Athens withdraws its veto in Brussels Papulias again asks for observers for the Greek minority TIRANA — The Greek veto on the 35 million ECU allocated by the European Union for Albania has finally been resolved. On Monday in Brussels, Papulias “gave in”; the first tranche of 15 million ECU will be disbursed very soon to Albania, and the other foreign ministers present at the meeting of the permanent committee, at least for the moment in agreement with granting the aid, hurried to sign the decision. A step that perhaps will change the course of relations between Albania and Greece, which have been strained since April of this year. At Monday’s meeting, Papulias asked for a committee of observers to monitor the implementation of human rights in Albania before the entire EU took a final decision on the aid. The decision by Greek diplomacy has affected in time the Albanian normalisation process over the amnesty. Under the law adopted by the Albanian Parliament, the five members of the Greek minority of Omonia, jailed for espionage, benefit from a sentence reduction equal to one third of the remaining term. A signal that evidently worked on the dynamics of Athens’ policy. The unblocking of the 35 million ECU had been preceded by a long diplomatic dialogue. Although at official levels the two countries had continued negotiations — with the mediation also of some third party interested in stability in the hottest region of Europe — to regulate relations, a process on which both sides had expressed agreement, albeit from different perspectives. A statement by Papulias made at Athens airport before the departure of the diplomatic mission to Rome had once again strained the “situation”. “The release of the minority members is a condition for improving relations with Greece” was the response to the statements by the Greek Foreign Minister. “Albania is a regime, we do not accept outside pressure on the decisions of Albanian justice as long as they have entered into the written statement of both sides” was the relationship with considerations and even some possible joy at the beneficial implications of Papulias’ statement. For the Greeks, in the end, it became clear that Albania was by no means prepared to make an immediate step back. For the five of Omonia there would be no pardon, only the serving of the sentence. Some time later came the amnesty on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Liberation. The history of the European aid blocked in Brussels began in the spring of this year and has since been discussed at every meeting of the experts of the KOPERI committee [?]. 35 million ECU were allocated by the European Union to Albania for payment of the instalment. The Greek representatives had conditioned the entire release of the aid on the “unsatisfactory state of the rights of the Greek minority in Albania”. Only once during the just-passed summer did Greece declare that it would approve the unblocking, but the decision was withdrawn after a few days as a result of a new wave of tension in relations. The border between Greece and Albania

TIRANA — The changes approved by Prime Minister Meksi in the organisation of the ministries are still unknown. His request for the movement of ministers and changes in the ministry system has been submitted to President Berisha, and according to the official information given to the media, he will now await Parliament’s decision. Meanwhile, Meksi’s plan still remains full of question marks. “It is still too early to talk about changes in the ministries; these are still under study,” the office of the Council of Ministers replied to Gazeta Shqiptare’s question. The same uncertainty surrounds the candidacies of the new ministers who will take over the vacated posts. It is also not yet known what the new ministry structure will be. On Monday it was said by sources very close to the Government that some organisational changes would begin. According to these sources, the proposal to merge the Ministry of Construction with the Ministry of Tourism is certain, but the news has not yet been officially confirmed. Meanwhile, the number of ministers awaiting replacement continues to function abnormally. No official communication has been made to them up to Monday.

Sale procedures began yesterday The Albanian partner gives up its shares Albanian Airlines: the company up for auction Sale procedures began yesterday TIRANA — “Albanian Airlines” is going up for auction. Only a few months after the largest Albanian-Austrian airline company halted its operations by suspending flights on all routes, its two co-owners — “Albatransport” on the Albanian side and “Tyrolean Airways” the Austrian partner — have decided to put up for sale all remaining capital and its activity, including all the regular destinations it served. The sale procedure began yesterday at the company’s current offices in the capital. The news of the auction of the capital and operations of Albanian Airlines had been announced only a few days earlier by the two co-owners through a public notice. The tender, unlike the usual procedures, will be conducted in two separate phases. “This is because we are dealing with a very reduced activity,” explains Ferdinand Petrela, director of “Albatransport”, to Gazeta Shqiptare, “and because not every company or legal person can have the right to operate in the field of aviation.” Precisely for this reason, the pre-qualification of the contenders will begin — they will have to obtain the “Albanian Airlines” documents, which are secret and sealed in envelopes and are handed out only in exchange for payment — from which those interested in purchasing will be selected. Those who pass this selection phase will have the right to participate directly in the purchase after collecting the documentation package. A procedure that at first glance seems complicated and lengthy, but according to “Albatransport” representatives is expected to be definitively concluded on one of the first days of January 1995. The requirements for participation in the “Albanian Airlines” tender are the same for everyone. They will not privilege any entity that has long since deposited a request to buy the remaining capital and activity of this airline company, nor those that have requested to carry out civil transport activity. But excluded from this will be the current Albanian partner, “Albatransport”, which has decided that it will no longer take part in any shares. Since “Albatransport” is the authority of the Albanian airport and moreover cannot continue to be simultaneously a partner in an airline company. “The reason for the blockage of “Albanian Airlines” had been its negative financial balance, which over two years of activity had led it to losses of more than 50 percent of the company’s capital. A situation which — according to the law — had put the co-owners before two alternatives: either to increase the capital or — as actually happened — to liquidate it.” Ar. Me.

Lezhë, a “record” lunch Without a doubt, it is the lunch with the largest participation in Albania. Organised on the occasion of the religious feast of E[u]lmejda, it brought together at a lunch — held in the village of Kallmet in Lezhë — as many as 1,487 guests. Thus, nearly half the village — of 8,500 inhabitants — was present at the lunch, where deputies, local government officials and Catholic clerics were also not missing, as well as representatives of foreign embassies accredited in Tirana. The magnificent lunch was dedicated to E[u]femia, the martyr saint of the 3rd-4th century, who as a child had given her life for God. Mirditë, almost a textile unit It is almost a textile unit, for the machine parts of which 300 million lire are being spent. But the special feature of this unit in Rubik, by February ’95, is the workshop where special production in leathers in Italy is being built. Ten watchcases will also be assembled, and from the old factory of Rrëshen, they will make it possible to finalise in Albania the Italian experience of knitwear production. Elbasan, water pump “blackout” The drop in water levels was noticed in the wells, causing problems for the water pumps in the city, which have been working at only 23 percent of their normal capacity. The Waterworks Directorate, which has had 40 consecutive hours of interruption, announces that if repair work on the pumps is not carried out, by working at the station, then low-pressure water will make the city’s water supply difficult.

The causes of the serious घटना are still unknown The causes of the serious event are still unknown Marital tragedy He kills his wife and then himself, the driver of Chairman Brozi. A scene of terror in front of the three children TIRANA — A true tragedy for the “grown-ups” of the Doku family. Since Saturday evening, three children aged 6 to 14 have been left without their parents, Fatbardha and Irena Doku. And it was precisely these children — who were having dinner in the kitchen — who first came face to face with the unimaginable sight of two lifeless bodies lying on the floor, cut off forever from life by pistol shots, their family members — husband Fatbardh and Irena Doku. The phantom of a murder, but also of a suicide, had just carried out its violent act. News of this family tragedy spread very quickly. Perhaps also because one of the spouses — Fatbardh, 39 years old — worked precisely as the driver of the President of the Court of Cassation, Mr. Brozi. After the incident — around 10 p.m. — and the children’s sobbing, the neighbours immediately informed the law enforcement authorities. After about three hours, the investigative group reached a clear conclusion: the killer was one and the same person, the husband, who after killing his wife immediately shot himself. There are two fatal shell casings, in the head, leaving no chance of life for the two spouses. According to the initial report of the investigative group — which examined in detail all the circumstances of this tragedy — the only fact currently certain is that the murder and suicide were committed by the same person, the victim Fatbardh Doku. All the signs, as well as his own weapon — which he possessed because of his function — point to the same conclusion. The only mystery surrounding this serious family tragedy is the motive. According to Prosecutor’s Office staff, despite intensive work, by last evening they still had not reached a definitive conclusion about the causes that had driven one of the people closest to Chairman Brozi to murder his wife and then himself. (Ed. La.)

The law benefits from the Amnesty TIRANA — Outside prison, the protagonist of a sensational trial. After being sentenced also by the Court of Cassation to two years in prison, on Sunday he was released under the Amnesty — and the family property of the military officer Romeo Liçi, found guilty of giving out a document described as secret by the judges and journalists of the daily “Koha Jonë”, was also returned. But if Liçi was the only one of the well-known figures who ultimately escaped the prison bars, many others — sentenced to many months — benefited from the Amnesty only by having one third of the remaining part of their sentence reduced. Thus the second amnesty in Albania — after 28 November ’44, 28 November 1944 and 28 November 1944 [?] — has not been able to restore freedom to Nano, Alia, the bloc leaders and widow Hoxha, as well as the five members of “Omonia”. According to the latest amnesty, the socialist leader — sentenced to 12 years in prison — still has seven more years to serve. Meanwhile, the former president Alia has also benefited from the Amnesty, although today like seven other functionaries of the regime, he will be before the Court of Cassation. The foreigners have a reduction for some of the minority members of “Omonia” — sentenced to 5-7 years in prison — whose sentences are reduced by from one year and a few months up to two. (...)

Rinas opens at night in an emergency TIRANA — Only through lightning-fast air transport was the life of an employee of the British Embassy in Tirana saved. To ensure the landing of the plane that arrived urgently from Italy, Rinas airport — exceptionally — was opened at 10:50 p.m. Normally the airport facilities do not operate after 10:00 p.m. The request for help came directly to Italy from the Foreign Office late on Saturday evening. The British diplomat, who had been struck by a serious unspecified illness and acute haemorrhage, was to be transported as quickly as possible from Tirana to the American Hospital in Rome. A true act of solidarity brought her to Naples, where the plane in which the accompanying personnel were travelling stopped there in such cases. Within a very short time, pilots, doctors and nurses were on board the plane. Then it was the turn of the Rinas technicians to prepare their equipment. The flight came on the evening of Saturday. Rinas was readied with admirable speed. Just over an hour after the alarm was raised, the woman, still in serious condition, was received in the doctors’ cabin on board the plane. Shortly before midnight she departed for Rome. In the early hours of Sunday, the medical team informed the Foreign Office: “Your diplomat from Tirana is out of danger.”

A CASH REALITY LEZHË — This month’s pension will be a delayed one for the pensioners of the Dajç commune in Lezhë. The robbery — which is still unknown — managed to seize the entire fund of money for the elderly: approximately 700,000 lek. Now all of the damage will be shared between the pensioners and the cashier, the latter perhaps the person who has suffered the most from this bitter story. It all began when Leze Fetahu, an employee of the Lezhë commune, went to the Lezhë savings bank to withdraw the money for the elderly. A day later, the 700,000 lek were no longer the money of the thieves. Neither Fetahu’s alarm nor the watchful eye of the monitor that had been in the village helped. Afterwards, the searches for the cashier in the city corridor began. [?] and they shrugged. The money seems to have been taken by bad luck, and thus began Fetahu’s story of the debts with which she started paying the village’s old people. Ar. (?.)

— The library of Pogradec is at a crossroads. A property dispute has stripped it of all its functions. The owners of the plot on which its new building stands have forcibly entered and gathered all the books inside, locking them away behind the doors of the hall. Their violent action, the owners of the land have justified with the right granted to them by a decision of the municipal council, which recognises their ownership. But since there is also a decision by the prefect suspending this ownership over the library, it seems that the owners have preferred to place themselves above the municipality, making everything now a fait accompli. Thus, in these days, the province says that the city’s only library appears to be irretrievably lost.

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