P. 5

P. 3

Budanesti cannot find common ground on Kosovo. Disagreements over independence return to the stage Budanesti cannot find common ground on Kosovo. Independence returns to the stage; disagreements resurface Rugova: Now is the time Thaçi: Later P. 5

The former prime minister rejects the candidacy for mayor. The congress’s [??] loser is seeking the posts he lost Rival groups are throwing the majority into turmoil P. 5

No chance of peace in the CEC P. 3

A plan is being prepared for the destruction of toxic substances P. 2

P. 8–9

. It is not the first time that Tirana has been plunged into bloody crimes, in which various gangs settle scores, while fear and insecurity about their lives grow among innocent people. For some time, the Albanian capital has become a crime-ridden blight, recording the highest number of murders in the first quarter of this year. The statistics report 30 people killed in 2000, while Poçi and his subordinates claim that the detection rate has increased by such-and-such a percentage. Everything happens “in broad daylight.” Even under the Police’s nose (as happened in Friday’s crime, 200 metres from the Police Directorate). Those who become the protagonists of serious crimes every day have been described as police targets, despite nobody knowing who got them out of prison and gave them “free rein” to take revenge. According to specialists at the Ministry of Public Order, all the notorious shootings have just one motive: settling scores between rival groups, or the breakdown of deals between them, while there is no talk of normal life. It seems that crime has become synonymous with normal life. Indeed, this normality is even viewed through such bloody crimes. All of this is happening in the centre of the Albanian capital. It is all happening in a city where members of parliament make laws and the Police protect ministers and MPs. And yet, for ordinary citizens, insecurity about tomorrow has seeped into everyone’s bones. It seems that for them, every day brings the making of the chronicle of a foretold death...

During the election campaign, contenders have promised to expel emigrants KAPSHTICË/On the eve of the elections in Greece, the border crossing is filling with emigrants The question arises of its own accord: Where is the state, when every day hundreds of emigrants, lined up just like slaves, are returned to the Kapshticë crossing by Greek police officers, who stand beside them with rubber batons in their hands? As Greece is expected to announce the election winners today, the Kapshticë border crossing has recorded a record number of Albanian emigrants returned from Greece. No fewer than 271 people were returned during Friday night alone, and the pace has been just as high as well. Returns continued yesterday in the early morning hours and again late in the afternoon. They were caught by the Greek Police at their workplaces, on the streets, and some even in their homes. In the brutal election campaign, the Greek state’s brutality seems to reach its peak against unprotected Albanians, who earn their daily bread through the sweat of their brow. The Albanian’s cheap labour is of great interest to Greek “owners,” who pay them much less than Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, or any other workers. P. 7

Of the 112 inmates at Vaqarr, 41 are aged 14–18 There is no rehabilitation centre in Albania for children who have committed various crimes. Recently, a Legal Clinic has been established to provide legal assistance to minors held in detention cells P. 6