Yesterday’s air strike by the USA and its allies against Iraqi military targets was the deserved response to the violence that dictator Sadam Husein inflicted on the allies and on international rules, President Sali Berisha told an ATSH correspondent today. The President went on to emphasize that this attack would also remind other dictators that they will not be tolerated if they trample on international rules and principles, which all states must respect, regardless of their regime.

of the 10-month opposition and 48-year rulers by the 10-month opposition and 48-year rulers Well, after 48 years in power, the PS has now reached its tenth month in opposition. The period from the first month to the tenth was a time during which the socialists systematically exposed themselves as masters of speculation. Freedom of speech is the benefit democracy secured for everyone. The socialists, too. But it depends on how you use this freedom. You can abuse it by speculating with it—in which case you have done nothing but misuse it—or you can respect it. To prevent freedom of speech from being abused, “self-censorship” is essential. Not “self-censorship” as a conditioned reflex to protect oneself from the harsh punishments of dictatorship, but self-censorship that means taking responsibility for what one says. The socialists have a particular “taste” for this. They attack the Democratic Government mercilessly—the President, economic reform, and foreign policy—as though the PS were entirely a 20-year-old party, with no sins from the past. At times they even offer suggestions. They try to teach, too. When you recall that they were in power, in a different capacity, for many years, and compare that with their present posture, you are reminded of the words of a leader of a great state: “On the same issue, I have two ‘sets’ of words.” The greatest speculation among this multitude of speculations is undoubtedly the attempt to judge the work of the democratic forces by measuring it against a set of problems inherited from the 12 terms of communist government. These were the governments that brought the country to the edge of the abyss. These were the governments that gave the seat of power its dizzying shine. Before the Democratic Party, crime was flourishing. The regime’s response to it was virtually zero. The law-enforcement forces were severely lacking in material resources. Now, the law-enforcement forces have been equipped to some extent, thanks to assistance. The criminal now pays the penalty due for his crime. What do the socialists say about this reality? Crimes happen. They seem to assume the existence of a giant telescope with which the perpetrators can be spotted on the verge of committing a crime. They forget, then, that crime is connected to a range of factors. The Democratic Government created an entire ministry for emigration and is making great efforts to address it on a satisfactory scale. Here, too, the socialists find grounds to speak, as if they were not the ones who implemented a policy of isolation, justified by the revolutionary principle of relying on one’s own forces. The Government pursues an open foreign policy with all countries; the socialists attack and call for the denial of what has already been denied, as if they had never had the chance to shape a foreign policy to their own taste. The Government inherited hyperinflation and is obliged to fight and bring it down; the socialists seize on another branch—the consequences of this maneuver. Thus, if reducing inflation requires cutting expenditure, the socialists criticize you for putting people on assistance. Conversely, if this Government cared only about its own seat of power, through a misguided sentimental economic policy (a law providing for 80 percent of living costs through allocations and subsidies), then the thrust of their criticism would be in that direction. The socialists raise their voices about mass unemployment, but forget that this unemployment is part of their legacy. The democratic government merely legalized this unemployment by repealing the communist government’s law on 80-percent wages and introducing social assistance. Such speculation follows the PS’s work as an opposition at every step. It is an indication of its destructiveness—a destructiveness that is not spontaneous, but results from its lust for power and reflects a lack of democratic ethics and respect for the legitimate winner. SHPEJTËM LUKU — RTSH establishes equal partnership relations with the world’s largest television centers. — RTSH is an intellectual institution of an intellectual people; a democratic and anti-communist institution of a free society. — The achievements of RTSH under the new team in these few months are negligible in the world. With entirely outdated technology, a contemporary dimension has been achieved for RTSH. Programming choices and quality have been improved, without assistance from the Government or anyone else—only through the efforts of RTSH employees. — RAI will modernize RTSH; a historic agreement for RTSH. — Greek RT and other television centers are committing themselves in concrete ways to help RTSH with technical equipment and specialist training in Europe. Dozens of RTSH journalists and technicians will receive specialist training in Europe through study programs of varying duration. On January 14 and 15, a consultation organized by UNDP in cooperation with the People’s Assembly and the General Directorate of RTSH was held at the Palace of Congresses and RTSH premises in Tirana. This consultative meeting, the first in RTSH’s history, was attended by representatives of 17 of the world’s largest television centers, including RAI, German RT, French RT, American RT, Austrian RT, Belgian RT, Swiss RT, Greek RT, Finnish RT, etc., as well as representatives of the UN, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, UNDP, the Hanns-Seidel Foundation, etc. The meeting, which concluded with complete success, aimed to identify potential donors who would make it possible to renew RTSH’s technical facilities, provide legal training for its staff, and arrange training abroad for the journalists, technicians, and administrators of this institution, among other things. RTSH, an institution of national intellectual thought. The meeting was opened by Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, who emphasized that we need more windows through which to connect with the cultured world, and one of the most important windows is RTSH. It should become the number-one source of national information, so that it can approach international standards. For this it needs the help of global experience, and he expressed confidence that such help would be present today as well. In his welcoming remarks, the Director General of RTSH, Mr. Skënder Bucpapaj, welcomed his colleagues from around the world and noted that RTSH had to overturn, in a short time, the inhumane role assigned to it by the dictatorship and E. Hoxha: to make Albanians enemies of Europe. Today RTSH has brought Albanians into a relationship of civilization with Europe and into direct contact with it. Today, as the largest information and cultural institution, RTSH ranks among the foremost institutions of democracy. It is to the credit of RTSH employees that, at the height of the bitter communist night, they rose up against the dictatorship. Today’s meeting, the Director General of RTSH continued, is very important because it closes that chapter of our isolation from the world. It is vital to the continued existence of our institution. (Continued on page 4)

The first dignified encounter with the WORLD? REAL INTEGRATION INTO IT THE FIRST DIGNIFIED ENCOUNTER WITH THE WORLD? REAL INTEGRATION INTO IT — The consultative meeting between RTSH and 17 of the world’s largest television centers, organized by UNDP in cooperation with RTSH, held its proceedings in Tirana. — centers. — democratic and anti-communist institution of a free society. — tech- [Text continues: to make possible the technical renewal of RTSH, legal training for its staff, and institution, etc.] RTSH, an institution of national intellectual thought,

A REMINDER THAT MAY ALSO BE USEFUL TO OTHERS Never let it enter your mind that our people are experiencing your trial with the pleasure of revenge, as someone may imagine! It is a fact that a nation and a people are cursed when their leaders have led them not merely for years but for decades, only for those leaders to end up on the defendants’ bench instead of in the Pantheon of glory for the valuable services they should have rendered. We discussed this bitter truth a few days ago with an American professor who had come to our country to help us with teaching. “When it comes to the truth, we make no concessions and accept no compromise.” In the USA, we have great respect for the president, the heads of state and the [unclear]. So, when we learned of the Watergate scandal involving Niksomit, we felt deep pain in our hearts. But we all overcame that pain and said with one voice: “If it is true, he must leave the office we entrusted to him—or better still, leave of his own accord!” And, as you know, he resigned. I am not saying this with any sense of pride, but, rightly so, [unclear], there was no other way for us. Let us return to your trial. Many people expressed the view that you would, at last, take advantage of the opportunity God was giving you and reflect—not simply to ease your soul before Him, since you had given ample proof long ago that you did not believe in Him, but, prompted by other, more practical motives, to benefit somewhat from the goodwill of the citizens, and thus of the law, as all those who assist justice do. And you could help Albanian justice, which is struggling to rise to the pedestal that is rightfully its own, by giving it the information you can provide, for reasons that are clear. Who else could do it? The people and individuals benefit from the experience of others, but learn even more from their own experience, even when it is a bad one, so as not to make the same mistake in the future. Well, who better than you could shed light on that diabolical mechanism and monstrous activity that lasted for more than forty years and reduced us to such a state that we became the shame of the world, learning only bad lessons instead of pride and nationalism? Who better than you could tell us about those crows and cuckoos that laid their eggs in the storm you created, producing those bastard chicks who now threaten to overthrow the democrats, while from the platforms they present themselves as pure democrats and ardent patriots? [The following passage is repeated in the supplied text: take advantage of the opportunity God was giving you...” through future.”] (Continued on page 2) “A party” words. The biggest speculation among the activity of the democratic forces, to measure their work by whether they have resolved the cluster of problems inherited from the 12 terms of the communist one-party the brink throne its dizzying brilliance. Were the democratic forces supposed to solve such problems, “gifts” from them, by hypnosis and magic? Is it anything other than speculation to make the resolution of all the inherited problems a task? Meanwhile, the government and the other bodies have their own yardstick for their work: their programs. According to the socialist logic of measuring work by inherited problems, a four-year-old “little one” cannot correct the negative consequences of the activity of a 48-year-old “woman.” Let us look at their reasoning. When today’s government came to power, at last you would have taken advantage of the opportunity God was giving you and reflected—not simply to ease your conscience before Him, since you had already given ample proof that you did not believe in Him, but, driven by other, more practical motives, to benefit at least a little law, as all those who help justice benefit. rise to the pedestal it deserves, that are well known. Who else, if not you! The people and the individual benefit from the experience of others, but learn more from their own experience, even when it is bad for them, future. So who more than you could shed light on that diabolical mechanism, which operated monstrously so that instead of pride and nationalism, all we see is a bad lesson? Who more than you could tell us about those ravens and cuckoos that laid their eggs in your storm, from which those bastard chicks emerged, now threatening to overthrow us from the democrats, while on the platforms they present themselves as such pure democrats and fervent patriots? When law, as all those who help justice benefit. rise to the pedestal it deserves, is bad for them, that diabolical mechanism, which operated monstrously patriots, when

The day before yesterday in Vienna, at the headquarters of Austria’s Federal Ministry of the Economy, following three days of talks between delegations from Albania’s Ministry of Trade and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries and Austria’s Federal Ministry of the Economy, the Agreement between the Republic of Austria and the Republic of Albania on bilateral economic relations was signed. On behalf of the Albanian Government, the agreement was signed by the Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, Mr. Rakip Shkurti, while the Austrian side was represented by the Deputy Minister of the Economy of the Republic of Austria, Mr. Josef Tschach. Under the agreement, Austria and Albania undertake to further develop their bilateral economic relations by creating various mutual benefits. The Austrian side undertakes to contribute financial resources to priority projects in Albania in the fields of agriculture and forestry, agricultural technology (machinery and equipment), the food industry, energy, metallurgy and processing industries, and the exploration, extraction and processing of minerals and other underground raw materials. The agreement also provides for intensifying the establishment of Albanian-Austrian joint ventures and direct investment in all economic sectors, including with the participation of third countries. The agreement provides for investment by Austrian pharmaceutical companies in our country in the fields of health, the medical and pharmaceutical industries, environmental protection, etc. Furthermore, under the aforementioned agreement, the Austrian side undertook to participate in several projects to be financed by the World Bank in the fields of railways, telecommunications, water management, ports and airports. This agreement represents another step forward in the development of bilateral economic relations and will serve as a basis and an incentive for attracting Austrian investors to Albania. The Austrian side asked the Albanian side to submit the relevant documentation as soon as possible for the signing, in the near future, of an agreement granting Albania most-favored-nation status in trade with Austria. (ATSH)

DECLARATION JOINT ALBANIAN-CROATIAN At the invitation of the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, on January 13–14, 1993, a delegation of the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia, headed by the Speaker of that Parliament, Mr. Stipe Mesic, paid an official friendly visit to the Republic of Albania. At meetings and talks with senior officials of the People’s Assembly and the Albanian Government, views were exchanged on the current situation in the Balkan region, particularly in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. Both sides noted with satisfaction that they shared the same position on extinguishing the destructive flames of war in the former Yugoslavia. It was agreed that stronger pressure from the world community on Serbia’s chauvinist-communist policy, and the continuation of talks to find the most suitable ways to establish peace, are currently the most effective means of stabilizing the situation. The outbreak of war in Kosovo would have unforeseeable consequences for the peoples of the Balkans and Europe. Deepening economic and cultural cooperation between Albania and Croatia is the shared desire of both sides. During the talks, views were exchanged and concrete proposals made for Croatian investment in tourism and for increasing exports and imports; for establishing joint ventures in oil and gas exploration and production, metal processing, transport, etc. The Albanians of Croatia are a factor of friendship and a bridge between the cultures of our two peoples. Mr. Mesic’s invitation to Mr. Arbnori to visit Croatia was received with pleasure. This visit will contribute to strengthening relations between our two parliaments. The visit of the Croatian parliamentary delegation to the Republic of Albania was a complete success. Tirana, January 14, 1993,