Shkodër’s locals: Here are our wounds. Nano: Solve them yourselves, but you will have us too Nano breaks the ice in Shkodër Whistling, but the prime minister waves in greeting The North’s main city is taken by surprise. Meidani and Nano meet local leaders SEVEN YEARS AGO That fiery December in Tirana Fatos Baxhaku December in Tirana is cold. It rains, and the inevitable autumn gives way, with a whistle, to a genuinely damp winter that bothers you with its rain and mud. That is what is happening this year too. Tirana, burdened with the many troubles of the cold uprising, with the noise of espresso machines that keep rumbling, with people asking, “How much is the dollar now?”, and with other similar noises, seems to have forgotten what was happening here seven years ago, when, after many decades, it had to go through a winter with great uphill struggles... Back then too, the weather was damp and people’s feet sank up to their ankles in the red mud of the square in the City of Students, but the enthusiasm coming from the students’ hearts, from the intellectuals and from an entire people did not let you pay all that much attention to the lights going on and off, the cold apartments and the other shortages. And everyone then was leaning on one another, and especially on the most exceptional group there can be, the “thërthitë”. It has now been seven years. So much rain has fallen here since then. The mud is the same; once again, almost nothing has changed. It seems that only the people have changed, those who last night, perhaps at some point, moved by the same “bloody illness”, remembered that popular protest in different ways. The Democrats went into a disco last night, as if wanting to recall that they were just as closely connected to the rhythm as in that fiery December of 1990. The Socialists chose another, more political way. Their leader, Prime Minister Nano, chose this very date to “break” the ice that has long prevented him from travelling to Shkodër, an anti-communist region. Others chose other ways; above all, no one could fail to spend the tenth winter in this city, when the students embarked on the difficult task of bringing down the last dictatorship in the East. Trying to understand all the circumstances surrounding the theme “Përkufit mi betë”, we are reminded how good it would be if all the protagonists of that gathering and that [unclear] celebrated together a date that truly embodied values. Without being divided by resentment rooted in the struggle for positions and other similar follies. SHKODËR - Fatos Nano breaks the ice and makes his way up to Shkodër. The first visit by this head of state, Meidani, and Prime Minister Nano passed yesterday through all three of its [unclear] with protocol, but also with whistles and anti-government and anti-Socialist chants. “Down with Nano”, “Socialism out of Shkodër” and “Bënishta president”. These were the chants of a group of Shkodrans who, somehow, took as their cue the prime minister’s greeting from a distance before he got into his “Benz” and set off towards the capital. The arrival of the country’s leaders in the city of Shkodër yesterday morning came as a surprise. The celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of “Luigj Gurakuqi” University provided the occasion for Nano and Meidani to warm up and make their way to Shkodër. It was the first time since the June elections that the Socialist leadership had appeared in full in this city of ancient culture. Nano waves calmly. We will come back. After months of absence, the Socialists will soon be back in Shkodër From the events of April ’91 in Shkodër (above) Prime Minister Fatos Nano

TIRANA - Three coffins were carried out through the door of a house in Shkodër, a peripheral area of Tirana. Klojdiana, 15, Eda, 23, and their 56-year-old father, Bilal Sula, died of asphyxiation from gas leaking from a cylinder. No one else was in the house. The son had gone to work, while the mother had gone to the market. A lit stove was in the entrance room, and a pot of clothes had been placed on top of it to boil. About 10 litres of gas leaked from the cylinder during the morning, spreading through the rooms of the house. The windows left open and the doors closed led to the tragedy. All three were extinguished. And while the mother weeps inconsolably for her loved ones, the son is overwhelmed by the stream of tears. In his house, a group of men smoke and drink coffee. Everything that has happened is terribly grave. Above all, a painful silence prevails, weighing on your heart. On page 8

The Ministry shows promising signs TIRANA - A revolution in Albanian education. Soon, the average grade from secondary school will be removed from the admission criteria for university. Recently, a bill on higher education has been under preparation at this ministry; among other things, it provides for the possible removal of the “average grade” factor from the requirements for taking entrance examinations. All of this is in keeping with the 1993 constitutional package, in which none of the laws also enshrines every Albanian citizen’s right to receive an education. This is part of the steps towards the ongoing Europeanization of the Albanian education system, although the difficulties facing Albanian schools in one of the most difficult periods in the nation’s existence should not be forgotten. On page 2

How the opposition leader’s staff works TIRANA - Berisha is preparing tomorrow’s ministers. Around the head of the DP are politicians and advisers, people who remain in his shadow but support him with ideas and projects on the opposition stage and, tomorrow, in government. Pollo, Beja and Demi-Bode appear to be the political figures closest to the head of the DP. In the second row is the technical team: chiefs of staff, his spokespersons, as well as department directors. The man leading the DP has thought about avoiding the mistakes of the past in preparing tomorrow’s statesmen. Under his tent, the political thinking of a DP waiting to return to power is being developed. But Berisha has not changed much in his daily work routine either. His usual reading of the press, watching the main TV news programmes, and the many phone calls and visits from friends and acquaintances. On page 2 Berisha

FOOTBALL On page 7

Spatafora addresses Ceka TIRANA - “Visa trafficking? Bring us evidence.” Italian Ambassador Marcello Spatafora has asked the Minister of the Interior, Neritan Ceka, and the chief of police in the capital, Nard Ndini, to present concrete evidence for the allegations of visa trafficking. Spatafora’s request, made on behalf of the Italian Foreign Ministry, follows an article in the country’s largest newspaper, “Corriere della Sera”, which denounced visa trafficking. The allegations that employees of the Italian Consulate were selling visas were made by Tirana police director Pashk Tusha. According to Tusha, an investigation began in mid-October to verify cases of visa sales by embassy employees. According to the Italian Foreign Ministry, Spatafora has asked that the allegations be proven or, otherwise, that the Albanian authorities explain the basis for these serious statements. Minister Ceka said he knew nothing about his subordinate’s statements, but that he would immediately begin verifying them. Meanwhile, the Italian Foreign Ministry says that the visa-issuing procedure is more transparent and is carried out in accordance with all Schengen Agreement procedures; the debate over visas continues. And in the morning, according to the published lists, 120 numbers were supposed to be called, but only 100 of them were called. “Where did the other 20 visas go?” one of the Albanian journalists also asks. Another day: reports of visa trafficking, in which the Italian embassy itself has been implicated, as has been written, are not “new”. They began several months ago, when Paolo Foresti was ambassador, but never took the form of a formal accusation.

Milutinoviç has received 43 percent of the votes, compared with Sheshel’s 32.5 In former Yugoslavia, Milosheviç II wins The decisive round will be held on 21 December TIRANA - Milan Milutinoviç, Milosheviç’s right-hand man, has received more votes than his closest rival, Sheshel. Preliminary unofficial results of the presidential election held on Sunday in Serbia give Serbian Foreign Minister Milutinoviç a clear lead over Sheshel, leader of the ultranationalist Radical Party. However, 43 percent of the votes, compared with Sheshel’s 32.5 percent, are not enough for Milutinoviç to be declared president. Under the electoral law, he needs 51 percent of the votes. Although winning a majority of the votes does not seem very difficult for Milosheviç’s loyalist in the next round, which will be held in two weeks. Voter turnout remains the main problem. For the election results to be valid, turnout must be higher than 50 percent. It is estimated that on Sunday only 51 percent of the 7.2-million-strong electorate went to the polls. The elections held in October were deemed invalid because of low turnout. The third candidate, Vuk Drashkoviç of the Renewed Socialist Party, according to preliminary estimates, received only 16 percent of the votes, thus definitively dropping out of the electoral race. Kosovo did not take part in the elections, less for it, taking part in the elections, less for it, taking part... [part of the text is illegible] The difference between Milutinoviç and Sheshel is that he has stated that he wants to pursue the party’s career in Yugoslavia, but as for Kosovo, he considers it an internal matter in which the international community should not intervene. Meidant’s statement that, between Sheshel and Milutinoviç, he chooses the latter as the lesser evil has opened a major debate in Albanian political circles. Serbia’s head of state in the first round [unclear], Meidant, was not well received by Kosovo’s political class either. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Milo has said that he would be ready to engage in dialogue with representatives of the Serbs. Nanos’s agenda also includes talks with whoever becomes the future president of the Serbs and [unclear]. The second round of the election, from which the future president of former Yugoslavia is expected to emerge, may be held on 21 December. Milutinoviç Shesheli