THE INVOICES ARE EXPOSED - Agim Shehu has financed Berisha’s campaigns with the police budget Czech leader: Democrats must urgently return the party to the Ministry’s coffers Page 7

A Kosovar after Sunday’s vote for the presidential and parliamentary elections — Reuters photo Rugova was re-elected president, Qosja and Demaçi against it A Kosovar after Sunday’s vote for the presidential and parliamentary elections Reuters photo A tanker with 10 tons of diesel is seized in Krujë The smugglers: We are legal The vehicle came from Greece, heading to Montenegro. The Secretary of State orders the arrest of two people. They had misused the documents. The two people: Arti Abazani

BY AGIM ISAKU With the first votes in the last ten years in Kosovo, a signal was given. Now even this ray of hope has satisfied them greatly and has placed the Kosovar forces far more in dialogue. What kind of dialogue is this? Are they also talking the country into the map, and the Kosovars? And again, we are interested in asking: Where is all this going? To begin with, it is important to understand that everyday language is increasingly using a very apt term to look at things more correctly. Precisely: the solution! People and the media are saying solution, unreservedly and with conviction. At least the international community too. Solution is the key word of reports and reactions. Let us think up to this point. Does this mean that we have entered a new political phase? In any case, yes. The change of the previous labels and the introduction of the new term clearly expresses what we think: they still call it the Kosovo issue, and still treat it as an issue. To speak of the Kosovo issue still conventionally means to speak of a problem. Problem, issue. Both of these notions inevitably and implicitly carry a problematic element. A problem is solved or removed. A solution, whether through compromise or other methods, whether relative or absolute. This far goes the thread of reasoning that has been outlined for Kosovo at the decision-making levels. Only in one respect is it clear that the Kosovo issue implies something more and different. And thus, while claims are raised about uncontested truths and absolutisms that display the morality of the wound of the heart and arguments, or with the shell of moral arguments generally still being given in moral margins after Serbian expansions of the town market, the Albanians took part in extraordinary elections on 22 March 1997. By seeking a solution to the Kosovo problem through pressure and peaceful organization in the responsibility and oversight of the LDK. Through their participation in this vote they marked a valuable victory by the direction of their vote; they demonstrated at least two things, above all the necessary affirmation of the institution of Kosovo’s independence and their uninterrupted participation in insisting on Kosovo’s decomposition after attempts at disintegration by the Serbs on the one hand, and on the other hand, in this and that way, before the end of the war and using them as the only means for international reconstruction. The second point has imposed a new level in the sense that society must clarify what is present, naturally, in the treatment of Kosovo. In all likelihood, the process of extraordinary elections clearly shows their awareness and orientation. Kosovo is entering a new phase. As long as the government of Kosovo and its ties with the regime in Belgrade make the state strive to be proclaimed as always thanks to the criminal situation, Kosovo’s position will be heavy and unstable. Thus, the present evil appears as the reason from which the Kosovo Albanians have understood the need to organize themselves and put an end to this situation. For Kosovo, it seems, the road is long. If it aims to consolidate itself and harmonize the Albanian political spectrum and its orientation, the international position and consequently the solution to the problem will not be easy. In this context, the embrace of Albanian political pluralism is normal, and within it consensus can be built. It should be seen as an achievement for Albanian thought today and for the further decomposition of Serbian politics. It may be even more, when LDK. Through participation in the vote for president and the Kosovar parliament it strengthens its own integrity. The state and its institutions, despite repression and daily violence from border police forces. The situation in Kosovo, as many assess it, is at a difficult point, mainly because of the Serbs. However, nothing ends here. Everything still seems to depend on the results of the close elections, as seen by Serbian politics and the internationals. Nevertheless, the election process can serve as a reference in talks with the internationals and others. From this perspective it would be a major misinterpretation to set as a sufficient goal only the evaluation of the elections. They should be understood as a new stage on the long road toward a solution for Kosovo, or, better said, toward a clear definition of the Kosovo issue. If this road continues with wisdom and persistence, there may be hope.

Nano, work delegation with Albright P 3 Parliament will discuss the draft law PD against judges’ salaries P 3 New accusation: Together with him were the logistics chief A. Shehu, abuse in tenders P 4 PLL and PBK, on the verge of changes, Selio and Bulo[?]ari are in the lead P 3 Today the second meeting of the PAD Presidency is held, now with two factions P 5 Masked men rob the road merchant Fer-Ber[?] P 5 Gang of the watch? Selaimi P 13

Organizes in Athens with Paulin e Spotit and Xhixhke AER, on 11 and 12 April the show with artists from Albania and Kosovo 20