bush House, we were just as convinced that “Republika” would also find its way into the hands of the many Albanian-language listeners of the BBC. We write for the same reason, and solely because we have a duty not to remain silent after Sunday evening's commentary by the “BBC Specialist for Central and Southeastern Europe,” Mr. Gabriel Partosh. It is hard to believe that a specialist at a renowned radio station such as the BBC could be so misinformed about what is happening in post-communist Albania that his professional integrity should be called into question. Mr. Partosh, like all Western Europeans, is trying to understand the communist East, but it seems that this is not so easy! All the more so when it comes to Enver Hoxha's Albania, for which Adem Demaç—the great Albanian of Kosovo—had spent a quarter of a century in prison, loving and dreaming of it from afar. And yet even an Adem Demaç was found to be a “foreigner” in this Albania. But he had the wish of a great citizen of Albania and Europe to know the truth as it was. He saw that the communist Leadership Bloc was guarded so strictly that even on the pavement ... [?] ... sent to our editorial office from America (Latin America), Africa and Asia, calling for the release of Muho Asllani and Lenka Çuko in the name of respect for human rights—but these things in Albania are now not even good for a joke. Perhaps without realizing it, Mr. Partosh, by placing Nano among this galaxy of figures, makes his defense impossible, even in the slightest. Fatos Nano, like Adileti, is being publicly tried for embezzlement, abuse of office and document forgery during his time as prime minister. Why should justice be stained with blood or turn a blind eye just because the Socialist Party itself chooses as its first leader a person accused of ordinary crimes? The BBC specialist is apparently poorly informed about the facts, as well as about Nano's supposedly important role in Albania's transition from a Stalinist state (during which he “happened” to be prime minister twice) to an emerging democracy (during which he was opposition leader and has now most recently been remanded in custody). We would like to know what facts Mr. Partosh is presenting (or has been given) to support the claim that the PS has become a Western-style party! Tajar Zavalani and his BBC colleagues… loving and yearning for him from afar. Well, even an Adem Dem[aç?] who found himself a stranger in this Albania. But he had the desire Leadership Bloc was strictly guarded, so much so that no one was allowed to pass even on the pavement beside it, and he was astonished (by what he had thought until then). For us Albanians here, this “forbidden pavement” was merely an aspect of forbidden freedoms, but for a freedom martyr like Demaci, that alone was enough for him to declare (in Elbasan) that, if given the right, he would vote for the Democratic Party. It was this party that was shattering before his eyes the demon he had built up over the years in prison, in his imagination: Enver Hoxha. But that was how things were; that was what had to be done. Around Enver Hoxha, as his comrades-in-arms, his prime ministers, Adil Çarçani, and the 10 leaders of the bureau were to rule—leaders for whose trials, strangely enough, Mr. Gabriel Partosh is concerned! In truth, there are also dozens of letters

The most delicate point, the most exposed to accusation, is the trial. In almost every case, defendants have awaited their trial not only with anxiety, but also impatiently. There have been many cases in which, in the courtroom, the accused have switched places with the prosecution. Great and honest people, learned and courageous people, have turned small courtrooms into great stages of freedom and justice. This has happened commonly throughout history. People have been forced by every means not to speak, yet they have spoken. This has generally been the case. But another phenomenon, quite the opposite of the one cited above, has also been accepted. It is said that this phenomenon was known among Albanian communists too. Veterans of the National Liberation War and socialist-realist stories explained that communists in prison, before the enemy or in court, preferred to remain silent. In other words, they accepted not speaking, not naming their comrades and the bases of the resistance. They did this in the name of a very lofty ideal: in the name of the homeland, in the name of freedom. We should therefore be proud of their deeds! Fifty years have passed since then, and today Fatos Nano is trying to imitate, in the most commonplace and inappropriate way, the deeds of various wartime communists. But in the name of what ideal is Fatos Nano doing this imitation? In the name of the homeland or freedom? The accusation says that he stole 73,780,000 lekë. So this is the ideal that compels Fatos Nano to play the part of a silent man. This is also the metamorphosis Albanian communism has undergone over this half-century: from the first communists, who kept silent and died for the homeland and freedom, to the common criminal Fatos Nano, who pretends to keep silent in the name of theft and robbery. But is Nano really keeping silent? In one sense, he is indeed silent. He is silent because professional thieves prefer this as their weapon. In reality, Nano is silent only when theft and evidence are being discussed, but as soon as… an opportunity arises to turn the accusation from an ordinary criminal matter into a political one, he speaks. On the second day of the trial, for example, he did not keep his word. With ordinary megalomania, clowning around, he stood up and explained that those were the kinds of forms and papers [lëkjas[h?]] he had used to open the door to emergency situations, drawing a ridiculous parallel with official protocol and citing as an example the dinner jackets presidents wear at ceremonies... After a 15-minute speech, Nano remembered his decision to remain silent and fell silent. But will he speak at the next hearings? Professional thieves generally denounce their crimes through their silence. On the other hand, silence as a way of gaining political points is outdated. After the March 22 elections, Nano became the most unpopular figure in Albania. In politics, burned cards cannot be renewed. Fatos Nano will continue speaking at the next hearings too. (Continued on page 4) Ylli RAKIPI Photo: Armando Babani

Many people associate Greece's recent decision to impose an embargo on Macedonia solely with the familiar Greek claims concerning the name, flag and symbols of this small former Yugoslav republic, the substance of which is already well known. But before long, Serbia, for its part, announced the closure of its airspace to aircraft belonging to Macedonian airlines, since, according to the Serbian authorities, the Macedonian government had not paid Serbia the fees for using its airspace. Nevertheless, there was still no strong evidence to raise suspicions that Greece's actions against the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were coordinated with Serbia's. However, several statements made in recent days by Serbian politicians, particularly by the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karaxhiç, give reason to suspect a possible agreement between Belgrade and Athens to coordinate their actions, with the ultimate aim of eliminating the independence of the Republic of Macedonia. It is already known that an independent Macedonia is viewed unfavourably by both Greece and Serbia. As far as Greece is concerned, it was a surprise that Serbia—which did not hesitate to start a war in Croatia and Bosnia—left Macedonia alone, even though it had been part of Serbia since 1913, just like Kosovo. But Millosheviçi had other things in mind; others thought it more appropriate to take as much as they could from Croatia and Bosnia, which were closer to Europe, and it was much harder to justify annexing the territories of those two former Yugoslav republics than Macedonia, which lies to the south, isolated from the West and squeezed in the jaws of the Greek-Serbian vice. There was no need to add to this the fact that Macedonia had been part of Serbia for more than 30 years. Now, when the conflict in Bosnia seems to be nearing its end, following American involvement—which produced its first results with the removal of the Serbs’ heavy weapons from Sarajevo and the reaching of a Croat-Muslim agreement—immediately after Greece imposed its embargo on Macedonia, the leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karaxhiç, floated the idea of a Greek-Serbian confederation, which, according to him, should undoubtedly include Macedonia as well. Macedonia lies between Greece and Serbia and, together with them, is also linked by the religious factor, as an Orthodox country, “to defend against the aggression of Islamization.” and Athens for a coordination of actions whose ultimate aim is to eliminate known that an independent Macedonia is viewed unfavorably concerned, an independent Macedonia, outside the Yugoslav remnant, would pose a future danger to Greece, since it might lay claim to that province, which Greece once annexed after the disintegration of the Turkish Empire and the Balkan War of 1912–1913, bringing about the end of the Macedonian state; its territories were divided among Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Serbian claims to Macedonia are also well known: they regard it as part of “Greater Serbia” or “Southern Serbia,” something various Serbian politicians constantly repeat, naturally above all nationalists such as Shesheli and others. To those familiar with politics, it was ... the need for a Greek-Serbian confederation, in which, without doubt, according to him, Macedonia should also be included, as it lies between Greece and Serbia; the two are also united by the religious factor, as Orthodox countries, “to protect themselves from the pressure of Islamization.” As if that were not enough, Karaxhiçi, just as Arkan, Shesheli, and Drashkoviçi had done before him, is playing the card of the so-called “Albanian danger,” which, according to him, currently threatens the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. To this end, Karaxhiçi invited Macedonia to join truncated Yugoslavia so that, together with Serbia and Montenegro, they could confront the “Albanian danger,” which, if Macedonia remained alone, would threaten it. Calls about the “Albanian danger” appeared on the scene as soon as the breakup of the former Yugoslavia began, but the war in Bosnia meant that ... GAVROSH LEVONJA (continued on page 4)

(Always striving to save ourselves) Nearly 3 years have passed, and we Albanians have been and are participants in and members of two political systems. In fact, we are now at the stage that people proverbially describe as “neither fish nor fowl,” in the post-communist and pre-capitalist phase, a kind of detached semblance of integration into the free-market economy. From Eastern Europe, for 50 years we suffered ... [the source text is corrupt here] ... reached the point at which the communist state depended on its citizens’ self-restraint and survived thanks to repression, which controlled every one of its cells. And had the Berlin Wall not been threatened and turned into rubble, even the former USSR would still be doing today what the Albanian people must never forget. What we have endured and suffered is very close to us; we have been victims and witnesses of real prisons, real internments, real poverty. We Albanians have experienced total isolation to the core, as no one else has: fraternal cannibalism, communist contempt that transformed us into inactive beings, afraid when we spoke and afraid even when we slept, because for 50 years straight we had learned that nobody could stop the communist state's hand. And where was the International Helsinki Committee then? Where was Amnesty International then? Representatives of the International Helsinki Committee arrived in Albania only when Ramiz Alia emptied the prisons, because he still had hopes in the communist web, woven to perfection over half a century. We are witnesses. After the fall of communism, we are witnesses that there was no Nuremberg trial in Albania. It was called a Western experience. Thus, by means of individual justice, all those who were killed, imprisoned, punished and made to suffer were dealt with ... [source text corrupt here]. The dictatorship’s ... [source text corrupt here] ... and red terror; the new democracy did not respond to dictatorship and terror with white terror, but with tolerance. It is precisely this kind of tolerance, this particular ethic, that they use—from the Germans onward—to resurrect the past once again. One illustration is enough: the trial of Fatos Nano alone, which has been turned into a political machination. Albanians, we are witnesses to a past that is not far from us, barely 3 years behind us. Here lies our chance to succeed, or else forgetfulness will bring us defeat. We ourselves are now responsible for either of these outcomes. Let us reason simply, judging only by appearances. Have we seen how Mr. Fatos Nano appears in prison—with a suit, a tie, friends, relatives, lawyers, newspapers proclaiming him a hero, journalists calling him a martyr; indeed, from his prison he sends letters and petitions to international institutions and, from prison, runs his party! Is this very normal and humane? Has the Albanian people been treated with this kind of humanity for 50 years, and can the democratic state now be accused of exercising repression in this way!!! The investigation in Fatos Nano's trial concerned around 9 million dollars, for which, if guilt is proven, the sentence might amount to only a few years in prison. But not more than 5–10 years ago, do you remember how a group was sentenced to execution for forging train tickets after having embezzled 3 million old lekë from the communist state, amounting to just 3,000 dollars?! Do you remember? Then doesn't the trial of the socialist leader seem to you like a mere comedy—or, if not, a tragicomedy?!!! On the other hand, Fatos Nano must not be embraced by the Albanian people, willingly or unwillingly. The Albanian people have had their fill—and more than their fill—of democracy. Martyrs and heroes are not like that. How much of a martyr is the entire circle of those tortured in Italy, including all the former revered figures who, in their time, were Italy's pride?! And in what period have these Albanian leaders been the pride of Albania!!! (continued) ELIDA BUÇPAPAJ

The Greek border police disregarded valid documents Various incidents and obstructions by the Greek border police against Albanian citizens travelling to Greece with valid documents. According to a well-informed source, on March 3, at Athens airport the Greek border police detained 5 Albanian citizens for almost an hour without any reason, even though they had valid visas to stay in Greece. The Greek police even disregarded the requests of a diplomat from the Albanian Embassy in Athens, who asked that the Albanian citizens not be obstructed without cause. Such cases are becoming increasingly blatant and frequent. Albanian citizen K.S., too, who was coming from the USA—equipped with valid documents issued by the American government—to spend the New Year holiday in Korçë, was mistreated: the Greek border police accused him and tore up his documents simply because, when asked “Are you Albanian or a Northern Epirote?”, he replied that he was Albanian. Had the Albanian Embassy not intervened, the Albanian citizen would not have been granted permission to enter Albania. Greece, the leading and poorest country of the European Community, continues to mistreat Albanian citizens even when they hold valid passports.

Photo: Armando Babani Archaeologist Ceka against archaeopolitician Ceka Page 3

The madwoman N of this lot declared herself independent. “I am independent,” she said loudly, as usual, “but don't ask me who I am independent from. These days, those who don't say who they depend on are called independent. This is a kind of dissidence through which, if democracy gets on one's nerves, one can claim political status. “Koha jonë” and Qirje Blushi (the elder) are independent of ...” The other Blushi (BB, the son) is independent of Albania too. When I say Albania, naturally, he is independent of Kosovo as well, even though Kosovo took part in Serbia's elections. This does not mean that BB is also independent of the UN (U. e); he is dependent on the president of Serbia. On Wednesday, madwoman N was seen selling newspapers. “2P,” at 9, without [laças?], she cried out. As long as Fatos Nano speaks in “Illyria,” “Zëri” will be independent. “It is Tosi's instruction,” she said. “Zëri...” by Fatos Nano is being given away free, like Comrade Enver's works, but nobody is taking it. “Long live Fatos Nano!” is written on the walls. Xhevat Mustafa has allowed Drino Agolli to resound in “RD” as well. This is a good sign amid all the cross-currents. As soon as XH. Mustafa's novel went on sale, Agolli praised it in “RD.” They say Dritëro himself will write a laudatory article about Mustafa's novel. Peace has begun between the newspapers! Iliria is putting out an independent newspaper. His name is above the newspaper's title. PSD will leave the coalition with PD and PR and will claim power on its own. Gaqo Apostoli has said so. Someone compared Gaqo to Mario Seri. The only difference is that Senti comes from the right, while Apostoli comes from the left. That is the great difference. That is the great difference. This PSD supporter says Gaqo will go out on his own, for free. PSD of the Left! The next fool is Aranit Çela, who lies in Parliament about “Albania at the Conference of Night Opinions.”