After the EU’s conditions for the Pact, the US Undersecretary arrives in Tirana Pickering: Only in this way will you enjoy our support and backing page 3 After the EU’s conditions for the Pact, the US Undersecretary arrives in Tirana USA to Meta: Fight corruption and we’ll help you Pickering: Only in this way will you enjoy our support and backing page 3

A few days ago, in an effort to free themselves from the artists’ protests, which could potentially spread, Socialist parliamentarians accused the Culture Committee of dragging out approval of the draft law on theatre. According to the Socialists, the lack of a law establishing artists’ rights and duties and the relationship between theatres and the relevant state bodies is the main cause of the recent conflicts between people of the stage and their managers, acting as representatives of the state. Setting aside the negative effect caused by the vacuum created by the absence of the “Law on Theatre,” those who follow the activities of the Albanian parliament will have no difficulty finding several draft laws far more important than the one “on theatre” which, although they may have been under discussion for years, still have not received approval from the deputies’ green voting cards. These include the “Draft Law on Tobacco,” put on the discussion table as early as 1994; the “Draft Law on Money Laundering,” which appeared on the agenda when the collapse of the financial pyramids was expected, that is, at the end of 1996; the “Draft Law on the Prosecution Service,” from 1998; and, most recently, the one on theatre. Judging by the need for these laws and the role the above draft laws play in the normal development of certain activities, on which the country’s stability depends to a great extent, it is truly paradoxical that they have been left forgotten while efforts are devoted to unimportant laws, such as, for example, the one “on being fed with laws,” etc. But at a time when Albanian politicians are in the “eye of the cyclone” over accusations of links to the criminal world, one cannot help suspecting that the delay of draft laws such as these may be deliberate, leaving ample room for speculation and abuse. These suspicions grow considerably stronger when one also considers the insistence of international institutions and various countries that the above laws be put into everyday practice. Thus, for example, a law on money laundering would make the activities of the financial mafia linked to certain state structures much more difficult. Similarly, in the absence of a law establishing their powers, the prosecution authorities feel constrained in acting effectively against crime. In other words, this means more room and breathing space for crime. Finally, the failure to turn some important draft laws into legislation compromises Albanian politicians’ stated desire to build a state governed by the rule of law.

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The new law protects domestic production Pages 16–17 The mafia holds the tobacco bill hostage It was drafted as early as 1994, and no government cabinet has put it forward for approval by Parliament

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