Many Kosovars are coming to Albania. They come from the other half of the mother state, from Europe, from exile. They flee the war, persecution, repression, and fever. They flee disinformation, friends, cults. They come to see their mother’s true face, to touch the empty pedestals, those pedestals for which they may have been sentenced and exiled. In short, they come to take refuge in the suffering and poor state. Many Kosovars are coming to Albania. Recently, in order to prevent an even greater exodus, the LDK appealed to the population there not to leave the country. Nevertheless, nobody leaves for pleasure. They have political reasons, they are persecuted, or they want to study in Albania. Representatives of the Republic of Kosovo in Tirana put forward an even greater number of Kosovars who may come to Albania, most of them from Switzerland, Germany, and other countries where Kosovars are no longer being accepted. And since they cannot return to Kosovo, they will certainly come to Albania. So far, not even the Representation of the Republic of Kosovo in Tirana has an exact number of Kosovars living and sheltering in the country. Many cross the border, where, during the week that has just passed alone, according to Curi, etc. They stay with relatives and friends, but most are lodgers. They pay 500 or 600 new lek a month, or even more, and live with families as tenants. They live alongside Albanians who themselves find life difficult at this time, but who make sacrifices for the sake of that money. For many Albanians and Kosovars, securing accommodation for one night, one month, or longer has become a means of making money. It has become a business. At the doors of the “Dajti” or the “Tirana,” you can find all sorts of people dealing in houses or rooms, taking a commission from both sides. They naturally prefer foreign currency: marks or dollars. Kosovo currently has war at its doorstep, and of course in this situation the question is not what it will do, but what Albania will do—the poorest country in Europe, and consequently with an army that is both exhausted and demoralized, which, along with its own forces, still has 80,000 WC bunkers in its ranks. During the election days, in Kosovo, in Tirana, and even in the bread queue, people talk about war. While the prime minister was reviewing the armed forces, a by no means modest number of doctors and nurses from Tirana’s hospitals lined up the day before election Sunday to perform their duties on election Sunday. And still, nothing is certain. In Kosovo, they still have only the taste of victory in their mouths. Asked about this on election Sunday, Rexhep Qosja said that so far only one thing was certain: that tomorrow is Monday. Today, meanwhile, is Friday and tomorrow will be Saturday, but what is even more certain is that the Albanian state, with its internal problems, will face a catastrophe in the event of a mass exodus, which has already begun. So far, only young Kosovars have made it into the country; with the little money they may have earned in the West, they live very comfortably in the eyes of poor Albanians, whose women have learned that Eve’s status can also be used as a profession. At present, not a single Kosovar is employed in Albania, apart from those who have come to invest and may be considered self-employed. The rest wander the streets amid dust and chaos, further fueling—and especially in these days—the old specter of arms trafficking, which for years has been said to have wings in the northeast… Meanwhile, only 49 students from the dozens and dozens of applications received have been admitted to UT. sent repeated requests to all the governments and all… there is no Many entered through the border; this year alone, around 12 people from the Serbian forces, and even more others, have not reported to this Representation. According to the statistics held by the Representation, around 350 people have entered Albania as deserters from the Yugoslav army. They are staying with Albanian families in Tirana, as well as in Kukës, Bajram… … in Tirana, even in the bread lines, people are talking forces, a not-at-all up one day before election Sunday along the country’s northeastern border, and perhaps they are still there on alert. Their noble mission must have been just as secret, since it was not covered by the mass media, which is still masturbating over the word war. In any case, so far, apart from the Serbian reaction, all the other predictions have come true. Rugova and his party ha… … that it is headed northeast… While only 49 students have been admitted to UT, despite the dozens upon dozens of applications it received, and repeatedly submitted requests to all governments and all presidents to accommodate its people, the number of Kosovars in the country is growing. In the current political context in Yugoslavia, the question becomes more and more evident every minute: Will there be Albanian refugees in Albania?

IN THE NEXT ISSUE:

Last week in Tirana, the Secretary General of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Mr. GERALD NAGLER, declared: «...As for the censorship, pressure, and problems raised by the editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Koha jonë», Mr. Lesi, an investigative commission from the International Federation of Journalists, based in Brussels, as well as from the International Press Institute, will come to Albania…».

The Government’s decision to remove the former members of the bloc from their homes was entirely just. Indeed, for the citizens of Tirana, even their placement in the so-called special clinic that once served them causes discontent. A new geographical or topographical arrangement, placing the former members of the bloc in other residences, would naturally be much less irritating. Isolated from «their people whom they served», they do not know what a home is, what living is, what suffering is. While openly agreeing with this decision, we have no reason not to express reservations about its implementation. People who have never been members of the bloc are anxious and panicked. They have been put in an embarrassing position. At the Executive Committee of Tirana and those of the districts, where meetings are held, people are singled out, lists are drawn up, and in the evening or on a fine morning an official arrives with a dozen policemen and demands that you vacate your house, or accept a former political prisoner into your home. They (the officials) do not back down even when you give them arguments and present legal documents. «We do not recognize those court decisions,» they tell you; they even add that your being allowed to stay in that apartment is only temporary. The policemen are put in a difficult position because of those giving them orders. They know that when an obstacle is encountered, the state authority (and only then) decides to enforce the order by force, with the assistance of the police, who merely stand by because the actions are carried out by the authorities’ people. It seems as though the authorities are doing a good job, having studied the problems thoroughly, and I have no right to judge. But how can one keep silent when one finds a man late at night waiting outside the District Executive Committee for the chairman to leave his office? He is with his sister, and when you ask whether he has been settled somewhere or not, he answers that they have thrown him out of his home and assigned him to the residence of someone who is a refugee. The house is full of belongings, and the refugee’s relatives threaten him with a knife if he goes near it. So this man has been left outside; he has to live, and he is a good man, with two small children and a wife. This has happened to many others as well. Then a question arises: whom do methods like these serve? Those now being moved out of the bloc «acted more openly in the past»: they would obtain a decision from the Commission for Internment and Expulsion, send you to an isolated village, assign you shelter, and put you to work in a cooperative. I do not mean to excuse in any way those who went through this, but to me it is the same, and even worse, to leave a person and his children outside without any protection. In such cases, there can be no talk of «respecting human dimensions», as we like to say publicly, in and out of place. For 50 years, various individuals who held positions, after retiring, kept people under their thumb. Policemen are now going to this category of people to carry out the Committee’s decisions and throw them out. Let them take the houses, but they should also properly rehouse these people, and the authorities should show genuine concern; otherwise, their attitude and these decisions that wreak havoc reek of cynicism and revenge, which have nothing to do with democracy but with dictatorship. E (Continued on page 2)

Until just a few days ago, before the elections to the People’s Assembly were held, there was not a newspaper that did not write about this trial. Certainly, such a massacre called for the perpetrators to be brought to trial. This was what the people of Shkodra and all of Albania demanded. The ruling party and the justice authorities of that time were accused. But why the silence now? If it is difficult to find the guilty parties (it certainly is not easy), why are GJEK CELAJ, DILAVER PAPARE, CAPAJEV TACI and XHEMAL DYMYLJA still being held in detention?

Alongside the astronomical increase in the prices of other goods, citizens-readers are now facing increases in the prices of newspapers and magazines as well. We are obliged to sell the newspaper for 3 lek, reminding you that the price of newsprint has reached staggering levels. Alongside the astronomical increase in the prices of other goods, citizens-readers are now facing increases in the prices of newspapers and magazines as well. We are obliged to sell the newspaper for 3 lek, reminding you that the price of newsprint has reached staggering levels, the price of printing presses is shocking, newspaper transport is outstripping passenger transport by bus… private press agencies, newspaper sellers want their share too, the editorial staff work for low wages, contributors demand high fees, taxes have to be paid, etc., etc. In any case, we are obliged to price the newspaper at 3 lek, and we remind you…

newsprint has reached staggering levels, the cost of printing presses is shocking, and transporting newspapers is becoming more expensive than transporting passengers by bus… …the editorial staff works without… high the newspaper at 3 lek, and we ask you not to think that this price will necessarily be the last or that we are doing this for profit. It has been more than a month and a half that many private press-sales agencies throughout the country have not paid the editorial office of this newspaper any invoice for sales of «Koha jonë». This was also one of the reasons why, two weeks ago, specifically on May 23, we did not send you newspapers for sale. (Publication of «Koha jonë» has not been interrupted at any time.) After seeing the reaction in letters from various districts, our editorial office asked all these agencies to settle the invoices as soon as possible for all the issues sent to them for sale. Starting with this issue, the newspaper will cost 3 lek; for each newspaper sold, you will receive 20 qindarka. Please make your payments as soon as possible to the address: «Koha jonë» No. 1, account 606/112, Lezhë. Starting with this issue, payments for newspapers sold should be made every week. Also, if possible, please inform the editorial office of any increase or decrease in the circulation sent to you, because one unsold newspaper is equivalent to the profit from 10 newspapers sold. Your lack of punctuality will force us to stop sending you newspapers. We do not want this, and we believe neither do you or your readers in the districts. We ask you once again: do not obstruct the financial operations of our newspaper. THE EDITORIAL OFFICE OF THE «KOHA JONË» NEWSPAPER.