President of the Republic Sali Berisha received the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Sir Xhek Stjuart-Klark, with whom he discussed the development of democratic processes in Albania and the risk of the conflict spreading in the south of the former Yugoslavia. President Berisha stressed that Albania is strongly committed to building a democratic society and respecting human rights, in accordance with United Nations criteria and European standards. He discussed the reforms being carried out in the fields of legality, justice and the police, as necessary measures for a democratic society, as well as the progress of privatization as the basis of economic reform. Sir Xhek Stjuart-Klark praised the results achieved and stressed that the European Parliament believes you are progressing very well towards meeting the standards for joining the Council of Europe and integrating into Europe. The meeting also discussed the situation of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia and the measures the international community should take to restrain the Milosheviç regime and avert the risk of a conflict breaking out that would engulf the entire Balkans. (ATSH)

In Vienna, the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, is taking part in the high-level meeting of heads of state, organized by the Council of Europe, on the problem of national minorities. At Rinas Airport, he was seen off by the Chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Pjetër Arbnori, members of the government, etc. (ATSH)

- The parliamentary group of the PS and 6 independent deputies vote “against,” while the PSD deputies’ group “abstains” From the People’s Assembly The day before yesterday afternoon, the session discussing the draft law “On the Press” in principle continued; the session opened with remarks by PS deputy Musa Ulqini. Deputy Ulqini had formulated his remarks using quotations from newspaper editors-in-chief and journalists, most of whose papers now belong to the camp known for their exemplary destructiveness and anti-nationalism. He opposed this draft law, but at the same time declared himself “in favor” of the need for a press law. Deputy Ulqini then continued to “astonish” us when he attributed all the incidents with newspapers to date, whether real or not, as a “merit” of the state and the democratic government. His greatest “discovery” came when he said that “before March 22, 1992, there had not been a single such case of lynching newspapers...”! The same general spirit prevailed in the remarks of other PS deputies, such as Agasi, Lloshi, Lalaj, and Baci. Among the other arguments used against this draft law were those that even America does not have!! The PS finally wants to “resemble” America! Should we record this as one of its achievements?!... The submitted draft law was also opposed by deputies Mehmet Çeliku and Teodor Keko, who spoke in favor of unlimited freedom for the press. PSD deputy Gago Apostoli declared, “I abstain” on the draft law. In general, the PD deputies supported the draft law in their remarks and argued that it was necessary. Thus, among other things, deputy Tonin Alimehilli said that the purpose of this draft law is to “operate” on the totalitarian mindset of some writers who overstep the bounds of rights and freedom, and who, by speculating about the meaning of a person’s character and disregarding the constitutional law protecting the freedoms and rights of the individual, write whatever comes to hand. I am convinced, deputy Alimehilli continued, that the journalists of [text continues beyond the edge of the image]

- The corrupt will have no chance - The Tirana Court, by rejecting F. Nano’s request and upholding the arrest measure imposed on him by the prosecutor’s office of this district on July 30, 1993, showed that Albanian justice is determined to carry the fight against corruption through to the end. This decision also showed that, in a state governed by the rule of law, this institution of justice cannot be subjected to party influences, political mobs, or support in the form of communist lightning-bolt slogans, which are archaic behavior for the nature of a democratic state, in which the law is sacred. Mr. Nano’s statement, filled with partisan resentment and threatening warnings, as though he had given Albania and the entire democratic world its last chance, was an uncontrolled psychological state, suited only to archaic communists frightened by the deeds of Enver Hoxha, a class to which Mr. Fatos also belongs. Albania’s chances were decided on March 22 in favor of freedom and democracy, in favor of the rule of law, freedoms and human rights. This fate cannot be determined by the delusion of [text continues beyond the edge of the image] a man accused of abuse of office. Moreover, Albania’s and President Berisha’s prospects for today and the future are linked only to justice and commitment to it, only to the protection of the law and the moral, political and legal integrity of the Albanian democratic state. If the Albanian judiciary once again decides to examine the “Nano case” calmly and thoroughly, this is first and foremost a chance given to the former prime minister of the PPSH to appear before justice, something natural in the democratic life of a state. M. BUÇPAPAJ

- Interview given by Dr. Mathias von Bismarck-Osten, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s first manager in Albania, to the BBC Albania Service. - It has turned out to be very difficult to implement a market economy in Albania because of the centralized economy that lasted for 50 years. How do you assess the Albanian government’s efforts in this regard? - The Government of Albania has made an important effort to establish the legal and institutional framework for a market economy. Foreign trade has been liberalized—in fact, Albania has achieved full convertibility of the lek for capital and current accounts. Import tariffs and rates are more liberal than in countries at a comparable level of development. Inflation has been kept under control and the budget deficit has been significantly reduced. The government has taken important steps to encourage foreign investment. The Minister of Economic Relations with Foreign Countries recently prepared a very liberal decree on foreign investment, which will soon be considered by the Cabinet and Parliament. Many privatization efforts have been made, particularly in agriculture and small and medium-sized businesses. The Western business community and the European Bank have highly valued these reform steps. In many respects, Albania is ahead of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe that began the transition earlier. Nevertheless, much remains to be done, such as restructuring the commercial-banking sector and privatizing the industrial sector. But we are optimistic that, with the assistance of multilateral and bilateral institutions, the government will successfully resolve these issues. - How do you explain the fact that, in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s latest analyses, Albania has been analyzed as a country alongside Poland, which this year is expected to experience a slight increase in output? - This is something that does not happen in other countries. How do you explain this fact? - According to the IMF’s latest estimates for 1993, growth of 8 percent is forecast, which is higher than had been expected. There are three reasons for this growth: first, the successful consolidation of the macroeconomic framework; second, and most importantly, increased output in the agricultural sectors following advanced privatization; and third, increased output in the light consumer-goods industry following an increase in direct foreign investment. - How significant and encouraging is the above fact? - I think it is very important that the dramatic decline in gross social product in 1991 and 1992 has ended. I am certain that, provided the reform process is sustained and foreign investment increases, growth will certainly be maintained. - Unemployment is still higher than ever. What will the government do to reduce the current figures? Unemployment is high and will remain a problem that the government must solve in the future. The government has done a great deal to ensure jobs, particularly through the privatization of agriculture, which has gone well. Sectors where jobs can be created include light consumer-goods industries, agribusiness, tourism, mining, oil and, not least, tourism. Albania should encourage foreign investors to invest in these sectors. The European Bank and other institutions are providing considerable assistance in this regard. The European Bank has undertaken many efforts to encourage foreign investors, particularly in light consumer-goods industry, tourism and mining,

In the political conduct of a party, self-correction—the development of its reasoning in every area of action, within its internal organizational structures, in its state (parliamentary) role and at the governmental level—is a sign of normality. The archaic taboo that “the Party, because of its sanctity, supervises the affairs of this world and corrects them; earthly affairs are unacceptable to the people of a democratic society” presents the first aspect of a political party; internal self-correction of this kind... [?] Following the latest meeting of the National Council of the PD, which...

is the establishment of dialogue with other political forces within the recognized principles of European democracy. The DP has long argued that in Albania no civilization other than the Western one can be built, since it encompasses all the factors, all the data, every moral, spiritual and psychological manifestation. The DP emphasized that this human orientation toward the modern West cannot be labeled as an extreme of the far right, as philosophical simplicity, or as human pressure. This complex, aimed at the nation’s moral advancement, will first take the form of mobilizing national values in the fields of creation and the thought of renewal, of liberation from the past, in order to save whatever can be saved from the past as a process of national construction that can, in any case, serve unity for the future as it confronts the surrounding world. This phenomenon is a self-correcting step by the DP, but not a belated one. Self-correction as a quality cannot mean changing the program, but rather assessing it, from which stems the idea that the future belongs to tolerance and democratic reasoning. Self-correction cannot mean a flaw in the party’s political substance, but its structuring, and a natural organizational conduct toward advancement. Self-correction as an organizational and political action is the existence of a contemporary party that thinks about the future. MUJE BUÇPAPAJ

14 specialists led by Scot Willsin have started work at the «Pandeli Sotiri» high school. Scot, who arrived with his colleagues from the island of Jersey in England, told ATSH that «his mission includes aid worth $120,000, a gift from the local government and the citizens of Jersey to the city of Gjirokastër». (ATSH)

- The communists gnash their teeth. - F. Nano, M. Zeko, Z. Pepa, S. Broka, etc., mock April 2 and discuss the strategy for outlawing the PDSH and its appeal - Although Fatos Nano is under arrest on charges of embezzling millions in humanitarian aid, like many fellow idealists among the Italian socialist representatives, we cannot, in the interest of truth, fail to mention his shameful and anti-democratic attempts to suppress the democratic revolution, which would have culminated in the outlawing of the DP and the imprisonment of democratic leaders. But this dream of the communists did not come true, because the long-suffering Albanian people could not be outlawed after enduring the dictatorship of Fatos Nano’s communist fathers, Sabit Brokaj, Molotov Zeko, etc. On April 3, 1991, at a meeting of the Council of Ministers, one day after the bloody events of April 2, Fatos Nano, appointed the country’s prime minister without the legitimate vote of the people’s approval, chaired an ordinary meeting. Saturday—the first and […] government meeting [?]—the matter discussed was the Workers’ government’s further stance on the Democratic Party’s call, which invited the people to a general strike and to raise their voices for the martyrs of Shkodër. The truth is that one of the participants in this meeting, prompted by who knows what interest, agreed to publish something from the discussions at that meeting. They are true and do not add a single comma to the original, which he has in his possession. I chose only excerpts from what he gave me, because I believe these are sufficient. He told me that these had also been recorded. One of the members of the Nano government, Drini Mezin, to whom F. Nano demanded the complete suspension of the strike declared by the DP in the sector he oversaw, says this is almost impossible, because not only was there no time, but «almost» the entire administration supported that call. At the height of his anger, the «democratic» prime minister Nano tells him explicitly: «If half the administration, comrade Drini, supports that call, it will be the first to be dismissed, and go and give them this analysis tonight». While the leaders of the Democratic Party were among the people of Shkodër and with the families of the four victims of communism who were dying, the government—only Mr. R. Aliaj—was gnashing its teeth at the prospect of outlawing this party that defended the right. (Continued on page 2)