The SP softens the coalition party. We are willing to talk. Imami: No constitutional game will be changed until March. PR, the leaders are quarrelling. The monarchists are afraid of Strasbourg Page 3

The falsification of the letter from Austrian President Klestil to his Albanian counterpart Meidani by the Albanian ambassador in Vienna constitutes another “Guinness” record when it comes to the loyalty of our diplomats in the service of the PD. In any case, with acts like these, “the diplomats who opened Albania to the world” show once and for all that they themselves are aware that they owe their status as diplomats not to their abilities, but to the PD, and that for precisely this reason they are ready to do anything. But this is no surprise either, considering that, just as in Hoxha’s time, Albanian emissaries appointed after 1992 have regarded themselves as “Berisha’s envoys to the world.” In fact, the staff of Albanian embassies has, for the whole time, been more than a defender of the interests of the homeland and the nation: it has always acted as an advocate for the Berisha regime. This was clearest during the 26 May elections, when Albanian ambassadors, while denying the vote-rigging scandal, justified the violence of Berisha’s repressive apparatus and did not hesitate to accuse international organizations, as in the case of the OSCE. As far as the PD is concerned, however, the “Alika” case, instead of helping the PD and Berisha, had the opposite effect, dealing them a severe, unforeseen blow. The exposure of this inconceivable scandal has meant that, since then, all the PD’s propaganda defending Albanian diplomats as “victims of the red purge” has proved to be a huge bluff. Not only that, but Ambassador Alika has also damaged the image of other PD officials who continue to serve in the state administration. It is true that not changing diplomats at embassies is a normal practice, but it is hard to imagine any state choosing to be represented by, and pay, people who work against it. In this regard, more than the consequences the “Alika” case might have, what is troubling is the sluggishness shown by the current government in replacing these PD emissaries in Albanian state missions abroad. An act such as this by the head of the Albanian embassy in the Austrian capital makes the hypothesis all the more credible that he, like most of the diplomatic staff in our embassies, has no intention of returning to the homeland, thereby falling below even the standards of the dictatorship’s diplomats, who behaved properly up to their very last day of service. Yesterday, various sources from the Austrian capital reported that the foreign ministry of that country would summon the Albanian ambassador for questioning over the falsification of the contents of the letter from the head of the Austrian state. It is not known how apologetic the Austrian state will be. It is not known how apologetic this will make the leaders of our Foreign Ministry, which has so far not reacted to such an act. Perhaps the Foreign Ministry can take comfort in the fact that the lesson about changing people is present in all dictatorships and in the central institutions of today’s government. Perhaps the “Nano 3” government will remember and hurry to do it itself in the final days of its life. Any delay in efforts to defuse accusations of revenge through a slow-motion reshuffle, such as the one observed so far, prolongs the institutional agony and should have ended at least a month ago. KJ

Haxhi, Bushi and Hafizi celebrate the winning goal against Northern Ireland in Zurich Photo REUTERS

The “general” debt is 33 billion lekë Pages 7, 9

Fight against smuggling, drugs and prostitution Page 5

Two young Albanians arrested by police Page 12

The conference of foreign ministers of donors to Albania will be held in mid-October. Italy: The two-week postponement is for technical reasons