Dokle, Lakrori and Majko become secretaries. Agolli, Meta and Hajdaraga withdraw The PS leadership is elected. Rexhep Meidani becomes Secretary-General. Three votes more than Meta page 3 Meidani, secretary-general, and Majko, public secretary. Photo A. BABANI

Today the Greek foreign minister, Teodoros Pangal-los, is coming to Albania for the second time within four months. The first time, in April this year, Pangal-los accompanied his president, Stefanopulos, to Tirana. But unlike the previous visit, the minister will not come to the Albanian capital; Berisha and Tritan Shehu will instead have to travel down to the south of the country to meet the Greek minister. The reasons behind this “whim” of Pangal-los, who will not set foot in Tirana, are unknown—a sign that the sun of relations still casts deep shadows. Pangallos will spend today in Gjirokastër, where he will meet Shehu as well as a sizeable number of other Albanians, friends of the Greek Consulate. The meeting with our foreign minister is merely the appetizer before the lunch Berisha and Pangallos will enjoy on Sunday in Vlorë. Although both sides are expected to talk at length about legalizing Albanian emigrants in Greece, this will not be the hot issue in the talks. Tirana has found comfort in the fact that Greece “feeds” around 300,000 Albanians; their return would significantly increase unemployment figures in the country and lower living-standard figures. Nevertheless, Berisha may react sharply to the recent deportations, naturally seeking concessions from Athens in another area. But what could be asked of Athens? After the highly disputed elections of 26 May, and with major doubts looming over the local elections, Tirana has a strong interest in easing the neighbours’ stance. Greece is a “squeaky” voice in Europe and, as such, can easily encourage positions that are far from comfortable for the Albanian administration. In fact, since the May elections Berisha has carefully managed to neutralize Athens—something he has not managed to do with Rome. Athens was irritated when the pro-government press targeted the Greek lobby, but even then the Italian [text unclear] did not unravel the stolen votes. Meanwhile, Italy has called for new elections, a position the Simitis government has not adopted and has no intention of adopting. In this context, Berisha is expected to dwell at length on the political situation, filling his remarks with comparisons between Albania and other Eastern countries that allowed communism to return to the throne, something that was prevented here. For his part, Pangallos, who has not come merely to enjoy Albanian cuisine, will be much more specific. Greek schools, financial facilities, the opening of new consulates, bank branches, etc. These concessions, which Greece has more or less obtained in recent years, Pangallos will seek to expand in number and quality. Under these circumstances, his mission will be easy and will not require much sweat. But if the minister wants to verify how successful Greek policy has been over these four years, all he has to do is leave Tirana and Gjirokastër behind, where he can buy a Greek gift—a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat. BEN BLUSHI

The CoE rapporteurs’ proposals amount to less than one-tenth of the opposition’s proposals The mission of the Council of Europe rapporteurs in Albania comes to an end page 5

During the evening and night hours, more than five checkpoints block the main arteries from the outskirts toward the capital’s centre After the killing of two police officers, Gëzim and Besim Neziri are searching for Nehat Kulla page 2

Promises: 5 people wounded, 36 houses destroyed, bridges take 80 soldiers page 6

Flooding blocks the national road and the railway

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