The foreign press reveals the mystery that burned Albania: The government shut down the foundations after spending their deposits. IMF: If you want money, break the usury rings. Berisha: There will be no more usury in Albania. Ndre Legisi: Five SHIK employees beat me to a pulp. Imami at the prosecutor’s office

The Albanian army has taken to the streets from the barracks. A law approved on Sunday by parliament, while demonstrations against the government were taking place in Tirana’s central square, gave the President of the Republic greater powers over the armed forces, placing several units under the orders of the Ministry of the Interior. After a long meeting with his parliamentary group, Berisha was widely praised by his press for opposing the introduction of a state of emergency in the country. This news, reported by the media while the meeting was still ongoing, created a positive climate around the Albanian president in part of the foreign press. In several foreign newspapers and agencies, there were also quotes attributed to the president about the danger that the declaration of a state of emergency could pose to Albanian democracy. As has often happened because of only a superficial understanding of the situation in Albania, part of the foreign media focused more on the public statements, without commenting on what it actually means to send the army into the streets at a moment like this. The only signal expressing concern has come from the US. Not the State Department, as has happened recently, but the Pentagon, which commented that the state of emergency has now effectively been established and warned that it would react in the event of human rights violations by the army. This comment by the Pentagon on the expansion of Berisha’s powers over the army during the worst crisis the country has faced since the fall of communism shows that Washington continues to examine developments in Albania closely. The collapse of the usury schemes is only the end of a process that the US has followed and, why not, even encouraged since the second half of last year. Now that only the "stones" remain from the pyramids, it seems that in America they are only concerned that this should not lead to civil war. The breakdown in relations after the elections of 26 May had so far remained within the political sphere. The State Department’s statements did not worry the Albanian government, as long as things continued as before on the military front. Realizing that this is where America’s main interests in the region were concentrated, Tirana strongly counted on military cooperation with the largest NATO power. Joint and bilateral exercises, visits by senior American military officials to Albania, and the climate of cooperation had created the impression that US policy toward our country would also be multifaceted in the months ahead. Such a fact is proven by the sharpness of the American diplomacy’s statements on political developments on the one hand and by the continuation of cooperation between the two armies on the other. But with the Pentagon’s latest statement, it seems that even the last channel of communication between the two capitals has been cut off — that of military relations. The warning tones of the day-before-yesterday statement show that the water is beginning to turn to ice. And for Albania, which aspires to rapid integration into Western military structures, this means, at the very least, ending up at the bottom of the list, S.MINXHOZI

Berisha at yesterday’s rally, smiling, promises the closure of the usury schemes Photo: Reuters

MARELIA Slims

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