Today President Berisha begins his official visit to Germany On the invitation of German President Roman Herzog and Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, accompanied by Mrs. Berisha, will pay a several-day official visit to Germany from 18 to 21 December 1995. President Berisha will also be accompanied by a delegation including Deputy Minister and Minister of Finance Dylber Vrioni, Ministers Serreqi and Doka, the President's advisers, MPs and the head of the high office. During this visit President Berisha will hold talks with President Herzog and Chancellor Kohl. In honor of President Berisha, Chancellor Helmut Kohl will host a dinner, while President Herzog will receive him at an official dinner. President Berisha will also meet the Parliament President Susmuth, the Federal Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Economy, Finance, and Economic Cooperation Kinkel, Klose, Weigel, Scharping, as well as other senior officials of the country. President Berisha will give speeches at the “Konrad Adenauer” Foundation and at the Federal Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bonn, and will meet representatives of the parliamentary parties in the German Bundestag. Friendship and cooperation between our two countries and Germany know all fields, the increase of German aid and the growth of German investments as well as the issue of Kosovo and regional questions will be at the center of these meetings. President Berisha will also discuss economic cooperation issues with leading representatives of powerful economic and industrial firms in Bonn, Munich and Stuttgart. During his stay in Germany President Berisha will also visit the Länder of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, where he will meet the highest authorities of these Länder as well as representatives of the business circles of these Länder. On the invitation of German President Roman Herzog and Chancellor Helmut Kohl, President of the Republic Sali Berisha, accompanied by Mrs. Berisha President Berisha will give speeches at the “Konrad Adenauer” Foundation and at the Federal Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bonn, and will meet representatives of the parliamentary parties in the German Bundestag.

PD Shkodër branch rally The PD, being aware of its own dimensions, will remain the majority party The PD is open to cooperation with other centre-right political forces The PS is being eroded by the shrinking of its social base The exclusion of the “Maleshovists” is cutting the Socialist opposition off from its electorate. The West wants Albania to continue moving along the right path, the one into which the PD has led it Page 2

Minutes of the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the PPSH, dated 2 and 3 July 1974 P.7

They tried to flee two weeks ago Sarandë. Last night, after several days, the 24 Albanian citizens who two weeks ago attempted to leave Albania clandestinely returned. In a speedboat headed for the Strait of Otranto. The same kind as the one that set out the night before, whose journey turned into a death voyage for 17 Albanians. News of the departure of a second speedboat was learned a few days later. After the alarm, nothing was known. It was not known whether the speedboat had clandestinely reached the coast of Puglia or whether it had capsized and sunk. But since yesterday it has been known that the speedboat in which not 24 but 31 Albanians, including 9 children, had boarded, has been sent back and all are alive. The boat had been seen near Sarandë.

EDITORIAL Today President of the Republic Sali Berisha goes to Germany for an official visit, invited by Germany's President Herzog and Chancellor Kohl. Albania sees Germany as its natural ally and its main supporter in Europe. It sees in Germany its traditional ally, while relations between the two countries were fully consolidated only after the victory of the Democratic Party in March 1992. The most powerful country in Europe was among the first to strongly support the democratic movement in Albania. It did not hesitate to open the doors of its embassy in Tirana in July 1990, thus sending a real signal to Albanians that they had German support in their struggle to bring down the dictatorship. Likewise, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was the first Western head of government in 1991 to receive the then chairman of the Democratic Party, in order to further secure German support for the victories of the democratic forces in Albania. Albania and Germany have a traditional basis of relations between them. Germany has continuously stood by Albania from the period of the League of Prizren to the present day. Documents released from German archives and published some time ago in the Albanian press have confirmed Bismarck's pro-Albanian stance at the Congress of Berlin, and not the way his position had been interpreted until recently. Likewise, in Germany a number of well-known personalities have worked to make Albanian national values known and to direct the West's attention toward Albania. The great German politician Strauss was the first in Western Europe to attempt to bring Albania out of fifty years of isolation, although the communist leadership of the time rejected his generosity. German support for Albania's economic recovery after the collapse of Albania's communist dictatorship has been unparalleled. German participation in the package of aid that the European Union allocated to Albania in 1991 occupies the leading place, while after the victory of the Democratic Party, German aid entered the stage of investments and financial support. German support has so far reached 240 million marks in development aid, of which 64 million marks were provided in 1995 alone. Calculated per capita for the population, Albania is among the Eastern countries that have secured such a level of support from Germany. With Germany there are agreements on the Economic and Trade Union, on the Protection and Promotion of Investments, as well as the Transport Agreement. Also, more than five thousand Albanian emigrants work in Germany, which is a great help to Albania's well-being. The Albanians with so many and great German personal ties. Former German foreign minister Genscher was the first to visit Albania after the PD's victory and congratulated it on that victory. Also visiting Albania were Foreign Minister Kinkel, Parliament President Susmuth, and the Minister for Economic Cooperation, Shopman. In March of this year Albanian-German relations culminated with President Herzog's visit to Tirana. On that occasion a joint declaration of the two presidents was issued, preserving the value of a friendship treaty between the two countries with cooperation. Germany is today the most realistic and most advanced supporter of the Albanian cause, while this country's efforts toward solving the Albanian problem are a guarantee for the full resolution of one of the historical problems of Kosovo, in order to restore the national rights of the Albanian people. President Berisha's visit to Germany will further strengthen the high level of friendship between this country and us. His agenda during his stay in Bonn or during the other days of the President's stay in Bonn and various Länder covers all fields, including political, economic, and cultural ones. This once again shows the great affinity between the two countries.

PUK chairman Idajet Beqiri is detained by the police Page 3

Interview with poet Bardhyl Londo You have to be politicized down to the tips of your nails, not to see these changes that have restored dignity to Albania and to Albanians. From what I have noticed, everyone accepts these things, but only within the framework of order. To be honest, I would say to them that the present order did not come about by itself, but there were certain political forces that were at the forefront of the struggle for it, just as they have been at the forefront of the work for three years now to consolidate this order. So let us not count only the shortcomings and failures of the democratic forces gathered around the Democratic Party, but also acknowledge that they are the main authors both of the triumph of the new order and of its consolidation. Page 4

Exactly 5 years have passed since the student demonstrations of December 1990 rang the bells in Albania for the end of the communist dictatorship. On 12 December 1990 some of the leaders of this movement went over to the opposition in Albania, the Democratic Party, which in spring 1992, with Chairman Sali Berisha, won the parliamentary elections by an overwhelming majority. The charismatic politician who impressed and fascinated German foreign minister Hans Dietrich Genscher during his visit to Albania, as we remember, became president; a private dinner with Genscher would renew the old friendship. In the framework of bilateral relations for Germany, stability and a sound economy are a test, and here Berisha has definitively won as a guarantee of a course that gives hope for the creation of something stronger, more solid. Thus these include NATO and the two links with the European Union. Albania's membership in the Partnership for Peace initiative and its admission to the Council of Europe in spring 1995 are visible successes in Albania's integration into Europe. Albania's political and economic stability interests Germany, not only because of the influx of refugees, serious and outside Albania, and their legitimate impact on the region. Particularly regarding the crisis in Kosovo, there are high assessments from German politicians. The President will certainly use his stay in Bonn to draw attention to the oppression of Albanians in Kosovo and to seek a rapid solution with American and German awareness. If this were reflected in the assessment of the situation, it would be for the Albanians of Albania one of the most important political gifts that Germany could give. According to Radio DEUTSCHE WELLE

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