A 10-year-old boy disappears His mother has been searching for three months Page 7

Bledar Ukën from Kashar was left by his parents for one night with their relatives. After that, they never saw him again... Page 7

EDITORIAL By Ervin MAZNIKU Recent events in the former Yugoslav Federation and the adoption of the new constitution by the Serbian Parliament have thrown the future of the Republic, with a population of 650000 thousand people, into serious question. Montenegro’s aspirations for independence seem to have been cut short on the eve of a new war. The strategy being applied by Millosheviçi, as well as the loss of balance between Serbia and Montenegro in the Serbian Parliament, are compelling the latter to break away from the phantom Federation, since it has been stripped of its rights as a separate Republic. The pro-Western Montenegrin President, Gjukanoviç, has 10 thousand police officers under his command, who cannot stand up to a well-organized Serbian army, battle-tested during the campaigns in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. During his visit to Albania, Montenegrin Prime Minister Vujanoviç declared that Millosheviçi would not be given a reason to start a new war, a position that theoretically accords with the call for a referendum on independence. With Kosovo nearby, its status still unclear, and Albania, meanwhile, torn apart on all sides, the West is extremely tense as it monitors the situation in Montenegro. Stricken by political tensions and economic and social crises, Albania—which has already experienced an influx of Kosovo refugees—seems unprepared to face another one. On the other hand, for Macedonia too, the Stability Pact’s most favored state, a Serbian-Montenegrin war, predicted to be the last in the region, would finally push it into a crisis from which it would scarcely be able to recover. Asked some time ago about NATO’s position in the event of an armed conflict in Montenegro, its former Secretary General, Solana, said that NATO would intervene. Solana is no longer NATO Secretary General, and its action could raise even more questions about the region...

Cement, victim of corrupt privatization With the privatization of the cement factory in Fushë-Krujë by the consortium of companies “Seament Albania & RMC,” cement production in the country is dying. From approximately 800 thousand tons of cement produced in 1991, production of this product has now fallen to 80 thousand tons, sources at the Ministry of Public Works told “Republika.” According to specialists, the reason for this situation is that the company that won the right to privatize two of the most important cement factories in our country is a phantom. The Albanian side has no concrete information about “Seament’s” production activity or its areas of influence. Page 3

Pre-election agitation by Socialist MPs Page 5

Abolition of the Death Penalty will be ratified Page 2

Police and Prosecutor’s Office: chaos in the case files Page 6

Health Page 13

Diplomacy on alert. Conflict imminent in the Balkans The Albanian Parliament is monitoring Montenegro. Recent developments in the small republic of what remains of Yugoslavia, on our country’s northern border, have now become a serious concern for the entire Balkan region, while the prospect of a possible war, should the Montenegrins declare their demand for independence from the former Federation, is being watched with anxiety by Albanians more than anyone else. Yesterday an urgent meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy was called. Page 2

Drugs and “Sonila’s” boutique: the Americans are in the game The FBI will investigate the drugs linked to the “Sonila” network. A team of specialists who arrived from America several days ago is expected to join the operational investigators who will unravel the drug network that was seized a few days ago in a boutique in the center of Tirana. Sources at the Ministry of Public Order said yesterday that “there will be an operational investigation into this matter.” Page 9

REPUBLIKA 80 years ago, on 24 July