Ilir Gjoni issues a public invitation in Parliament, but the opposition has yet to respond “Come to my office and let us discuss every activity of the Ministry of Public Order, because I uphold the law and am honored to be a minister in the Meta government” Page 3

EFTHYMIOS ARAVANTINOS PRESS COUNSELLOR AT THE GREEK EMBASSY On Friday afternoon I set off in my car from Tirana, bound for Follorina, to get a vaccine from my daughter’s doctor. I left Tirana at around 12 noon. The day was wonderful, the sun was shining, and the temperature was relatively high for the winter season. At around 4 p.m., while

, organized by the multimedia company “Koha Jonë” Photo: P. ILO

On Friday afternoon I set off in my car from Tirana, bound for Follorina, to get a vaccine from my daughter’s doctor. the winter season. At around 4 p.m., while I was in Korçë, the weather began to turn harsh. The sky was overcast, and the first flakes of snow began to caress the car’s windshield. As I approached the border, the weather worsened and the snow fell more heavily. When I crossed the Kapshtica border crossing, darkness had covered everything; the snow was falling increasingly heavily, while the road was gradually beginning to be covered by fog as well. I understood that the road to Follorina, my destination, would be difficult and long, but the vaccine for my daughter pushed me ever onward. As long as the road was mountainous, up to the Vigla winter ski resort, driving was without danger. But after the winter resort, on the descent toward Follorina, things began to get difficult. I had been at the wheel for more than six hours; the snow had covered everything and continued to fall more and more heavily. Suddenly, an involuntary braking, and the car, not obeying me, slid into the roadside ditch, as if it wanted to rest. Without wasting time, I called roadside assistance, but because of the bad weather the phone was unavailable. So I had to take my thick clothes and boots out of the suitcase and get ready to hike. Before I could put my boots back on, a car stopped beside me and its driver, who had the same name as me, Thimjo, said to me: “Don’t worry, my friend, a friend of mine is coming behind me; he has a tow rope and we’ll tow you out.” A little later his friend arrived, Teodori from Pogradec. As we were trying to attach the tow rope, a jeep carrying two young men from Follorina came up beside us; they were on their way to the Vigla winter resort. “Let’s try to push it out of the ditch,” they suggested. “There are five of us, and we’ll manage.” Indeed, after many efforts on our part, my car put up strong resistance but gradually began to pull free of the ditch. When we finally got it back onto the road, I noticed it had suffered some damage: the front indicator was broken and the metalwork on the left fender was dented. The help from the two young men and my two Albanian friends, together with the two young men from Follorina, was the most beautiful Christmas gift I could imagine. All of us worked together and managed to succeed and the source. When we arrived in Follorina, I invited them to sit down and eat together as a token of gratitude for the help they had given me. But they had a long way to go; they were heading for Thessaloniki. To avoid any mishap because of the bad weather, they kindly allowed [me] to set off. So, after exchanging holiday greetings, they continued their journey and I began looking for a repair shop to fix the damage. On both sides of the border, the weather conditions are the same, the problems are similar, and the people of Korçë, Pogradec and Follorina deal with them in the same way. In cases where this way of dealing with problems is coordinated, collective and sincere, the results are excellent.

On New Year’s Eve

The newspaper “Koha Jonë” wishes Muslim believers a happy Bajram holiday