The Rome meeting explained. The West sets tough conditions A day after the important debates, further details emerge: First, build a genuine state Prime Minister Nano after the first “cheers.” His first trip from Rinas was directly to the Presidency NANO AND FINO RETURN FROM ROME TIRANA - An optimistic return from Rome. It was a mission that laid the foundations for cooperation between the new government, which emerged from the June 29 elections, and the international community. This Rome Conference expressed its commitment to providing assistance to normalize life in Albania. The Minister of the Interior, Nedin Ceka, was among those for whom the meetings in Rome proved effective. “We established satisfactory relations of cooperation with the Italian counterpart ministry and, at the same time, agreed on the way we would cooperate,” Ceka says. Within a few days, a considerable amount of aid from the Italian police will arrive at the port of Durrës. The main aim is to establish a comprehensive radio system that will cover the entire territory of Albania, as well as to provide a number of bulletproof garments and armored vehicles. Thus, the issues that will shape long-term Albanian-Western cooperation were agreed upon. On page 2 Nano and Fino return from Rome (Photo: REUTERS)

TIRANA - “Today the President received so-and-so ambassador; today so-and-so minister received such-and-such representative, who expressed his highest regard...” Official news reports, whose spokespeople have become very vocal, have experienced an unprecedented surge lately. Poor people wait to hear why these routine meetings between our officials and foreign officials really matter, but they can understand nothing beyond the now-famous phrases: The meeting took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere. Then people change the channel or look for some “more interesting” news in the crime reports or another section, and say: “Those poor politicians, their whole lives are spent in meetings...” But politics is conducted in meetings; the dry news reports coming from official television channels do not need to tell us that. Many people also know that Albania is full of news far more important than the sentences and lines of telegrams—courtesy of the latest news and the elegant telegrams exchanged by our officials and their foreign counterparts. Many zealous writers of this kind of news will shrug: This is our job; consider it if you want, or don’t if you don’t. Would it not be better to let ordinary things unfold in their ordinary course? That is the question you could ask these writers. Otherwise, we risk turning our official news into information made up of “words,” even if “the meeting once again took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere.”

SHKODER / Yesterday, two more accidental victims SHKODER - A massacre near the bridge over the Buna River. SHKODER - Massacre near the bridge over the Buna River. A group of armed people opened fire, killing one person and wounding five others who happened to be near the place where the shooting occurred. The police were able to confirm only the motive for the crime: it was committed as part of a blood feud. The victim was Mark Diejana, 47, a resident of Oblikë, while his killers remain unknown. The bullets also “punished” four members of the Maja family—the spouses and their two minor children—as well as another girl. The children are in serious condition in hospital. Yesterday, two more victims were also added to Shkoder’s death list: a child who drowned in the Buna and a girl who, for unknown reasons, fell from the fifth floor of her home. On page 5

Government: Tense situation TIRANA - Elections in both electoral districts will be held on August 10. A presidential decree has specified the date on which the voters in districts 4 and 22 will go to the polls. It was a recommendation from the special government commission that prompted Meidani to postpone the voting deadline. The tense situation in district 4, the lack of ballot papers, and delays in preparing the material supplies. According to the government commissioners, these were the reasons why the elections in these two districts had to be postponed. On page 2

VLORE / The bandits recognize the team’s veterans TIRANA - They set out for Tirana, but, like everyone else, they passed under the cloud of masked men. The group of athletes from Vlore arrived in the capital yesterday to play today in the first match of the second phase of the national championship, and recounted the story of their journey to journalists. They had passed the city limits and were heading for Tirana, but at the Bërzotkë Pass they encountered their first stop. A group of people wearing masks stopped every vehicle passing through that stretch of road and began the usual inspection. As soon as they saw the Flamurtari bus, they made the familiar stop signals, and the driver slammed on the brakes. One of the masked gang members promptly got on the bus and was about to begin the search, but suddenly, within a few minutes, everything came to a halt. In the front seats of the bus he saw familiar faces: Latif Gjonden, Anesti Arapini and Rrapo Tahion. “Oh, forgive me, you’re the footballers from Vlora—go ahead,” said the masked man, making a hand signal to the people who had set up the roadblock. Anxiety took hold on the bus, and as the kilometers passed, the footballers turned to joking. One of them unintentionally revealed the real reason they had been spared. “Good thing the three veterans were there; otherwise, if it had been up to the rest of us, they’d have stripped us all,” one of the young footballers said, and his teammates silently agreed. This season, Flamurtari has only 21-year-old Dreni in the role of “experience” on the field. The masked bandits recognized the faces of the men they had cheered for in the stadium for years, and remembered that their “work” allowed for exceptions for VIPs.

THE PRESIDENT CORRECTS THE PRESS TIRANA - The new President of the Republic corrected all the newspapers yesterday. In a notice titled “To all Albanian newspapers,” Meidani, with a single word, through a statement signed by his spokesperson, corrected a mistake that the Albanian press had been making until now without even knowing it. His surname is spelled with an i, not a j. This was the debate sparked by the President. “From today onward, the Albanian press will have one fewer mistake in its pages. From today onward, whenever the President is quoted, everyone will write Meidani and not Mejdani.” President Meidani

Justice at a crossroads: How will the reform be carried out? Imami: “The Prosecutor’s Office must be changed.” Yesterday, a lengthy meeting of the heads of Justice and Public Order On page 3

FOOTBALL / Today the second phase begins, having been suspended in December TIRANA - After seven months of silence, football will begin to stammer again today. Since December 27 of last year, the stadiums will once again fill up for the national championship. A ten-day blitz will determine the national champion. The matches in the first phase, which will also be the most important, since the others will be routine, will all be played in Tirana, and the points from the first phase will be retained. One match has been scheduled to be played in Madrid. On Tuesday, the oldest and most intense derby in Albanian football, Tirana-Partizani, will be played on Wednesday. “Let this be a message showing even UEFA’s sanctioned officials, who will be in the country, that things are functioning normally in Albania,” FSF secretary Skënder Hyka told Gazeta Shqiptare. On page 7

The Government: The situation is tense

At the editorial office at 12:00 The funeral ceremony in honor of journalist Ali Ukaj will be held on Sunday, July 3. The funeral ceremony in honor of journalist Ali Ukaj will be held on Sunday, July 3, starting at 12:00 at the premises of the “Gazeta Shqiptare” editorial office. After the tributes, the funeral procession will set out for Ali’s birthplace, where the burial will take place. The Ukaj family Gazeta Shqiptare