On Thursday, after a visit lasting several days to Egypt, the PDSH delegation returned to the Homeland. It was led by the Chairman of the PDSH, Mr. Eduard Selami, and also included Messrs. Ylli Vejsiu, an MP in the PD parliamentary group, and Bashkim Trenova, editor-in-chief of «RD». During its stay in Egypt, the delegation was received by and held talks with Professor Doctor Jusuf Vali, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture of Egypt and Secretary-General of the ruling National Democratic Party. The establishment of bilateral ties at party level was discussed at this meeting. The Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister expressed his particular esteem for President Berisha and for the development of democracy in Albania. The situation in the Balkan Peninsula region was also discussed. On this occasion, Professor Doctor Jusuf Vali praised Albanian policy in the region as well as Albania’s relations with the USA. The meeting with Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Amer Musa, was of considerable interest. On this occasion, Mr. Selami presented the positions of Albanian policy in general, and especially those concerning Serbian aggression in Bosnia and the danger that it might spread to Kosovo as well. During the talks, both sides expressed identical positions and also their desire to further define and coordinate them at a future meeting in Tirana. Like the previous meetings, the meeting with Mr. Ahmed Hamedi, Deputy Speaker of Egypt’s People’s Assembly, and Mr. Muhamed Abdalla, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations, was also held in a fraternal spirit. The friends showed interest in the latest developments in Albania and spoke sympathetically about bilateral friendly relations, also dwelling on the traditional ties between Albania and Egypt. The further development of these relations was discussed. The danger of the conflict spreading from the Serbian aggressors to Kosovo was also discussed. At this meeting, as at the previous ones, the Egyptian friends pledged that, should such a situation arise, they would give their full support to Albania and the Albanian people. At all the meetings, the Egyptian side expressed its desire and readiness to further develop bilateral relations. In the spirit of giving these relations practical shape, several other meetings were also held, including one with Professor Doctor Hasan Kheder, Chairman of the Bank for Agricultural Credit and Development, the most powerful bank in Egypt. The possibility of opening a branch of this bank in Albania was discussed, as well as creating a market in Egypt for Albanian agricultural and livestock products. The Albanian delegation also met with members of the Energy and Industry Committee of the National Democratic Party. The possibility of investments in Albania by various Egyptian companies was discussed there. During its stay in Egypt, the PDSH delegation also held a number of other meetings, including one at the General Secretariat of the National Democratic Party and one at the Center for Administration and Development. The delegation also visited several tourist sites. It visited the pyramids of the Egyptian pharaohs, took a trip on the Nile and visited the castle of Muhamed Ali Pasha, who is known in Egypt as the founder of the country’s modern history and for his Albanian origins. Egyptian television broadcast reports on the PDSH delegation’s visit, following it continuously. The visit was also covered by the local press.

DEFENDING ALBANIAN TANGENTOPOLI The bosses of Tangentopoli in Italy, terrified by the exposure of the threads of corruption linking them to Albanian Tangentopoli, have launched an unrestrained campaign against the PD. Just like Kardili, known to Albanian public opinion as a co-author and supporter of corruption in Albania, the friends of the Albanian and Italian Kardilis are now slandering and misinforming the Italian public about the PD and democracy in Albania. The newspaper of the corrupt Italian bosses, «Korriere de la Serra», has also joined this feverish campaign. Completely irresponsible, it has recently published statements by the irresponsible MP Alesi and is telling us tales from «One Thousand and One Nights» about Arab princes and sheikhs, inventing extraordinary stories about Albanian politics. One can only feel sorry for their authors, although the motives driving them are entirely understandable and not well-intentioned toward Albania and the Albanians. It seems that friends of Kardili, who worked closely with him to bring Albanian-Italian corruption to fruition, have also become involved in this activity. The resentment toward the PD and Albanian democracy, and the degrading and irresponsible stance reflected in the pages of «Korriere de la Serra», belong to the corrupt bosses who had it so good with Ramiz Alia’s Albania and for whom the fate of the Albanian people has never mattered—not whether they lived as slaves under dictatorship or in freedom, but only their own selfish, unscrupulous interests. Alia’s and Nano’s communist dictatorship apparently guaranteed them those interests. The overthrow of this dictatorship by the Albanian people also overturned the interests of foreign mafia groups and clans with which the Albanian dictatorship had entered into anti-Albanian deals in order to survive. They cannot accept this reality, and so they slander, objectively taking the dictatorship’s side and thus defending their own interests as well. These kinds of black bosses, badly entangled with the red bosses, are floundering and conducting a hopeless slander campaign, because no one believes them. Italian Tangentopoli, in order to defend Albanian Tangentopoli, not only failed to deal with the «Nano» case, but, to blur it and divert attention from it, brought the «Arsidi» case onto the scene, presented according to the playbook of the Italian-Albanian Tangentopoli circles, even though this case itself is connected with the «Nano» affair. For this purpose, the statement by Kandili was used, this former ambassador discredited in Albania, among other things as an admirer of photographs of the Hoxha family and its “bird,” Nano. The statements by Alesi, Kardili, etc., published in «Korriere della Serra», certainly cannot harm either Albania or Albanian democracy. They will never be able to save either the red bosses who are deeply entangled with Italian Tangentopoli or the murky interests of the corrupt bosses whom the Italian justice system has put—and will put—in the dock. At most, they testify only to the degree of irresponsibility and corruption in certain Italian political circles affected by Tangentopoli. Still less can they cast a shadow over the friendly relations between Italy and Albania, between the Italian and Albanian peoples. Both our countries and both our peoples are aware that such tangentopoli episodes have neither been created by nor serve their fundamental interests; indeed, they run completely counter to those interests and to the pure, long-lasting friendship which, on both sides of the Adriatic, we are striving to build—and will surely build—for our common good and beyond. This is also the only way to consign the rubbish to history’s dustbin, so that we will not be indebted to history in this important respect too, as in every other matter involving the vital interests of the present or the future. BASHKIM TRENOVA

Why did «Bashkimi» not come out for more than a week? The former owners of the building have occupied our editorial offices. They did not do this on their own initiative, but with the help of the Enforcement Office, specifically its legal officer Sokol Robo, who also brought police officers with him on this occasion. We explained to the former owners that we would keep or vacate the editorial offices—which were transferred there 10 years ago by order, after having had space on a floor in the building where «Zëri i popullit» is located for 40 consecutive years—properly as soon as the Court of Cassation, where the case has been filed, rules on the matter. But Mr. Robo, for reasons known to him, did not wait for the law’s final word; instead, he descended on «Bashkimi», without even officially notifying the editorial office and insulting a colleague of ours, the only person who happened to be in the office by chance. «Pasqyra» newspaper is also in the same building claimed by the same former owners, and continues to work normally, without being disturbed by either the enforcement officer or the police. We are pleased to wish our colleagues at «Pasqyra» and every serious newspaper in our country normal working conditions, but it is the selfish interests and motives of Sokols such as Sokol Robo that are at issue; for him, it seems, the “law” is one thing for one person and another for someone else. This has gone so far that, although the Court of Cassation, following a hearing on 16 August 1993, ordered in writing that the decision be suspended, the enforcement officers still did not budge. The head of the office says he has no authority. A female lawyer advises: “Force your way in”! All the editorial office’s attempts to meet Robo in person were unsuccessful—as if the earth had swallowed this man. We condemn this conduct and the discrimination directed in broad daylight solely at the newspaper «Bashkimi» by official representatives of the law as a deliberate attack on freedom of the press and on the independent, democratic press, coming precisely from those who should protect freedom and rights. At the same time, we put this question to the Minister of Justice: have such legal officials been depoliticized, or are they perhaps guided in their work by the same party-political criteria of the past? While waiting for the law—and not Sokol-Maliqi—to have its say, we apologize to our readers that, until the problem is resolved, we will publish the newspaper only once a week, every Saturday, as you can imagine the difficulties of preparing and printing it in our homes and wherever we can, “underground.” The editorial staff of «Bashkimi»

The European Community grants Albania 35 million ECU On 16 August, the European Community awarded Albania a grant of 35 million ECU (approximately 42 million US dollars) as support for the balance of payments. This decision was taken as a further step in support of economic reform in Albania, whose results to date were assessed by special missions of the European Community as very positive and promising for the achievement of its objectives. This assessment and support from the EC adds to that of the World Bank and the IMF, which consider the reform in Albania to be among the most successful in Eastern Europe. These institutions, together with the G-24 countries, are currently considering further support for the balance of payments, and the first results are very promising for a broad commitment on their part.

TIRANA The 75 workers of the Stationery Enterprise benefit from a 30 percent wage increase. Unlike quite a few enterprises in the capital, the stationery enterprise has not stopped work for a single moment. This is a welcome result, fruit of the efforts made by the workforce itself to find work for itself. The new mindsets being fostered by the laws of the market economy have led the administration not only to handle orders coming into the enterprise, but also to get moving to secure new orders. This has meant that, in addition to orders coming into the enterprise, the administration has set about securing new orders. As a result, the value of goods sold has continued to rise from one quarter to the next. The first six months therefore ended with 11 million 300 thousand lekë worth of goods sold, and the figures for the following months are even more satisfactory. Thanks to these positive indicators, the enterprise has achieved satisfactory profitability, which has also earned it the support of the K. M. for a 30 percent wage increase. Thus, the 75 workers employed here will receive this wage increase starting 1 August. One of the factors that has helped this enterprise secure work has also been the high quality of its products. By now, all the customers who have had occasion to order various kinds of printed matter, envelopes of every size, folders of every type, booklets, wedding invitations, business cards, etc., know this well. The workforce is convinced that the enterprise’s future lies in its full privatization, on which, director Bardhyl Bedeni says, intensive work is under way, both in preparing the relevant documents and in negotiations to find foreign investors for cooperation. Z. LL

On the fourth day of the trial of the defendants Ahmet, Saliu and Tartari, the experts were questioned as part of the proceedings. Two of the three experts who had signed the expert report appeared in court. The presiding judge read out the report, which contained the experts’ answers to several of the questions submitted for resolution. Regarding the right of the defendants, A. Tartari and A. Saliu, to make payment on the bill of exchange to Arsidi, the experts’ answer in their report was that the Commercial Bank had the authority to discount the bill of exchange. Likewise, regarding the two payments made, the first of 640 thousand dollars and the second of 945 thousand, the experts’ answer was that the payments were regular. The first payment was made on the basis of Arsidi’s bill of exchange. As to the authority to issue orders to the bank for the financial effect of V. Ahmet’s payment orders, the experts could not provide an answer. Regarding the question of whether the documents signed by the Bank’s governor had been binding, the expert report stated that repayment of external debt is a right and responsibility of the banks. The defendants agreed with the expert report. The prosecutor then asked several questions, to which the experts replied: In international legislation, it is not considered necessary to verify the signatures of the drawer and the acceptor before a bill of exchange is discounted. Bills of exchange bearing a bank’s signature are the most preferred, but even today they carry risks. The purpose of discounting a bill of exchange is to make a profit. Finally, lawyer Sanxhaku also put questions to the experts. By court order, the experts will answer these questions in writing on the 24th, when the next hearing opens at 9:00. Prepared by: EDI PALOKA

From August 2 to 8, 1993, the 25th Congress of Public Services International was held in Helsinki. A delegation from the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Albania also took part in the congress, the BSPSH information office reported. At one of the meetings of the Executive Committee, the BSPSH was accepted as a member of this large and powerful family of trade unions around the world. (ATSH)

On August 16, the first phase—the registration of companies that will qualify to carry out the project to rehabilitate 65 km of roads in the Tirana district—was completed. On August 16, the first phase—the registration of companies seeking to qualify to carry out the project to rehabilitate 65 km of roads in the Tirana district—was completed. Fifty-five foreign companies, joint ventures and several Albanian companies submitted applications to take part in the competition. Tirana district, with a cost of 18 million dollars, will be financed by the World Bank. The agreement for this was signed on July 7. Under the project, work will be carried out to reconstruct the Tirana–Vorë, Tirana–Krujë, Tirana–Elbasan and Librazhd–Qafë Thanës roads, as well as to complete the Fushë-Krujë–Mamurras and Mamurras–Milot roads. By September 30, the consulting firms are required to submit their proposals, and their evaluation will be completed by November 1. (ATSH)

The new and fragile democracy, though still in its first steps, has been subjected to a barrage of accusations and slander from within—unfounded and more absurd accusations, more unworthy and more cynical—with the sole aim of tying its legs, draining its energy and preventing it from taking even one step forward. At a time when we are witnessing a number of attacks on Albanian democracy, the new democratic state, the PD and the President of the Republic—attacks marked by ferocity and savagery, malice and cynicism, as though they were not Albanians but usurpers descended from the ancient age of barbarism, from who knows what distant land—the Albanian state and Albanian democracy are accused, even as the PPSH and its red leaders are defended and left in silence (and silence is also a form of defense), despite the crimes they committed against the Albanian people; the sigurims, who ruined, tortured, abused and massacred thousands of innocent people, are defended; those who took thousands of human lives with their own hands are defended, for the sole crime of being unable to reconcile themselves with dictatorship and the destruction of Albania; those who shamelessly stole and exploited the toil and sweat of the Albanian people are defended, while the people were worked like slaves at hard labor for a morsel of bread; those who devastated culture and art are defended; those who destroyed good traditions and denied everything Albanian merely to please Stalin and comrade Tito are defended; those who poisoned the innocent souls of people with a cursed ideology are defended; those who replaced the human being with their own absurd monster—the party’s “new man,” the Albanian Lei Fen. But what great crime could Albanian democracy have committed to be accused so harshly? What crime have the PD, the democratic state and the President committed to be attacked so ferociously—