OPINION / THE WRITER EXPLAINS THE GOVERNMENT CRISIS Nes(h)at Tozaj Today a great deal is being said and written about the Government and its members. The “storm” that has broken out is a “storm in a teacup,” centered on the Council of Ministers. Without wishing to defend any minister, I would say that, in the face of this old-age farce, among the people, intellectuals, Albanian public opinion and the organizations inter- [continues beyond the frame]

The two prefectures ready for a state of emergency The thunder of guns can be heard in Kukës and Tropojë KOSOVO / The two prefectures ready for a state of emergency Serbs hold war exercises along the Albanian border The thunder of guns can be heard in Kukës and Tropojë KUKËS - A state of em... on the border with Yugoslavia. In Kukës, Serbian gunfire was heard throughout the day yesterday. The districts of Kukës, Tropojë and Has are on the brink of a state of emergency. Yesterday, units of the Albanian Intelligence Service; Fatos Klosi met with the northern division and the prefect of Kukës. Yesterday, several military vehicles also headed north, amid concern. As for refugees, there were only 22 people, including 12 children, who were accommodated in a hotel in Krumë at the government’s expense.

Minister Hajdaraga. Extraordinary meeting at the Presidency today The controversial former minister takes the helm of Defense A surprise move after the compromise with Nano Minister Hajdaraga. Extraordinary meeting at the Presidency today Meidani sidelines Brokaj The controversial former minister takes the helm of Defense A surprise move after the compromise with Nano SPIES IN PARLIAMENT TIRANA - Brokaj is placed under Meidani’s authority. The former Minister of Defense, without being unemployed for even a minute, has immediately moved into a new post, this time not in the executive but at the Presidency, as Meidani’s military adviser. In the text with which the head of state officially appointed Brokaj, one can discern an almost complete resonance with the words read in the former Minister of Defense’s resignation letter. What is more, Meidani did not hesitate to call it a normal, emancipatory act, issuing a new challenge to Prime Minister Nano. But the solution to the Brokaj problem, which paved the way for Hajdaraga’s appointment by decree as Minister of Defense, appears not to have pleased not only the Prime Minister but also some PD officials. “The Presidency is becoming excessively politicized,” was the concern expressed by the Socialists. Meanwhile, the military adviser immediately began work in his new post. Meidani’s adviser was present at the ceremony awarding the title “Master of Labor” to the painter Fatmir Xhaja, where he also spent time in the warm company of Dritëro Agolli, another critic of Nano these days and a defender of Brokaj. Agolli has asked for the Brokaj case to be discussed at the next meeting of the KPD. On page 12 TIRANË - The dossier scandal is eclipsing other political debates. The dark shadows of attacks on the state pyramid have put the people’s representatives on alert. Meanwhile, the newspaper of the Socialists in power was the first to reveal the lawyer’s new claim that there are seven people with dossiers in Parliament. But the names of the MPs who will once again be subject to laws that run counter to the wishes of people with dossiers to be members of Parliament are still being kept secret by the Oversight Commission. Yesterday, one of the Socialist figures, Pandeli Majko, himself voiced suspicions that some MPs in this Parliament may have been involved in the dossier scandal. On page 2

SPIES IN PARLIAMENT

INTERVIEW Anastas Angjeli feels optimistic on his first day in the seat of Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. The former opponent of the motion prefers not to comment on the work of his predecessor Elmaz Sherifi, but stresses that there is a great deal of work to be done. On page 3

Sokrat Plaka Former Minister of Foreign Affairs The only Balkan country that has remained outside democratic currents is Serbia, where ultranationalists are in power. They nurture a pathological hostility toward Albanians and do everything they can to seize the rich lands of Kosovo, whose population is overwhelmingly Muslim and, to a lesser extent, Catholic—unlike its neighbors—but with Serbia and Yugoslavia, the main factor behind these crises has always been Serbian nationalism... Serbia forcibly annexed Kosovo in 1945, without consulting its population, violating its status as a non-candidate part of the Partisan General Staff and the decisions of the Conference of Bujan (1943-1944) on the creation of an independent Kosovo. It begins... It is Serbia, where ultranationalists are in power. On the other hand, a pathological hostility toward Albanians was fostered, and it was and is possible to appropriate and, to a lesser extent, Catholic, unlike the Orthodox Serbs. When the Treaty of Versailles unjustly decreed that Kosovo should be handed over to Serbia, it was placed under the administration of the Ministry of Colonies—a fact that shows it has no spiritual connection whatsoever with Kosovo. Among other things, this is borne out by Turkish archival records from the 15th century, when the Ottomans conducted a census of the local population, which proved to be Albanian, as it is today. Under Serbian rule, Albanians have been persecuted and treated as second-class people; this is also evidenced by Čubrillović’s plan to depopulate the indigenous Albanian population from its lands and populate Kosovo with Serbian settlers. Serbian and Yugoslav political leaders themselves have acknowledged that the gravest internal crises have always had a nationalist character; the problems that occurred in the Province of Kosovo did not concern only the province, but Greater Serbia. violating the status it had as a separate entity in the General Proclamation for the Period of the Bujan Conference (1943–1944) on the creation of an independent Kosovo. Thus began the period of Ranković’s brutal repression, which continued for two decades. Under the so-called “Weapons Collection Campaign,” reprisals were carried out and the displacement of the Albanian population continued; 250,000 people left for Turkey alone. Likewise, the peaceful demonstrations by Albanians demanding autonomy in 1968 were suppressed, and Tito promised to give Kosovo a status similar to that of a Republic. The 1974 Constitution made Kosovo an autonomous province with dual status, including its position as a constituent element of the SFRY. But, as expected, after Tito’s death Greater Serbian chauvinism gained momentum again and persecution resumed; the Serbian army violently suppressed the peaceful demonstrations of 1981, killing and wounding hundreds of Albanians. In 1989, it ordered around 100 other Albanian demonstrators [word unclear in source]; thousands more were wounded and arrested. Continued on page 12

It goes from 10 to 20 percent TIRANA - Millers will soon see their duties rise. Prift that Parliament will soon change customs duties on flour and wheat, setting them at 20 and 5 percent, respectively. The existing law makes no distinction, and the customs duty on both wheat and flour is 10 percent. The change in customs duties on wheat and flour produces two winners: the state and the flour mills. On page 2

VLORA - Kakami has appeared in Vlora. His car drove around the city yesterday, firing bursts of gunfire and spreading terror through the neighborhoods. The police gave chase, but were unable to stop the car. Kakami was Zani’s rival and, after the unrest, had left for Greece. On page 7

SHKODËR - At least 457 families have been removed from the list of recipients of economic assistance. According to the heads of the office responsible for the aid, the negative response for them came from the road traffic inspectorate. On page 6

“We don’t like the latest changes in the Government” The hero of the clandestine migrants is killed Albanians, clandestine migrants, prostitutes, weapons, narcotics, the first, the lazy... But the previous night in Italy, among 30 clandestine migrants who had managed to cross the Strait of Otranto in a dinghy, one young Albanian had finally acquired a different epithet: that of a hero. Bardh Rrozhani was killed by a gang in Italy while protecting a group of girls who had travelled in the same dinghy from being raped. The Italian Carabinieri have made known the horrific story told by Rrozhani’s wife, the poor woman who walked 15 kilometres after seeing her husband fall and then be killed in a hail of Kalashnikov fire. The woman—whose name has not been disclosed—said that she and a group of 30 people had landed on the Italian coast and then taken shelter in an abandoned house in the countryside around Brindisi. “We were waiting for the people who were going to show us the way to northern Italy,” the woman recounted through sobs. “But in the evening, instead of them, the robbers arrived. There were four or five of them,” the young woman said, “armed with Kalashnikovs (this was later also confirmed by the Italian Carabinieri). They demanded the money we had with us and, to frighten us, began firing bursts and striking us with the butts of their automatic rifles. But Bardhi,” the young woman continued through tears, “reacted when the bandits began raping three of the girls. At first they beat him, then they shot him twice in the face.” The killing terrified everyone; they fled at lightning speed, and in the old house in the middle of the village only the woman remained, trying to help her husband. “I stayed over Bardhi for hours, but he was no longer breathing.” Throughout the night, the 25-year-old woman travelled, and only in the morning did she reach the Carabinieri station in Lecce, where she recounted what had happened in a state of shock. But she was unable to identify the people who had brutally attacked and killed her husband in the place that, for them, had been the land of dreams. DURRËS - The Socialists of Durrës are reacting harshly to Nano. At yesterday’s meeting, they expressed dissatisfaction with recent developments in the Government, asking that the discussion examine the recent conflicts with the President and with Agolli. They again expressed dissatisfaction with the changes made in several institutions in Durrës, asking that their views be taken into account by the central leadership. They referred to changes both in the Government and in Durrës institutions. On page 2 We don’t like the latest changes in the Government. On page 3