President Berisha has received a letter from President Bill Clinton, in which the American President thanks and highly values President Berisha’s support for NATO’s decision last month and emphasizes that the USA will continue to rely on the assistance of Albania and other friends in the region to resolve the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Press and Information Office attached to the President. Tirana, 1.4.1994.

TIRANA: At the invitation of the President of Turkey, Mr. Sulejman Demirel, from 4 to 6 April 1994, the President of the Republic of Albania, Sali Berisha, will make a working visit to Turkey. During the stay, the two presidents will examine possibilities for further strengthening bilateral relations, which are currently at their highest level, for the benefit of both countries and the region. The situation in the region and beyond will also be discussed.

-The blood of Arber Broci, Nazmi Kryeziu, Bujar Bishanaku and Besnik Ceke still cries out. -A. Broci was singled out by the nomenklatura to be eliminated -Architects of 2 April: Alia, Nano, Ruçi 31 March 1991. For the first time in nearly 50 years, Albania went to the polls to cast its free vote. The students’ uprising against the dictators of ’90, like a triumphant upheaval after 50 years in Albania, divided the ideas? formed by inferior races and imposed by bastards such as E. Hoxha, would finally clear away the obstacles built with the barrels of tanks and rubber bullets. The first opposition party to be proposed in due course, a party not only anti-communist but also with clear democratic ideas, would be the Communist Party’s electoral rival—the party that had oppressed Albania for 50 years. The bravest—students, some intellectuals, victims of the dictatorship, and all those who aspired to democracy—stood up to the crime of the PP in the first challenge. For the DP, it would be a contest that would decide democratically who would lead Albania after 31 March. But those who had for so long pursued their cause through violence could not simply relinquish power. Their bloodthirsty killers had long shouted, “without blood we will not leave.” They had proved this over time, from the anti-communist uprising in the Highlands of Shkodra to ’90 in Tirana-Kavaja, demonstrating that they would execute and shed the blood of democracy’s first martyrs. In ’90 the rubber bullets and tank tracks crushed… F. Kumbaro’s men paid Enver’s armed volunteers every day, Albanians being directed to the polling stations. And the expected, unexpected thing happened. After the manipulations carried out in the villages (they even gave families cows a week before the elections) and in the small towns, the most conservative part of the PP, where its leader and former Prime Minister F. Nano lived, took the seats in Parliament. The victory of the dictatorship’s henchmen, even with the manipulations, came like a bombshell to a people who had suffered to the marrow. Tirana, Kavaja, Durres, Korça and Vlora could not bear it—and least of all could Shkodra, the cradle of anti-communism, bear it. The protest against violence and manipulation erupted in Shkodra. Thousands of young people peacefully raised two fingers in the air. Shkodra was in those moments under fire, and the bullets found him. He was among the first December students and among the founders and first organizers of the DP branch in Shkodra; that is why the nomenklatura singled him out for elimination. The smoke over the PP Committee building would be the impulsive expression of popular hatred for the criminals, the former leaders who had once been free; the others were the criminals of the Presidency, the Prime Minister’s office and the Ministry of the Interior. Four of the perpetrators of the crime would, after democracy’s victory, end up in the cells they themselves had built, but the blood of the four martyrs still cries out. The real criminals are still here and are settling their debts with one another. The entire opposition, and even Socialist MPs Ali Lushani and Dritero Agolli, opposed at the time the reinstatement of G. Ruçi as Minister of the Interior. They had proved it long ago, from the anti-communist uprising in the Shkodra Highlands and later in ’90 in Tirana-Kavajë, by ... and shedding the blood of the first martyrs of democracy. In ’90 the rubber bullets whistled and the tracks clattered as they prepared to crush the students with tanks, but by then history could not be erased. The dictatorship, under the banner of democracy, began to falter as it faced protests, but as soon as the democratic forces ... and the people, the criminals immediately ... The same happened with the resistance of the dictator’s community. When it was overthrown, the ground trembled beneath the criminals’ feet ... But the Albanians too ... for E. Hoxha’s land ... formed the United Association. Blood was shed, but the dictator managed to climb onto the pedestal. In the years that followed, amid ups and downs ... under a frenzied campaign by democracy’s TV. But ... The Red Beast felt strong again after 31 March, when it once more bloodied Albanian youth. Treacherously, in the only way they know ... the criminals would take the lives of four young men. Vampires can celebrate only with blood, and Arben Broci, Nazmi Krezziu, Bujar Bishanaku and Besnik Ceka fell beneath the bullets of those who had shed nothing but blood for 50 years. It is not known who pulled the trigger, but whoever it was, he was merely an intermediary mechanism controlled by the state leaders. Arben Broci did not die by accident, because Nano did not listen. Why? Why is Ruçi today the most fervent defender of Nano’s crime? It seems they have debts to settle with one another. The student and director Arben Broci and the three other young men, Bujari, Nazmiu and Besniku, are today honoured as martyrs of democracy, but the file on the crime of 2 April remains open. This file must be closed so that the vampires do not rise again and demand blood, so that Nano no longer dares to mention the ‘ideals of December’ and the State Security criminals do not even think they can bring their time back by force. 2 April should remind us of all this.

-Address by Prime Minister Meksi at the session discussing the Government’s medium-term program- The presentation of the Government’s medium-term program coincides with a very important moment: the stabilization of the country’s macroeconomic indicators. This program, which has also been presented to you, honorable members of Parliament, is a very important instrument for the Government to analyze the past, understand the present and anticipate the future. The program aims at a balanced policy of measures for further macroeconomic stabilization, structural changes in the economy, and the most rational use possible of the country’s resources for economic development. I would like to stress that, in the way it has been conceived, the program differs fundamentally from the planning of the past. It is based on new concepts of the market economy, in which economic agents have freedom of action, while the state helps create appropriate economic conditions for the country’s development. At the same time, however, the program takes into account the fact that the country is passing through a transition to a market economy and, consequently, during this period the state has and must… to implement it. These include the preparation of the public investment program, a document of more than 200 pages that sets out the part of the program dealing with investment in the public sector and in human-resource sectors. This material, elaborating the Government’s medium-term program, was also presented by the Government to the G-24 meeting in Brussels to seek their support through financing, and was regarded by the European Community and other countries as a highly qualified document and an experience that should also be followed by other countries. Another document elaborating the medium-term program concerns technical cooperation in Albania. These two documents are prepared every year for a three-year period. Also, in elaboration of the three-year program, the Government submits to Parliament the State Budget Law, a very important document which you recently approved. It sets out some of the important indicators in the medium-term program that will be implemented during the coming year. An analysis of the 1993 figures and the State Budget Law for 1994 confirm that the main points set out in the Government’s medium-term program are being… The Government’s indicators: The budget deficit financed by domestic credit, the main factor negatively affecting the rise in inflation, fell from 17.4 percent in 1992 to 11.3 percent in 1993. This had a significant effect on the rise in the inflation rate, which was achieved in line with the program. Without dwelling on all the figures in the medium-term program, I would recall only two of the most important, which are reflected in the 1994 program. The medium-term program states that gross domestic product will grow by an average of 6–8 percent during 1994–1996. In the 1994 program, reflected in the 1994 Budget Law, this figure is 8 percent, that is, at the upper end of the 1994–1996 medium-term forecast. The overall budget deficit for 1994 has likewise been proposed within the limits set out in the medium-term program. A noticeable breakthrough can also be seen in the inflation rate, for which the medium-term program’s objectives stated that reducing inflation below 20 percent was a key objective of the reform. This objective has been kept in view for achievement as early as 1994 and has been a principal guideline ...economic system based on the market, in which economic agencies have freedom of action, while the state helps create suitable economic conditions for the country’s economic development. At the same time, however, the programme takes into account the fact that the country is going through a period of the state has and must have certain duties which will no longer exist later or will be reduced. The many questions asked about the programme make it clear that there are quite a few cases in which the role of a medium-term development programme is confused with that of an economy in transition to a planned economy of the former socialist economies. The government’s medium-term programme is naturally broken down into a series of other documents and instruments, which the Government has used and continues to use ... for 1994 confirms that the main points set out in the medium-term programme are being implemented by the government. Let us consider just a few of the main indicators. Thus, gross domestic product increased by 11 percent in 1993, compared with growth of 10 percent in 1992. Therefore, as forecast in the programme, 1993 was the first year of economic stabilisation, with a clear trend towards growth in gross domestic product. In accordance with the programme, the budget deficit was also significantly reduced. Thus, the financing ... within the limits set out in the medium-term programme. A marked improvement can also be seen in the inflation rate: the medium-term programme’s targets objective of the reform. This objective was taken into account for implementation in 1994 and was one of the main guidelines of budget policy for this year. Thus, inflation is forecast to fall to 18.5 percent in 1994, compared with 30.5 percent in 1993. Progress is likewise being made in line with the programme on structural transformations, including price and trade liberalisation, privatisation, enterprise restructuring, revitalising the construction sector, and fiscal reform in general.

“This is the first party…”[?] “SOFT P.S.”[?] “REFORMIST” Cartoon with notes: “This is the first party…”[?], “SOFT P.S.”[?], “REFORMIST.”

-The Ministry of Public Order has deprived no one of the rights guaranteed by law- -The PS parliamentary group’s attempt to portray its destructive and unlawful right-wing rallies as violations of citizens’ rights and freedoms- Minister of Public Order Musaraj answers an interpellation in Parliament: -The Ministry of Public Order has deprived no one of the rights guaranteed by law- -The PS parliamentary group’s attempt to portray its destructive and unlawful right-wing rallies as violations of citizens’ rights and freedoms- The day before yesterday, Minister of Public Order, Mr. Agron Musaraj, also came to the People’s Assembly for an interpellation. It had been requested by the parliamentary group as an immature attempt to portray the failure of its violent, subversive and destructive actions as a violation by the Public Order Ministry of the rule of law and citizens’ freedoms. The tendency toward demagoguery and speculation by the social-communists was evident both at the beginning and at the end of this speech, in a speech by the eurosocialist Meta, the representative of the PS group who had requested the interpellation. Mr. Meta ... put forward ... He spoke about customs ... at the ceremony ... assisted ... Comrade Meta’s interpellation ... In reply, he said that the Ministry of Public Order and the Police Commissariats in Tirana and several other districts of the country had acted in full compliance with the legal provisions in force, Articles 2, 20 and 21 of the law “On the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual,” and Article 3 of the decree “On Gatherings and Demonstrations by Citizens in Public Places.” Speaking about the recent rallies in support of social-communist leader Fatos Nano, among other things, he said: “The main legal reasons for not granting permits for these rallies were as follows. First, strangely, these rallies had been requested for the same date and approximately the same time, with their leaders in the city centres, which made the police’s work of ensuring that these events proceeded normally extremely difficult. This also made it difficult for the police to maintain order in other parts of the city and particularly complicated their work in regulating traffic, etc. Second, we had information that certain individuals among the demonstrators would use the rallies to commit criminal offences, disturb public order, go beyond the requests made in the official applications submitted for the gatherings, and set fire to and destroy social and economic facilities and private homes, which would lead to confrontations with the police and other citizens. The experience of these rallies has shown that their organisers and participants have not abided by the requests they submitted to the police for the gatherings, but have gone beyond them. This happened at the rally of 30 July 1993: although permission had been granted and it was to be held in the field in front of ‘Selman Stërmasi’ Stadium, this was not respected. Matters went so far that the crowd (in fact, at its head were Socialist Party MPs, followed by former State Security men ... and corrupt elements of the administration ... (Continued on page 4) (Continued on page 4)

-In a statement in court, Nano admits that he served E. Hoxha loyally- -The former PP prime minister accuses former communists of having a communist mentality- -“My party has hundreds of thousands of members,” Nano says of the PS From the trial MYTHOMANIA AND BLUNDERS OF NANO -In a statement in court, Nano admits that he served E. Hoxha loyally- -The former PP prime minister accuses former communists of having a communist mentality- -“My party has hundreds of thousands of members,” Nano says of the PS- The court sessions concerning the aid scandal have had two sides: the proceedings on the case itself, and Nano’s ridiculous statements, like those of a mentally ill person. In addition to the ridiculousness I mentioned, these statements also contain “interesting” things. During the trial, the presiding judge reprimanded the defendant Nano several times for his “inappropriate” behaviour in the place where he was sitting. At one of these moments Nano tells A. Bendo: “Don’t censor me. I have never allowed myself to be censored.” This is a strange statement from the former protégé of N. Hoxha at the Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies. Nobody has doubted that Nano was a convinced Enverist, but it is good that Nano admits it once again in his own words. With this statement (following Zvier’s statement in which he called E. Hoxha “Father”), Nano finally admits that everything he did during Hoxha’s time, he did willingly and not under compulsion, unlike many other intellectuals. From his works denouncing “imperialism” ... to the tanks and riot police he sent out to protect communist rule, it is clear that PP official Nano acted of his own free will. This man, with the shamelessness that always characterises him, dares to speak of democratic ideals and even calls himself a participant in the December movement (he did participate, but on the other side). Another peak of Nano’s shamelessness came when, in court, he accused those who brought him to the dock of having a communist mentality, and attributed this mentality to his own past as a member of the PP. The “European socialists” of “ZP” have expressed the same idea. Thus, the former PP prime minister accuses former hard-line communists of the PP because they were communists.

Photomontage: Angjelin Neshati, Shkoder

YEAR OF PUBLICATION No. 617 Saturday 2 April 1994 Price: 5 lekë 1 DM (Germany) 1 USD (USA) 150 DPX (Greece)

Your Excellency, Mr. Berluskoni, I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Albanian Democratic Party and in my own name, to express my highest esteem for you personally and for the “Forza Italia” Party, which you successfully led during the highly charged electoral campaign of historic importance for the future of your country. Please accept my warmest congratulations on the success and victory of the “Forza Italia” Party and its allies, as well as on your personal success. Best wishes are also due to the Italian people, with their ancient democratic traditions, who knew how to choose, through the power of their vote, the path toward progress and prosperity. We hope that the ties between the “Forza Italia” Party and the Albanian Democratic Party will be strengthened on the basis of a shared aim: the strengthening and consolidation of a truly democratic society, as well as the reinforcement of the traditional friendship between our two peoples. Respectfully, Eduard Selami Tirana, 31 March 1994