- The Albanian government’s position on the massacre has been consistent throughout. For three days now, the Albanian socialist-communist press, having condemned for a single day the massacre committed by Greek commandos on Albanian territory, has been taking aim at the Albanian government, Minister Musaraj, the Information Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and President Berisha. They are doggedly seeking to create a climate of hatred, as though the massacre had been organized and carried out by Albania and the Albanians, rather than by a Greek terrorist gang. In huge, black letters, “ZP” is calling for scores to be settled not with the criminals, gangs and murderers who violated Albanian soil and took innocent lives, but with the Albanians. If these absurd attacks were merely an expression of our opposition’s feverish desire for power, that would be the lesser evil. But that cannot be the only reason some columnists in “ZP” adopt an anti-national position, in some cases even contrary to the positions of some of their leaders, who condemned the Greek terrorist act and supported the Albanian government’s response to it, as happened at the meeting between representatives of the political parties and President Berisha. In fact, following that meeting, the Albanian government committed itself to implementing the conclusions reached. And, strangely enough, it is its policy of implementing them that left-wing extremists attack every day in “ZP”. Of course, we are not talking about “Koha Jone”, which is known to the Albanian public as Albania’s “Eleftereotipia”. There is no doubt that the origins of the recent attacks and anti-national positions lie in the joint Nano-PASOK Declaration. What Çota seeks to deny is something that even the Greek government itself no longer denies. If Berisha has said that Greece must bear responsibility, Greece is not only your friends in PASOK; it also includes Sebastianos, the government, and so on. You find it surprising that the President says the Greek government bears responsibility. You, Mr Çota, are not naïve. Southern Albania knows Greek gang politics well. If the Greek government did not directly take part in the criminal act, if it was not the one that sent the commando unit, it was the one that failed to take measures and consequently allowed such an operation to be launched from Greek territory. For this, it cannot escape responsibility. You, Mr Çota, like Venizellos on 11 April, are trying to find contradictions where none exist. You would do better to look at how closely your positions match Venizellos’s. You would do well to publish in “ZP” what “Eleftereotipia” says—that the incident was the work of the Albanian mafia, or that Turkey or NATO were responsible for the massacre, and that Berisha should not have gone to Turkey and NATO’s Commander-in-Chief should not have come to Albania. Now the Greek government itself is seeking to distance itself and cooperate in identifying members of the criminal gang. It made this known only after three days. The Albanian government had called for this in its very first note, which Mr Çota conceals from “ZP” readers. You, Mr Çota, are being unserious when you mention the letter Mr Serreqi sent to the Security Council, through which Greece was supposedly being asked to be listed as a terrorist state. Anyone familiar with the ABCs of international relations and terrorism knows that a list of terrorist states cannot be drawn up on the basis of this “police” incident. Without an investigation, the existence of fanatical elements cannot be established,” he said. On that same day, AFP also reported that Greece’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Jorgo Papandreu, who is also the son of the Greek prime minister, told the agency: “A matter this serious cannot be taken lightly,” and that it was true that Greece had extremist elements concerning the issue of Northern Epirus, and that nothing could be ruled out. Not even the individual involvement of Greek military personnel.” Mr Çota, do you not see the similarities between the Albanian note, which speaks of commandos dressed in military uniforms, and Mr Jorgo Papandreu’s statement?! You are trying to conceal something that even the Greeks themselves are not concealing. Your criticism should be directed not at the Albanian government. Mr Papulias himself also expressed regret over the event in a letter he later sent to the Security Council. But for Mr Çota, as a herald of chauvinist Greek governments and Albanian left-wing extremists, all this reality is nonexistent. People like you, Mr Çota, are the sort who rejoice at Albania’s misfortunes. No, Çota, with the others, we cannot say that you rejoiced at the killing of people, but we cannot fail to say that your articles in “ZP” over the past three days remind Albanians of the great “scoop” you published in this newspaper on the basis of information that turned out to be false, claiming that the European Committee had cut off Albania’s credits after the 22 March elections. Your anti-Albanianism is rooted in the Declaration with PASOK, a declaration that has nothing in common with the PS’s base, but only with a group of criminals who are ready to sell anything for their own money. Your clique belongs to that species which has sold Albania for its ideology. Your recent attacks in “ZP” are made in repayment for the direct interference of PASOK leaders in Albania’s domestic affairs concerning the Nano issue. It was as if the killing of your brothers had fallen from the sky for you. Fortunately, your position is not the official position of the PS, but the shameful position of PS extremists. The position taken by PS leaders at their meeting with President Berisha and elsewhere on the massacre by Greek commandos on Albanian territory is undoubtedly dignified and patriotic. But how could this position please you, Mr Çota, and your friends, who send you out like a deranged town crier to poison public opinion and distort the truth, thereby doing Albania and Albanian democracy a great disservice. In any case, the shame is yours. Democratic Albania will know how to flourish, grow stronger and defend its foreign interests at any cost; it will know how to honour all those who devote themselves to those interests, even with their lives, just as it will know how to put in their rightful place those who raise a hand against it, whoever they may be and wherever they come from. achieved. we do not deny this in Albania’s “Elefterotipia”. anti-national attacks and positions in “ZP” lie in the joint Nano-PASOK Declaration. This is also demonstrated by yesterday’s publication in “ZP” by Nano’s close and devoted friend, Mr Çota, of an article defending the spirit of this Declaration. In his PASOK-style analysis, this gentleman considers the Albanian position unserious. In reality, he does nothing more or less than side with those who blacken Albanian positions in the Athens newspapers. But since Mr Çota is trying to create a smokescreen, let us address the matter directly. In its first note to the Greek side, the Albanian government emphasized that... the circumstances of this ugly criminal act lead one to think, Mr Çota, that it was an act by Greek special forces, for which the Greek government bears full responsibility. We believe that anyone who can read clearly understands the meaning of the sentence above. It is precisely for this reason that the Albanian government’s note ends with a paragraph that Mr Çota dares not quote. It says: “Strongly protesting against this despicable terrorist act, the Albanian government calls on the Greek government to identify the perpetrators of this crime and punish them publicly, regardless of the responsibility it bears for the consequences of this grave terrorist act.” Thus, Mr Çota, who accuses the Albanian government of making baseless allegations, leaves out that the very first note to the Greek government already included a call on the Greek government to identify and punish the culprits, and to address the consequences of the massacre if it had not itself organized it. Mr Çota deliberately ignores the response that the Greek government gave to the Albanian government’s note through its spokesperson, Mr Evangelos Venizellos. In that response, no regret is expressed for the terrorist act, or for the victims at all. It seems that only those who organize crimes adopt such positions in the face of a crime. But this cannot impress someone who, it seems, is under investigation by the infamous PS-PASOK Declaration. Venizellos even says that the positions in the Albanian government’s note are contradictory because it holds the Greek government responsible while at the same time asking it to condemn the guilty. In reality, there is no contradiction here. The gang came from Greece on its own and returned to Greece. The only thing left is the accuser regarding... the investigation with... the crime erased. Furthermore, to persuade us, Mr Çota cited President Berisha, who also accused the Greek government of political and moral responsibility...

On 15 April 1994, the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic in Tirana sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania Note Verbale No. 435, in which he informed it that, on the basis of the discussions held in Tirana during the visit of Greece’s Deputy Minister of Public Order on 8–9 March 1994, he proposed that a meeting of the working groups of the two countries’ ministries of Public Order be held on 20 April 1994, in accordance with the planned schedule. According to the note, the circumstances of the tragic incident of 10 April 1994 were also proposed for discussion at this meeting as the main issue. The Government of the Republic of Albania agrees that the meeting scheduled for 20 April should take place and that information on the terrorist act of 10 April should be exchanged there. However, taking into account the gravity of the massacre in Peshkëpi, as well as a number of incontrovertible facts such as the terrorists’ arrival from Greece and return there, the fact that the members of the commando unit wore Greek military uniforms, the type of equipment and objects found at the crime scene, the fact that they spoke Greek, the military nature of the target selected for the attack, the method used to commit the crime, the repeated nature of these military provocations, and many other pieces of evidence, the Government of the Republic of Albania considers that the Greek side cannot be a party to the assessment of the incident. It therefore believes that the incident should be assessed by an impartial commission established by the European Union and the CSCE.

STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSON OF —On the Greek side’s misrepresentations— In view of the misrepresentations coming from the Greek side concerning certain aspects of the contacts between the Albanian and Greek sides in connection with the criminal act committed by Greek commandos on 10 April 1994 against the Recruits’ Training Centre in Peshkëpi, in the district of Gjirokastër, we clarify the following: In the letter sent by the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs to the President of the Security Council on 13 April 1994, it is stated, among other things, that the Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs has still not responded to his Greek counterpart’s proposal to meet to resolve the crisis. It should be emphasized that the Greek side proposed, through its ambassador in Tirana, a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in Geneva, on the occasion of a multilateral conference. This was at a time when the official Greek response was in no way characterized by a willingness to address the matter at the appropriate level and with the seriousness it deserved, to examine the criminal act, or to identify and punish those responsible. The Greek statements did not deign to express regret for the dead and their families. Despite this wholly unjustifiable position, and since we had not been invited to the multilateral event in Geneva, the Albanian Foreign Minister expressed his readiness to meet his Greek counterpart at the next multilateral event, such as the Crans Montana gathering to be held in Bucharest, naturally after the Greek government had given an official response. We add that this response arrived yesterday, on 14 April, through the Greek ambassador in Tirana. Today, 15 April 1994, we informed the Greek side that the Albanian government is ready for dialogue. The foreign policy of the new democratic Albania has left behind the period of communist isolation and has never closed the door to dialogue as a way of resolving all the problems that exist between it and other countries. Its relations with the Greek state are no exception to this principle of its policy. As for the version contained in the letter from the Greek Foreign Minister to the President of the Security Council, claiming that the Albanian authorities took a very long time to notify the Greek side about the act of 10 April 1994, we can refer to the report of the Ministry of Public Order dated 13 April 1994, according to which the Greek side was notified at 5:00 a.m. on 10 April through the officer on duty at the Kakavijë Border Crossing Point. He went and met the officer on duty at the Greek Border Crossing Point to inform him about the crime and request assistance in apprehending the criminals. Nevertheless, no response offering cooperation came from the Greek side. Albanian [government] has demanded this from its very first note, Mr Çota; he is hiding this from the readers of “ZP”. letter that Mr Serreqi sent to the Security Council, through which it is requested that Greece cease being a terrorist state. Anyone who knows the ABCs of international relations and terrorism knows clearly that the list of terrorist states includes those that organize, sponsor, as well as tolerate terrorist activity launched from their own country in the direction of another country. Thus, the inconsistency lies in your ignorance and not in any statement by the Albanian government. The Albanian position is unwavering in serving peace and stability in the region. This does not suit you or the platform of those standing behind you. The Albanian government has always expressed itself in favor of dialogue, but was waiting for the official Greek response. That has now arrived. Robert Goro of BBC reports that the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had sent Tirana a response concerning the incident, the receipt of which Berisha had made a condition for beginning dialogue. The Albanian government cannot fail to take this position into account. Or would you, Mr Çota, like the dialogue to continue with a “No”?! It is not the statements of the Albanian government that have changed, but the official Greek position. This truth saddens the Çotas, which is why they try to deceive the reader. The truth is that on 11 April 1994 the Greek government spokesperson declared that “Greece is not disposed to tolerate any provocation or any unfounded accusation against it.” Meanwhile, on 12 April, the French news agency AFP reported that Venizellos, having rejected Tirana’s accusations of involvement two days earlier, today proposed cooperation “if necessary” with the Albanian authorities to determine those responsible... a multilateral conference, at a time when the official Greek regime [unclear] to meet to resolve the crisis. This response also arrived, on [text begins mid-sentence] ...the Greek government entirely by monitoring officials. We add that this response also arrived on the new democratic Albania has left behind the period

Regardless of party positions, justice found Mr Nano guilty. Consequently, moral and executive responsibility rests with him. This should not be taken to mean that the matter is closed. In reality, this was only the opening of the ugly gallery of corruption in Albania. Albania finally officially acknowledged that it was a country producing corruption on a large scale at the highest political level (alongside medium- and low-level corruption), and that this social ill had attached itself to the anemic body of the country, newly emerged from the communist regime, in every limb, like a dangerous disease that must be treated and kept under control as a priority. Thus, we say, Nano’s trial is of particular importance from a social perspective, for democratic development, and must be evaluated and judged as such. While the PS and the other opposition forces insist on exploiting it to strike at the democratic state, treating this trial as a violation of human rights and of the independence of justice from state and political power. These are two diametrically opposed perspectives. One enables Albanian society to recognize and heal the great wound of corruption, while the other asks it to accept corruption as a politicized phenomenon that falls within the realm of human rights. The history of justice teaches us that every judicial decision is also subject to a social and historical judgment that confirms or rejects it. Time may lessen or increase Mr Nano’s burden, but it will not release him from the organic link between the rampant development of corruption and his name (during the period when he) held the official positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, and of the governments that succeeded him. Corruption as a social disease: corruption is a phenomenon, an old disease, a social development belonging to the same group as crime, prostitution and all other manifestations that deviate from accepted social norms. It resembles parasitic plants, without chlorophyll or a root system. It does not work by itself, but ruthlessly exploits its victim, their predicament, urgency and fear, like a ... Theories about the origins of social deviance have varied and evolved over time. Initially, the most widely accepted view was that such deviations result from the breakdown of the existing status of a given society, outdated laws, extreme poverty accompanied by crime, and sudden, profound social changes. In other words, when society loses self-control and ceases to observe moderation and the individual’s place in society, it calls into question all the values a community has created over time. (A complete picture of this thesis ... [text continues on the next page]) (Continued on page 2)

Text on the playing card: K, K. Text in hand: PS. Signature beside the illustration: Dh. Kalo [?] 94.

Pogradec: The ranks of the PD continued to grow during March as well, with 35 new members. Librazhd: 40 new admissions, of whom 10 are intellectuals from the district of Librazhd.