After three years of government by the Democratic Party The Democratic Party has kept its promise After three years of government by the Democratic Party Commitments and their fulfillment IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE as a result of privatizations, the state apparatus has also been affected by unemployment. These temporary difficulties are smaller than before the path to a market economy and in the past they affected more severely the proletarianization of most of the people, than today, as they are following with help of their own in the private economy. Therefore, rightly, the people today make a clear distinction that we are moving in the right direction. Shkoder has been together with the transformation of the citizen and society, from the totalitarian system toward a free pluralist and democratic system. Albanians have left behind the period of dictatorship and feel within themselves the values of freedom, dignity and development through honest work. These changes are tangible. Everywhere there were rebuilt new towns, private construction, private activity, many businesses, modern services, property lawfully returned to its owner. The chances of the individual to make decisions for himself have increased. The possibility of choice has increased significantly, the way of life, contacts with the world and information have expanded. The Democratic Party has done a great deal on the road to European integration. For centuries Albanians have been the poorest people in Europe. This condition was inherited from 50 years of communist rule. Never was Albania closer to economic and social misery than at the end of communist rule. At the end of 1991 the main indicators of the economy and of the people's living standards through monthly wages reached 1800 gr. spontaneously, Albanians were living on less than one dollar a day per person. At this level of deterioration, the majority of the population experienced hunger and extreme misery. EDUCATION, SCIENCE, CULTURE AND SPORTS The ruined economy, the old system of education, science, culture and sports were on the brink of collapse. The bad condition of the material base and of the financial means for creative work, 6 thousand professors and teachers, 360 researchers and thousands of families on the brink of survival. For the period 1992 to 1994, 497.9 million lek were financed for investments in education. Expenditures for equipment amount to 3.6 billion lek in three years. Growth was also achieved through the construction of institutions for children in rural areas with high concentration. The DPD has allocated 2.4 billion lek for the construction of 1800 specialized places for children in TIRANA. Cooperation in the field of education with foreign countries reached 28 thousand students and lecturers. As for salaries in the education system, in 1994 they were on average 10-11 times higher than in 1991. 11 thousand teachers and preschool educators have completed specialization with foreign assistance. 7 universities, 1 military academy, 7 agricultural universities, 1 higher institute of nursing, 1 higher art institute, 1 academy of arts, and 6 independent faculties have been built. HEALTHCARE The health reform is working in two directions: first, the creation of conditions and means for the practice of the medical profession and second, the fight against corruption. 5.6 billion lek have been spent on medicines and 8 billion lek have been paid for hospital treatment expenses. Thanks to domestic pharmaceutical production and cooperation with donors, the prices of 47 per cent of medicines have been lowered. Many health institutions have been modernized. The market economy made it possible for patients to have an expanded list of medicines. Reforms were deepened also in inspection and hygiene. Over 3 years, mortality has decreased. Today Albanians go to be seen by doctors everywhere in the city, in hospitals and clinics. 47 per cent of medicines are produced by the domestic industry. 1 university hospital and 7 public health centers have been opened. (Continues on page 2)

Today, Romania's President Iliesku in Tirana SAMI MILOSHI Today the President of the Republic of Romania, Mr. Ion Iliesku, invited by the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha, arrives in Albania for a two-day official visit. Albania has entered the path of integration and is presenting itself with dignity before Europe. This has made more and more neighboring and distant countries seek the intensification of bilateral relations. The president's two-day official visit Iliesku comes at a time when in some countries of the region, positive and important changes are also taking place. This suggests that the climate in the Balkans will turn into a calmer and more reasonable course. Albanian-Romanian relations are friendly. Throughout the communist period they were characterized by an official coldness, but not by a lack of relations. They were more state official relations than relations of nationwide contacts. Now they are on a good path and are rising to a new level. Today begins the phase of concretizing this cooperation. The meeting of President Berisha with Romanian President Iliesku will give a new impetus to bilateral relations. These relations must be more intensive than in the past, not only for political reasons, but also economic ones. In the interest of Albania and Romania is also the democratization of internal life, as well as developments in the Balkans. Here are also expressed public regional interests. In particular, it is important to discuss the crisis of the former Yugoslavia and the Albanian-Romanian relations in the framework of regional developments. President Iliesku's visit to Albania is also taking place in the framework of the intensification of Romania's relations with the Balkan countries. It has importance for our country and for Romania. Albania's relations with the other Balkan countries have taken positive forms. This is in the interest of the countries of the region themselves. Albania is now becoming an important factor also for stability in the Balkans. 3.5 million Albanians speaking the Albanian language live outside the state border of Albania. Here its authority and responsibility are great. (Continues on page 5)

The budget deficit projected for 1995 is smaller than that of 1994 "Response to the newspaper 'Zëri i Popullit'" Dear sirs, your newspaper of 25 March 1995, in a long article on the 1995 budget, contains positions that hide the truth about the economic situation in the country and continue to deceive public opinion. You declare that the budget deficit is at the level of 1991 and even higher. The conclusion is correct, but also false. For a 1995 budget, the deficit in the amount of 10.3 billion lek is approximately equal to the deficit of 10.9 billion lek in 1991. But one important thing must be emphasized. The 1995 deficit is much smaller than that of 1994, when the deficit in absolute terms reached 15.8 billion lek. On the other hand, it must be said that it is not correct to compare the absolute figure of the budget deficit of 1995 with that of 1991. Your gentlemen cannot forget that in 1991 the entire economy of the country was state-owned. If in the second half of 1995, 67 per cent of gross domestic product will be produced by the private sector, then it is understandable that the fiscal burden on the private sector must be smaller than in 1991. According to World Bank calculations, the fiscal burden in Albania in 1995 is 25 per cent of GDP, which cannot be called high. Gentlemen, the brevity of your analysis stems from the fact that you compare the budget deficit figures for 1995 with those of 1991, without managing to see that this deficit, as a percentage of GDP, has decreased from 31 per cent in 1993 to 16.2 per cent in 1994. The same level of deficit in nominal value as in 1995, if realized in 1994, represented 22 per cent of GDP. If you had the will to inform readers objectively, you would have made it known to them that from 1991 to 1994 the fiscal burden on taxpayers has decreased from 46.2 per cent to 25 per cent of GDP. Moreover, according to the budget plans for 1995, the fiscal burden will fall to 23.2 per cent. Finally, I wish to point out that when you give the figures for the budget deficit, you should also state how much budget spending the government has and how much revenues have increased in relation to GDP. This is because in nominal terms in 1995 budget expenditures amount to 18.5 per cent of GDP, whereas in 1991 they reached over 40 per cent of GDP. Yours respectfully Arben Malaj Minister of Finance (Continues on page 7)

THE COST OF THE SOUL In the epilogue of my scientific note, poetry takes me by the hand and leads me wherever it wants. This new road turns into a tub of tears. Not that, the joy of man. The woman is unyielding. At least, for me she is so, even for those wild years of monism when she remained trapped in a hut in the middle of winter. Through the symbolism of her figure, she loses the meaning of an individual fate and rises to a generalization that is both natural and equally shocking. It becomes the separation of mother and infant, displacement, flight, internment, fear and hunger. Other eyes throw themselves into the abyss of her land in horror, but not into her defeat. She remains standing. And rises again. Hungry and naked, but a great winner. This brings to mind the famous painting of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso called GUERNICA. On the giant canvas of that creation of his, the poet of universalism gave a face to hunger, death, despair and human tragedy. Those apocalyptic scenes in that mad and wonderful painting remind me of the final months of totalitarianism in Albania. The years 1990-1991, when our miserable crowd, grew like a sad anxiety in the dusty streets of the cities, drowned in hunger, fear and misery. Like that black horse, with eyes sparkling with terror and pain. The father who was running away with his infant in his arms. These dark images come to my mind whenever I remember the simple people of that bitter winter, and the desperate eyes of the women who watched their children become numb from hunger. It was a deadly drowsiness of the donkey that took life like a monster from the accumulation of drama. Precisely at that time, in many Albanian families, the kerosene lamp gave off a faint flame. With that light many girls' and mothers' eyes stitched quietly and with pain. With that light the children read the old books. Every evening the embers of the stove were lit. Mothers kept hope alive until late at night. It was that great hope that was not extinguished. Never will the freeze of that winter be forgotten. Nor the faces of those women who endured with exhaustion. They had nothing else but their soul, and with it they won. (Continues on page 2)

The political director of Koha Jone, in the person of Mr. Futor, supports Albania's position in the Council of Europe For Europe, the Socialist Party has only one fixed idea in its head: to overthrow the government and use it as a pretext to seize power Dokle must come to Tirana and give an official answer The main goal is to make the Republic of Kosovo join 26 March says the communist fear Dokle or his double Reptiles! Their legs are hidden, but not their movements Server Pëllumbi and Nexhmije Hoxha on the '92 March 22 rally

Revenues Expenditures Of which: Revenues from agriculture Fishing a) revenues from farms b) revenues from irrigation enterprises From the sale of land Revenues from forests and pastures Industry and construction PHB enterprises Treasury bills Amount of the loan Changes in savings Expenditures from foreign financing ACT 1993 3347.6 5078 4510 17220 5778 7200 1162.4 162.5 924 990 4400 7 17668 ACT 1994 4667 8235.4 6054.5 12900 3516.7 3577 13085 1912.6 79 2292 7 PLAN 1995 5430 8509.8 68430 31668 14000 4800 4500 900 7 17668 (continued on page 7) (continued on page 2)