Nine points for the government. Meeting with Berisha. Strikes in December page 5

. The year 1996 will undoubtedly be recorded in the historical annals of the Balkans as an extremely, extremely important year. This is not so much because 1996 is the first year in which the guns have fallen silent in the Balkans—after all, the world left the Cold War behind and committed itself to a New World Order—but because this year became a symbol of the first clash between the Balkan peoples and democracy. Balkan politics has suddenly discovered that, in its relations with the democratic world, other parameters apply, ones that have nothing to do with tanks, strategic locations, or ties of colour, religion, blood, and so on. To the astonishment of Balkan mountain theorists, these things have taken second place. President Berisha, (regardless of the extensive arguments made “about Albania’s strategic position”), was once again told bluntly by America that developing close relations with Albania is its desire, but that “this will depend on the development of democracy and respect for human rights in Albania.” He brought Kosovo before the OSCE, but Western democracies are asking him for independent courts, freedom of the press, an end to police violence, free elections, a new constitution, etc. The same surprise is unfolding with Serbia. The West is not forgiving Milosheviç at all—the man who made Dayton a success, restrained the hawks of Pale, and had been proclaimed the only figure in Serbia capable of continuing the peace process, facing an opposition ranging from democrats to extreme nationalists. Nevertheless, Washington declares that Milosheviç “will not have our support if he continues his efforts to extinguish the flame of democracy.” “Let me be very clear about the position of the United States. The United States stands on the side of democracy,” the State Department spokesperson declared yesterday. After some hesitation, the EU repeated the same message, and the spectre of economic pressure over Yugoslavia returned. Unfortunately, our press continues to speculate and offer suggestions about whom Albania should break away from and toward whom it should turn. Some complain that it is not forging closer ties with Italy, others with Greece; still others point out that Berisha has left America and is moving closer to Germany, and so on. All of this is damaging our understanding of the message that our times are conveying to us. Albanian politics today does not need the old mentality of changing friends, bridges, bases, and alliances. It needs ways of placing Albania where it belongs: in Europe, among small, democratic, sovereign, peaceful governments. It needs to build a modern state that excludes clans and corruption, and a free and prosperous society connected to the world and its values. The rest is for the history of Lulës, intertwined with it. The rest is for the history of Lulës, great.