War fever in the North
The government takes extraordinary measures. Secret information for the prime minister
War fever in the North
Fatos Nano: “We will not die without stopping it”
Now, guerrilla war
By Andi Bejta
It was not the Cupi of Hotitakt that had to gather at 10:30 p.m. [?] to discuss what the Albanian government would do. This was because this time Albania is facing not only attacks from outside, as in Kosovo and Northern Albania, but also from within its own center. Parliament gathered the security ministers and the highest state and intelligence officials to make an important decision. After the meeting ended, the government decided to communicate with the public for the first time: “We are tightening the measures. Unrelenting war until total defeat.”
Both sides, Albania as well as Western diplomacy, are attaching great importance to what happened yesterday in Northern Albania. It all has to do with the latest developments in Kosovo and the government in Tirana. On yesterday evening, Kosovo’s highest officials learned by telephone from one another that Miloseviç was concentrating forces toward the northern border and that something was expected to happen. “Good sources,” which are neither the CIA nor the Albanian government, but also Kosovo guards who are waiting on the seventh line [?], indicated that unusual military movements could be verified within a short time.
Yesterday morning, as soon as the government received the first report, preparations began for a secret meeting where the most delicate decisions would be taken. The meeting, which began around 9 p.m. and was attended by President Rexhep Meidani, Prime Minister Fatos Nano, Order Minister Neritan Ceka, Defense Minister Sabit Brokaj, SHIK chief Bashkim Gazidede [?], and other leaders, assessed the situation in Kosovo, but above all in Northern Albania.
A newspaper source said the meeting had reached the conclusion that the situation required “extraordinary measures” and that vigilance would be increased, especially in border areas. According to the same source, police and army forces would be placed on alert and some units would be moved to cover the most sensitive points.
In the late hours of the night, after the meeting ended, Prime Minister Nano issued a blunt message: “We will not die without stopping it.” This statement was seen as a signal that the Albanian government would not allow the situation in the North to escalate and that any destabilizing move would be met with force.
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