During his visit to Korçë for Orthodox Easter, President Berisha stated once again, very clearly, that he has no intention of abandoning old notions when it comes to returning property to its rightful owners. “...But it is understandable that we cannot return arable land to the owners,” he said, among other things, to a family in Korçë. “The demographic changes that have taken place over all these years must be taken into account. I believe those few owners would not wish for the misfortune of three quarters of the population,” the President concluded on the issue of ownership of agricultural land. First, the way the President tries to justify not returning arable land to its legitimate owners shows that he continues to judge according to the parameters that produced Law 7501, passed by the communist parliament in 1991. These are the fruit of the socialist principle “all Albanians are owners,” which is similar to the communist term “the property of the whole people.” On the other hand, this shows that Mr. President intends to do everything possible to get the current neocommunist parliament to pass the new, criminal law on the sale and purchase of land, in order to dispel any illusions landowners may have. Second, we do not know which statistics the President was referring to when he spoke of a “small number of owners” who are harmed by the Land Law. These few owners are, no more and no less, 87% of the population. The calculation is simple: demographic growth did not occur only among families without property. That is how it is, Mr. President. Third, the aforementioned law and the insistence on enforcing it amount to approval of the mass expropriations carried out by the communist dictatorship and an attempt to grant them a degree of legitimacy, which will be “perfected” by the law on the sale and purchase of land. Democracy really does mean respecting the will of the majority, but before we get to that, we must respect the rights and freedoms of the individual, among which the right to property is fundamental. Perhaps Mr. President prefers either to take the easy way out, finding the simplest path, or aims to gather around his party those who live in the countryside by enticing them with pr- Continued on p. 2

Yesterday morning, the ceremony to lay the first stone was held at the “At Gjergj Fishta” printing house in Tirana. “A welcome Italian-Albanian investment,” said the Italian ambassador to Albania, Paolo Foresti, at the opening ceremony. For his part, Prime Minister Meksi said, “This investment, like every other investment, means greater prosperity and more jobs for Albanians,” but this one is special because it is in the field of culture, an area in which we have greater need.” Initially, 100 people will be employed, while in the second phase the number of employees will reach 300. Also present at the ceremony were the Italian senator for life Francesko Kosiga, the Apostolic Nuncio in Albania, His Excellency Ivan

During his stay in Tirana, the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, met in recent days with a delegation from the Forum of Albanian Intellectuals (FISH), comprising Prof. Dr. Pandel Çina, Prof. Fatos Arapi, Ing. Zef Rakacolli, Prof. Koli Koxa, Trim Gjata, Prof. Vasilak Kedhi and Prof. Kozma Lara. The meeting discussed important aspects of the national question, the extremely tense situation in Kosovo, and the role of Albanian intellectuals in relation to these issues. “The meeting was fraternal and was held in an atmosphere of complete mutual understanding.”

Ismail Kadare stated in the Spanish weekly Cambio 16 that his country “has not been taken into consideration” and that, to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, he would have to be called “Kadarejevski” or have a Chinese or Japanese surname. “Communism was a pretext for isolating Albania,” continued Ismail Kadare, who says that, as a writer, he has constantly suffered from “the boycott of his country and its culture.” “Albania is not taken into consideration, and even when it is, it is done very sparingly,” emphasized the author of “The Palace of Dreams” in an interview published on Monday. “Albania has been a very isolated country,” and “the communist regime is responsible for this,” the writer asserts, but “there is also a great deal of oblivion on Europe’s part.” “In the West, there has never been any discussion of a country which, nevertheless, [text incomplete] its relations with the Soviet system,” Ismail Kadare stated, adding that he believed there was an agreement between the two blocs “to suffocate” Albania. The writer also says that “thousands of books can be written against Islamic fundamentalism, but as long as the massacres in Bosnia and Chechnya continue— (continued on p. 2)

Dias, Archbishop of Tirana and Durrës, His Excellency Rrok Mirdita, Italian members of parliament, representatives of the Albanian government. Also today in Tirana, the ceremony for laying the foundation stone of the “Our Lady of Good Counsel” Hospital will take place.

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“On behalf of the People, he is released, innocent of everything he has done and may do in the future, but only for the duration of the mandate of the two largest parties in our blessed country. If parties other than ours come to power, may God help him. A new election law is being prepared. Article 19 will be the surprise of the year. Not this year. Next year. This law will be voted on not by secret ballot, which means by votes... what do you call them. With this law, no one’s victory is uncertain—not ours either. I only read out the decisions, so you don’t need to treat me. I haven’t given you a single inch of land. I’m only informing you. The decisions were made higher up than here. I’m just a simple herald. The great giver is up there, in... heaven. By the latest decision, No...., all those who wish to change their pseudonyms and names are notified to report to Office No. 5 behind Mount Dajti. Those who wish to renew their old names may do so by mail or by calling the duty telephone.”

Jupi or the new Demçari Page 7

Albanians without an identity Page 3

Genocide in the Balkans Page 5