REPORTAGE / One of the leaders of the Helsinki Committee recounts Ilirian Zhupa On June 2, a group of representatives of the Albanian Helsinki Committee undertook an observation mission in the border areas of Tropojë, Has, and Kukës. As the person responsible for this committee, I had the opportunity to see a different reality, which I would like to address differently in this report. Here I would like to emphasize that, as a committee, we have taken and will continue to take further positions, while, as I write these lines, another observation group has been in the hot spots since the 6th, where our Kosovar brothers and sisters, driven from their homes by war, have arrived. As soon as one passes Vau i Dejës, it presents a special point of interest. But simply for the ordinary reason that it looks very much like the other deserted roads of our beloved Athens; not because of the increasing pollution, caused by our commendable barbarity toward the forests; nor because of the familiar fact that after every bend, rock, or thicket, the traveler expects the masked men to appear—who, as we all know, are everywhere. We are fortunate not to encounter them and to reach the Committee’s gates quite safely. For the first time, from Vadejësi, we have the chance to see two- A KLA soldier

Fatos Baxhaku People driven by the flames of heavy gunfire, hatred, who now have nothing left but to take a Kalashnikov in their hands and defend their old threshold; people left without bread, who are still waiting for the politician to come and solve their problem; children, women, elderly people, but also terrified men, who want nothing other than to live in peace. Peace through war, or peace through negotiations—this question seems to have very little value today among people who face death every day. They try to find out from the print or electronic media what is happening up there, where a good part of their fate is being decided. Our colleagues coming from Tropojë, or the messages arriving from Kosovo gripped by tongues of fire, have told us about a phenomenon that did not happen so often before. People have become disillusioned with politics. Enough of statements and more statements that lead nowhere; enough of slogans that amount only to demagoguery; enough of a word that has been repeated for centuries and centuries. Politics, understood more as the faces of those who represent it than as a way of shaping the present and the future, has almost become a word it is better not to mention in the northern areas “overwhelmed” by the river of people. They try to make sense of the lengthy meetings that routinely appear on official information channels. All these are very good things, but they are still insufficient. If you take a look at the statements of the two major sides now facing each other on the Albanian political scene, it is difficult to understand what is really happening. Both sides accuse each other using the same harsh vocabulary: You are doing what Milošević is doing. As if they did not share the same interests they have declared for a long time. As if both sides had not previously declared that they would lead Albania toward peace and prosperity; and both sides had likewise filled the ears of the voters who have brought them to power from time to time with their program for Kosovo. Now both sides, whose programs in their neatly written documents do not differ all that much, have embarked on another war, instead of letting this situation bring them together. It seems as though they have not seen any of what continues to grip the hot belt around Tropojë every day. You get the impression they have been eagerly waiting to pin another accusation on each other, in order to gain more points on the political stage. Of course, from where we stand, it is very easy to criticize. Someone might say that we should understand the people who direct Albanian political life. Let us first find the reasons, and then discuss them. That may be another approach, but without looking at what… of waters and centuries... Politics, understood mostly as the portraits of the faces that represent it, rather than as a way of choosing the present and the future, has become an issue—almost a familiar word for everyone to mention—in areas “overturned” by the river of people trying to escape death. Why this psychosis? What factors have influenced people to have to choose between wages and peace, or between war and despair? There may be many, many explanations for this point of view. It seems more reasonable to us—also considering what has happened recently on the Albanian political scene—to suggest one of them: Politicians concern themselves more with their immediate interests than with the profound human development arising from the torrent of responsibilities facing Kosovo. Otherwise, a few hours by helicopter, a few hours in air-conditioned cars, some propagandistic statement, one person’s face against another’s, another accusation, all with the aim of gaining discuss them. That might indeed be a valid reason if the country were a peaceful one, where we could get around easily and where a show of teeth between politicians would be seen as a much greater sign of pluralism. But Albania is not like that, and so hostility between left and right is expressed; muted, and in the case of the Kosovo crisis, it brings to mind only one word: responsibility. Irresponsibility toward the present, but even more—and this is more serious—toward the future. Because if the two sides knew the past better, they would be closer to one another in the face of an evil that concerns the very existence of the entire Albanian people.

PS group: Serious situation, urgent measures needed Kosovars heading toward Tropojë

NO INFORMATION FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS TIRANA - The chairman of the Association of Albanian Businesspeople has been abducted. Koço Dado, 49, was forced into a dark-colored van on Monday evening at around 22:15. There were four armed men wearing masks, who pushed aside his friend and relative, grabbed him by the arm, and drove off quickly. On page 4: Koço Dado’s house. GAZETA e Durrësit. GAZETA e Vlorës. GAZETA e Shkodrës

Following Pecani’s article about Rama Following the publication on Sunday, in the pages of “Gazeta Shqiptare,” of an article by the Director of the National Cinematography Center, Spartak Pecani, criticizing the way the Minister of Culture, Edi Rama, works, we are publishing a response sent to our newspaper’s editorial office by Blendi Gonxhe, the minister’s chief of staff.

DURRËS - More trains on the Albanian railway, DURRËS - More trains on the Albanian railway. At last, something has started moving in the right direction. Following completion of the reconstruction of the railway line connecting Tirana with Durrës, the General Directorate of Railways has decided to increase the number of trains running on this route. From 12, there will be 16 trains starting on June 14, better filling the hours of the day available to citizens. On page 8

TIRANË - “And who is this Frrrok Çupi?”. The Speaker of Parliament considers his legitimacy as a deputy elected in the city of Vlora entirely proper. “That name doesn’t remind me of anything,” Gjiniushi said yesterday of the director of official news, not deigning at all to elevate the story of his rivalry with Çupi in one of the city’s electoral districts to the level of a conflict. The election dispute over June 29 has brought the two protagonists face to face: the winner and the victim. On page 7

The Shkodër court heard yesterday the first criminal case since February of this year. Four months after the court was destroyed in the unrest at the beginning of this year, judges returned to criminal proceedings after a period of inactivity. The charge of murdering Aleks Dushaj has brought Arben Ndoka, 24, to the dock, but the court was unable to issue a verdict on his guilt. The first hearing was adjourned after four hours because of the absence of witnesses. On page 6

Cinematography Center, Spartak Pecani, criticizing the way the new reply that Blendi Gonxhe, the minister’s chief of staff, sent to our newspaper’s editorial office. Blendi Gonxhe We wish to express very briefly our complete disapproval of the publication on Sunday of the text by Mr. Spartak Pecani, Chairman of the National Cinematography Center, in which certain facts, manipulated to smear the head of the Culture portfolio, are presented by your editorial staff as a kind of public debate among people in culture. It is your right to use the term “debate” for this, but a “debate” of this nature should take place in the press as part of another structure. For, and rightly so, the civilized world considers it a serious breach of professional ethics for a civil servant to use public platforms to attack anyone with whom they have an administrative relationship, direct or otherwise. Thus, under this standard, no state employee may use the press to speak out against one of their own institutions. Because that would also mark the end of that employee’s relationship with the state—a consequence that, in fact, should apply here as well.

“It is time for a radical operation on the team” “Let all of us who love Tirana with all our hearts come together so that it can be saved” Agustin Kola (The Blue-and-White Legend) I have seen a great deal at Tirana lately and would not have taken the trouble to write, but the recent disputes between former secretary Baçi and president Seferi, the postponement of the Board meeting for shameful and absurd reasons, and, more than these things, my feelings for Tirana have prompted me to write too. Some time ago, when I stated, To be continued on page 11

“It is time for a radical overhaul of the squad” “Let us all who love Tiranë with all our hearts come together so that it can be saved”