Top secret …“Pirro,” he told policeman Qirjako, “I’m upset, and they’ve ordered that all three of you be put in a cell. Don’t you know who this is, Qirjako?” the policeman continued. Qirjako was looking at me attentively and, for no reason, was boasting about being on the same side. “It’s Aleksandër Frangaj, editor-in-chief of ‘Koha Jonë’,” said the policeman. Then Qirjako smiled, came over to me, and embraced me.” Taken from SHIK (not from the article published yesterday in ‘Koha Jonë’ on p. 4)

The second electoral assembly of the Democratic League of Kosovo, to be held tomorrow in Prishtina, given the circumstances in Kosovo, is more than the assembly of a political party; it also has the significance and meaning of an assembly of the national movement for the liberation of democracy. It is therefore awaited with great interest by Albanian public opinion in Kosovo and beyond; even diplomats from various countries have expressed interest in taking part in the proceedings of this assembly.

Interview with Mr. Godo, given to the BBC on 12 July - Are you satisfied with the work done on the national question and that of Kosovo? - For at least a year, the Albanian government has acted energetically to defend the interests of the nation and Kosovo. But there has been, and still is, no common platform for Albanians to serve as the axis of national activities and as a strategic guide for foreign policy. The PR has always insisted on the urgent and priority need to elaborate such a platform. - And how do you see Kosovo’s future: under Serbian rule or separated from it? - destruction. For two years I have seen an independent and neutral Kosovo, under the supervision of the United Nations, as the only solution. - Lately there has been talk of Albanian-Serbian talks. Should the Albanian side enter into these talks? - Talks are always good; they are the only civilized way for peoples to resolve conflicts. If talks between Belgrade and Prishtina begin under the supervision of a third party, I believe Albania should be invited to take part in these consultations. The Kosovars should demand the right to self-determination, as was granted to the peoples of the world. This should also include the Albanians of Montenegro and Southeastern Serbia. - If Belgrade does not accept Washington as supervisor, who might be more suitable? - I see no reason to reject Washington, which has the necessary credentials for such a mission and has proved quite effective in other cases, for example in resolving the serious Palestinian conflict. In any case, choosing the supervisor should not become an obstacle. Germany, Austria, or another nearby and directly involved European country could easily take on this role. - Are the Albanians prepared for talks? - Albanians have talked a great deal among themselves, but it would not hurt to talk again in light of this prospect. On issues of this kind, include the Albanians of Montenegro and Southeastern Serbia. - be more suitable? - involved European country could easily take on this role. Kosovo, under supervi- these talks? - Talks are always good; they are the only path available to civilized peoples for resolving conflicts. If talks between Belgrade and Prishtina are to Albania should be invited as a party to be consulted, since the Albanian nation is involved. But the right to decide must belong to the Kosovars themselves, represented by president Rugova. - What should Albanians seek in these talks, while the Serbs oppose Kosovo becoming a Republic? - I don’t understand why the world must always start from what Serbia accepts or does not accept. The views of either side, whoever it may be, are always open to discussion. For their part, Albanians must not be allowed any lack of preparation, not even in technical matters. - If the idea of the right to self-determination is not accepted, what other alternative could be put forward? - A people whose right is recognized

FATMIR MEDIU, Deputy Chairman of the PR Are the constitutional provisions complete? Constitutional provisions cannot have the value of a constitution, which is the result of a political consensus defining the form of government, the relationship between state and individual, the guarantee of powers, and the laws on which decision-making is based. A constitution cannot be changed by government acts; it establishes a state governed by law by defining its character. Therefore, one cannot claim that constitutional provisions can, above all, make up for the absence of a constitution. At best, even when constitutional provisions have achieved a high degree of completeness in scope and substance, they lack the legitimacy that a constitution possesses. They are not a sovereign act, but an act of a power—the parliament. As such, they can be changed easily, as has happened on many occasions (e.g. after April 1991, the provisions on the government, local government, the judiciary, the president, etc.). The problem is the lack of harmonization among these provisions and the absence of checks on powers, leading to clashes or shifts between powers, and one power’s subordination to another. For example, the Constitutional Court infringes on the independence of the ordinary courts by placing them under the dictates of the executive. For every legal irregularity relating to government instructions, an ordinary court must refer the matter to the Constitutional Court for review, thereby making the latter a super-power. The Constitutional Court itself has so far been subject to influences in its decisions. Its rulings against former property owners are flagrant examples. Constitutional provisions lead to the monopolization of powers by the majority; that is, whether they are amended or not depends on how the majority functions and how stable it is, and thus on the fluctuations of a political party. Reasons for the delay In addition to the claim that constitutional provisions fulfill the role of a constitution, there is also the claim that the gains of the electoral society over each recent period will accompany the transition and that its solidarity will be lost. We must remember that a constitution is a constructive act that serves to stabilize government and ensure the normal development of democracy. The Constitutional Commission has not met for a long time and, among other things, this demonstrates the lack of responsibility of those entrusted with it. The delay is subjective. (Continued on page 2) OPEN FILES: Either for everyone or for no one! Zhype and Herd declare Lifting the arms embargo is “inevitable” Tirana, 13 July — Lifting the arms embargo imposed on Muslims may be “inevitable” if the Bosnian Serbs reject the international peace plan, French and British foreign ministers Alen Zhype and Dagllas Herd said on Tuesday upon arriving in Zagreb. ATSH

The population census in Macedonia has ended Arben Popoci The extraordinary population census in Macedonia ended on 10 July. Although around 350,000 Albanians remained unregistered after it ended, the Macedonian government hastened to issue a statement claiming that abuses had taken place in favor of the Albanians during fieldwork. On the other hand, the Albanians—their parties, MPs and newspapers—believing these Macedonian “grievances,” manipulated the large number of Albanians left unregistered, attacked the state commission and defended the work of the field enumerators. There is no doubt that data manipulation took place precisely during the field census, where supervision by the foreign experts’ commission was more difficult. Failing to understand that the Macedonians are attacking in order not to be attacked, and not because they failed to manipulate the results, some Albanian party members are expecting real results from the census. Thus, the newspaper “Flaka...” includes in an article the phrase “if the census results show that Albanians make up 1/4 or 1/3 of the population...” The Macedonians’ complaints that their manipulation did not go well make some Albanians at home happy, and they rush to declare that the number of Albanians will be close to the real number. It would be naive to believe in the “naivety” of Albanian political parties in Macedonia and their MPs, who believe Macedonian complaints. Moreover, this naivety goes so far that the commentator in “Flaka...” after hoping that the number of Albanians might even turn out to be 1/3, asks: “Will this result in a change in their legal status?” Here the commentator, with extreme naivety, alludes to a state-forming status for the Albanians. This optimism and excitement that something “will result” and there will be a “change in legal status,” from an action entirely directed by the Macedonians, cannot be explained by naivety alone. By what logic “could something good result” from an action entirely directed by the Macedonians? Macedonians on the state commission, Macedonian field enumerators, Macedonians processing the data... what “change in legal status” could follow? A bad one, naturally. This census, in which the Albanians neither took part nor boycotted it, will bring no benefit whatsoever to the Albanians in Macedonia. They allowed themselves to join the queue to be counted by someone else, while all along demanding to be a state-forming people—which equally implies being a people that “counts itself,” not being counted by anyone other than itself.

It is the high temperatures—even in the literal sense of the word “temperature”—that fuel the stress, anxiety and despair that lie in a half-ready state in most Albanians. The “FILES” anxiety seems likely to torment the thoughts of many ordinary, well-known and prominent Albanians: politicians, actors, painters, writers, journalists, cooks, sweepers, mechanics, buffet workers, postmen, hotel managers, former export drivers, footballers, boxers, former prisoners, and God knows what else remains to be mentioned, among all sorts of people— Arben Bllaci —brought by autumn; God, what will it bring, winter?” From this anxiety, the mania of the army of Sigurimi informers. In their minds, in their empty heads, beneath the scorching sun, doubt will keep probing relentlessly: “I’m going on holiday. - If I had the misfortune of having a file, right now I would have not courage but the alertness to declare myself, to cast it off, as if silently and without sanctions, the anxiety that gnaws at me. “...what will autumn bring, God, what will it bring, winter?” From this anxiety, It seems that even President Berisha’s greeting at his latest press conference cannot escape it, as he also mentioned the file issue, so much talked about lately. Berisha thinks the files of senior politicians will be opened, and he did not fail to say so at the press conference. No one has reason to doubt the president’s ability to turn his intention on this matter into reality. Nor can one doubt the complex study that has been made of it, its advantages and the problems that... (Continued on page 2)

...But what is the Albanian state doing for them? Besim Halit Neli and Shkelqim Halit Neli, brothers whose photographs are now their only remaining evidence, have been “gone” for more than 15 months. They are no longer here... May it not be so... Besim, in any case, is now 26 years old, and Shkëlqim is 23. Their brother H. Neli has been searching for them for months. He has turned everywhere for help. Amnesty International replied on 22 June 1993, assuring him that it would do everything to find his brothers. An Irish teacher, who had previously been in Greece, acted as an intermediary with this national institution and wrote more than once, sending complete letters from Athens to London, to help the missing Albanians. The Albanian Embassy in Athens (through its representative) has been able to make telephone calls and speak with officials at the Greek embassy about matters concerning this Albanian citizen. But to this day nothing has been done to help. I have nothing that has been lost... (text unclear in the final part) For 15 months their brother has been forced to pursue every lead at his own expense. The Albanian state has been indifferent; perhaps it also has obligations of its own. There is a way to help its citizens, both the living and the “missing.” At the very least, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should look after Albanians in Kosovo. One day in Ilirianmart, the two brothers were [unclear] at their home by the Greek police and taken to the police station for questioning. The Greek police officer, Aliti i Pronorit, [unclear] something like this happened. But I do not know that the matter was ever brought up with them (?). The Zagorosi police claim that they are in Volla, but do not... Their brother is determined to keep searching. Until the end. Until the end of his life. Until the lives of his brothers come to an end. “REPUBLIKA” Photographs of the two brothers.

To lend or not to lend… to fraudsters The number of reported cases of people being defrauded in money-lending schemes keeps growing. These unfortunate people, hoping to increase their income quickly, hand over their savings to borrowers at interest rates higher than those offered on deposits by Albanian banks. The borrowers who take money from these unfortunate lenders are often professional fraudsters, or, not infrequently, unscrupulous traders. Finding themselves on the brink and with a noose around their necks, they flee across Albania without leaving a trace, leaving behind victims who file lawsuits or lodge complaints with prosecutors’ offices. The truth becomes laughable for the victims who lent money without drawing up a notarized contract that mortgages the borrower’s real estate. In such cases, even the legal provision set out in Article 401 of the Civil Code is ineffective: “the borrower is obliged to return to the lender the money” received under the signed contract. Under this article, only the loan itself is a lawful legal transaction, while the interest is an unlawful legal transaction. This means that the state can compel the borrower to repay the loan, but not the interest. Article 354 of the Civil Code provides that “the borrower is obliged to pay interest when this has been stipulated in the agreement. Nevertheless, the fact that our state still lacks adequate economic and financial mechanisms to monitor the constant fluctuations in private businesspeople’s earnings—mechanisms that would give lenders some safeguards—makes us reluctantly believe that there will be more victims of the “loan game.” People, it is easier for you to think about your money while it is in your pocket than to expect the state to look after it when you leave it lying around. ARTUR KOPANI

ISMAIL KADARE “Even from the grave I would curse the person who dared to do such a thing” Page 3 USA - ’94 Page 4 Now that the walls have fallen, we must build bridges Page 4 Let us escape dictatorship—burdened by democracy Page 2

“Now you can become anything you want,” said the madwoman. She went to the head of the courthouse by the Zoological Park, to the cage where a solitary monkey is kept. “You can become, for example, a minister and a businessman at the same time. If you don’t become a minister, you can become a newspaper director, a distinguished journalist. Today you can become anything. It’s very easy to become a friend of the party’s INTELLECTUALS. You can win, for instance, the sympathy not only of Hekuran Isai, but also of the intellectual Qirjako Mihal. Today you can become and do anything. You can, for example, get through the transition with a beard. A beard helps you a lot during the transition. Later you can shave it off and appear just as you always wanted. Now you can do whatever you like. At dusk the madwoman, dressed as described, came out of Tirana’s Central Post Office with a large bag on her back. Followed by a… [?], she made three circuits of the former Stalin Boulevard. The people accompanying her, watching the same scene and wondering what was going on, wanted her to open the bag or at least say what she had filled it with. After two hours of questioning, she gave in. She climbed the steps of the central mosque and delivered this speech: - These are the letters that some Albanians send to the whole world. Most are letters from politicians begging Europe to do whatever it wants, just as long as it does not admit Albania to the Council of Europe. There are also many pleas from communists who are willing to die on condition that Albania is not admitted to NATO. Most of these letters speak of the glory of human rights. They were written by people born with the scars of human rights on their foreheads. This is the lot of those Albanians who have been fed nothing but self-interest. When Europe receives these letters, it will rejoice and say: Albania has gone completely mad. A little later, the madwoman smiled from the steps and said in a calm voice: - Before long I’ll show you what the newspaper “Republika” is good for: how much Greek merchandise costs, Greek ouzo, and the Greek drachma. How they express themselves, and other things that will leave you astonished. KRONIKANI