Pursuant to the Council of Ministers’ decision “On the in-principle approval of the Master Plan for the development of telecommunications for the period 1993–2002,” a loan agreement was signed in London some time ago between Telekomi shqiptar and the EBRD to finance Project No. 1 for the development of telecommunications in Albania. Under this agreement, Telekomi shqiptar receives a loan to modernize and expand the local, intercity and international network. The EBRD secures the project’s financing, also drawing on other financial resources. The amount of the loan granted by the EBRD is 10 million dollars. In addition, the modernization of Telekomi shqiptar will be supported by a grant from the Swiss government of 6.73 million ECU, a low-interest loan expected to be provided by the Italian government of 8 million ECU, an EBRD grant of 1.7 million ECU, a grant from the Norwegian government of 2 million ECU, etc. (ATSH) TIRANA LIBRARY

At midday on 26 May, the permanent delegation of the People’s Assembly was received by the President of the European Parliament, Mr. Egon Klepsh. In his remarks, Mr. Pjetër Arbnori expressed his gratitude to the European Community and its Parliament for the assistance and support they are giving Albania to help it overcome as quickly as possible the situation in which the communist dictatorship left our country. “Democracy here,” he emphasized, “has moved forward despite internal and external difficulties and obstacles. The main thing is that we are all determined to move to a new system, that of a market economy. For this, willingly or unwillingly, we are convinced that we have no other path. The changes we have achieved are also noticed by foreigners who come to Albania.” Mr. Arbnori then spoke about the Assembly’s work to adopt legislation that is qualitatively new and in keeping with the standards and requirements of the organizations, about Kosovo, and about Albania’s principled position in defending Albanian brothers in the former Yugoslavia. “I have followed the democratic developments in your country closely, and I am glad that they are progressing along a sound and productive path,” said Mr. Egon Klepsh. “We recognize the many difficulties you are facing and your legitimate concern about the consequences of the senseless war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose flames could spread to Kosovo as well.” Speaking about the European Parliament’s goodwill toward helping Albania, he noted: “You want initial assistance to be provided, to give you a better start. With your efforts and with this assistance, which we will try to provide, you will create the necessary economic foundation, which is a condition for further social development, so that Albanians may not only survive but also enjoy a better life than in the past. You are a European country,” Mr. Klepsh emphasized, “and your goal is to become a member of the Council of Europe and to conclude the association agreement with the European Community. I hope this will happen in the future.” Mr. Klepsh then thanked the People’s Assembly for inviting him to visit Albania and said he would make the visit at an appropriate time. At 12:00, our delegation attended the plenary session of the European Parliament. The Vice-President chairing the session welcomed the Albanian parliamentary delegation, led by Mr. Pjetër Arbnori, on its visit to the institution. “The European Parliament has followed the development of democratic processes in Albania,” she said, “and has unreservedly encouraged this path.” On 27 May, the Albanian delegation held separate discussions with parliamentary groups from various parties, as well as with individual MEPs who are friends of the Albanian people. At this meeting, views were exchanged on the situation in the former Yugoslavia, Albania’s immediate needs, the ways and measures needed to avert war in Kosovo, and the granting of national and human rights to Albanians in Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, etc. The European parliamentarians expressed a desire for more frequent contacts with Albanian parliamentarians and for regular information about developments in the Balkans. PANDELI KOÇI Strasbourg, 27.5.1993

THE SCANDAL of Nano and “ZP” Slander, fabrications, and the most absurd inventions have been and remain the favorite weapons of the Albanian communist hierarchy for disorienting and dividing the people and for surviving. These fathers and offspring of lies, of the most ridiculous and at the same time most tragic situations and stagings, without any human principle or morality, unable to avoid exposing themselves, cross even the bounds of their own network, their own caste, and even our country, its institutions and party mechanisms, and pass without concern through European or world institutions and mechanisms. We are all witnesses to the fact that yesterday’s issue of “ZP” published on its front pages, in large letters and in place of an editorial—that is, its chief lie—the speech of Socialist deputy Leontiev Çuçi delivered in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, under the title: “The Socialists will not allow revenge and political persecution to replace the rule of law.” What wasn’t written there! All the lies, slanders, deceptions, and Socialist-communist diversions and provocations of the “Made-in-Nano” kind against democracy in Albania—and therefore against its very future—were repeated. There is nothing to be surprised about here, nor would we concern ourselves with these barks of muddied curs who sense their inevitable end. But there is something that cannot be passed over in silence: a real fact showing just how far today’s PS hierarchs of the Nano kind have degraded. They have not only had, and still have, no respect for the truth, but stop at no baseness to achieve their objectives, sacrificing everything just as every dictator once did. This is a scandalous scene. In fact, Mr. Leontiev Çuçi did not deliver such a speech in the European Parliament, as should be clear to every true Albanian regardless of political affiliation. The family, lineage and background of Mr. Leontiev, as published in “ZP,” were scandalous. He delivered it only in Nano’s offices, not in the European Parliament. Nono, it seems, in crisis as the dictator once was, has begun to have dreams of international dimensions and to attribute ever greater successes to himself. [The following passage is garbled in the source.] Leontiev Çuçi did not deliver such a speech in Strasbourg as was published in “ZP.” The publication in “ZP” is a great insult to Mr. Leontiev, who took a constructive and dignified position in the European Parliament, as befits every true Albanian, irrespective of political party. All the lies, slanders and deceptions were repeated. [the rest of the text is cut off at the bottom of the image] VEZHGUESI

The thousands of rally-goers in Dibër were spawned by Hamdi Jupa’s imagination. “ZP” lied shamelessly, as always; “RD” reported the truth. On the evening of 27 May, Television aired cameraman Sami Selishta’s report on the “historic and highly successful” visit and the “magnificent” rallies of PS chairman Fatos Nano in [text cut off]

Mr. President, Ladies and gentlemen, Yugoslavia. - I have followed with attention the democratic developments in your country and am pleased that they are proceeding along the right path - At 12:00 our delegation attended the plenary session of Strasbourg, 27.5.1993 Albanians have the highest confidence in the new system and the Democratic Government Mr. Arbnori’s speech in the European Parliament Mr. President, Ladies and gentlemen, Once we had a communist prime minister who never laughed. The people made up a joke about him: When did our prime minister laugh for the first time? When he received the news that Albania had produced barbed wire with its own resources. For half a century, communism tried to turn our homeland into an Asian island in the middle of Europe. They isolated us behind walls thicker than the Chinese Wall or the Berlin Wall. Enver Hoxha chose his friends from among the world’s most decayed dictatorships. Even when some “ally” tried to get a little breath of freedom, a ray of Western light, he would jealously break with him and look for another, darker friend. This went on until he was left alone, alone, alone. The first slogan of the student demonstrations was: “Let us make Albania like all of Europe.” Thanks to the democratic movement, our country has crossed the crossroads. It has taken the right road toward the West, to which it belongs historically, geographically, politically and spiritually. Today in Albania there are four clearly distinct currents. The first, the largest, brings together the overwhelming majority of the population that suffered under the dictatorship. We were not the only ones to suffer in Albania—tens of thousands of political prisoners and internees. Albania was one large prison, 28,000 km2, surrounded by barbed wire. The dispossessed peasants, forcibly placed in cooperatives, suffered; the workers, who were simply beasts of burden, suffered; the intellectuals, who were forced to take Marxism-Leninism as their only compass, suffered; and tens of thousands of ordinary communists also suffered, whom we have never identified with the red caste. This overwhelming majority, as large as the entire population, united against the dictatorship and voted for freedom and democracy, creating a stable parliamentary majority—the most stable in all the former communist countries. The second current is represented by the communist conservatives, those who dream of regaining their privileges. There are not so many of them, but they have experience, organization and old connections; they still have

The specter of corruption CONTINUES TO WANDER THROUGH ALBANIA Those who follow it add new links to the long chain of their sins It would have been better for him to address his own problems by reaching into his own pocket for a few million dollars. Nano’s rallies and his wandering like a ghost through Albania are another responsibility taken on by an irresponsible person like him. In his final adventure to provoke a political crisis (perhaps even a fratricidal war, so greatly desired in Belgrade as well), solely to escape the punishment he deserves from justice, he has found support and followers only among old and new Enverists, former security agents deeply stained with the blood of innocent victims and the filth of 50 years of corruption, ignorant former officials who made careers and survived for a long time under the shadow of Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia using only the weapons of servility, conformity, nepotism and clan loyalty, pampered or deceived by him with some bone. They are the ones who rose up at the anti-democratic rallies of 1991, calling and pleading for civil war, solely so that their Enver’s statues would not be touched. For a rabid, anti-Albanian monster, dead set against Albania, they are ready to perish in a civil war with their Albanian brothers and sisters (as if the hundreds of thousands of victims they caused during 50 years were not enough). Now, instead of Enver’s statues and slogans, they carry in their mouths and on their shoulders the tales and specter of Fatos Nano. To save this standard-bearer of red corruption, they are once again ready to sacrifice an entire people, its hopes for today and tomorrow, as well as the PS itself. Nano cannot wash away his sins with insults, threats, demands for resignation directed at the Government, which also bring ruin to his families wherever he goes. Nano cannot escape the path leading to an investigation by the justice authorities. But since he has imitated his colleagues in Europe in how much he put in his pocket and in his methods, let him imitate them also now that this matter has begun to stink. In other words, he should resign. Others have done so as soon as even a little cloud has gathered over their reputation. (Continued on page 2)

Those who follow him add new links to the long chain of their sins Those who follow him Let us briefly recall the situation we left behind. A strong argument that helped us remain uncompromising toward it was the rampant corruption. The imbalance between supply and demand in favor of the latter, as well as the extensive powers, served as means of selecting oneself over other competitors—not criteria and fairness, but getting closer with a package of... money... In this way, one could obtain a house even if it did not belong to them. In the same way, one could secure the right to study. Getting a job was also entrusted to this mechanism. Not to mention the maneuvers of the upper echelon. At every step, the giving and taking of dirty money. The end of the period in which corruption enjoyed the right of citizenship was marked by former Prime Minister Nano. Besides apparently embezzling the most from Italian aid, he also seems to have set a record in the book of Albanian red corruption. Eight million dollars grabbed within a three-month period in government! Great greed and great impudence! Corruption for which Nano has been exposed. There are many facts against him. He cannot deny them or dismiss them. He has chosen as his method of defense the organization of a number of rallies throughout the country. He always brings along a group of MPs such as Ruci, Brokaj, etc., who have reasons to show solidarity with him. This whole tactic serves to create the impression that an attack on him is an attack on the PS. Meanwhile, it has become clear why honest socialists should distance themselves from him. First, because they have no right to create a split reality in which, according to them, Nano is innocent while the facts say the opposite. Second, because socialists too should be interested in punishing those who took the very bread from their mouths—the bread generously given to them. Many are embracing this reasoning. That is why Nano’s rallies are attracting fewer and fewer curious onlookers. Many people are realizing that they have no reason to complain in words about what they themselves failed to address. Nano had it in his hands to address those matters in reality when he was prime minister. But he preferred to say that he would make this visit at an appropriate time.