28-year-old Medi Belortaja has been named the winner of the Gold Prize at the 5th International Cartoon Festival, held in Seoul in July this year, on the theme “50 Years after the Second World War.” The news arrived in Albania late yesterday, and Belortaja has thus repeated the success he achieved in 1994, winning the gold prize at the international cartoon competition held in Japan. A total of 1,996 cartoons competed in the Seoul competition.

From yesterday’s press conference by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. H. Halili Land continues to be illegally occupied regularly “Figures cannot be provided. There are no accurate figures on land occupations,” Agriculture Minister Hasan Halili said yesterday at a press conference. He went on to explain that “today, as land is vacated from one occupation, new occupations are increasing elsewhere”; thus, land continues to be occupied. Another issue that Minister Halili completely avoided was compensation for properties in the coastal area. “The Ministry of Construction,” he added, “has been tasked with submitting the study by 15 August” (despite 50% of the coastline being agricultural land and therefore under this ministry’s remit). The dairy-processing industry will take years to cope with production. “It is true that last year and this year some milk has been spoiled because of the lack of processing capacity,” he acknowledged. Although it had been drawn up and announced that the distribution of land under the law had been completed, Minister Halili admitted that “the distribution of land has not been completed because the land-allocation commissions in the districts and municipalities are not functioning.” Journalists were astonished when Minister Halili declared, “I saw in Fier people who had put up the [unclear] themselves and divided their land, purely in the name of democracy.” This statement followed a lengthy written report that he had prepared and read at the beginning of the press conference. In that report, he emphasized that “the DP has made a series of colossal changes,” only to “contradict” himself in his answers to journalists’ questions, when he declared that “this year 10,000 fewer tonnes of wheat were harvested. You should not take as true the figures published by INSTAT and the Statistical Office for livestock, since they are fictitious, even though they are recorded sometimes as lower and sometimes as higher.” Although asked about forests that have gone 10 years without investment and have been devastated in Pukë and Mat, the minister assured reporters that investment in them would be made very soon, without specifying an exact time. For journalists, one question requiring an answer concerned joint ventures between Albanians and foreigners in the agricultural sector, which have generally moved toward bankruptcy and even ended up in court proceedings. On this, Minister Halili stated that these companies had been brought in during 1991–1992 and that this had been done incorrectly because the relevant legislation was lacking. R. Përmeti

For some time, individuals have been appearing in several cities across the country, supposedly expressing the will of the majority of the politically persecuted while attacking the leadership of the Association of Formerly Persecuted Persons, both at the central and local levels. It is hardly surprising that the Democratic Party began amplifying the noise made by these individuals, thereby widening even further the gulf separating it from LDSH and the other right-wing political forces. Parliamentary and local elections alike are just around the corner. Now, under pressure, the DP leaders have looked back to take an “inventory,” seeing who is still with them. In this way they have become aware of a bitter, but expected, reality. It was entirely natural that the former persecuted, the group that had played a decisive role in bringing the DP to power, would now find itself far removed from the party in power. It was the latter’s own policies that alienated the large body of former persecuted people from the DP. The former persecuted, who had experienced the cruel oppression of the communist regime more than anyone else, could never reconcile themselves to the communist positions adopted by the governing party, widely manifested in its administration. The former persecuted could not reconcile themselves with the implementation by Refugees from Croatia will come to Sh... They will be settled in the lower areas, and land will be allocated to them per person. Serbia did not accept them, so we must take urgent action. If there are former landowners among them, all the better. The West has sabotaged the programs of the intellectual political parties. As soon as they drew up an economic plan to pay off the debts, the West simply forgave them to us. This is unprecedented sabotage. What is this debt forgiveness? Names cannot be changed carelessly. It is known that names can only be changed by Albanians in their own lives, and certainly not by [unclear]. Although rare, there have been such cases too. Public opinion has condemned them. The Albanian language must be protected by law. The law must be in accordance with human rights law and international conventions. According to the latest polls, no party has secured its place in the opposition. A major struggle between the main political parties is expected to win the position of opposition. The electorate is undecided, and it is not known to whom it will entrust this post, so important for the country’s future.

The Property with Justice Association appeals to the European Court of Human Rights p. 2 Interview with Mr. Skënder Buçpapaj p. 5 A silence that A silence that kills p. 4 Moscow and Washington reach an agreement on Bosnia Sarajevo faces another winter of war p. 6 Crossword Germany in the first years after the war p. 7 Auction notices p. 8