TIRANA - Nexhmije Hoxha went to Brussels to honor the young Communists. Meanwhile, Maks Hasani, a deputy with communist convictions, is calling for a great deal of fire in the polemics between the Hoxha family and his comrade, Hyshi Milloshi, leveling all the accusations at Ramiz Alia. The left has responded with indifference, with the socialist professor Servet Pëllumbi showing not the slightest interest in the Communists’ quarrels. It seems that the great showdown between the old and young Communists will take place outside Albania’s borders, in the heart of Europe. Nexhmije Hoxha will travel to Brussels, where she will celebrate May 1, Workers’ Day, together with other Marxist-Leninist Communists. At the same time, Hyshni Milloshi is also in Brussels for this purpose; he has accused Enver’s widow of treason, punishable by death. On page 4

The Prime Minister on Kosovo: We are asking for NATO military presence in Albania Smuggling: Nano takes aim at Fino Heated session in Parliament, but the new Government wins Unexpectedly, the DP votes for the new Socialist ministers TIRANA - The Prime Minister attacks his own people over smuggling. “The government anti-smuggling committee has not done its job properly.” According to the Prime Minister, the customs-clearance figures are compromising. For the first time, Nano has publicly acknowledged his government’s responsibility for tax evasion and smuggling. Meanwhile, the new Government has won Parliament’s vote of confidence, with the opposition voting against it. But the Democrats voted in favor of the ministers, Meta, Angjeli and Hajdaraga. Socialist deputy Dritëro Agolli also voted against the changes, but withdrew his speech against the Government after the harsh remarks by Berisha and his deputy, Pollo. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nano has appealed to the international community to allow

Serbs near the border in Shkodër ROME - “We will freeze the RKF’s funds abroad.” This was the only sanction imposed yesterday by the countries of the Contact Group, which met in Rome for the third time in the last two months to discuss Kosovo. In addition, the participants decided to freeze foreign investment in Yugoslavia if the situation has not changed by the next meeting in Paris. Although the measures taken are unlikely to calm the situation in Kosovo and cannot be called “harsh,” they were once again opposed, as expected, by Russia, Serbia’s eternal ally. On page 2 Critics do damage and show themselves only by frowning and keeping their mouths shut. The day before the parliamentary session, a group of deputies attacked the Government and their leader over the changes he had made to the Cabinet. They criticized the absence of representatives from the North and the fact that the Cabinet was made up only of people from the south; they complained about those who had been removed and the young people placed in power. Most of them focused only on names, but no one seems to have offered any new alternative different from that of the Prime Minister, who is also their leader. On the one hand, they accused him of letting things slide and, more specifically, criticized the names chosen; on the other, they forgot that their criticisms were ultimately, in substance, the same thing the Prime Minister was doing, and that the difference was only in the names, not in ideas or platforms. While the Prime Minister alone pointed to smuggling, taxes and customs, the rebellious deputies did not have the courage even to say the things Nano himself admitted. If the Prime Minister’s “accusation” is interpreted differently, it turns out to be merely a clash of petty interests, which seem exceedingly mean in the face of the country’s major problems. And the deputies cannot earn any medal for bravery or courage from their electorate, which might complain to them that there is no electricity or water, that people are afraid to travel at night, that prices have gone mad and their pockets are too empty to cope with their uncontrolled rise, and that they still see no light at the end of the tunnel. ... In the hall they raised their fists, while yesterday in the chamber they cowered, did not speak, or, when they did speak, defended the Prime Minister against Berisha’s attacks. Some others even said that they had prepared criticisms of the Government, but after Berisha’s speech they could not make them. And so they entered the vortex of a familiar Albanian political struggle: you cannot criticize your own side, because that would “pour water into the enemy’s mill.” By that logic, they should remain silent and “save their words for later,” since it is understood that the opposition exists only to attack and criticize. The only one who yesterday had the courage to attack and step outside the usual boundaries was deputy Lulaj. He demanded that the Government be more transparent, answer the accusations of smuggling, get the administration working, and know how to choose and keep people on its side. Some saw it as a black stain; others took heart, given the haste with which they pressed the button “it was about the government changes,” while Lulaj himself, although he declared that he would vote against, withdrew and did not take part in the vote. But where were those most affected—the ones who lost their positions in the old Cabinet, who left no newspaper without complaining about the injustice done to them, about the shortcomings of the Government in which they had sat for nine months without opening their mouths? Their greatest protest, it seems, is indifference and cowardice at the moment when they should speak. If they think that this is how to do politics, if they are afraid to say things plainly—if they have more power to speak up instead of lamenting what they lost—if they cannot hold their heads high, then they have no reason to beat their chests and issue statements here and there. Nobody needs these undignified battles. Serbian soldiers on the Albanian-Serbian border (ANSA)

SkifterI The flame of polemics among the Socialists lasted briefly and died away like the flare of a match. Nano and his people showed that he fully controls his party, and that those who present themselves as face-to-face opponents of his remain mere critics, showing day before the parliamentary session on changes to the Government, several Socialist deputies raised their voices and pounded not speak, or, when they spoke, you cannot

Arjan Starova The Contact Group’s Green Declaration on Kosovo failed to help resolve the crisis in Kosovo. This is true. The group’s first failure was in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Therefore, first of all, we must ask: why has such a delicate issue as Kosovo been left to the Contact Group? Could there be an unspoken understanding whereby, while the Contact Group “wastes time” for two months, Milosheviçi gains time to violently suppress the so-called “separatist forces” of Kosovo? There are several indications pointing to this macabre scenario. First, the declaration by Albanian Foreign Minister Nano and President Clinton’s envoy concerning Kosovo and terrorism in Kosovo. A short time after talks with them, Serbian newspapers in Kosovo reported the first attack by “terrorists,” and it was seen that “terrorism” consisted of nothing but women, old people and children. Second, President Gligorov’s statement about corridors for Kosovo Albanians to pass through Macedonia to Albania. In the event of war and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, this would come immediately after the revenge against the Albanian Prime Minister in Skopje. Third, the very rapid change in the American position regarding the so-called terrorism in Kosovo. The Kosovars are no longer being described in the same way. On the contrary, through its spokespeople, the United States expresses sympathy for the Kosovo Liberation Army, the Kosovo Liberation Fighters. This meant that the Serbian claim that they were “terrorists” had been rejected. The issue was no longer Kosovo terrorism, but Kosovo’s self-defense, actions parallel to Serbian state terrorism. Fourth, Kosovo’s political leadership has never alluded to the existence of an armed current defending the demands of the Albanian population in Kosovo. Meanwhile, from the way it responded, it appeared that it truly had no connection with the armed resistance (although Rugova has called only for a peaceful solution); on the other hand, it did not allow those taking up arms to be labeled “terrorists” as they faced Serbian military-political pressure. Only in this way could Rugova take away from Milosheviçi the card of terrorism as a pretext for attacks and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. If the above assumption is true, I must now say: the Contact Group has nothing more to do, because the beginning of the war ... Continued on page 2

SPIES IN PARLIAMENT / “There are only three, but the law protects them” TIRANA - The Bezhani Commission reveals the latest development. “The DP has destroyed the files of its deputies.” This is the conclusion reached by the head of the Commission, jurist Bezhani. According to him, the Democratic group no longer has any spies among its ranks, but Bezhani believes that the SP has none either. In any case, he says, several spies have also been elected to the Albanian Parliament, but they do not have a very dark past. Under the law on vetting public figures, deputies are protected by the law, so they have nothing to worry about. Bezhani On page 4

Bojka: Tirana, a summer without water A year ago, in the dusty Tirana of a summer that seemed hopeless, around 30,000 residents of the outskirts took to the streets in protest over drinking water. The “water revolt” that shook the central government was accompanied by a series of changes, clashes and, finally, administrative purges to put something right. On page 5

Evidence from the Prosecutor’s Office. Two of Alimuça’s bodyguards are also arrested On page 9

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“The Italian Visa Desk” of GAZETA SHQIPTARE Send your letters to: Rr. Dibrës 370, Tirana The Italian Consul answers in the pages of “Gazeta Shqiptare” On page 12

Shkodra, dreaming of the motorway SHKODER - “If I had somewhere else to go, I wouldn’t feel such a longing to travel the Torovica road,” says a bus driver who travels to and from Tirana every day. This road, geographically defined as the route from Bishti i Jukës to Balldre, continues to be a problem for everyone. On page 6 GAZETA eVlorës Creditors: Arapi didn’t keep his word VLORE - Creditors in Vlore are raising their voices again: “Arapi deceived us. He promised us in Vlore that he would take our advice into account, but in his statement on television it became clear that he had not taken our words into account at all.” On page 7 GAZETA eDurrësit Houses inside the Port are demolished DURRES - Bulldozers are demolishing roofless houses inside the Port of Durrës. Yesterday, the demolition of unauthorized buildings inside this port began, one of the conditions also set by the World Bank. The bulldozer’s giant arm will also work on the other unauthorized buildings, but a reaction is expected here from residents who have come from the North and South of Albania. On page 8