Albania will join Europe, but not with some pseudo-intellectuals involved in this anti-national campaign. Prof. Dr Roman Herzog Long-awaited news for every true Albanian, but also a slap in the face to thoughts and writings inspired and paid for by anti-Albanian foundations and centers. On 7 September 1993, the newspaper “Zëri i Popullit” announced the coming of Austrian President Klestil to Tirana. Two years later, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Roman Herzog, visits Tirana. This historical development makes even more ridiculous and failed the written propaganda that the publication “ZP” has carried out over these two years against every serious effort to bring Albania back to Europe. The article “33 states or 5 dozen anti-Europeans” was a summary of all the slanders, fabrications and distorted quotations against that part of Albanian opinion which has understood that our transition is not merely an economic reform, but a historic confrontation with the communist legacy and its anti-Western spirit. The truth is that Roman Herzog's visit to Tirana is not a protocol accident. It is a political and moral sign. No one can convince Albanians anymore that Europe is shutting its door to us. On the contrary, Europe is coming to Tirana of its own accord, because it understands that here a difficult but serious effort is being made to break away from the past. For Albanians this has a double meaning: first, because Germany is one of Europe's main powers and has consistently supported Albania in international forums; second, because this visit comes at a time when voices have grown louder in the country from those who want to relativize the communist past and present as “Europeanism” any criticism against democratic institutions. Instead of accepting reality, the spokesmen of this propaganda have tried to sow mistrust and moral fatigue. They have used every occasion to heap mud on President Berisha, on the Meksi government, on the reforms and on the country's very Western orientation. For them, every diplomatic success of Albania is bad news. The “ZP” article tried to create the idea that only some “anti-Europeans” were blocking Albania's road to the continent. But the facts show the opposite: Albania is not being blocked by imaginary anti-Europeans, but precisely by those who, in the name of a supposed pluralism, seek to rehabilitate the political culture of the bloc, of suspicion, isolation and attack against any Western partner. The same people who yesterday defended “friendship” with the East now sell themselves as interpreters of Europe. But Europe is not won with slogans, nor with commissioned editorials. It is won through institutions, the rule of law, a market economy, respect for property and democratic culture. Let it be well remembered: Albania is not going to Europe with those who echo every pamphlet against it. Albania will join Europe precisely by leaving behind this kind of propaganda, this ideological resentment and this provincial complex that still sees the West as an enemy. President Herzog's visit is the best answer to this spirit. It shows that the democratic world knows, supports and respects the new Albania. And that is why the written propaganda of “ZP” cannot fool anyone. (Continued on page 2)

Nexhat Lani of Albanian-German cooperation PROF. DR. ROMAN HERZOG President of the Federal Republic of Germany The great and irreplaceable contribution of Professor Nexhat Hazizi to the strengthening and expansion of relations between our two countries, Germany and Albania, was acknowledged by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Roman Herzog, who decorated Mr. Hazizi with the "Cross of Merit, First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany". Professor of political science at the University of Vienna, of Albanian origin, Dr. Caloce Jozef Huzeg [?], President of the Austrian-Albanian Friendship Association, will be the main driving force behind Dr. Herzog's arrival in Tirana, the Albanian democracy and European civilization. Tight inflation has emptied citizens' pockets and filled their minds with fear of responsibilities and with the anxieties of 28 February. In the old and new districts of central Tirana, amid the exhausting bustle of car traffic, where the everyday rhythms of the capital are spent like a monotonous ritual, one encounters the constellation of an unavoidable bundle of facts. What is happening to the economy in different regions and in rural settlements? How can the wave of drug addiction and the rise in crime be stopped? What are the causes of the reform’s backwardness? Are competent people lacking? Has the time come to organize new local elections? What is Mr. Meksi’s cabinet doing, the same cabinet that eight months ago promised to achieve the great success of establishing order in the country? All these questions keep alive the hope that the problems of transition will find a solution and that Albanian politics will know how to answer them. In this semi-charged atmosphere, but after a certain calm, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Tirana announced that the president of that country, Professor Roman Herzog, will visit Albania from 11 to 13 April 1995. Since 6 May 1994, when Mr. Herzog was elected as the successor to Richard von Weizsäcker, this is one of his first visits to the Balkan countries. When Roman Herzog came in May 1994 to the high office of head of the German state, Albania was experiencing one of the most turbulent moments of reform. Whereas now our country has entered a new phase of relations with Germany, with a visible balance of aid and cooperation. Through this visit, Albanian-German relations are expected to gain a new impulse, not only politically, but also in the economic, cultural and institutional spheres. President Herzog's visit is seen as a clear sign of the value Germany places on democratic developments in Albania. This news, which has been awaited with particular interest, has also brought to attention the figures who have helped bring our two peoples and our two states closer together. Prof. Dr Roman Herzog

(page 3) Construction, wholesale trade, fishing, the most preferred sectors for business (page 4) The right wing once again on the road to victory EDI PALOKA (page 2)