Tirana students threaten a hunger strike Late last night, tension in the protest city: a river of people to protect the University VLORË - “Vlora is the city where the body often...” This alone was enough to bring all the angry people of Vlora out onto the streets. People in cars, many of them armed with whatever they could find, formed a gigantic river of people that immediately surged towards Skela, where the university is located, with the students shut in on hunger strike. The incident happened last night at around 22:30. At first, news reached the city centre that, from 15:00, “IFA” vehicles, the kind usually used by the sam-pists, had surrounded the entire city. The people of Vlora immediately became angry: “They want to force the hunger-striking students out.” The usual schedule of demonstrations was immediately disrupted. For the first time in 22 days, the gigantic river of protesters in the street formed during the day, but in the late hours of the night. A group of people, among the most active, surrounded the university, declaring that they were determined to protect the students barricaded inside until the end. The evening in Vlora had been tense the previous day, too. Many cars honked incessantly in protest; people were extremely agitated, and even gunshots rang out for a few moments, while a crowd, growing ever larger, surged towards “Ismail Qemali”, where students have been barricaded for seven days.

The students themselves were initially surprised when they heard all the commotion that had begun to approach their building. Just a few minutes after the crowd had gathered, one of the newly barricaded students answered a phone call from Gazeta Shqiptare. “This is an unusual gathering for this time of night,” the student said. “Word is that forces have arrived from Tirana and want to force us out.” Asked whether they had encountered any particular problem at that moment, he replied: “So far, there has been no attempt; we can only see the flow of people around our building growing larger and larger.” At around 23:30, the Chief of the Police Commissariat, Etem Kurti, appeared before the many protesters. He called on the people of Vlora to calm down because, according to him, “There is no kind of encirclement.” But people continued to remain gathered. Near midnight, groups of people began lighting fires around the University and along the road to the port, while gunshots continued to be heard. Stavri Marko

The desks of protest

TIRANA—A lightning mission by European Union officials in Albania. A senior representative of Brussels will arrive just a few hours after the decisions that the Council of Foreign Ministers took concerning the current situation in Albania. Very little information, and more mystery, surrounds the visit of Europe’s senior representative. The offices of the EU Commission in Tirana have issued no announcement, while it was Berisha who made his arrival public yesterday in Gjirokastra; unlike on previous occasions, it seems that Brussels itself will not publicize the visit. Meetings with senior Albanian officials will take place within a short period of time. The European Union official appears to be coming this time to discuss implementing what was decided on Monday evening in Brussels. The withdrawal of the project proposals [text cut off at the edge of the image]. is being discussed at the Brussels meeting. Accelerating the current projects the EU has undertaken in Albania and considering ways to bring the crisis to a close are thought to be key points in the talks with Albanian officials. Brussels sources do not rule out the possibility that Europe will also express its readiness to provide additional aid. If the Albanian side submits a request, it seems entirely possible that it will be given assistance for emergency areas of the country’s economy, particularly its finances and balance of payments. Nevertheless, the basis of European support in Albania will be the PHARE programme, which outlines projects in the country. It is not yet known whether the European representative’s mission will also include the political side of the matter, namely restoring dialogue between the Albanian parties. But the very manner in which the invitation was extended and his arrival arranged seems to foreshadow such a mission, especially since, as of last night, the political forces had received no such notification.

Last night, the PD requested a one-on-one meeting The details of the new proposal are not known. Rexhep Mejdani: “I haven’t received anything yet” TIRANA - “I invite you to dialogue once again.” Last night, Tritan Shehu issued another invitation to the Socialists from his office. Shehu confirmed the news yesterday during the PD’s Extraordinary Activity in Tirana. “I haven’t received any invitation from Shehu,” Rexhep Mejdani said last night, at 20:30. But a few minutes later, the PD offices announced that the invitation had been sent last night to the Socialists’ leadership only after 20:30. Unconditional dialogue, the need to lower tensions, the situation in Vlora, and finding ways to minimize the damage caused by the pyramid schemes. This is the content of the invitation issued last night from Shehu’s offices. “The PS is in dialogue with the Prosecutor’s Office of the Court,” was the reply received from PS Secretary-General Mejdani. Shehu, meanwhile, told the press that “I hope they will come, since they are the main opposition political force and it is essential that they feel the responsibility they have toward this country.” Meanwhile, in the text of his invitation, Shehu added new elements for the first time. Such a discussion is, according to him, broad and involves many opposing views, but “the important thing is for us to begin the discussion responsibly.” Just a few days earlier, another invitation from Shehu had come to nothing: when the PS leadership meeting was arranged, the Socialists left a statement on the table for Gjoncaj. It is not yet known what position is expected to emerge today from Mejdani’s offices. Rezar Xhaxhiu

FROM THE WORLD Clashes and victims in France 22 police officers injured during protests On page 11

SPECTACLE The theater “juniors” take the stage Experimental studio prepares two plays On page 10

“SPORTS NEWSPAPER” From the Albania–Germany ’95 match Albania in Austria, Slovenia or Greece! On pages 5–8

Violence against Tirana high school students. A group of plainclothes men beat protesting pupils. Gjongjecaç meets the students On page 3

Hunger strikers in Vlorë: “We don’t want doctors; we’ll treat ourselves.” Suspicions about the white coats On page 2

Fier: high school classes boycotted. A young man beaten by plainclothes men: “Why are you organizing a strike?” On page 3

Kurt Kola “Deputies, do not vote for Berisha” On page 4

The lek tumbles sharply On page 4

NATIONAL PRIVATIZATION AGENCY announces that, pursuant to Council of Ministers Decision No. 75, dated 17/2/1997, the commencement of the procedure for the sale of the share package of the company “BLOJA” - Tirana is cancelled.