Nano awaits the blessing. Europe calls for cooperation; the opposition is a card already laid on the table Obligations to creditors are publicly declared. Companies begin to be transparent. Nano awaits the blessing. Europe calls for cooperation; the opposition is a card already laid on the table VEFA returns to Tirana Obligations to creditors are publicly declared. Companies begin to be transparent.

. It is natural that every newly installed government should try and aim to do something better than its predecessors. Especially in Albania’s circumstances, where the disappointment has been just as charged in the outpouring of feelings it has produced as the enthusiasm of the hopes presented by a government. The political forces in Albania that have had this good fortune have reason to think that the same is happening, and will happen, with those currently in power. The Albanian socialists will not merely aim for “something better,” but perhaps for a radicalization of this good. Even if this were imposed not by the political idealism of one or several governments, but only by the desire to show that they know how to govern, the greatest beneficiaries would be the Albanians themselves, eager to find normality in their lives. To achieve this, you have to know where you are starting from. Otherwise, there is not only the risk of a “rotten plank,” but, worse, losing your bearings and returning to chaos. But do the socialists know where they are starting from? Apparently not! And this is not about Albania’s real condition, which is worse than devastated in terms of the economy, public order, education, etc., but above all about its politics. It appears that the socialists and their government allies have decided to change many things in the ministries’ structures, throughout a deep hierarchy of levels, and even their composition. In such cases, especially in Albania, there are plenty of arguments—and convincing ones, too. Corruption, incompetence, cronyism and nepotism, regionalism, etc., have been so evident over these five years that one would not be wrong even to call the state structures and ministries massive examples of them. This is one of the “most valuable forms of assistance” the PD has given the PS, creating the opportunity to turn everything upside down without even having to formulate a clear provision, such as Article 24/2. But will Albania make progress as a result? It is possible that the damage caused by this may be less than the damage that will be eliminated. But nothing is guaranteed in the long run. What this country needs most is a radical change in the entire mentality of political, economic and social leadership. The government’s program does not promise this, at least in its main economic policy areas: its position on property and privatization. In both cases, the PS accused the people who had administered the laws over the past five years more than the laws themselves and their policies. In other words, the impression is created that it is enough to remove these people from the barricade and everything will go as well as can be, without changing a single comma in the legislation. Naturally, one cannot expect the PS’s leftists to immediately go as far as their counterparts in the PD, but one can expect them to act normally, at least. Given Albania’s current circumstances, what would serve it better than anything else would be a turn to the right, even under a left-wing government. But for that, we would need people who know more about governing without self-aggrandizement than about pretending to be men when they really are not. “Keep right, see left” (go right and look left), a British socialist (Labour) leader referred to the road code a few days after his party came to power, perhaps expressing with a certain kind of eloquence what Albania itself needs more than anything.

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Napalm from Sazan burns 6 residents of Vlora; Greeks [?] at night in Elbasan; refugees return along with weddings in Kavaja; 20 million for three police stations in Korçë. In Albania, 7 killed, 8 wounded and 9 arrested in 24 hours Page 3 Pages 5–7

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