—The prospects of substantial aid for post-communist countries are increasing— Until 5 May, the Assembly of the European Union was considered the biggest obstacle to the EU’s plans for expansion. For some time, the European Union had been discussing and planning an enlargement from 12 to 16 countries, adding Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden to the bloc. The vote in the EU Assembly produced a surprising and very positive result. The admission of the four additional countries was approved unanimously by the entire Assembly, easing the concerns of many figures who had anxiously awaited the result. Thus, Parliament approved the plan to expand the EU beyond the Arctic Circle. The planned date for EU enlargement is 1 January 1995, but before then the parliaments of Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden must ratify the relevant agreements. Although some diplomats have expressed doubts about the referendums that must be held in all four countries, it seems that next 1 January will find the EU with 16 members. In Austria, according to a recent poll, the number of supporters of EU membership has declined. Austria will hold a popular referendum on the issue on 12 June. Meanwhile, the three Nordic countries, where people are somewhat more sceptical about the benefits of EU membership, may hold their referendums in November. The four countries hoping to join the EU have long been among the EU’s closest partners, especially in trade. Many Members of the European Parliament in Brussels believe that all four countries, with their highly developed democratic systems, will be valuable assets in making EU decisions more effective and open. Jean-Pierre Cot, chairman of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, stated: “We have much to learn from these countries.” Meanwhile, Finland’s centre-right government welcomed Parliament’s decision, describing it as very positive news. Prime Minister Esho Aho said that on 26 May the government would decide on the date of the referendum. Norway’s Labour government also expressed its satisfaction with the European Parliament’s approval. Norway had faced difficulties over the policy of finding a balance, which could have blocked its hopes of joining the EU. The EU’s enlargement by four of Europe’s wealthiest countries is a very positive factor for post-communist countries, since, among other things, this expansion is considered a prerequisite for further enlargement to include the “newly emerging” countries of Eastern Europe at the end of the decade. As is known, Poland and Hungary, among the more developed countries of Eastern Europe, have formally requested admission to the EU. EU enlargement will also have positive effects for Albania, especially considering our country’s very good relations with Austria. Albania’s relations with the EU to date have been aid relations, and in this respect EU enlargement is also of considerable importance for Albania.

The trial of Ramiz Alia and nine other former senior officials of the communist government will begin on 21 May 1994. The Tirana District Court decided to send to trial the criminal case against the defendants Ramiz Alia, Adil Çarçani, Manush Myftiu, Rita Marko, Hekuran Isai, Simon Stefani, Aranit Cela, Rrapi Mino, Zylfytar Ramizi and Veiz Haderi. The trial of this case will begin on Saturday, 21 May 1994, at 9:00 a.m., in one of the courtrooms of this district court, the court’s spokesperson announced. The defendants R. Alia, A. Çarçani, M. Myftiu and R. Marko are accused of misappropriating state property in collusion, criminal acts provided for under Articles 62 and 13 of the Penal Code, as well as abuse of office committed in collusion, provided for under Articles 106 and 13 of the Penal Code. The defendants H. Isai and S. Stefani are accused of abuse of office the Penal Code, as well as violating citizens’ equality in collusion, provided for under Articles 107 and 13 of the Penal Code. The defendants A. Çela, Z. Ramizi, Rr. Mino and V. Haderi are accused of the criminal offence of 106 and 13 of the Penal Code. The panel that will examine and try this case will be presided over by Judge Andi Çeliku, deputy chair of the Tirana District Court. ATSH 107 Judge Andi Çeliku, deputy chairman of the Tirana District Court. ATSH

During a meeting yesterday in Düsseldorf between our ambassador in Bonn, Xhezair Zaganjoni, and Mr. Riotte, State Secretary for the Interior in the Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen, they first discussed finding ways to provide aid and closer cooperation between our ministries of public order. After full readiness to address this issue had been expressed, Mr. Zaganjoni asked about the situation and status of Albanian refugees living in this Land. Recognizing that they could not be granted political refugee status, the ambassador explained the reasons for his interest in enabling the refugees to remain in Germany for some more time. For his part, Mr. Riotte, having appreciated and understood our ambassador’s concern about the matter, promised in good faith to instruct that the case of the Albanians be treated as a special case. He promised that those who had arrived through the German embassy in Tirana, and those who had been guaranteed permission to stay, would not be returned, at least for some time. The exception, he said, would be those who commit criminal offences, while people who had arrived in recent months would be subject to legal procedures. ATSH

On the occasion of 5 May, on behalf of the Albanian Democratic Party, its chairman, Mr. Eduard Selami, and its secretary-general, Mr. Tritan Shehu, paid their respects and laid a wreath at the National Martyrs’ Cemetery. Chairman Selami, accompanied by members of the leadership, Messrs. Toto Vesiu, and by MPs Memia and Petrela, also visited the family of LANÇL martyrs, Mr. Skender Kosturi, brother of the much-suffering Mrs. Lazi Kosturi, and the family of the LANÇL nationalist martyr, Mr. Besnik Çani. PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE OF THE DP

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Romania, Mr. Ion Iliesku, the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha, will make an official visit to Romania from 9 to 11 May 1994. During this visit, President Berisha will be accompanied by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Pirro Dishnica; the Chairman of the Committee for Science and Technology, Mr. Maksim Konomi; the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Arjan Starova; and others. A Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the two countries, as well as several bilateral agreements, will be signed in Bucharest. While passing through Budapest, President Berisha will hold a working meeting with the Hungarian President, Mr. Arpad Goncz. PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC ORDER 5 May: The day before yesterday afternoon, on 5 May, a group of people, in the presence of police personnel and strikers, blocked the national Tirana–Kukes road near the bridge using motor vehicles, including cars and tractors, thereby committing a heinous and premeditated crime. The police repeatedly attempted to persuade and warned them to clear the road, explaining that by this act they were committing a serious criminal offence. But they cleared it for only half an hour and then blocked it again. Then, the night before last, at midnight, at 2:00 a.m., the police intervened and cleared the road. The Ministry of Public Order clarifies that it will take strict legal measures in response to such serious criminal offences, which prevent citizens of Albania from exercising their freedom of movement. SPOKESPERSON OF THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC ORDER

—President Berisha held an extended meeting with Prime Minister Meksi and Ministers Xhaja, Musaraj, Manushi and Halili— President of the Republic Sali Berisha held an extended meeting with Prime Minister Meksi and Ministers Xhaja, Musaraj, Manushi and Halili. They briefed the President on the problems caused by the strike and on the strikers’ demands; the strikers represent families displaced by the construction of dams and hydroelectric power plants. President of the Republic Sali Ministers Xhaja, Musaraj, Manushi and Halili. They briefed the President on the problems caused by the strike and on the strikers’ demands; the strikers represent families displaced by the construction of dams and hydroelectric power plants. At the meeting, Prime Minister Meksi stressed that the government had been and remained seriously committed to addressing all the problems of the displaced families and their reasonable demands, despite the fact that some of those demands were financially absurd and unaffordable. For this purpose, he said, a meeting with representatives of the displaced families had also been scheduled for Sunday. The ministers, who had themselves been in contact with representatives of the strikers, likewise stated that the strikers’ claims included serious and legitimate demands. Minister Halili reported that, on the government’s instructions, the Ministry of Agriculture had compiled, and was continuing to compile, lists of all the displaced families and, in accordance with the decision, would submit them to the government for review by the end of May, so that the government could take concrete measures to resolve these families’ problems. President Berisha stressed that he had studied the petition and demands of the displaced families, understood them well, and was sensitive to the problems they faced and the particular hardships they had endured as a result of being displaced from their land and homes. Regarding yesterday’s events in Kukes, he pointed out that there were two distinct realities. First, there were some legitimate demands and serious difficulties faced by the displaced families. Therefore, even if some demand was absurd and unreasonable, this should in no way overshadow, even slightly, the resolution of the other legitimate demands. Second, if two, five or ten elements with Enverist convictions or malicious intentions managed to insert themselves among the strikers and compromise them, that other reality, represented by a few isolated extremists, could in no way diminish the government’s urgent interest in prioritizing the legitimate demands of the displaced families; for these manipulators, who take it upon themselves to occupy state buildings and block national roads, have nothing in common with the hardships and troubles of the displaced population, and the government should have been, and must be, more active in resolving their problems. It is essential to complete the registration of these families and identify which have received land under the law and which have not, which are employed and which are not, which have received homes and which have not, and to begin drawing up a programme to resolve the problems of these displaced families in a coordinated way and compensate them as far as resources allow. I am convinced that once they see the government concretely resolving their problems, they themselves will understand that some demands are unacceptable and will withdraw them. Therefore, the government and Parliament must address the problem of the displaced as a priority and in a comprehensive manner. PRESS AND INFORMATION OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY

—The Albanian driving licence will also be valid in Italy, and vice versa— Messrs. Fatos Bitincka and Paolo Foresti sign two agreements Yesterday, at the Ministry of Transport, two agreements were signed: one on maritime cooperation between Italy and Albania, and another on the recognition of these Albanian-Italian arrangements. They are indicators of the two parties’ goodwill toward cooperation. Here are the views of the two gentlemen representing the respective governments, Fatos Bitincka and Italy’s ambassador to Albania, Paolo Foresti, who signed the agreement: Paolo Foresti: We have managed to sign two agreements that I consider fundamental not only for Albania’s social and economic progress, but also for its integration into Europe. Fatos Bitincka: The signing of the two agreements is an indication of a good spirit of cooperation. There are great opportunities for cooperation, and I believe that our government’s willingness to address such an issue also exists. One of the two agreements stands out: the one on the recognition of driving licences, which will eliminate the difficulties faced by Albanian refugees and others who go to Italy. From now on, an Albanian driving licence will also be valid in Italy, and vice versa. The agreement provides for cases in which the certificate of driving ability (licence) loses its validity. This happens when its holder settles in the territory of the other party, or resides continuously in that state for one year without settling there. SH.LUKU

In implementing the programme of the Democratic Party, the Kukës branch of the DP has worked, and continues to work resolutely, to defend solutions to the district’s economic and social problems; compensation for former owners’ property; compensation for the land flooded in the 27 villages of the Kukës district; the free and organised relocation of families whose land has been flooded; finding ways to employ these families and providing them with social support until the Democratic Government can find a possible and final solution to the problems of the flooded land. The acute economic and social problems facing the 27 villages of our district are not the consequence of the Democratic Government, which is doing everything in its power to resolve them. Rather, they are the consequences of Enver Hoxha’s socialist dictatorship and of the descendants of the Enverist system: former Bureau secretaries, first secretaries and State Security officials who served the system so zealously, leaving thousands of economic and social problems behind in our villages. As the presidium of the Democratic Party, we have requested and will continue to request that the Government take into consideration the legitimate and feasible demands of the presidium of the Association of the Flooded, and promptly state its position on this issue through the two basic laws: the law on the price of agricultural land and the law on land used for public purposes. It should also state its position on the district’s other social problems. Likewise, the government officials who came to Kukës declared that a meeting between the Prime Minister and the association’s presidium would be organised by Sunday, and that within June the government would issue a decision concerning the villages flooded by Lake Fierza. We consider the strikers’ demands in the field of …economic and social demands to be just, and we will support them to the end. At the same time, however, we will insist that these demands be pursued lawfully and not through unlawful acts or violations of the law, such as occupying the District Council hall, a facility of special importance; blocking the national highway, which has nothing to do with the strikers’ legitimate demands; or using loudspeakers for specific destructive purposes by forces interested in confrontation and civil war. We know that the vast majority of the strikers are people in hardship, and as a political party we will support them. At the same time, we appeal to these people in hardship not to let others exploit their difficulties; not to let those who caused these difficulties exploit them; and not to let destructive and destabilising forces, or former leaders of the Party of Labour and former State Security agents, exploit them. We urge you to distance yourselves from these exploiters. Once again emphasising that we will support all their legitimate economic demands, but will also condemn all violence and unconstitutional acts, we appeal to the strikers in hardship to end the strike in light of the promise made by the government officials that the Government will issue a decision on this problem by the end of June and that a meeting with the Prime Minister will take place on Sunday. We call on them to end the strike, leave the District Council hall and make way for dialogue and discussions to resolve their grievances. At the same time, we call on Democratic Party members everywhere to remain calm, avoid unlawful actions, and defend legality, the Constitution, democracy and freedom. Tirana, 6 May 1994

According to the Italian press, the Italian judicial authorities are seeking to have B.Kraksi, former chairman of the PS, surrender his passport in order to prevent him from fleeing, because he is among the 37 people accused of corruption among Italian politicians in the embezzlement of billions of lire. When one learns of this news, it is impossible not to think of the propaganda and commotion surrounding the act of awarding PSSH membership card No. 3 to Betino Kraksi by its chairman, Fatos Nano. The corrupt leader who misappropriated aid intended for the Italian people paid tribute to the corrupt Betino Kraksi. The dishonest and the corrupt understand one another; that is why the PS chairmen reached an understanding so quickly. Kraksi, as the leader of an anti-communist party, paid no heed to Albanian anti-communist propaganda against F.Nano, as a product of Enver Hoxha and R.Alia. For him, it did not matter whether Nano was red or pink; what mattered was their common language of corruption, and so he gladly accepted the PSSH membership card given to him by Nano. The future evidently promised him a professional partner and an example for their “work.” Fortunately, the calculations made behind dark scenes do not always come to fruition, even when made by skilled hands. F.Nano was arrested and convicted by Albanian justice for corruption, while B.Kraksi is accused by Italian justice on the same grounds. There is, however, a fundamental difference here when it comes to taking a position. In B.Kraksi’s case, his party, comrades and friends did not accuse others of waging a political war against the PS and Kraksi as its leader. They left the burden of proving his innocence entirely to the accused himself. Thus Italian justice continues its work, while the political life of the PS carries on normally. The opposite happened, and continues to happen, with the corrupt Nano. The latter not only failed to resign as leader, as his colleague Kraksi did, but also engaged and mobilised the entire propaganda arsenal, from the PS leadership to “ZP” and Enverist hardliners, to portray “Nano’s concealment” as a political phenomenon, as a political war by the party in power to eliminate the opposition—that is, the famous Socialist Party. This game is still going on. But if you support a thief or a criminal even when the courts prove his guilt with evidence, it means you are his accomplice. So don’t let Doklet, Rrugët and the others fool you: this “lid” they have put over Nano is not real; if they tried to lift it, they would reveal what lies inside, and perhaps the stench of corruption would spread through the Socialists’ shops.