The Parliamentary Committee on Culture has been dragging out the law for five months After being brought out of the strike, a rally was held in the square yesterday, with the call “down with the government” pages 5, 26–27

GAVROSH LEVONJA Yesterday, yet another envoy from Europe repeated to Albanian officials the latest conditions for Albania to be steered onto the green path, making it possible for it to move closer to international institutions, first and foremost the European ones. These conditions are so frequently repeated by the Europeans[?] that even the most uninformed are able to reproduce them without any difficulty. But if you believe the official and pro-government propaganda, you get the impression that all doors have been opened to Albania and that they can hardly wait for it to make the effort to take the final step across the threshold of NATO or the EU. According to this, Albania should have joined the above groupings several times over. Yet the assessments and advice of friends from Europe and America stand in clear contrast to this kind of propaganda, similar to that about “a social fact in Europe” or “the most democratized country in the East.” On the other hand, bearing in mind that in the integration processes we are at the bottom of every list, even behind states that have not yet completed their first decade of existence, such as Macedonia, one gets the impression that in the West Albania is seen as a problematic partner. But once one becomes familiar with the substance of the requests and recommendations constantly conveyed to Tirana, it is easy to understand that, ultimately, everything comes down to the inability or unwillingness of Albanian government officials to meet them. European visitors to Tirana ask our senior officials to fulfil conditions such as improving security in the country, putting the macroeconomic situation in order, strengthening the administration, and other things connected with or derived from these. Ultimately, the three requests mentioned above have a common denominator: what is known as governance. Thus, when confronted with the terms security, macroeconomic situation, and strengthening the administration, one concludes that our friends—including those who are moving heaven and earth to bring Albania into the European family—are dissatisfied with governance, if not disappointed by it. The troubling thing is that integration and the conditions in question, which our friends never tire of repeating, have also been the main pillars of the propaganda of today’s government. Indeed, three years ago they came to power promising that they “would rebuild the state Berisha had demolished.” Like their predecessors, the latest envoy from Europe has also set a deadline for meeting these conditions. But judging by an algorithm derived from what has happened after such deadlines, another envoy is expected to arrive to set another deadline, while in reality the country will continue to wander in the desert of isolation.

“Rice,” Hajdaraga leads the tender. Page 7

The story of a missing person A 23-year-old man from Kuçova, missing for 10 months, has been found to have been killed during a battle with the Serbs in Gjakovë. The Albanian authorities are still reluctant to bury him as a martyr — page 9

Sport The leaders of the Vllaznia football club, after inviting chief Besnik Cela for a coffee at his office, betrayed him, beating and mistreating him — page 22