Thugs entered exam rooms, insulting and threatening lecturers The 27-year-old lecturer Spiridhula Poçi and lecturer Thoma Dhima experience the worst insult of their lives: they are threatened with a knife in the examination room

Thugs entered exam rooms, insulting and threatening lecturers The 27-year-old lecturer Spiridhula Poçi and lecturer Thoma Dhima experience the worst insult of their lives: they are threatened with a knife in the examination room Students, during these days of examinations, in most cases proceed accompanied by interventions or other gestures that reek of corruption. This is a fact found in many faculties of the universities in our country. In the past, the problem of intervention and grades was an issue our educational community sought to combat. But even today, when the criteria for assessing students, their knowledge and their intellectual capacity have changed considerably, the old practice of intervening through personal connections retains its value. This is confirmed by many lecturers at the «Eqrem Çabej» University of Gjirokastër. In this difficult period of transition, interference with lecturers has become commonplace. But what shocks and makes the lecturers’ lives and professional peace even more troubling is their having to face ordinary thuggery and hooliganism. Lecturers at the faculties of this university, as in every exam period, are now also feeling the intense pressure of people connected to students. Some time ago, the incident involving the university rector, Lavdim Hasani, made headlines: unidentified persons fired weapons at his home. It was an act of «protest» by students affected by lecturers’ failing grades. Such thuggish acts are happening almost every day. The latest, and naturally most scandalous, case occurred on Tuesday, when at this university a person entered the examination room with a knife and threatened the two lecturers of the Albanian Language Department, Thoma Dhima and Spiridhullo Poçi, simply because student Hoxha was connected to him and he wanted her to receive a passing grade. The situation in the examination room became such that no one could bear the thug’s language. And, as if that were not enough, he pulled out a knife, attempting to take his criminal plan further. The incident in Gjirokastër coincides with an incident at the University of Tirana yesterday, when a thug threatened a lecturer’s wife, saying he would rape her if her husband did not let him pass the exam...(I. N.) The situation is even worse in Shkodër, where lecturers come accompanied by their own people because they do not feel safe during examinations. A. C

Another deterioration in Albanian-Greek relations. The precarious balance of the Balkans seems set to become even more unstable. Before an international court case with Skopje, Athens, recently viewed with skepticism by the European Community, has time to concern itself with Tirana as well, whose poor airport has received many visitors in recent days. The mass movements of the Albanian population within Albania are now a concern not only for Tirana but also for Athens, since residents from other Albanian areas are also being transferred into areas inhabited by minorities. In this connection, a few days ago Greek Foreign Minister Papulias said «that the transfer of Albanian citizens to the southern districts, where the Greek minority lives, cannot diminish the importance of Greek ethnicity». The Greek foreign minister went on to stress «that any action by Tirana concerning the Hellenic community will be successfully dealt with». These words by the foreign minister foreshadow a new rift in bilateral relations, which, it must be said, are constantly worsening after a Turkish or Macedonian minister visits Tirana, or vice versa. On such occasions Athens has hastened to take up the «broom» against Albanian immigrants living in Greece. But what can be said about these demographic movements taking place in Albania over the past two years? Are they really planned, or are they simply spontaneous? It must be said that Tirana has long been concerned about these uncontrolled movements, which are very difficult to stop. So far, these movements have been entirely illegal, creating difficulties for all the main Albanian cities. Thus, many large cities have been surrounded by a belt of ghettos where thatched houses resembling Robinson Crusoe’s predominate. The influx of these migrants has continued to grow because of the difficult conditions in which residents had lived in their former settlements and because of the unusable land allotted to them. The depopulation of the countryside is a prospect, and southern Albania cannot escape repopulation, especially given its favorable climatic conditions. T. ÇELA