EDITORIAL By Ervin MAZNIKU The newly elected Italian Prime Minister, Amato, chose Sunday to drop the latest bombshell aimed at the Albanian Executive. “The Albanian Mafia is stronger than the Italian Mafia. The paralyzed structures of the Albanian state make the Mafia highly consolidated.” Such a statement calls into question even the “copyright” to the country where the Mafia was born. Governing politicians, entangled in such profitable businesses as the transport of illegal migrants, drugs, etc., have gone too far—to such an extent that they have become a concern even to their neighbors across the sea. The seriousness of the statement by the head of Italy’s left-wing government, concerning his Albanian counterparts, shows that this is no longer a matter of social ills, but of genuine operational structures directed by Albanian state officials. The current Albanian state is also the most profitable and best-protected field for Mafia business. As in no other country in the world, you hear and read constant accusations about thieving ministers who systematically rob the country from their armchairs and cell phones; incompetent police chiefs in charge of public order; police officers killed in the line of duty; a justice system that releases their killers from prison... And the day’s news then continues with taxpayers being robbed, innocent people being killed, and others who have been killed whose names are not even known. Everything works perfectly in favor of ignoring the law. This state finds a thousand and one ways to demonstrate its “seriousness” toward its citizens, while behind their backs it devises twice as many ways to evade its responsibilities. Amato’s statements are no revelation to Albanians. For Italians, perhaps they are...

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Albania’s beauty queen strains relations between the Albanian beauty pageant and the Ministry of Culture. The Tirana Court will finally settle the dispute between Bozos and Gjebrea and will officially recognize only one of the girls who took part in the Beauty Contest Albania’s beauty queen ends up in court The most beautiful woman in Albania has strained relations between the Albanian beauty pageant and the Ministry of Culture. The Tirana Court will finally settle the dispute between Bozos and Gjebrea and will officially recognize only one of the girls who took part in the Beauty Contest Page 2

The Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Privatization close the complaints and conceal the facts The state helps the state to be robbed The much-discussed government corruption has resurfaced in joint ventures between the Albanian state and foreign partners. More than 800 million lekë have been found to have been stolen from the company DETA sh.p.k. in Elbasan; nevertheless, no action has yet been taken. The request for criminal prosecution, submitted to the Elbasan Prosecutor’s Office by the Supreme State Audit, against the Italian partner, Franko Pizzi, from whom around 269 million lekë had been stolen to the detriment of the Albanian state at the time the complaint was filed, has been closed Page 5

The Alliance for the State on the brink of dissolution Page 4

The government orders that they be granted only to MPs, ministers, and senior state administration employees Banks take money, but do not lend Page 9

SPECIAL REPORT/The morgue is full Page 13

Albanian politicians control East–West trafficking PAGE 3

THE DANGER Page 8