Our country ranks first for public corruption among developing states World Bank study reveals scandalous figures We pay bribes for 90% of government services Our country ranks first for public corruption among developing states Albanian corruption: a record in Europe World Bank study reveals scandalous figures We pay bribes for 90% of government services The struggle among officials continues after the Presidency’s bombshell file on smuggling. Dokle: Meidani is better than the customs officers TIRANA - Albania is the most corrupt country in Europe. These are the results drawn from World Bank data, made public yesterday in Tirana on the occasion of an anti-corruption conference, where the figures for charges and bribes reached as high as 90%. The Albanian government and the World Bank were the two co-initiators of the conference entitled “Designing Institutional Frameworks for the Fight Against Corruption,” at which Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano also spoke. Because of this, he issued strong statements, acknowledging that corruption exists in the country, but affirming his government’s determination to fight it. “We will strike at corruption now,” Nano declared, faced with the high indicators in the charts depicting the current state of this phenomenon in the country, which is on the verge of becoming something lawful, given the number and range of government services it has infiltrated. On the other hand, at least this seems to be where the difficulty lies: the high level of corruption in the country is also a consequence of widespread poverty, as emphasized both by the World Bank indicators and by Nano’s statements. Corruption Index in Economies in Transition CEER, 1998 Corruption Index High Low Hungary Slovenia Poland Czech Republic Estonia Latvia Lithuania Slovakia Romania Bulgaria Kazakhstan Russia Armenia Georgia Azerbaijan Ukraine ALBANIA On page 3

“Albania” accuses the DP The newspaper “Albania” has written that in 1996 the Democratic Party paid a bribe of USD 100,000 for “Gazeta Shqiptare” “Albania” accuses the DP ALBANIAN BRIBE The newspaper “Albania” has written that in 1996 the Democratic Party paid a bribe of USD 100,000 for “Gazeta Shqiptare” Gazeta Shqiptare demands a retraction. The accusation: “fascist-communist” preferences, that is, independence. We cannot understand how, on the one hand, attempts are made to shut down a newspaper and, on the other, to finance it with a clean record and balance sheet. Naturally, Gazeta Shqiptare’s accounts are available to any authority that needs to inspect them. “Albania” wrote that Gazeta Shqiptare received a bribe of 100 thousand dollars from the Democratic Party in May 1996. One hundred thousand dollars, two years ago, was equivalent to 27 years of the President of the Republic’s salary, an extraordinary sum. In 1996, 100 thousand dollars corresponded to an official funding allocation that Berisha’s party had received from the state and that was slightly more than one million dollars: either this calculation is enough to show that the news is false, or it shows that the Democratic Party also had a hidden balance sheet. But “Albania,” in publishing this piece of news, writes as if it were an absolutely normal fact that the DP, in addition to its secret attempts to take control of independent newspapers, also paid bribes. An operation that certainly would not [cut off]. with a clean record and balance sheet. “Albania,” apparently the product of a culture unable to imagine any story without the presence of spies, writes that the document that would prove this bribe payment is now in the hands of SHIK (at least that is what the article writer’s complicated grammar leads you to understand), and that SHIK is using it to put pressure on “Gazeta Shqiptare.” If this can reassure our colleagues at “Albania,” we assure them that we have been subjected to no pressure from the current SHIK or from this government. Indeed, one was beginning to be convinced that the time of poison and Building with a sign reading “ALBANIA DEMOKRATIKE”

The Minister of Public Order reveals the trafficking map In a parliamentary interpellation, Minister of Public Order Perikli Teta attacked Division 21, which is in Albania to fight smuggling, and which the information

Football match; players are visible on the field in the photo.

to fight smuggling, because it has not made the information at its disposal available to the Albanian authorities. Teta announced that law-enforcement agencies had managed to seize, during this year, a quantity of smuggled cigarettes worth 4.2 million dollars. Teta cited legal shortcomings that cause clashes between law-enforcement and customs agencies in the fight against tax evasion as one of the reasons for the flourishing of smuggling. Before the members of parliament, the Minister of Public Order presented the scheme showing how smuggling operates in Albania: where the boats and smuggling crews set off from, and their journey until they reach the interior of Albanian territory. On page 2

. On pages 10-11

independent newspapers, also paid bribes. An operation that certainly cannot be called a democratic procedure. In fact, it is an illegal procedure, because both the person who receives a bribe and the person who gives one are implicated. We do not know the Democratic Party’s secret dealings or its difficulties. One thing we know for certain: Gazeta Shqiptare has never received funding—not even one dollar—from any party, whether left-wing, right-wing, or centrist. The newspaper’s independence has also been reflected in the line it has followed. It has tried, with great difficulty at times, to maintain that line even in the most difficult moments, which were undoubtedly those of 1995–96, when—and “Albania” writes this accurately, since it was also a witness—the Democratic Party expelled the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Carlo Bollino, from the country, thereby forcing him later to hand over we were beginning to believe that the time of poison and threats in the Albanian press had also come to an end. What “Albania” writes nevertheless remains a very serious matter, and at this point we too are interested in how this news originated. Blerim Çela, who has conducted a thorough investigation into the Democratic Party’s accounts, answers the question of whether there is a document showing funding to our newspaper: it is not clear why “Albania,” before writing, did not try to verify this news with Çela. In any case, we will ask the Prosecutor’s Office, in which we have complete confidence, to investigate what has been written. We are sure the Democratic Party will do the same, since it cannot allow itself to be accused of paying bribes to corrupt the independent press. If someone stole money in the name of “Gazeta Shqiptare,” they must pay. Otherwise, “Albania” must compensate for the damages. Blerim Çela and Tritan Shehu speak. On page 4

GAZETA e Durrësit . The beach, a thousand obstacles along the way. DURRËS - It is still difficult to get to the beach. Buses that never come, trains that, worn out, are delayed as they pass through stations, and traffic congesting the roads leading to Durrës; this is, in fact, the best way for holidaymakers from Durrës and other districts to get to the beach. On page 8

GAZETA e Vlorës . Zverneci, Vlora’s forgotten pearl. VLORE - A little northwest of Vlorë, where the land is washed on one side by the waves of the Adriatic and on the other by those of the Narta Lagoon, lies a quiet village. Many centuries ago, it was known by the name Spinarica, or later Zvirica. Albanian is spoken throughout the village, and ultimately it bears the name Zvernec. On page 7

GAZETA e Shkodrës . Shkodër’s business under the microscope. SHKODËR - Shkodër’s business is being examined. The Center for Economic and Social Studies presented yesterday the conclusions of a study of 40 private enterprises, sponsored by ORT - USAID and conducted in cooperation with the Faculty of Economics of Shkodër. The “diseases” that have eroded Shkodër’s business have been considered— On page 6

Women, 50 percent get divorced . Bingo “devours” Albanian marriages. TIRANË - “Games of chance are ruining our husbands.” Rebellious women are turning to the courts. Heavy attendance at bingo halls and alcohol abuse are sharply increasing the number of divorces. In the last quarter alone, 50% of the divorce cases brought before the Tirana court cite these charges. Meanwhile, infidelity, financial circumstances, or violence, according to official statistics, are several percentage points lower this quarter. On page 5

REPORTAGE / With the Guardia di Finanza. Hunters of illegal migrants. A night aboard Italian patrol boats, chasing speedboats loaded with illegal migrants or narcotic plants. On page 12