REPORT / The European Commission reveals the funding for civil society The names of the NGOs that benefited The organizations benefited from 113 projects in the 2007-2013 period. Last year, 1.5 million euros in funding were allocated Ambassador Sequi: We will continue to support civil society so that Albania can move forward toward the EU REPORT / THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION REVEALS THE FUNDING FOR CIVIL SOCIETY THE EU’S 13 MILLION EUROS The names of the NGOs that benefited • The organizations benefited from 113 projects in the 2007-2013 period. Last year, 1.5 million euros in funding were allocated • Ambassador Sequi: We will continue to support civil society so that Albania can move forward toward the EU Albanian civil society organizations have received nearly 12.7 million euros in grants from the European Union since 2007. The funding was intended to support 113 projects to improve freedom and the professionalism of the media in Albania, encour- aging involvement... Continues on pages 4-5 (In the photo:) Ambassador Ettore Sequi. Facsimile of the data on the funds that non-governmental organizations benefited from from the EU last year

INTERVIEW / The writer’s long account: Why I gave up politics Besnik Mustafaj: My friend Preçi made me an MP without my knowledge INTERVIEW / The writer’s long account: Why I gave up politics “20 years of clashes, I chose literature” Besnik Mustafaj: My friend Preçi made me an MP without my knowledge By FATMIRA NIKOLLI To have or not to have writers in the East.” The article published by Besnik Mustafaj in the French newspaper “Liberation” in 1995, recounted how he explained that dedication to politics, which has now turned into an opportunity for power, was leaving post-communist Eastern Europe without its best writers. At the time, he cited the example of Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic, but he himself had fallen prey to the same... On pages 26-27

Memories of Edmond Trako On pages 12-13

Opinion of the Day Opinion of the Day By KIÇO BLUSHI I remember this lesson from the Bible whenever I hear political positions. Their public behavior. Their hostility toward one another,... “Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you” Continues on page 28

Opinion of the Day Opinion of the Day By ROMEO KODRA On 26 December, applications close for the competition for the position of director of the National Theatre announced by the Ministry of Culture... The National Theatre on the road or on the cross Continues on page 29

KAJMAKU: THE THIRD ATTACK AGAINST ME On page 7

THE BRITISH On page 2

REPLIES On page 3

FORMER PRIME MINISTER On page 2

NEW EXCISE DUTY On page 6

THE FESTIVAL ON RTSH The 3 presenters: We have no problem replacing Diellza Kolgeci On page 25

fB FONDBESA Business Loan Energy Efficiency Loan www.fondbesa.com