Elections in Albania were in accordance with international standards Interview with the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, James Swigert, given to the Voice of America

By FRROK ÇUPI The best opponent has been left alone and often forgotten. That is Mr. Winter. Don’t we know that Winter is the opposition? Everyone knows it. First of all, the politicians seeking high-ranking positions of power know it. They give little thought to their battles. Until the lights begin to go out and curses erupt; until kerosene cans bulge on bicycles, their spouts empty; until water covers the broken drainage pumps and the low-lying land. Up to that point, they have woven a thousand intrigues to bring someone down and raise themselves up. But when winter comes, all those in this category fall silent, as if they had never been there. Who, after all, would want to take responsibility in bad times?! This time, Winter becomes an ally of two opposing sides: those who scheme like Macbeth to come to power from within their own ranks, and those who are proclaimed the political “opposition.” Albania’s Winter sides with the nihilists who say, “They’ve seen the world with their own eyes, but Albania will never improve.” They appear in the December spring sunshine and preach that “God gave this country sunshine, but cursed its land and its people.” Citizens’ patriotic feelings have fallen to low levels; even someone who burns forests, sabotages electricity poles, or tears up roads can be called a “patriot.” The measure of patriotism tilts toward savagery. It has been the wonderful climate of this region that has led many foreign observers to call the sunny part of the Balkans “an arena inhabited by people who are necessarily favored.” But meanwhile, many say that natural balance has been rivaled by laziness or by the inhabitants’ struggle to survive. If we did not have such a mild, springlike winter, perhaps we would have worked better on heating and roads. Winter is not always on our side, ironically, when it is mild. (Continued on page 4)

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Erlion Mustafaraj

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Page 5 WB blocks loan to KESH, hours without electricity reduced Pages 17, 23