Americans: The DP must be clear that it should respect the election results The United States of America’s representative to the OSCE, Josiah Rosembblat, criticizes the DP’s position on the 1 October elections page 3

By Kiço Blushi It seems that Himara—and not only Himara—has put Albanian diplomacy in the position it should have been in and ought to be in, if it exists as such. There is a frontal attack over the issue of “minorities” not only from Greece, but also from Turkey and, why not, Macedonia... The Serbs, of course, do not consider either their wounds or ours closed. The issue, then, is simple on the surface and complex at its core. Why this frontal attack, and why precisely now—although not for the first time—are Albania and its territories regarded as morsels that can be easily bitten off and swallowed? Why are Albanians, even when they are in their own country and state, considered less than a minority, that is, minors, meaning inferior? And yet, strangely, Albanian diplomacy continues with the old clichés of “friendship, good-neighborliness and love,” supposedly reciprocal. By now every normal citizen of every normal country, certainly one not infected by the atavistic nationalisms of the Balkans, understands that Greek interference in the Himara issue was not only brutal but arrogant. Their conduct, words and actions would not even be carried out in their own country, where these very politicians, with remnants of the spirit of the andartes in their souls, would not dare demonstrate during election campaigns... Yet here, in our territory, within our borders, the afendikonjë look at us and judge us as refugees. So the response of the Albanian side—even though we are economically weak and have thousands of emigrants in Greece—must under no circumstances be the language of Milo or someone else who speaks of Himara as land put up for auction or, at the very least, as a neutral zone “about which we could reach an agreement with the Greeks by finding a language of understanding,” etc., etc. No, gentlemen diplomats, this is neither diplomatic nor political language, nor European or Anglo-Saxon language; for in this way not even feudal lords and bajraktars would dare speak about their properties, because they know very well that the king would cut off their heads. Even in the USA, over some mare in Ashtë, the country’s president could not speak this way if there were misunderstandings with the Russians. (Continued on page 6)

Rama leaves, Uruci takes over

RSH - 032 Photo: Plator ILO

Football, First Division Of all the matches being played today in the First Division, the most important for the league table are Bylis-Tirana (referee Sokol Jareci) and Besëlidhja-Shqiponja (referee Ilir Kristo). The other matches are interesting too, but in terms of the significance of the games, the focus is on Ballsh, where the champions will face the “Bylis” challenge, and Lezhë, where the Gjirokastër side risks losing third place in the league table. Thus, the two stadiums, in Ballsh and Lezhë, will be packed with fans who want Tirana and Gjirokastër to be defeated. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Order has taken strict measures, with additional police forces, especially for Ballsh.