Mr. Chairman, Honorable Congressmen, Senators! Ladies and Gentlemen! The democratic forces in Albania, the Democratic Party, and the entire Albanian opposition are grateful to Congress, the Government, and the American people for the invitation they extended to us and the opportunity they gave us to speak before this temple of freedom and democracy. Albanians are experiencing difficult times, and in this difficult period, hope remains our only anchor of salvation. Your invitation clearly shows that we Albanians are not a forgotten people—or, rather, a people who have forgotten themselves. It encourages us all the more, because the United States of America has been and remains the bastion of democracy. A journey to this great country makes all those who fight for democracy optimistic and strengthens them, especially Albanians, who have suffered as no other people in Europe has. Throughout our thousand-year history, we have endured barbarian invasions, great tragedies, prolonged darkness, genocides, massacres, torture, and dismemberment as no other nation has. When I ask myself how it is possible for such a good nation, with an Albanian spirit and heart, to suffer so much, I am reminded of the biblical Job, who endured and lost everything, yet never received an answer to his questions. Of course, this is not the place to dwell on the history of the Albanian nation, but I must remind you that during this century no nation in Europe has suffered as much as it has. Two deca… … has become a divided people of Europe. possible for such a good nation, with such a great as it has. Two deca… … Albanian, and at the same time killed democracy throughout the region. From 1925 to the present—that is, over 65 years—the Albanian nation has endured every kind of dictatorship, as no other people in Europe has. Its history brings to mind that of the American writer Helen Adam Keler, who became deaf and blind in early childhood. Ms. Keler later regained her hearing and sight… reasons, some of which I will list below. First, Albanians have not had a tradition of pluralist democracy. Second, Albanians moved from feudalism to totalitarian socialism. Third, after the Second World War, a communist dictatorship was established in Albania, one of the most sophisticated and most severe. (Continued on page 5)

NOTES FROM THE HUNGER STRIKE The fever of the underground could be felt as soon as one approached the Valias mine. Everyone who had set out for the square where the other miners had gathered in solidarity with the hunger strikers felt keenly the sacrifice of those barricaded underground. Dozens of cars, which the police did not allow to turn back toward the mine from Kamëz, dropped off hundreds of workers from Tirana’s enterprises, who walked the remaining 6 kilometers. They gathered in the square in front of the mine. 11:20. A hushed report from underground disrupted the formation of the demonstrators, who began moving toward the hunger strikers. There, beneath the camera flashes, the injured miner Agron Çaungu emerged, even paler, lying on a stretcher. The distress underground had now become apparent. Demonstrators wanted to know what was happening. In these circumstances, several journalists and photojournalists, followed by worried looks, got into the elevator. We descended anxiously 180 meters underground, where the miners had barricaded themselves. The cold, darkness, and dampness underground gave us our first impression of the inferno in which the strikers had been staying for 48 hours. The first group of about 40 people we met at the main substation consisted of miners from Valias, Muhqetasë, and Kërrabë. Sami Karriqi, the strike leader, standing among them, was in high spirits, which he also passed on to the others, and briefed us on the strikers’ health. Headaches caused by the presence of gas and stomach pains, because for two days they had been drinking water running through the channels and vaulted passages, had exhausted the strikers considerably. “Now we’ve started bringing water down in bottles,” said Gëzim Gjoçi, “but there’s no reason for them to leave us like this. It wouldn’t be difficult to lower a rubber hose for us to drink from.” Although exhausted, the other miners, Ardian Goci, Refat Nushi, and others, joined the conversation. “We will not leave the mine until our demands are met,” was the message they wanted to send aboveground. “We live at the level of poverty and asked only for the minimum. We asked that the criminals in Shkodër be found so that we can live in peace; we asked for a 50 percent pay increase to secure a more or less physically normal existence. In these circumstances, we prefer a terrible end to an endless terror.” The self-sacrifice had begun during the strike itself. All the groups of strikers we met, numbering at least 80 people, had not en…

. 18 May 1991. It is the third day of the general strike by Albania’s workers. Tirana awoke calm, but it was a sad, superficial calm. Three days of silence in enterprises and workplaces. Three days of government silence in response to the strikers’ demands. In reality, this silence has lasted longer. It has gone on for ten days, crossing into a new month. Workers from various enterprises, as well as school pupils and residents of Tirana. They hold slogans and banners expressing the main demands of the striking workers. At the head of the columns are the miners of Valias and other mines, and the leaders of the independent trade unions. They have put the symbol of the trade unionist on a large banner. From a bus carrying the equipment of the sound center, a Declaration of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania is read to the participants. “The bureaucracy in power,” the declaration says, “by covering up its inability to put our situation right with calls, declarations, and ‘studies’ that have neither been implemented nor will be implemented, is forcing us…” Behind it come, in succession, the automobile and railway transport enterprises, the “Migjeni” artistic enterprise, the textile workers, and the other enterprises, all the way to the end of the square, where the workers of the autotractor combine are standing. In the windows of the civil engineering faculty at the far end of the square, dozens of young people and students wave and cheer, “We are with the workers.” “THE SHKODËR MURDERERS BEFORE THE COURT.” Tens of thousands of people have gathered at the Aviation Field, wor… … the participants are read Albania. “Bureaucracy in power,” the declaration states, with appeals, statements implemented, is forcing us to use our final weapon: the strike...” And as the rally gets under way, the speaker’s voice rings out, while the square resounds with the workers’ calls and cheers: “Meet our demands!”, “Down with bureaucracy!”, “Respect our work and sweat!”, “Our demands are modest!”, etc., etc... But the call heard most… (Continued on page 2)

- ON THE VISIT TO SWEDEN, GREAT BRITAIN, AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA - BETWEEN VISITS TO SWEDEN, GREAT BRITAIN, AND CZECHOSLOVAKIA Between 3 and 6 May, several seminars on recent developments in the countries of the East were organized at Swedish institutions of higher education, and I was invited to give lectures on the developments recently observed in Albania. This also coincided very well with two particularly important events for me. On 3 May, one of my closest friends, the geographer Orjan Sjoberg, defended his doctoral thesis on urbanization processes in Albania, and as one of his collaborators I was invited to attend the thesis defense. That same day, the collection of studies “Recent Economic Developments in the Balkans,” published by Pinter of London, went into circulation; one of its chapters, dealing with the problems of the Albanian economy from the perspective of the 1990s, was written by me. Meanwhile, I had also been invited by the Institute of International Studies. The meetings and in-depth discussions about economic developments and reforms in the East, focusing on Albania’s problems, were a particular pleasure. It was a great pleasure to exchange views for hours with some of the world’s best-known professors, with a substantial body of publications on the economic problems of the Eastern world, such as A. Ashlund, S. Hedlund, O. Storsjo. Reform in Albania is a subject that is as complicated and difficult as it is fascinating from a scientific point of view, and I was happy to consult such specialists amid the whirlwind of this process unfolding in our country. During my visit, a good part of my time was taken up by political meetings. I was received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the State Secretary P. Shori, who was very interested in the latest developments in our country. He wanted the opposition’s assessment of everything that was happening, since, as he put it, his meetings with our officials had left him dissatisfied with the information he had received, and he had serious reservations about its objectivity. Among the most important topics discussed was the role Sweden could play in the further democratization of Albania. An opinion was sought, therefore, in connection with the forthcoming visit to Albania of the Swedish foreign minister, as President of the European Council. My position at this meeting was the one the Democratic Party has set out in its program: Albania’s participation in European life, so that it can finally break free from the web of isolation. This participation does not mean the participation of the communist government; it means bringing into the light the Albanian people, who have tragically suffered the misfortune of isolation more than any other people. But Albania still has much to do and much to prove, genuinely and seriously, in order to show that it deserves to be accepted as an equal among the European democracies. The Democratic Party is a force that is fighting insistently to make this happen. The question of aid to Albania was also discussed at length, with the Swedish side promising that something would be done, even though Albania had never been treated as a recipient of aid by this country’s government circles. It was disappointing that a wealthy country, one of the foremost providers of aid, which did a great deal for the very poor countries of the Third World, paid little attention to us. It was disappointing that no Albanian had been studying for some time at Sweden’s famous schools. We asked the Swedes to turn their attention to us too, first of all with humanitarian aid, but also with scientific assistance, especially scholarships, visits by experts, or sending our people there. We were given great hope and a sense that we could put a program into practice this summer. Among the other important meetings worth mentioning was the meeting with the chairman of the Conservative Party, Karl Bilt, one of the most prominent politicians in Europe today and the promoter of the idea of Sweden’s inclusion in the TPE, who, according to opinion polls, had campaigned for the highest bulletin to be appointed Prime Minister of Sweden after the next elections in early autumn. A wide circle of journalists… Dr. GRAMOZ PASHKO (Continued on page 6)

These days in Paris, the Chairman of the Publishing Council, Preç Zogaj, met with the writer Ismail Kadare, and they discussed the situation in Albania. Ismail Kadare made the following notes for our newspaper. This end of the millennium will apparently be decisive for the Albanian nation. Its hour, the “day of Arbër,” as De Rada called it, has struck. I believe it will be for the better for everyone. In the new Europe, Albanians—those in the mother country, those in Kosovo, and all the others wherever they may be—will enter with a new fate. That fate is in their own hands. But the weight of fate is not light. It demands great dedication and much clarity of thought to bear it. Albania is in great travail. Economic poverty on the one hand and a moral crisis on the other have placed it in a vise and are trying to squeeze it. I believe that after a short period, after the time needed to recover from an illness, Albania will regain its strength sooner than expected. A general vision of things, determined above all by faith rather than mistrust, by love rather than hatred, by values rather than anti-values, is essential for overcoming the crisis. Albania has a future; the evil is temporary; its star has not gone out—in fact, it shines brighter today than ever. Those who foretell disaster should be viewed with suspicion. Above all, it is those who have lost their future who foretell disaster. They want to drag the whole nation into the abyss along with themselves. As revenge for their own downfall. As punishment. Losing one’s overall vision at such times is fatal. Insisting on seeing the country’s situation as hopeless, with formulas such as “this country cannot be put right,” “this is a cursed country,” and so on, which are heard today in most of the languages of the former socialist countries, is either the product of frivolity, if not deliberate ill will. This became clear to me when I spoke with foreign dignitaries about our country. Their first words, that initial vision, gave me an unmistakable indication of their real attitude—which, as I later found, was either favorable or unfavorable toward Albanians. ON DISCOURAGEMENT Various forces inside and outside Albania are trying to discourage Albanians. Discouragement is a well-known and highly effective method for striking at a nation. It was widely used at the end of the nineteenth century, when Albania was trying to emerge into the light. Our National Awakening figures were harshly subjected to it and, through titanic efforts, managed to overcome it. Now, as Albanians stand on the threshold of a new dawn, discouragement is once again on the agenda. The darkest forces are working together to blacken the image of the Albanian nation around the world and to exhaust Albanians morally. This is understandable: now that Albania is becoming democratic, it has become more unwelcome than ever to these forces. When, in its issue of 10 April 1991, the French magazine “L’eveniment du jeudi” published the statement of the chief… (Continued on page 5) … has become a divided people of Europe. as it has. Two deca… severe. (Continued on page 5)