FROM PRIME MINISTER MEKSI’S SPEECH IN THE GENERAL DEBATE AT THE 47TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY After greeting the president of this session of the UN General Assembly, as well as his predecessor, Mr. Meksi greeted His Excellency Mr. Boutros Ghali, Secretary-General of the UN, for the special role he is playing in successfully directing the Organization in fulfilling its mission for the whole world, for his great contribution to strengthening the spirit of cooperation, and especially for his personal role in resolving problems in various troubled areas around the globe. A special moment for us, Mr. Meksi went on, is to welcome the new member states joining the world community to make their contribution to upholding the fundamental shared values of the new society we are building. The Republic of Albania has strongly supported the membership of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, expressing the view that their membership will help the peace process and bring closer the path of democratic development. Since the last session of the United Nations General Assembly, the international community has experienced events and changes that cannot but affect the future of humanity itself. Most importantly, the confrontation between blocs, which had created a situation of political tension, has been replaced by the universal values of democracy, equality in international relations, and the interdependence of these two with economic and social development in ensuring the security of every country. Today, peoples’ aspirations for self-determination and for affirming their national and social identity, suppressed under communism, are increasingly being affirmed; and the thirst for democracy, equality and freedom among peoples has become a driving force in the society of the period we are experiencing. The challenge posed by the peoples of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the long-standing paralyzing system has now moved from the euphoria stage to serious efforts to overcome an extremely difficult period of transition. In this context, the Albanian delegation considers the engagement of the UN’s specialized agencies, such as UNDP, ILO, UNICEF, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, etc., which are present in Albania, and the assistance they have provided and committed to provide, commendable; it has played an important role in supporting Albania’s new democracy. In particular, we would mention the continuing assistance of the International Monetary Fund, as well as its valuable contribution to drafting the ambitious economic reform program being implemented by the government. Mr. President, Albania is facing a severe economic crisis, linked to the legacy of the bankrupt monist system of a centralized economy, as well as to the difficulties of the transition period. At present, Albania is meeting its acute needs with emergency aid from the European Community and the Italian government, as well as with the modest contribution of the steadily growing private sector. The Albanian economy, which is in the initial phase of recovery, needs financial resources, capital, and raw materials to bring its industry into efficient operation and to employ its large labor force, one of the youngest in Europe. The gap must necessarily be filled; the creation of new structures cannot take place immediately, and therefore the transition period is accompanied by the difficulties mentioned above. Under these circumstances, the understanding, support and assistance of the international community are the only guarantees for improving the situation in Albania and for the success of reform. In this situation, Albanian foreign policy has also acquired new dimensions and a new orientation. Evidence of this new orientation in Albanian foreign policy includes the establishment recently of diplomatic relations with Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, the United Arab Emirates, Paraguay, Croatia and Qatar, and the active participation of various Albanian delegations in international conferences, meetings and forums. The Albanian delegation has taken part in regional and international forums, become active as a full member in various initiatives such as that of the “Black Sea,” and participated actively in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. During this year, since the last session, the Republic of Albania has acceded to IFAD, as well as to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees. Mr. President, This political reality in Albania is unfolding amid a tense situation fraught with many dangers in the Balkan region. Unfortunately, despite the general political orientation in the world, the region has its own particular characteristics, and there is no predisposition for such an outcome. Open warfare has continued for more than a year in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The tireless efforts of the international community to end it and find a peaceful solution have encountered the stubbornness and unprecedented defiance of Serbian nationalism toward civilization and the norms of democratic coexistence. For more than a year, various organizations have been directly engaged in resolving this crisis, which is claiming lives day after day. The UN, CSCE, EC, etc., have been forced to take the most stringent measures against this anti-civilizational challenge. Nevertheless, the war continues. As a neighboring country in this region, Albania suffers the consequences of regional insecurity. Moreover, it is increasingly anxious about the danger that the conflict may spread to Kosovo. This danger becomes more evident when we consider the repression of the third-largest population group in the former Yugoslavia, the unconstitutional changes, the laws imposing a state of emergency, and the complete paralysis of institutional life. This danger becomes alarming when we consider the brutal refusal of the Belgrade authorities to allow the Albanian population to live freely, organized peacefully and democratically in accordance with the norms of international life. Kosovo is one of the most delicate issues in the Yugoslav crisis. The conflict there is a political conflict, a conflict arising from the impossibility of coexistence with the occupier. It is a conflict between the free exercise of the principle of self-determination through peaceful means and the hegemonic rejection of this reality. Consequently, the situation remains explosive. This is also the finding of several CSCE and EC missions that have visited Kosovo. The international community has begun to express concern about the situation there, but the Albanian side observes that preventive diplomacy has still given no encouraging signs. The legitimate leaders of Kosovo, for their part, have declared themselves in favor of unconditional dialogue, which was also endorsed by the CSCE Helsinki Summit, and the international community... (Continued on page 4) ... affirmation of their national and social identity, lost under communism, has become a driving force in society during peoples of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe to the system that had paralyzed them for many years has now moved from the realm of euphoria transition. For the Albanian delegation, this year is a continuation of the same political trend, of the expression of basic principles, respect for human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and other positive values on a broad scale. The efforts of the UN and the UN Security Council in this direction have been active since the previous session. The political course of their activities has aimed precisely at affirming the values mentioned above. In this way, [it has contributed] to a shared political outlook and unity of action. Unity in diversity—that is, the realization of the expression of national interests within the general vector of world development—is undoubtedly the foundation of this organization’s existence and its practical activity; it is also an expression of the predominance of peaceful reason in maintaining the delicate balance between the two concepts. The Security Council’s resolutions imposing sanctions on specific states that violate internationally accepted principles and norms, especially against Serbia and Montenegro; Kosovo; and the chances are greatest in the Middle East for resolving major conflicts; the talks aimed at resolving conflicts between communities in Cyprus, etc., reaffirm the universal nature of this organization’s values in its work to preserve these balances and show that the role of the UN is irreplaceable and indispensable, and that it guarantees the continued application of international law as the sole protective measure by which to gauge the degree of international political civilization. Mr. President, This session gives my country an opportunity, from an unusual platform, to proclaim the great victory achieved by the anti-communist democratic forces in Albania against the regime in the general parliamentary elections of March 22 and the local elections of July 26. This definitively determined the direction in which Albania, albeit with great difficulty, is moving forward. In this ... of Albania, the changes are unstoppable. In ... of Albania, the foundations of the rule of law have been laid, and it is becoming increasingly institutionalized; the first non-communist government has been formed, and it is implementing a profound transformation, the only alternative for achieving comprehensive political, economic and social development for the individual and society. The government’s main objective is to create the necessary modern legal framework for reform, to harmonize and integrate the country’s economy into the world economy, to replace as soon as possible the catastrophic consequences of total isolation and the suffocation of activity by the dictatorship, and to emerge from the economic totalitarianism bequeathed to us by this exploitative totalitarianism. But this government also inherited an active human potential, ready to carry forward the legacy we are trying to bring into the discipline of a new system; and although they have proved themselves, they have our experience... Our human values seek to make a contribution...

THE TRUTH: The European Community is giving Albania 70 million ECU

Nano’s visit around Europe. On what facts does the chairman of the PS base such a statement before a foreign official? Surely on the article published by L. Pobrati in “ZR.” As the dates in “ZP” show, Nano’s meeting with the British official took place before the head of SHIK [continued] gave explanations in parliament. Nevertheless, after these explanations, the issue, according to the chairman of the PS parliamentary group, N. Dokle, remained unexplained. Given also the circumstances in which the Pobrati-Gazidede meeting took place, it is very difficult to establish what was said at that meeting, except by the people themselves. Then, with what responsibility does the chairman of the PS make statements of this kind and call them “messages that reek of a new dictatorship, of a new revanchism”? Perhaps in another country, more democratic than ours, Chairman Nano would also be legally answerable for such malicious insinuations, but here in Albania various elements are still allowed to treat democracy as anar... [cut/unclear section]. Borrowing a deputy’s words, I would say that these actions arouse distrust among foreigners and encourage a new isolation of Albania. It seems this is what the PS needs today. I would also like to touch on something else. State Security has been mentioned a great deal lately. Since some may consider these to be...

. Such ideas as “the State Security service is acting in cooperation with the PS” are anachronistic and unrealistic. I do not wish to make any allusion to any specific case, since I have not done so; nevertheless, there is nothing strange about the idea. It is true that the State Security service no longer operates as an organization, but those who served there are still around. They are people whom the overthrow of communism exposed and who, besides losing their privileges, are now afraid that they will have to answer for the crimes committed. So it is not at all strange that many of them should react. It is also a fact that the PS includes many of those who lost their privileges, people who zealously served E. Hoxha’s regime and whom the reform has therefore distanced. It is thus natural that the activities of these groups should be connected with what is presented as their policy. A mo... [illegible text] ... organized and communist ... [illegible text] ... of a gen... [illegible text] ... politician, the dismissal of the Prosecutor General, the scandal revea... [illegible text] ... by Pobrati, etc., point to a negative unity that does not serve at all the so-called cooperation of which so much is said.

With the strokes of my pen, I want to defend the democracy of the Albanians, the truth as much as possible, and the most sublime obligation: the national cause and the unification of the homeland. As a citizen, as a participant in the December ’90 revolution that toppled the dictatorship, many questions arose in my mind, and many ideas tonight, on 23.9.1992. TV announcer, Today in the People’s Assembly: camera stop. Parliamentary hall. Deputies sitting. Who have not arrived. Silent chairs, some light-colored, some laughing, others shouting. A carpeted corridor. In the hall, with loudspeakers, a gallop, a rustling of plans. So, words, communism. That’s what he calls it, dialogue. The face of ... ... I want genuine communist-socialists. Fierce, but also calm, as the direction puts it. He clings to NOTHING and revolves around NOTHING. In the group he plays the old and new film, as old as the world: “a lost armchair.” Outside the hall, the lobby of Radio Tirana. A pronounced socialist, impossible to avoid. Female sex. Not at all sympathetic. She calls herself a scientist, without doing science. She whispers. “Oh, if only we could get through this situation, truly a difficult one,” she says. Will there be war—is she a fortune-teller? Will there be famine, terror like in times past? “No, no,” she pleads, to her mother, as if ... [text cut off]

... affirmation of their national and social identity, lost under communism, and the thirst for democracy, equality and freedom among peoples has become a driving force in society during the period we are experiencing.

At long last, someone remembered that in Albania there were not only 140 deputies, who make up our parliament, but more than 200. Yes, indeed: with three valid diplomatic passports, deputies of two parliaments were moving around, at home and abroad—or more: those of the parliament that had dissolved and of the third one that continues its work to this day. Our former deputies, who according to their documents are deputies of mam, have used these passports for trade, have entered and ... [text cut off]