10/07/1997
Original newspaper scan
scroll · drag · double-click

Republika

10 July 1997

Berisha changes his mind: I will not resign

The Prosecutor’s Office launches its final assault on the pyramid schemes. The President, Meksi, Bode and Gazidede are accused The leftists’ alliances fall apart. The government is postponed until next week. PS will not give up the key ministries The Prosecutor’s Office launches its final assault on the pyramid schemes. The President, Meksi, Bode and Gazidede are accused Berisha changes his mind: I will not resign The leftists’ alliances fall apart. The government is postponed until next week. PS will not give up the key ministries Vlora sends Berisha to trial Page 10

Albanians are killed and slashed over a flag

. The blood of the 17-year-old who died and of the 70 injured in Gostivar is not enough to prompt a response from the mother state. While the mother state is boiling in the struggle between clans for power and calling on Europe’s chanceries to arbitrate, our brothers of the same blood in Tetovo, Gostivar and Dibër are being killed and slashed over a flag. Yesterday, the signal of the nation’s hemorrhage was completely clear to politicians around Albania as well. Gostivar lived through its most terrible and bloodiest day; nevertheless, last night the Albanian state did not see fit to take a supportive stance, even a merely formal one. The President’s office, too, dealt only with the NATO summit; did it have no words for the events in Gostivar? What was expected happened: Macedonia repays Albanian diplomacy, which, in its naivety, had hurried to recognize the Macedonian state before all the other countries. The Albanians of Macedonia, our brothers of the same blood, have been struck where they cannot bear it: in their national dignity. The absurdity of the Macedonian parliament’s decision and the police’s immediate action inflamed Albanian passions. Albanians could not tolerate violent acts in the offices they administer, nor the removal of the National Flag, and so they took to the streets in peaceful demonstrations. For their part, the Macedonian police authorities acted stealthily, arresting at midnight on Wednesday those described as the leaders of the rebellion against the state. The extremist actions of certain circles in Macedonia led to the peaceful demonstrations by Albanians being bloodily suppressed. The death of a 17-year-old and the wounding of more than 70 Albanians put the Macedonian state in the dock. On the other hand, the bloody events involving our brothers should make Albanian politicians think more about the nation, about the flag and about their equality. Yesterday, Albanian political parties exercised restraint and tried to take a position under threat. They made appeals to European chanceries and turned to the OSCE for help. The time has come for Albania to appeal for peace and to protect the lives of people who are fighting for national dignity. Albanian diplomacy, for its part, must make every effort to come to the aid of our brothers of the same blood.

Albanians’ demonstrations in Macedonia turn bloody.

The Presidency is silent, the Government mute — Page 11

Leka Zogu at the Prosecutor’s Office today — Page 2

Agim Fagu, head of SHIK — Page 2 Public denunciation from Durrës — Page 14

Circulation of “Republika”: 19 thousand copies. In Tirana: 7,500