Athens wants the partition of Macedonia, but fears Tirana Today, excerpts are being published from the secret report submitted to Prime Minister Simitis on 30 June 2000, concerning relations with neighboring countries pages 15–17

Although political parties have sharpened their weapons for the election campaign, what stands out is the delay in the process of selecting candidates. Thus, most parties have still not completed the lists of names they will present to the electorate. Certainly, this is connected with the aim of finding the most prominent candidates possible, as a result of the awareness... they put forward. But changes in preferences cannot be ruled out either; in most cases these are of a clannish nature. However, judging by the delay in deciding on the candidates, one gets the impression that whatever is gained by finding a heavyweight candidate risks being substantially offset by the lack of time to draw up their platform, with which they will seek to attract voters’ ballots, and to present it to them. Thus, an individual whom a political force will single out as a candidate in the local elections to be held in six weeks will not know where to begin in order to compete with dignity, and there is every chance that, at least initially, they will feel inferior to the other opponents put forward in good time, who have already begun their preparations. In such circumstances, this category of candidates, whose candidacies have not yet been formalized, has no alternative but to campaign on the program of the political force that will nominate them. But this means that during the campaign, the candidate, reduced to being the mouthpiece of a party to which they may not even belong, would lose a good part of their own standing in the eyes of public opinion. In this way, the positive trend observed so far also risks fading away, once again leaving the main space to party preferences. On the other hand, by delaying the selection of candidates, the parties themselves will have little time to develop their platforms, let alone promote them widely among the public. As a result of the lack of time, the various parties will have little confidence in the impact of the platforms they will present to the electorate. Consequently, they will be forced to resort mainly to mutual attacks and accusations against one another, as the best way to win over those who will cast their ballots on 1 October.

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Tropojë, Yugoslav weapons strike again Chairman of the CEC, Fotaq Nano Serbs, a hail of gunfire at the border -page 8 photo P. ILO