Albanian totalitarianism takes Europe’s blow
. Totalitarian doctrines have been discredited, and this is to be welcomed. For the first time, the prime minister of the left-wing coalition government, at a press conference, set out the necessity of building institutions in order to have a rule-of-law state meeting international standards. This is not a direct judgment, but a response to the suggestions of the European Troika and the American Department of State. The West’s political message is to stimulate efforts to fill the internal substance of Albanian democracy with institutional abundance, and to reshape moral and historical values that can create a state of self-control and survival. However, to restore the vacuum in institutional structures, international “assistance” cannot do much. Albania’s political forces themselves must find, through the political process, a perspective for the institutional organization of the Albanian state, regardless of the contradictions between subjective hopes and objective socioeconomic conditions. In this sense, clashes between the alternatives of political groupings must not be allowed to spiral out of control, creating mass political disorder or civil escalation. The Democratic Party at yesterday’s rally gave no encouraging signs, even though the demand to respect the status of former fighters is justified. Continued on page 3