p. 5

Every day, Greek police and military forces turn back 80–100 Albanian refugees from the Kakavia and Kapshtica border crossings.... p. 5

p. 4

Yesterday morning, Mr. Godo held a press conference for journalists. The situation created after Parliament approved the law on the sale and purchase of land, the new electoral law, and the situation created by the dispatch of Serbian refugees from Croatia to Kosovo were the issues addressed by the chairman of the Republican Party. At the beginning, Mr. Godo read a press statement, and then answered journalists’ questions (For more details, pp. 1–2)

On the issue of land ownership p. 3

Godo during yesterday’s press conference. Photo: P. Omeri, ATSH

In his speech at the conference of the PD branch for Tirana, President Berisha once again repeated his familiar wish that the 2,300,000 Albanians enjoy the land. This once again raises the question: where did today’s government get the land that it gave to the Albanians? Was someone expropriated so that someone else could acquire property—something that cannot happen under a democratic legal order? The right to property, a fundamental element of human rights enshrined in the Pact of Constitutional Laws, was openly violated; the first guarantor of these rights is the President of the Republic. Seeking to shield his party from the accusation that it cooperated with the Socialists in the “legjipt” on land, the President said that some MPs from the former Party of Labour did not vote for Law 7501. But this law bears the signature of the former communist leader, Ramiz Alia. No detail can deny the fact that the Democratic Party worked together with the Socialist Party to draft and implement diabolical laws for dividing land according to Leninist ideas. The immediate consequence of this evil, concocted over four years, is that we now all find ourselves as if on mined ground, part of which was given to citizens of foreign nationality. This reality calls for deep reflection by the head of state and certainly does not provide grounds for raising a celebratory toast. We must not forget that, besides the present, we also have a past and a future, whose judgment no one can escape. It seems that certain electoral calculations, which may prove mistaken, have also played a major part in all this. For his part, Prime Minister Meksi, during his latest television interview, called the documents establishing ownership “moldy title deeds.” We invite the Prime Minister to withdraw such a statement, which has the same harmful effect on the state administration. If this idea spreads, any official could throw away a property document, treating it as if it were a mere piece of paper belonging to a citizen with a house. Such irresponsible statements do not help establish and protect the rule of law, which every notarized legal document should uphold, unless we are to end up in a state of anarchy where citizens have no choice but to defend themselves. As for compensating owners in the Lurë Lakes area and other similar places where no human foot has ever set foot, it is a great mockery. This protective propaganda game played by the state leaders, openly defying the dispossessed owners, is further increasing social tensions. The Association of Residents of the Saranda Coast has invited me to a rally on Monday in ... Continued on p. 2

The United States has warned Belgrade As “Voice of America” reports, the United States has warned the Serbian government not to settle Croatian Serb refugees in Kosovo. Kosovo is considered a potential powder keg for a wider Balkan conflict. The U.S. State Department has instructed U.S. diplomats in Belgrade to ask the Serbian government about its intentions. Albanians make up around 90% of Kosovo’s population. The President of the Republic of Kosovo and it is said that President Rugova, regarding the settlement of Serbian refugees in Kosovo.... Page 3 Croatia if it refuses. Kosovo is considered a potential powder keg for a wider Balkan conflict. The State has instructed U.S. diplomats in Belgrade to ask the Serbian government about its intentions. Albanians make up around 90% of Kosovo’s population. The President of the Republic of Kosovo and it is said that President Rugova, regarding the settlement of Serbian refugees in Kosovo. ... Page 3

Disillusionment (Four old comrades-in-arms) Crossword Auction notices pp. 7–8

The Albanian press is quite unusual. All the newspapers deal only with problems that concern the government, with draft laws that directly affect citizens. No newspaper deals with politicians. There are 20 Albanian politicians who should speak all year about the problems of Albania, the Balkans and beyond, but no newspaper opens its pages to interview these 20 politicians who could bring this nation of seven lands into the light. Land will be sold using privatization vouchers, since, being new, these will not become moldy like the title deeds kept in the cadastral offices. The value of the vouchers will reach 365–366%. Serbia apparently does not want the Serbs of Croatia, since it goes and crams them into Kosovo. Slogans of “Unity—Brotherhood” are being written on the walls of Prishtina. Slobodan Milosheviçi has become a disgrace to Radovan Karaxhiç and Ratko Mlladiç, since the latter two have been declared war criminals. Today, the criminal title is a title of honor that glorifies Mr. Millosheviç. Serbia wants access to the sea, but it seems that even if it reaches the sea, it will do so with UN divers.