While UNMIK has warned him not to set foot on Kosovo soil, the leader of the PD has said: “Alive or dead, today I will enter Kosovo” Today at 8:00, Berisha sets out from Kukës toward the border, where KFOR forces are waiting for him page 7

By FERDINAND XHAFERRI On the basis of the legitimate rights of every free citizen, Berisha has decided to visit Kosovo. All the doubts have now been cleared up as to whether Berisha persuaded any of the Albanian political actors in Kosovo to send him an invitation. So Mr. Rugova, where perhaps he had hoped the most, will only receive him, although he did not invite him. Statements such as “I have dozens of invitations” or “the people of Kosovo are waiting for me” bring nothing else to mind and are nothing more than cheap, vaudevillian quips from a system that the former President is unable to forget. Knowing that politics based on primitive nationalism and a short-term strategy is more appealing to a specific segment of society, it is understandable that in Kosovo, as in Albania, Berisha will be received just enough to give the media he controls room to present the visit in accordance with his objectives and wishes. What is worth clarifying, if we focus solely on the visit, can be approached along two lines. First, why Mr. Rugova did not consider it appropriate to send him an invitation. Second, what is the real purpose Berisha hopes to achieve with this visit. His actions in the past show that the head of the LDK remains unmotivated to send him an invitation, not only because during 1995–96 Berisha made political moves to overshadow Rugova, but also for a very important reason. Rugova cannot fully tolerate Berisha’s attempts, on the eve of the 1997 crisis, to transfer the conflict. Otherwise, he would have to feel... (continued on page 5)

Page 8 Panic in Tropojë: “Jaho Salihi will avenge the blood”

He did not honor the murdered commissioner page 3

Erion Nushi testifies before the court page 9

The great hostility comes to an end page 21

Special feature on Euro 2000 pages 22–23

A marathon of demands, from Perikli Teta to Spartak Poçi page 4 Deputy Minister of Public Order Bajram Yzeiri seizes union property In September ’98, the union representative was abducted by the police