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Hashim Thaci Serbs in Kosovo are a factor for stability P. 5

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Albania achieves a political-diplomatic victory. The chief of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Shelton, declared yesterday in Tirana that the United States guarantees Albania comprehensive support. “We are proud to be called partners with your country,” Mr. Shelton said. The United States views its comprehensive assistance to Albania and the presence of American troops in Albania not only as an essential expression of American interests in ensuring peace in Europe, but also as an act of moral obligation toward the Albanian people for their stance during the Kosovo crisis. In its role as our country’s most strategic partner, America will seek to help Albania regain its cohesion and internal strength, institutionalize and consolidate stable constitutional and democratic processes, so that a well-stabilized political framework can be established, one capable of absorbing the effects of the major socioeconomic changes to come. Entering the American era is not simply a historic advantage, but also a great responsibility. A legal framework must be established immediately, along with a system of political parties free from egoism and destructiveness, as well as stable parliamentary procedures. Above all, the pursuit of the goals of democracy and the free market must take place simultaneously. Let us not forget that we live in an almost anarchic political environment, in a broadly corrupt and ineffective system. Under these conditions, the Albanian people must adopt the political culture of compromise necessary for a successful transformation into a [text cut off] More on page 3

Faruk Myrtaj The building or the Writers’ Union. Filaj, this pioneer of Albanian music. P. 18-19

Poetry anthology. 31 poets from Lushnjë at the “Republic’s” table. Big Ndoja, that nightingale of Shkodran song, by F.Kraja. Cronenberg tries to get himself persecuted like Rushdie. A Night in Petralona, by S.Sulejmani. The Agent’s Love, by Gj.Papakristo

• Miners’ strikes continue • Prosecutors hold the trial hostage • Meksi asks Europe for more money