Tomorrow, the 14 parties. The President: a roundtable like the one with the PR before May 26 PS and Poli: we will consider the invitation when it officially reaches us Tomorrow, the 14 parties. The President: a roundtable like the one with the PR before May 26 Berisha calls on parties to discuss local elections PS and Poli: we will consider the invitation when it officially reaches us President Sali Berisha yesterday invited 14 parties active in electoral politics to a joint roundtable to discuss the political situation in the country ahead of the local elections. The news was reported yesterday by the radio station “Voice of America”; according to it, the invitation was confirmed by the spokesperson for the President of the Republic. The meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. and, as can be seen from the number invited, more parties will take part than at the last meeting at the presidency. Thus, the criterion of currently governing local authorities may have been dropped, a criterion that had prevented parties such as the Democratic Alliance or the Right-Wing Democratic Party from being invited, as they had not yet been formed in 1992, when the last local elections were held. Meanwhile, the participating parties are described as “active in electoral politics.” As of yesterday evening, the invitation had still not been delivered to the political parties, although the news had been announced several hours earlier. The news had reached the Socialist Party, but not the official invitation, so left-wing representatives could not yet comment on the initiative of the head of state. “Nevertheless, when it arrives, we will look at the invitation,” PS Presidium member Kastriot Islami said yesterday, “and, as we decided at the congress, we will discuss collegially the issues to be discussed at the roundtable, the participation criteria, etc.” Islami also says that, if their presidium decides to do so, they may discuss the issue with the other opposition parties as well, particularly the Center Pole. The Center Pole had also not yet received the invitation by yesterday afternoon. One of the centrist group's leaders, expressing dissatisfaction that the meeting had been announced through American radio, said: “I don't know that the President is in America. When the invitation reaches us, we will consider it.” When Sali Berisha held his first roundtable on the local elections, the Pole, as well as the Socialist Party, criticized the President, saying that calling roundtables with the parties was not within his competence but belonged to the parties themselves, in this case the DP. Yesterday Çeka did not repeat such a position and also seemed willing to take part in a table initiated by Berisha. The Socialists, too, said at a press conference yesterday that they would continue trying to engage in dialogue with the Democratic Party. Indeed, according to one view, this position of the PS may be one of the reasons that prompted the President to take his initiative. Meanwhile, the President's spokesperson, quoted by “Voice of America,” gave reasons for holding a single roundtable among the parties and for developments in Europe. In its latest resolution on Albania, the Council of Europe advised our government to establish dialogue with the opposition, and this was recently reiterated by the Council of Europe's envoys on the Ad Hoc Commission. President Berisha took up the recommendation and invited the fourteen parties for Wednesday. So far, the agenda for the parties' discussion is understood to concern the local elections, an issue on which the opposition has not made its position known. The opposition parties have requested that the roundtable also address the May 26 elections and the holding of repeat parliamentary elections within a short time. Aurel Simoni

After the Pristina–Belgrade talks Serbian President Slobodan Millosheviç and President of the Republic of Kosovo Ibrahim Rugova signed an agreement concerning the reintegration of Albanian pupils and teachers into Kosovo's public education system, it was officially announced in Belgrade on Monday. After Belgrade abolished Kosovo's autonomy in 1989, Albanians boycotted Serbian schools and established an underground school system in the Albanian language. This is the first time that the Serbian authorities and the Albanian opposition in Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians make up 90% of the 2 million inhabitants, have found common ground. The agreement to normalize the education system in Kosovo was signed on Sunday in Belgrade by Millosheviç and in Pristina (the capital of Kosovo) by Rugova, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanoviç specified. Rugova is president of the Republic of Kosovo, proclaimed in 1991. He was elected in 1992 in elections considered illegal by Belgrade. The agreement was reached through the mediation of the Catholic Community of Sant’Exhidios, based in Rome, which helped establish a dialogue between Belgrade and the Albanian leaders of Pristina. It provides for the return of pupils and teachers to public schools, according to the text of the agreement broadcast by the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug.

“My father taught me tolerance toward others and love for the Homeland.” With this phrase, the newly elected Secretary General of the Socialist Party, Rexhep Mejdani, made his entrance into politics. At his first press conference, held yesterday at the PS headquarters, Mejdani returned to his family past to explain his political influences, using expressions that are not new to Albanians. Mejdani would mention his father's message several more times during the conference, often inappropriately, but he excused these mistakes from the outset by saying that he was new to politics. Continued on p. 2

Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic arrived in Tirana on Monday for a short visit, during which he was received by the country's highest authorities, including Albanian President Sali Berisha. Ganic was first received by Albania's Foreign Minister, Tritan Shehu, with whom he discussed relations between Sarajevo and Tirana as well as the situation in the Balkans, according to information from the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Ganic's next meeting was with the Deputy Speaker of the People's Assembly, Ms. Margarita Qirko. But undoubtedly the most important meeting the Bosnian vice president had was with President Sali Berisha. Mr. Ganic conveyed to the Albanian president the greetings of Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic and thanked him for the support Albania has given the Bosnian people during these difficult years. For his part, President Berisha highly praised the Bosnian people's efforts to rebuild their country and defend national sovereignty. Berisha pointed out that the peoples of our two countries have been, and remain, oriented toward Europe and must intensify their efforts to integrate into Europe. Bosnia's Vice President, Ejup Ganic, also conveyed to President Berisha an invitation from President Izetbegovic to visit Sarajevo, an invitation that was gladly accepted. Yesterday afternoon, Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic also held a press conference attended by local press journalists and foreign news agencies.

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