Interview with President of the Republic Sali Berisha given to Albanian Television The intellectuals were dignified - Albania risked becoming the “Cuba” of the Adriatic Robert Papa: Mr. President, you wrote several pieces in mid-1990, they were about objects from a few years earlier, to be exchanged in writing, while written wishes or, perhaps, a revival as this was awakening from the royal dictatorship. Sali Berisha: No, in 1990 I was not convinced that the communist dictatorship in Albania would ease for a short time. On the contrary, I felt convinced that Albania in a way risked becoming the “Cuba” of the Adriatic and that I would not see any other pluralist change. But on the other hand I was very convinced that Albanian youth, under these somewhat dictatorial conditions, would develop and come out somehow, and that the dictatorship would not win. When that day would come, I had no forecast. As for my writings, I made them with the main motive of fulfilling the duty as a human being to carry out the duty as an intellectual, to defend freedom and its values, to defend truth and the values that I had not previously articulated. That was the true, deep motive of my writings. Robert Papa: Was there someone who encouraged this writing or was there an example, as in how you would do it? Sali Berisha: The main beauty of a calm process or perhaps of uncertainty, I may have had writings shaped by my formation, but I was pleased and ideas came to me in the name of freedom. I was fearless, however much I was impressed by the dictatorship. In any case, I needed to see and to meet. The order came of its own accord; in a way, the Eastern space. I was very impressed by everything; I still think today that if there had not been Sakharov, there would not have been Gorbachev. Homage to the homeland Robert Papa: Mr. President, let us return again to the writings. Truly they were courageous writings. For a moment, didn’t you have some hesitation, let us say regarding family, wife, children? Your future, I had told you? Sali Berisha: I want to say that in the year I wrote those pieces I had long since overcome hesitation. So I had no hesitation whatsoever; on the contrary, my great and only concern was being able to publish my writings. Toward the end of 1989 I gave an interview on TV, which the journalist who took it wanted to broadcast, but his superiors banned it at the last minute, about which I protested to the journalist. But in fact I understood it was not his decision. It was an imposed decision. So I had no greater concern than the publication of the writings, and for this I am very grateful to my publishers, Zija Çela, Qemal Sakajeva, Sami Milloshi, who, by publishing my writings — and not only my writings but also the writings of other intellectuals — took on a special risk and showed great courage. As for my family and children, they had long since seen my decision and my struggle, so I am very grateful to them for their attitude. I have valued the embassy events and still value them as the fall of the Berlin Wall in Tirana Robert Papa: The embassy events, in your opinion, Mr. President, were the first powerful blow against the system, or... how would you assess now, after 5 years, this exodus of young people as heroes or as the masses of our nation? Sali Berisha: The embassy events were among the major events in the struggle and efforts of the Albanian people against the dictatorship. I valued the embassy events then and I value them today as the fall of the Berlin Wall in Tirana. How do I assess them? I have regarded them as heroes, I have regarded them as brave sons and daughters of the Albanian nation. Many of them were unemployed, many lived in great misery, but all of them, by taking the decision they did to bring down the Berlin Wall, accomplished a great unblocking of their country, and on behalf of their country they discussed and in fact defeated the dictatorship on the path of the embassies in Albania. At the same time they also became a mockery of the Albanian communist wave in Europe. They proved that Albanian youth were determined that Albania should not remain either a closed Albanian nation or a closed European country, but should follow the changes of Eastern Europe. Robert Papa: Mr. President, the events in Kavaja, but the police, how were they conveyed to you, doctor, did they follow in that Cuba? Sali Berisha: The events in Kavaja were calling for, immediately after their departure or victory from the system, there was a rally in Tirana, how would you assess that rally? Sali Berisha: Then and now, it was underestimated by the rally of shame. It was a rally organized to condemn and denounce the movement, but it turned into and remained a funeral rally of the communist dictatorship in Albania. Robert Papa: How did you receive the invitation for the meeting with the intellectuals at that time? Sali Berisha: I received the invitation for the meeting with the intellectuals with pleasure and with a feeling of anticipation; before the meeting, a Party Committee instructor, if I am not mistaken Qezim Mali, met me near the Palace of Culture and said: “Doctor, tomorrow you are invited to the meeting with the intellectuals that is being held by Ramiz Alia.” I told him that I accept the invitation and will go. After two or three minutes I met Ismail Kadare and Besnik Mustafaj. I asked whether they had been invited and whether they were going to that meeting. Ismail answered that he had been invited. I parted from them and went home, where I sat down and wrote out the words page by page. I thought about whether I would be able to speak or not. And I decided that if I would not be able to speak, then I would make my own statement of 7 pages, in which I condemned police violence, demanded much deeper changes, and focused on a request that seemed to me the most fundamental of all: the removal from the Constitution of Article 3, the article that recognized the Party of Labour of Albania as the country’s sole leading political force. For a long time I had been convinced that this article was fatal for democracy and political pluralism; in a pluralism it was a true caricature. Thus the country had other parties, but they were only appendages and objects of the communist ruling parties. So I decided to focus the discussion on the demand to remove this constitutional article. At the meeting I could confirm that the intellectuals maintained a dignified position. And after Ramiz Alia closed his rhetoric for about an hour about the values and merits of socialism and its inviolability and indivisibility, concluding that any other opinion was hostile to this system and contrary to Albania’s interests, there was a short break. I told a friend of mine, who was beside me, “I have a statement here; if they do not give me the floor, I will make the statement I intend to make.” Indeed, after the break the discussion opened, which was opened by someone, Mr. Muin Dërami, who raised the issue of relations with Europe. Then others spoke, and I too, in my turn, in my discussion denounced the attitude of the media, the disinformation they were spreading to public opinion. I denounced police violence and demanded that the Constitution be stripped of that law which gave the Party the role of sole leader, the monopoly role, and proclaimed it as the only force. I think that the removal of this article was a necessity for the development of pluralism in Albania. I represent only my own views, but I will defend your viewpoints Robert Papa: Your first day of the meeting with the students in Peshkopi? About this meeting? Sali Berisha: On 8 December I returned from Italy, where I took part in an International Conference as an expert of the World Health Organization. On 9 December, at lunch, I had a meeting with a group of young people, Kujtim Çashku and Besnik Mustafaj, at the “Tirana” café. There a friend of mine, Qemal Sakajevi, came and told me that the students were calling for me and had been demonstrating. I asked: what were their demands? He told me the demonstration had been very strong; they had clashed with the police. I am not very clear about their demands, but the place is now surrounded. I asked: how can we find out more about their demands? Qemali left us and came back after 20 minutes and told us that the students were still demonstrating. Immediately I told my friends: “I will go and join the students.” Both of them acted in the same way. I set off to the students. We drove very carefully, because military vehicles and buses had been placed at various points; we went through some alleys and came out in front of the students in the demonstration, that is, where the Italian ambassador’s residence is now. On that stretch there were, I believe, about 400 students. There were also citizens of Tirana, who in one way or another showed solidarity with the students and their great concern about the clash that could happen, because in front of the students stood well-armed, well-equipped special forces. No more than, I believe, 5 minutes passed when the students were brutally attacked. (Continues on page 3)

From 18–21 December President Berisha will visit Germany At the invitation of German President Herzog and Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, accompanied by Mrs. Berisha, will make an official visit to Germany from 18 to 21 December 1995. President Berisha will also be accompanied by a delegation composed of the deputy prime minister and minister of finance, Dylber Vrioni, ministers Serreqi and Dali, presidential advisers, deputies, as well as other senior officials. During this visit, President Berisha will hold talks with President Herzog, Chancellor Kohl, the Speaker of Parliament, Susmuth, the federal ministers of foreign affairs, economy and economic cooperation, Kinkel, Rexrodt and Spranger, as well as other leading figures of the country. The friendship and cooperation between our two countries and its expansion in all fields, the encouragement of German aid and substantial German investments, as well as the Kosovo issue and regional matters, will be at the center of these meetings. President Berisha will also discuss economic cooperation issues with leading representatives of major economic and industrial firms in Bonn, Munich and Stuttgart. While in Germany, President Berisha will also visit the Länder of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, where he will meet with leading figures, as well as representatives of the business communities of these Länder.

Maks Velo resigns from the Albanian Helsinki Committee Maks Velo resigns from the Albanian Helsinki Committee Puto defends the communist crime By leaving the Albanian Helsinki Committee for the defense of human rights, I wish to inform the public that has followed its work that: - I have been a member of this committee since 1991. Recently my differences with A. Puto have intensified. Continuously, but especially after the last elections a year ago, A. Puto has done work which, in my opinion, has seriously damaged the reputation of this Committee. He is constantly guided by two aims: a) To defend by all means the communist crime and its authors, with whom he has a lifelong connection, as well as the structures and persons who today are against democracy. b) To benefit as much as possible, and continuously, from this committee in material terms. To treat the Committee as his private office. The Committee has two accounts, one kept by K. Frashëri and the other by A. Puto. An illegal practice. Under the auspices of the AShH, 4 books and several brochures sponsored by embassies and international organizations on human rights have been published. To date, no report has been given on the expenses for each book, who worked on them and how much was paid. I have repeatedly requested a financial report on this issue, but there has been silence. He refuses to provide any information. There is no kind of financial control in the AShH, and whenever I have raised these issues, certain people strongly oppose them. A. Puto and K. Frashëri want, for 1996, to raise their salaries from 150 dollars to 250 dollars without obtaining the Committee’s approval. I objected. A. Puto wanted to raise the per diems from 600 lek to 2500 new lek. I objected. Not wishing to bear responsibility for these irregularities and abuses, which do not fall to me, I am leaving this committee, convinced of the great harm that A. Puto has caused and is causing to this committee. I think that not only state institutions, but also some organizations that look at things in a broader way, should take on special moral commitments and the courage to judge important national and international issues, and that in order for members to participate, the files should be opened. So that the same thing does not happen to us as with the human rights center subsidized by the government of Norway, whose chairman (according to the Hazbiu file) was a former State Security agent. The independence of committees of this kind does not mean that certain people can do whatever they want. By leaving, I want to emphasize that in the future people with a clean moral profile will be found, and honesty and professionalism will raise the difficult work of the Helsinki Committee to the level it deserves. MAKS VELO

NATIONAL LIBRARY TIRANA

The national literary awards “Velija” are announced Kim Mehmeti in prose and Visar Zhiti in poetry They are the winners of the “Velija” literary awards for 1994 p.2

Minutes of the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the PPSH, dated 2 and 3 July 1974