Social assistance, the Ministry of Labour will distribute food vouchers New aid scheme for the poor Social assistance, the Ministry of Labour will distribute food vouchers Coupons are back New aid scheme for the poor The government measure to prevent abuses in aid distribution is supported by the World Bank. The voucher will be worth 2,500 lek. This year, 2,344 cases of wrongful benefit receipt By ERMELINDA HOXHAJ The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has brought back food vouchers for poor families. This is a project supported by the World Bank, which will initially be implemented only in three main counties. Although in 2010 the return of vouchers was widely trumpeted as a measure that would reduce poverty in the country by 2%, this project/decision was not implemented and has been left to be applied as a pilot project only in some counties. The food vouchers will be given to these families every month, but at the same time they will continue to receive economic assistance alongside the voucher. According to specialists, the value of this voucher is expected to be around 2,500 new lek per month. According to data from the State Social Service, around 100,000 families are currently covered by the aid scheme, while it is expected that in 2012 their number will rise to more than 104,000 families. One of the issues that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs... Continues on page 9

EXCLUSIVE/ “We appreciate the approval of laws by a 3/5 majority” (In photo): Ambassador Ettore Sequi, during his service as a diplomat in Afghanistan INTERVIEW/ The EU Ambassador: The Albanian political class in particular should be concerned about the lack of interest or support from the youth “Political forces and leaders need to make use of this period to strengthen the intensive dialogue around issues related to the main reforms” On pages 2-3

The writer recounts his youth and work On pages 22-23

Opinion of the Day By ILIR DHIMA The heavy word used as the title of this article, I have noticed, is being used increasingly less often in the ordinary language of conversations among our citizens.... Decadence Continues on page 25

Opinion of the Day By BEN ANDONI A few years ago, with a text about Jihad, which was distributed among Albanian Muslim believers, in support of the people... Berisha, the Jews and... Albanian Muslims Continues on page 25

LIST OF 1,651 NAMES On pages 19-21

7 ARRESTED On page 16

SERBS: WE ARE FIGHTING On page 18

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE On page 26

DOSSIER/ 2 On page 12