During the three months of the new government, not a single pack of cigarettes has gone missing More than 15 million dollars in losses per month. Customs: The traffic is floating at sea. Page 13

Albanians are seeking political asylum in the countries where they served as diplomats. As if the names of the three former heads of the Embassy in London, who are afraid to come to their own country where “communism has now returned,” were not enough, the list also includes a driver who “could be politically persecuted.” The incident, worthy of English jokes, would have remained just that, were it not the latest in a string of deeds by people in blue diplomatic suits. The king of Albanian diplomats, Faik Konica, recounted before the judges the exploits of the Foreign Office over the centuries. But not even his genius could have predicted that the relay race of “office robots” would still not have hit the ground by the end of this century. And, to stir things up a little ... at the end of the century. And to jog the memory a little, it is enough to list some of the scandals of recent years in our diplomacy. In 1993, five Albanian diplomats would fill the pages of the American press after they had “asked to speak” with a prostitute. The final hours of 1994 had to arrive before it was learned from Italy that our chief diplomat had rented out the embassy building to some citizens so they could celebrate the New Year. But this unheard-of incident would be closed with nothing more than a change of ambassadors. Shortly before that, our ambassador in Sweden would ask the Nobel Committee not to award the great prize to the writer Ismail Kadare. The diplomat must nevertheless have been consoled by his work when he was replaced in the post by a former driver by profession. But the latter would also sleep soundly, nevertheless, when he learned that our military representative to NATO had “forgotten” his diplomatic suitcase on a plane. And the man running the country at the time, Berisha, as if wanting to put the seal on the scandals of his foreign policy, appoints this year in Spain a man who had obtained a “green card” in America. Along with the end of the rule of 29 June, the transfusion of blue diplomatic blood into pink blood would also begin. Our ambassador to the UN would not return to Tirana to hand over his duties, as required by law, because “he is applying to an academy because of.” Meanwhile, the former journalist from the TV program “Fokus” manages to get even a newspaper such as the “Washington Times” to publish a story about his dismissal from his post as counsellor at the embassy in the US. His twin at RTVSH, serving as second secretary at the embassy in Switzerland, would hold the mission’s seal hostage. But even the appointment of new ambassadors did not get off to a trouble-free start. The appointment of the well-known technician Kastriot Robo as Ambassador in Athens provoked a special session in the Greek Parliament... That Albanians are capable of producing abnormal situations in foreign policy truly needs no further examples. But for them not to be repeated, there is only one way: building up the school for career diplomats. Strengthening the diplomatic school in modern Europe, which offers foreign-policy strategies and, consequently, the history of diplomacy. And so it will continue for as long as politicians treat diplomacy as an honorarium for individual political services.

After the four-day strike by the print media The strike ended thanks to the professionalism of the print media and the seriousness of the Nano cabinet. Both sides won, each a little. The press secured its survival through concessions from the government, while the government showed that it knows how to use dialogue and not bare its teeth in the face of the media as Berisha and his government once did. So the press is being published today, without forgetting that it too has many things that need correcting, both in management and in the way information is presented and news is checked for accuracy. During the strike, the press showed solidarity, without forgetting that some people from the opposition parties tried to use the strike for political purposes. Publishers demanded that the media truly be regarded as a fourth estate, as it is throughout the democratic world, and not be placed in an inferior position. The press called for relief from the multitude of completely pointless taxes, something the government understood very well. At the meeting with the publishers, they heard Deputy Prime Minister Fino, who led the previous cabinet during one of the most difficult periods not only for the press, but for all of Albania. Nano and Fino gave the first sign of their seriousness in their relationship with the media, after the mistake they made some time ago by not receiving it for talks. Yugoslav customs officers seize smuggled cigarettes at the Albania–Montenegro border

Diplomats seek political asylum — p. 3 Police operation in central Tirana 11 kg of heroin seized; trafficker arrested — p. 2 Extreme ruling by Greek court Three Albanians sentenced to life in prison — p. 11 Armed groups carry out robberies at the border Albanian gangs terrorize Kosovo — p. 4 PD refuses to take part in the parliamentary commission Constitution: First meeting fails — p. 5 Heads of Tirana prison dismissed Brahën puts Zani’s brother in a cell — p. 2 Thirty contestants announced for the beauty crown Miss Albania, here are the winning girls — p. 24