The President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Slovenia, Marko Kosin, who presented his credentials. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arjan Starova, the President’s Chief of Cabinet, Edmond Seferi, etc., attended the presentation ceremony. (ATSH)

On Thursday, 20.05.1993, the chairman of the Albanian Democratic Party and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy, Mr. Eduard Selami, left for Germany. Mr. Selami will take part in the proceedings of the Spring Session of the North Atlantic Assembly. PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE OF THE DP

-NATO assistance to the Albanian army will continue in the future- During the meeting with NATO Secretary General Mr. Verner, attended also by NATO Deputy Secretary General Amedeo De Frankis, Minister Serreqi focused on the situation in the region, repeatedly emphasizing the important role Kosovo has in the complete and final resolution of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, as well as the dangers posed by the tense situation in Kosovo. Mr. Serreqi also addressed issues concerning cooperation between Albania and NATO, highlighting the particular importance our country attaches to relations with this alliance. Mr. Verner expressed the Alliance’s deep concern about the situation in Kosovo, as well as its determination to prevent the possible spread of the conflict in time. He praised Albania’s policy in this regard and spoke of the Alliance’s interest in Albania, relations with which have intensified considerably in recent times, with work under way to advance them further. The Alliance is prepared to assist the Albanian army in its restructuring process, and this assistance will continue in the future. He reiterated his personal commitment to raising relations between Albania and NATO to a higher level. (Continued on page 4)

To spin a tale of subversive activity by the DP, the editorial leadership of the newspaper “Koha jone”—its publicistic, ideological or political staff—has been drawn into the story. Its strongest rival, “ZP”, in the contest over which can spew the most venom and poison, rumors, “accusations,” insults and curses against the DP, President Berisha and the Meksi Government, gave the national and international public sensational news on the front page of yesterday’s issue: apparently, I have serious and deep-seated principled disagreements with the celebrated “tribune” of unethical and immoral journalism, Nikolli Lesi, and Mr. Hajdari. For the depoliticized mass of readers, there is nothing surprising or unexpected here. Disagreements between two people, debates between two intellectuals or politicians, are entirely natural and normal, all the more so now, under democracy, when we have once and for all escaped the logic of thinking with one mind and speaking with one voice. This is especially true because Mr. Hajdari is one of those people who cannot be imposed upon, who needs ample room for his free thought and action, for expressing himself. What is astonishing is the insinuation, or the overt attempt to portray Mr. Hajdari’s inclusion on the governing council of “Koha jone” as a special mission from the DP to capture the fortress from within, and to steal the “independence” of the most independent journalists on earth and in the universe: Lesi, Frangaj, Cupi... Mr. Hajdari’s appointment to the editorial staff of this newspaper is the result (whether ripe or unripe makes little difference) of a request made to him, in writing or verbally, by the newspaper’s managers, and of his own wish or personal decision. According to the announcement issued by “Koha jone” itself, Mr. Hajdari was elected democratically, naturally after his consent had first been obtained. So this was a personal decision and initiative, dictated by his convictions and position. If they have now regretted and become disappointed by this action, they should look to themselves for the blame. But, as is readily apparent from the history or strategy of seeing only evil and wrongdoing in the DP, President Berisha and the Government, even the “small” problems, wounds or blemishes within the PS and its allied forces go unnoticed, as do the consequences of their revanchist, anti-democratic policies and activities. These can only be fantasies of the perverse logic of the “ZP” commissars.

It is a legitimate question asked not only by the honest, moderate members and supporters of the SP, but even more so. Why? Because when such a question is raised, one’s mind goes to the PP, which not only had nothing in common with Europe’s communist parties, let alone the socialist and social-democratic parties. It is a legitimate question asked not only by the honest, moderate members and supporters of the SP, but even more so. Why? Because when such a question is raised, one’s mind goes to the PP, which not only had nothing in common with Europe’s communist parties, let alone the socialist and social-democratic parties, but was also their most relentless opponent. And the SP, which was born from the PP, although it has declared in its program that it aspires to the European left, for a socialist society with a human face, for a democratic socialism,” if you study the methods and activities of (Continued on page 4)

Imagine spectators in a concert hall, eagerly awaiting the start of the performance, when suddenly the announcer steps onto the stage and, at the top of his voice, calls on them to rush out of the hall because someone has supposedly planted a time bomb there! Or imagine cheerful excursionists on an express train that seems never to reach their destination, when suddenly the conductor gives a signal and anxiously tells them to get out as soon as possible because they are at risk of entering a mined area... Or... a newlywed couple enjoying the first night of their honeymoon in the comfortable room of a luxurious hotel, when a powerful shock, real and caused by a possible danger, jolts them in the middle of [illegible]. The scenes above are not merely the product of a sick imagination, as someone might think, but fragments of the reality of the times we live in, or things one may have read or heard at some point in the mass media. The times we are living through are highly dramatic! Why do we call them that? Do we Albanians not resemble those spectators at the opposition’s event? Have you watched television when the activities of its leaders have been shown? Have you attended rallies organized by the SP and its “daughters”?! In all of these, no more and no less, we hear serious warnings that Albania has fallen into the hands of adventurers disguised as “guests,” that a fascist dictatorship is being established here, compared with which the one we left behind will seem like child’s play; that instead of moving forward toward Europe and the world, we are turning back toward feudalism, customary laws and clans; that we are threatened by fratricide and civil war; that a group of careerists and criminals is leading the country toward ruin and suffering, and so on and so forth. In short: according to this chorus of doom-mongers, we mistakenly believe that we are establishing and consolidating our long-awaited freedom and democracy. On the contrary, we are tumbling toward the most terrible catastrophe ever known to humankind?! Not only that, but after such ominous diagnoses, they move on to open calls to say “stop” (Continued on page 4)

The board of chief editors of seven newspapers, “RD,” “Republika,” “AlternativaSD,” “Drita,” “Bashkimi,” “Zeri i Rinise” and “Sindikalisti,” issued to the public information media a decision adopted at its meeting of May 18. It states that, following a verification at the Tirana District Court, it was established that, by decision No. 2117, dated February 20, 1993, of the aforementioned court, at the request submitted by Mr. Petro Dhimitri, the Tirana District Court registered him as a legal entity to conduct his private activities in the field of publishing newspapers, magazines and other typographic publications. The board of chief editors considers this action a very serious falsification punishable by law. For this reason, the board decided to immediately dismiss Mr. Petro Dhimitri from his position as Director of the “Demokracia” Printing House and, until a new director is appointed, to appoint Mr. Ilir Yzeiri, Chief Editor of the newspaper “Zeri i Rinise,” to this position. The board also publicly calls on the financial control authorities to audit the printing house’s financial activities from the outset. The boycott of the printing house will continue until the legal relationship between the board of the seven chief editors of the aforementioned newspapers and the “Demokracia” Printing House is precisely defined, in accordance with the principles on the basis of which this printing house was generously donated by the IMF. For his part, Mr. Dhimitri, through his lawyer Emira Milo, explains that “he conducts only private activity and does not own any kind of property.” The Tirana Mortgage Office, which legally certifies ownership of immovable property, for its part confirms that Mr. Dhimitri does not hold ownership of any immovable assets. The strike, which began a week ago, by the journalists serving on the printing house’s governing board, now faces a meeting with the IMF representative from the USA, who is expected to arrive in Tirana tomorrow. status of the Board of Directors and the Executive Director is clarified. (ATSH)

Mr. Chair of the session, The Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party protests against the statement—hardly an inadvertent one and extremely dangerous—made by Mr. Dokle during his political weekend last week at the PS rally in the city of Berat, according to which the killing of our boys at the border was one of the evils of the “revanchism” of those in power. We believe that such a statement is outside the interests of political struggle. It harms national interests and the national cause by exonerating the real killers, the Serbian criminal circles. Such a statement, especially when made by the chairman of the PS parliamentary group, in the context of today’s Balkan situation, fraught with the danger of war spreading southward, toward Kosovo and Albania, means siding with, encouraging and supporting unfettered Serbian expansionism; it means harming the interests of the nation, and even those of the PS itself. Honourable Deputies, The firm and uncompromising positions of the Albanian Parliament are now well known: to prevent Kosovo from being drawn into the infamous geography of war and Serbian territory, as are its continuing appeals, and those of the Albanian state, to the leaders of all institutions and bodies of the European and international community to ensure that the lava of war does not descend southward. As for the killing, abuse and Millosheviç-style massacre of 8 Albanian boys at the border with the former Yugoslavia, the position and condemnation of this criminal campaign by Parliament, the government, and our Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Public Order are also well known. In open opposition to these positions, and to the broad Albanian public opinion that does not in the least question the odious authorship of the Serbian war-mongering crimes and provocations, stands Mr. Dokle’s alibi and insinuation. Following the pattern of a double and immoral political game, while claiming to accuse, he takes the killers of Balkan peace under his protection. … of the historic visit to Albania by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II. This heinous crime was an open act of opposition by Serbian circles to the message of Peace that His Holiness brought to the Albanian people, who have suffered greatly from the communist scourge. Mr. Dokle knows clearly that the Pope would never have come to an Albania suffering the consequences of the revanchism he alluded to in Berat. On the contrary, the Holy Father blessed Albanian soil and democracy. Finally, we believe that statements of this kind are not separate from the destabilizing strategy and activities of opposition leaders. We call on all sides of Parliament to distance themselves from them. And if one can speak of genuine revanchism in Albania, it is that of conservative forces and communist remnants, former state security structures and the groups currently gathered under the banner of the PS. Analyzing this statement, we ask: Does Mr. Dokle truly seek to shield the revanchists and war criminals in Belgrade, or does he seek to gain political capital at the expense of human and national tragedy? If the first is the case, he confirms once again that he continues E.Hoxha’s arrogant, pro-Serbian and anti-Albanian policy, and that he cannot escape the now familiar adage, “whether good or bad, one cannot disown one’s father.” If the second is the case, we wish to remind Mr. Dokle that thousands of boys and girls were chained at the Albanian border, along the wall surrounding the dictatorship, and not a single bone of theirs can be found. We wish to remind him of such places as Mali me Gropa, which are hardly things one can erase from memory; and that in all these cases he had an opportunity to accuse the real killers: the state of the communist dictatorship and its allies in Belgrade. Mr. Chair, We wish to recall that the organized crime and Serbian genocide against 8 Albanian boys at the border, in violation of all international conventions and legal norms, took place precisely during the historic visit to Albania by the Holy Father, soil and democracy.