The President’s spokesperson announced that President Berisha, commenting on the terrorist attack on the recruits’ barracks in Peshkepine e Siperme, said: I express my condolences, and those of the entire Albanian people, to the families of the servicemen who fell in the line of duty, and I condemn with the deepest indignation the massacre at the recruits’ barracks in Peshkepine e Siperme, which marks a hideous and exceptionally grave hostile act by Greece against Albania, its sovereignty and its integrity, for the consequences of which the Greek government bears full responsibility. I have asked the government to take all appropriate measures to prevent such acts and to respond adequately to this act and this policy. I call on all Albanian public opinion, the governments of the entire world, and international institutions and public opinion to condemn this criminal massacre and to point out that Greece, through its policy of blockades and gangs, seeks to ease and encourage the Serbian aggressor in the north of the Balkans and to destabilize the south of the region for Greek expansionist purposes. To Albania’s desire for good relations and the friendship it has offered, Greece has systematically responded with a series of hostile acts intended to destabilize the country. But I stress that, by returning to the policy of gangs of the beginning of the century and sponsoring terror, the Greek government is taking it upon itself to turn its country into a source of dangerous conflicts for which it will bear responsibility. I also express my determination, and that of the government, to insist persistently, as we have done until now, that Albanian policy serve the preservation of peace and stability in the southern Balkans. PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE ATTACHED TO THE PRESIDENT Tirana, 11 April 1994

STATEMENT The People’s Assembly of the Republic of Albania is deeply indignant at the unprecedented criminal act of 10 April 1994, carried out by Greek terrorist special forces against the integrity and sovereignty of Albania, under the following circumstances: According to official confirmation, at around 2:30 in the morning, a terrorist commando consisting of 7 people, armed with firearms and wearing Greek military uniforms, entered Albanian territory near the village of Peshkepije in the district of Gjirokaster. About 4 kilometres inland, at the Recruits’ Service Centre, two of them suddenly shot and killed, with an automatic weapon, soldier Ansen Llazar Gjini, 18, from the village of Seman, in the district of Fier. After this, four others entered the soldiers’ sleeping quarters while they were asleep and opened fire. This barbaric act killed the head of training, First Captain Fatmir Sali Shehu, 33, born in Tepelene and resident in Gjirokaster. Three soldiers were also wounded, and many others were put at risk. During these inhuman acts, one member of the terrorist commando shouted in Greek: “This is for Vorio-Epir! Don’t think we have forgotten it!” After this act, the commando withdrew, pursued by Albanian border forces, and crossed into Greece. The pursuit of the commando showed that the tracks along its route led in the direction of the Greek post at Argiurohont. This was a premeditated act by this criminal gang, for which the Greek Government bears full responsibility. Such incidents on our state border have been repeated, despite our government’s protests and careful condemnation. In the current extremely tense situation in the Balkans, an escalation of such incidents threatens the proper conduct of the interstate relations between our two countries. Albania is a democratic state that respects all recognized international principles and norms governing relations between states and strives with all its strength to create an atmosphere of understanding, peace and balance in the Balkans. But such unprecedented incidents run counter to the efforts of the world and European community for peace and stability. The People’s Assembly of the Republic of Albania calls on the Parliament of the Republic of Greece to hold the Greek Government accountable for this act and punish those responsible, and to take serious measures to prevent such incidents from recurring, which could lead to unforeseeable developments, to the detriment of our bilateral relations and peace in the Balkans. We call on our counterpart international organizations to exert all their influence on the Greek Parliament and Government to bring about a rapid resolution of the tense situation caused by the Greek side. The People’s Assembly of the Republic of Albania, the legitimate representative of the Albanian people, deeply sharing the grief of the victims’ families as a grief shared by all Albanians, extends to them its most sincere condolences. The People’s Assembly of the Republic of Albania, unanimously condemning and denouncing such a criminal act, also calls on all Albanian citizens to remain calm and exercise the restraint that characterizes our people, and to show determination in defending the country and preserving peace and good neighbourly relations. THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA Tirana, 12.4.1994

-Criminal act against the sovereignty of the Republic of Albania and stability in the Balkans- TIRANA: Regarding the incident of 10 April 1994, when an armed Greek defence commando which, as is

Yesterday afternoon, the President of the Republic organized a meeting attended by Messrs. Meksi, Vukaj, Malasi, Sereqi, Musaraj, Gjinushi, Laco, Godo, Shamata, Hajdaraga, Kola and Xheka to discuss the massacre deliberately committed by a unit of the Greek commando in the early hours of Sunday morning in the recruits’ barracks at Peshkepine e Siperme, four kilometres inside Albanian territory. This act, President Berisha stressed, is a genuine massacre and an unprecedented violation of Albania’s integrity and sovereignty since 1949. It marks an overtly hostile act by Greece against Albania and continues other terrorist acts committed by Greek forces, such as the killing of shepherds in Devoll and the firing on our military vessel in our territorial waters. All of these incidents, although documented, have been dishonestly denied by the Greek Government. Over the past two years we have made intensive efforts to develop cooperation and relations with Greece. We have tried, and will continue to try, to ensure that the Greek minority in Albania and our emigrants in Greece are a powerful factor for cooperation and understanding between our two peoples and countries. Unfortunately—or, I would say, to the misfortune of the Greek government circles—we have found that the Greek side has used Albanian emigrants as a means of pressure against Albania; indeed, open calls have been made for its destabilization, while attempts have been made to manipulate the minority and turn it into a source of discord for Albania. I want to stress that our policy toward the minority cannot change because of the absurd attitude of Greek officials and the Greek government toward Albania. Our minorities and will (Continued on page 4)

Meanwhile, Venizellos speaks of an Albanian provocation- Greek government spokesperson Evangelos Venizellos denied any responsibility on Greece’s part, without ruling out the possibility of “an Albanian provocation.” Meanwhile, according to AFP, a previously unknown Greek organization claimed responsibility for the attack on the Albanian border garrison the previous day, in which two people were killed. The Athens newspaper “Eleftherotipia” publishes a letter from a group calling itself the Front for the Liberation of Northern Epirus, which complains that the government is doing nothing to protect the Greek minority in Albania. According to AFP

President Sali Berisha has received the following letter from the publisher and editorial board of “Llaiko Vima,” which says: Yesterday’s incident at the border post of Peshkepia e Siperme saddened and distressed all its employees and readers. Such actions, whoever they come from, have no connection whatsoever with the sincere feelings of the peoples and the desire of the Greek minority in Albania to preserve its role as a bridge and a factor of friendship between the Albanian and Greek peoples. We believe that the will to clarify this incident fully will prevail, so that it does not continue to wound hopes for good-neighbourly relations. We also take this opportunity to express our deepest and most sincere condolences to the families of those unjustly killed. Our newspaper offers the families of those killed a modest sum of 80,000 lekë (new lekë) as support. PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE ATTACHED TO THE PRESIDENT Tirana, 11.04.1994

-Criminal act against the sovereignty of the Republic of Albania and stability in the Balkans- TIRANA:-Regarding the incident of April 10, 1994, when a commando unit consisting of 6–7 Greek-speaking people, dressed in Greek army uniforms, attacked a training center for Albanian recruits, about four kilometers inside Albanian territory, killing the guard soldier Arsen Gjini, 20, and First Captain Fatmir Shehu, 34, opening fire on the recruits as they slept and wounding three of them, Eduard Vermishi, Frederik Kalemi and Janaq Xega, as well as injuring many others before leaving while pursued by law-enforcement forces, and which is reported to have ended at the Greek border post of Argjirohi, the Government of the Republic of Albania expresses its deep indignation at this major act of aggression, which is a direct attack on the sovereignty and integrity of our Republic. The Albanian Government notes that the massacre of April 10, 1994, is the most serious incident in a series of incidents provoked by the Greek armed forces, such as the attack by Greek military vessels in Albanian territorial waters and the opening of fire on January 4 and 10, 1994; the entry of a Greek vessel into Albanian waters on March 10, 1994; the killing of Albanian citizen Alfred Muço on March 21, 1994, by a Greek armed forces patrol near Kostur, after they had stopped him; and other incidents. All of these occurred during this year alone. They have been accompanied by anti-Albanian propaganda from radio stations based in Northern Greece, which openly advance the territorial claims of Greek chauvinist circles against Albania. The policy of terrorist acts and massacres is in keeping with Greece’s new defense policy which, as has been declared, extends from Cyprus to the so-called “Northern Epirus”—as Athens calls Southern Albania. Let us also mention here the repeated territorial claims against Albania by senior Greek government officials and politicians, such as those of former Prime Minister Micotaqis, who spoke on July 14, 1993, of the annexation of Northern Epirus by the Albanian state in 1913; those of government spokesman Evangelos Venizellos, who in October 1993 equated Albania with Greek Northern Epirus; the statement by Minister of the Presidency Kuvellos, who spoke publicly at Athens Stadium on August 10, 1992, of Himara as “unliberated” land; and the statement by the current opposition leader Miltiadhis Evert, who went even further, saying in January 1994 that Northern Epirus is Northern Greece. The Balkans and Europe know well the policies and morality of Greek bands. Many times in the first half of this century, Greek armed units penetrated Albanian territory, carrying out massacres, burnings, destruction and other terrorist acts. Albanians have not forgotten the massacres committed by the Greek army and the para-state bands of General Dhamianos, Colonel Santos-Vardas, Second Lieutenant Stratos, Captain Cipuros, and others, in 1912–1914 in the Korçë-Kolonje region; nor the massacres and barbarities of Delianakis in 1913 and Zerva in 1914, carried out to ethnically cleanse the Albanian population of Cameria; nor the fact that even to this day the Greek Government refuses to recognize the Florence Protocol on Albania’s southern borders. The continuation of the same policy today is both astonishing and shameful at the close of this century, especially now that the European Union has entrusted its presidency to Athens. Instead of working to strengthen bridges of friendship and cooperation with its neighbors and to promote stability in the tense Balkan region, Greece is imposing a blockade on Macedonia, forming and training terrorist bands, and organizing terrorism against Albania. Such a policy aims to help its allies, the Serbian aggressors; this is embodied in the reciprocal visits and meetings in Athens, Belgrade and Pale, as well as in the statements of Serbian criminals that “only God in heaven and the Greeks on earth are our allies.” Statements by Greek officials that Greece is a “factor for peace, security and stability in the Balkan region” are not supported by reality. Regarding the massacre of April 10, 1994, the Greek government spokesman, without expressing even regret for the victims, made no commitment on behalf of his government to identify and punish the perpetrators of this massacre, who, after committing their criminal act, went in the direction of the Greek border post. On the contrary, he is trying to fabricate contradictions that do not exist in the Albanian Government’s Note. For its part, the Albanian Government will take steps to resolutely oppose any hostile act against Albania, and reserves the right to take appropriate measures in response to this policy of provocation.

GJIROKASTËR:-Today at 11:00, the funeral ceremony for First Captain Fatmir Sali Shehu was held. Thousands of citizens from the districts of Gjirokastër, Tepelenë, Përmet, etc., attended the ceremony, along with members of parliament, ministers, representatives of local government bodies, intellectuals, students and school pupils. They had come here to share their grief and bid a final farewell to the brave officer Fatmir Shehu, who was treacherously and criminally killed by the bloodstained hand of the Greek chauvinist forces. The “18 Shtatori” stadium and the military house, where the body of the martyr of freedom, First Captain Fatmir Shehu, had been laid, were filled as rarely before with thousands of people, who, outraged and deeply affected in their feelings, yet with their heads held high, expressed their grief over this tragic killing carried out by a Greek terrorist commando.

-Statement by the National Association of Former Political Prisoners and Persecutees- The bandit act by the Greek chauvinists against the Peshkepie border post in Gjirokastër, where the servicemen at that post were treacherously killed in their sleep, is the clearest proof that Greek chauvinism, through such actions, seeks to create tensions leading to a new bloodbath in the Balkans. We do not agree with some of our politicians, who speak in a spirit of unacceptable concessions, describing these actions as the work of “CERTAIN CIRCLES,” whereas in reality full responsibility lies with the GREEK GOVERNMENT. As the National Association of Former Political Persecutees of Albania, we call on the government to take all necessary measures so that any further action by the rabid chauvinists of MEGALALIDHE receives the response it deserves. FOR THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE THE CHAIRMAN KURT KOLA

-The terrorist action of the Greek commando is condemned- TIRANA: Yesterday afternoon, the standing committees of the People’s Assembly on Foreign Policy and International Relations and on Defense, Public Order and SHIK met. At this joint meeting, they reviewed the tragic event caused by a Greek terrorist commando near the village of Peshkepie in Gjirokastër District. After hearing the information provided by the Minister of Public Order, Agron Musaraj, they condemned this unprecedented anti-Albanian action and drafted a statement, which will be submitted tomorrow for approval by the plenary session of the People’s Assembly.

In the name of Albanian students and of Albanian democratic youth, we express our indignation and strong protest against the barbaric and terrorist act committed by Greek special forces against our fellow young servicemen at the Peshkepie unit. Viewing this terrorist act as part of the premeditated activities of the chauvinist authorities of the Greek Church and state, we find that official Greek policy toward Albanian youth is extremely provocative and hostile. The bridge of friendship between the two peoples and the young generations of the two countries cannot be built on hatred and aggression, which the Greek side seeks to impose at any cost. Operations of the “Broom” type, mistreatment and killings at the border, calls for war with Albania and the so-called “Vorioepir,” unilateral interference in the internal affairs of the Albanian state through pro-communist statements, and finally the terrorist attack against the sovereignty and independence of the Albanian state, cannot in any way speak of neighborly friendship, but rather of an official anti-Albanian Greek platform. The lives of the young people taken by the bullets of Greek “friendship” on the night of April 9–10 appeal to reason and justice, to endangered peace and to God, for the barbarians to be punished, and for moral, political and legal condemnation by the whole world. (Continued on page 4)

-Meeting of the DP branch in the Devoll District- -General Secretary of the PDSH Tritan Shehu takes part- These days, a meeting of the DP branch in Devoll District was held in the town of Bilisht. The meeting was attended by chairpersons of sections and groups of sections, commune chairpersons and secretaries, representatives of local government in the district, and other guests. Also present for part of the meeting were the PDSH General Secretary, Mr. Tritan Shehu, Mr. Afrim Haxhi, and others. The meeting was opened by Mr. Serri Macka, secretary of the DP branch in the district. In his remarks, the chairman of the DP branch in Devoll District, Mr. Gëzim Begolli, emphasized some of the main concerns currently facing Devoll during this period of survival and major changes. He also highlighted the economic successes of this region, which are incomparable with the situation two or three years ago. The main aim for the future remains the recruitment of those who do not belong to a party, and especially of

On April 11, 1994, the Fier District Council, at its extraordinary meeting, in recognition of the heroic act of soldier Arsen Lazi Gjini, who was killed on April 10, 1994, at his border guard post near the village of Peshkepie in Gjirokastër District by members of an armed Greek terrorist commando, decided to declare soldier Arsen Lazi Gjini, from the village of Sheqmarinas, Topoje Commune, a Martyr of the Homeland. His body will rest in the Martyrs’ Cemetery of the district.

Tirana, 11.04.1994