Following Mr. Papulias’s visit to Tirana Editorial. Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papulias left Tirana yesterday after meetings at the highest levels of the Albanian state. The interested Albanian public was able to follow one of the most eagerly awaited and discussed visits ever made to Tirana by a foreign head of diplomacy. We can say without hesitation that its successful conclusion has prompted a general feeling of relief and realistic optimism in our public opinion. This is the second time Mr. Papulias has been received by this Government. On both occasions he came to Tirana after serious crises and dangerous tensions in bilateral relations. But despite the similarity in their place on the turbulent spectrum of our relations with our southern neighbour, the two visits differ in a number of very important ways. First, it can rightly be said that awareness of the dangers posed by extremism in government policy, and a sense of the responsibility Balkan governments must bear for the fate and stability of the Peninsula, now seem much more acceptable in Athens. Second, official Greece has distanced itself from extremist circles which, after the end of the Cold War, found their reason for continuing to exist in immediately setting to work to foment it. Such a document will undoubtedly provide a much more solid basis for Albanian-Greek relations of friendship than political statements, which are often influenced by the circumstances of the day. The impact of such a treaty goes beyond the importance of a bilateral agreement, since normal relations and understanding between Albania and Athens make a major contribution to the stability of the region. Mr. Papulias also undertook to find an acceptable solution to the very delicate issue of recognising the common state border, on the basis of existing maps and documentation. Removing this issue from the agenda of the talks strengthens mutual trust and paves the way for other unresolved matters. The residents of Saranda and Përmet can rejoice, since the routes for Albanians travelling to Greece will pass through Qafë Botë and Tri Urat, respectively, shortening the journey and revitalising the local economy. With the opening of these new border crossing points, one of the promises the DP made to the population of these areas before the 1992 elections will also be fulfilled. The Greek official promised that the possibility of legalisation would be seriously examined. On the Partnership for Peace programme, Mr. Papulias today publicly confirms that the Greek Government will unreservedly support Albania’s integration into Europe and the West, and expresses satisfaction that the Albanian army will soon take part in joint manoeuvres held by Greece near Piraeus, together with the USA and other countries of the region. Mr. Papulias also confirmed to President Berisha his support for a conference of Balkan foreign ministers. The parties also agreed that all matters concerning bilateral relations would be followed up by a special commission headed, on our side, by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Starova and, on the Greek side, by the Secretary General of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Georgiu. This leads us to believe that the agreements reached will not become stuck in bureaucratic machinery, but will be followed up and put into effect. The Greek minister received President Berisha’s assurance that minority standards are dynamic and that they, like other standards in Albanian democracy, are expected to expand. Greek-language instruction will also be introduced in the secondary schools of Dropull, while the private education law being prepared by the Government will benefit all citizens of the Republic, including minorities. What is listed above undoubtedly constitutes a major success for Albanian foreign policy and diplomacy. By normalising relations with our neighbours, easing disputes and encouraging understanding, and opening the doors to economic development and regional and European integration, we believe that we have served not only Albania’s national interest, but also made a significant contribution to the smooth running of affairs in the region. We also believe that, alongside Albania’s leaders, the Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papulias deserves personal credit. His contribution includes a particularly major achievement: the repeal of the state of war law with Albania. Offering our best wishes for what was achieved yesterday, we reiterate that only moderation and prudence in politics are true friends of people, and express the hope that the Tirana agreement will mark a definitive turning point towards the future of the southern Balkans. …the promise by President Berisha that minority standards are dynamic and, like the other standards of all citizens of the Republic, including minorities. What has been policy and diplomacy. By normalizing relations with neighbors, easing disputes and fostering understanding, and opening the way affairs in the region. We also believe that, alongside the leaders of the Albanian state, Greece’s foreign minister, Karolos Papulias, deserves personal credit; his contribution to Albanian-Greek relations also included a very significant achievement: the lifting of the state of war yesterday, we reiterate that only moderation in politics is people’s true friend, a definitive turning point toward the future of the southern Balkans.

Yesterday President Berisha received Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papulias “I am pleased with your visit to Tirana, as well as with the results you achieved yesterday with Minister Serreqi, and I consider this visit the opening of a new page in relations between our two countries,” President Berisha told Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papulias. “I am convinced that this visit constitutes a very important step towards normalising and developing our bilateral relations. I believe that the Albanian people and the Greek people, as the oldest neighbours in this region, have throughout their history of coexistence also written a code between our two peoples. We must not allow fanatics and extremists to trample it underfoot; we must enrich this code with new values of friendship. In this context, I do not forget that Prime Minister Papandreou also has historic merit for repealing the Greek law declaring a state of war with Albania, and I believe you did so to open the way for cooperation and friendship between our two countries. That is why I have proposed, and insist, that work begin on drafting and signing a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation based on OSCE principles and the tradition of Albanian-Greek relations, whose brightest pages are those of friendship. I agree with the establishment of the joint Albanian-Greek commission under the direction of Messrs. Starova and Georgiu, as well as with a group of experts visiting Albania.” Foreign Minister Papulias greatly appreciated his conversation with President Berisha and Berisha’s interest and determination to improve relations with Greece. He expressed his full commitment to the President’s proposal to begin work on a treaty of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. “We are in transition and expect Greece to help Albania with its integration into Europe and European institutions, a major objective of ours; but I believe this is also in the interest of Greece and the region,” President Berisha went on to say. Photo: A. Babani [Papulias] also expressed his support for the idea of holding a Balkan Conference. At the meeting, he praised the care taken in Albania to ensure the treatment of the Greek minority. President Berisha once again praised the contribution of this minority, both historically and today. “I am pleased,” he said, “with the standard achieved, and I assure you that this dynamic standard will...”

Yesterday, in the newspaper Aleanca, Messrs. Dokle, Ceka, Apostoli and Kalakula were lined up under the motto “Longing for Ramiz brings us together.” Thus, in their anti-unifying song, Dokle serves as the lead voice, while Ramizi’s [unclear] is inspired by Kaçili, Ramiz’s former resident in Paris, and sings of dragging things out. This time he has left aside, out of fear, the cracking open of skulls. The second voice is Ceka’s faltering voice. Ramizi burned his career as a politician and a failure in December 1991, influencing him by bringing out Qorri’s files and even some others. Meanwhile Qaqqua, the [unclear] of Patos, with his melodious voice and a [unclear] that has gone astray, continues with the theory of blockades, just as he once proclaimed Enver’s works. As for Vasil, he has no voice and only moves his lips. But he is not to blame, since he has old programmatic obligations to Ramiz. His crime, committed with lightning speed in just two days, and the liquidation of Barçe forced him to borrow something, although the fact is that he worked for years wherever he was needed to wash a sack of spoiled flour. Kalakulla, the agrarian of high yields and the theory of the two goats, also has his own nostalgia. But here we must acknowledge that what brings this wretched choir together is not nostalgia alone, nor their political doubles or other unnamed factors. Above all, their choir is united by a destructive attitude towards reform—that is, their anti-reform stance—and by the terror that the major achievements of the reforms in Albania, as well as the recent successes of ... have aroused in these elements.

Prime Minister Meksi received Greek Foreign Minister Papulias Continuing his second visit to Albania, Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papulias was received yesterday morning by Albanian Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi. “I hope your visit will serve to bring our two countries and peoples, the oldest in the Balkans, closer together. They have travelled the road of history together and will continue to do so,” Mr. Meksi said at the beginning of the meeting. He went on: “We are convinced that this is, and will be, in the interest also of the other peoples of the Peninsula and of Europe itself, with which the destinies of our peoples are linked.” For his part, Greek Foreign Minister Papulias, after acknowledging the historical factors that have shaped the longstanding Albanian-Greek bond, said that Albanian-Greek friendship is important not only for our two countries, but is also an important factor for the stability of the region, its economic development, and Albania’s faster rapprochement with the European Union. He said he believed it was an important basis for Albania’s current efforts to draw closer to European structures. “I want to assure you,” he continued, “that the Greek Government will support this effort by Albania, and you know very well the friendship Greece has for this friendly effort by Albania. We are neighbours; we cannot change this reality, and we will work as neighbours in a peaceful climate of cooperation and understanding. There have been difficulties, but I believe we must leave everything of that kind behind us and work for the future and for the path that is opening up, with good conditions for finding solutions. The fact that I am here today is a clear message I bring from the Greek Government, the people and the political parties of Greece, in support of the development of Albanian-Greek relations.” …the sense of responsibility that the Peninsula now seems much more attainable in Athens. Secondly, the official Greece’s distancing Cold War found their reason for continued existence in supporting early twentieth-century territorial ambitions and stirring up disputes with neighbors, has begun to be declared openly and at the highest level. Thirdly, the international community—that is, mainly the USA and the European Union—has adopted clearly impartial, measured and decidedly constructive positions. There has been no alignment of parties in the spirit of formal alliances, as may have been hoped for in Athens. But the greatest qualitative difference between the two visits is undoubtedly their substance. While Mr. Papulias came in November ’93 with goodwill, but not much more than that, in March ’95 he left only after having laid out in Tirana a basket of concrete proposals and undertaken a series of important commitments. Chief among them is the acceptance in principle of Tirana’s long-standing proposal, recently reiterated by President Berisha at the OSCE summit in Budapest in December ’94, to conclude and resolve…

Greek Foreign Minister Papulias meets Albanian MPs During the conversation, Mr. Papulias was asked to use his influence to help integrate our country into the democratic institutions of the European Union. At this meeting, which was also attended by the chairman of the Albania-Greece Friendship Parliamentary Group, Mr. Gaqo Rrota, MPs Rudolf Marku and Dhimiter Anagnosti also spoke. They stressed the importance of cultural exchanges between our two countries, which also help create an atmosphere of understanding and harmony. The MPs also spoke at the meeting. (Continued on page 2)

URAN BUTKA The Martyrs of Libohova, the Martyr People dissatisfied with the leadership of the country where former communists are in power Bad news Dokle denounces Albania The KGB in the service of Albanian Enverists

On the occasion of the death of Academician Gazmend Zajmi, President of the Republic Sali Berisha sent a message of condolence to the family of the deceased, the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, and the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova. The Press and Information Office attached to the President