President Berisha received President Rugova Yesterday, President of the Republic Sali Berisha received President Rugova. During the meeting, after discussing the progress and development of reforms in Albania, the two presidents focused on the political situation in the region created after the Dayton Agreement and the deployment of IFOR troops in Bosnia. They welcomed President Clinton’s decision to open an Information Office in Kosovo, as well as the decision by the Clinton administration and the European Union to make the integration of the former Yugoslavia into the International Community conditional on resolving the Kosovo issue in accordance with respect for the freedoms and rights of Albanians in Kosovo. Both presidents believe that no time should be lost in beginning a constructive dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade in the presence of a third party.

The PS was destroyed by its leader Says the Ambassador of the European Commission in Tirana, Mr. Elio Germano The Socialist Party is now experiencing the anxiety of final destruction, the anxiety of the end of its dark chapter as a political force. Even its most fervent communist militants, who joined this party in the hope of prolonging the life of the PP and applying Enverism through formal changes, feel disheartened, frightened and deeply disappointed by their leaders, who dragged them from one adventure to another, leaving only failures in their own record. But those most disappointed in the party’s red leader are the reformed members, the honest people who joined and associated themselves with this party in the hope that through this force they could realize true social-democratic ideals. For some time, intellectuals and representatives of the reformers within the Socialist Party have been speaking out in the independent press against the takeover of their party. Some have even called for the Communist Party to be allowed, hoping that they will move onto their own ground. Apart from showing the narrowness of the space for debate within the Socialist Party, this phenomenon also means that its press is entirely—[the source text is garbled here]. Apart from showing the lack of space for debate within the Socialist Party, this phenomenon means that its press is entirely determined by extremist forces that implement communism within the party. This is the moment when the party’s future is being decided. It seems that the signatures are all in favor of the Socialist Party’s destruction and final defeat. Today, this party is the only political force that, throughout its activity, openly displays the face of the past while at the same time presenting the sole political legacy of the dictatorial past. It is not the fault of the Democratic Party or President Berisha that this party finds itself in this position, precisely along the paths that the Democratic Party has promised to remove from Albania once and for all. So it is not the fault of the democratic forces in Albania that, at a time when a market and consumer economy is being established, a political force emerges demanding a regime of austerity. When the Democratic Party introduces a human-rights bill in parliament, the socialists’ dictatorial past awakens within parliament, and they take the floor to emphasize human rights. It is not the fault of the Democratic deputies when they approve privatization laws and [unclear] display cards saying no. Nor is it Berisha’s or the Democratic Party’s fault that the socialists are led by Gramoz Ruçi, a man abandoned by his own comrades, former first secretary of the southern front, the minister who carried out the 2 April massacre in Shkodra; that the socialists are directed by the Bolshevik Servet Pëllumbi, the former informer on his fellow pupils and students; or by Kastrijot Islami, formerly stationed in Paris, the minister who closed the universities in 1991 and called for skull-breaking in 1993. Berisha that the Socialist Party is headed by Namik Dokle, the perennial pawn and the actual link connecting the PS with the new Dushans and Miladins. Nor is it Albania’s fault that it asks you to leave it in peace and stop reminding it every day, through your public appearances, of the crimes you yourselves committed against it. The dictatorial history of the Socialist Party’s predecessors was transformed into a converted history that retained the same substance. Conversion is followed by division and destruction. The objective end is no different from the actual end it is experiencing in the last bunker still standing in Albania. The Socialist Party’s leadership is heading toward its final act: the destruction of the party. This act is a rejection of the past and favors the normal future that this segment of Albanian politics has obstructed and continues to obstruct. A future free of crime is more secure the farther away the past that created it remains. Question: Mr. Ambassador, in recent days several Albanian newspapers have published the result of a Eurobarometer question concerning the forecast vote shares for Albanian political parties. What is the truth about the published figures? Answer: Yes, I have also been following the press and was somewhat surprised by the publication of the figures. In any case, it should be confirmed that, as far as the figures are concerned, they are accurate, although some people may or may not like them. They are figures from an opinion poll conducted at the end of November, in keeping with the European Commission’s working tradition: at the end of every year, all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are asked about citizens’ responses to economic exchanges, human rights, and well-being. In this context, the European Commission also conducts an opinion poll on preferences for political parties. I am aware of these figures and confirm them. Question: So, when will the full Eurobarometer results be made public? Answer: There is a tradition whereby, once the figures and the volume of survey documents have been translated into the relevant languages, the survey is made public simultaneously in all countries at a press conference, usually held at the end of February or the beginning of March. Question: How was this survey carried out technically? an opinion poll on preferences for political parties. This last question is not included in the publication of the survey’s overall results, although it is part of the survey. This question exists and has been asked every year. The European Commission commissions these surveys through institutes specializing in this field. In this particular case, the information emerged before the European Commission made the results public. This means that we are still under an information embargo. Nevertheless, these figures have come out and been made public, and of course—[the source text is interrupted]. Question: How was this survey carried out technically? Answer: The European Commission does not conduct the surveys itself, but entrusts them to specialized institutes. Until recently, it was the famous “Gallup” institute. In recent years, the survey has been conducted by the German institute “G.F.K.”, which has complete autonomy to carry out surveys. But naturally, they cannot travel to every country to meet every respondent. So these institutes work with institutions in the respective countries, whose only task is to distribute the forms prepared by the European Commission. The question in question was distributed to many people who represent [unclear] Albanian public opinion. Thus, the European Commission commissions a specialized institute to prepare the forms, and a local institution distributes them. The institute commissioned to conduct the survey is responsible for administering the forms, interpreting them, and processing the data. Question: How closely does the Eurobarometer survey reflect the political reality in Albania? Answer: I should clarify that it is a survey, not a ballot box. Surveys are often very close to reality, and sometimes they are not. A survey is an opinion measured at a particular moment. An accurate survey can be wrong by as much as 3%.

Says the Ambassador of the European Commission in Tirana, Mr. Elio Germano Question: Mr. Ambassador, in recent days several Albanian newspapers have published the result of a Eurobarometer question concerning the forecast vote shares for Albanian political parties.

Interview with former PAD Assembly member Dr. Albert Karriqin I call on those remaining members of the AD from its first Eclizia not to support the actions of their leaders, who are no longer legitimate. The reasons for my departure and that of the others are clearly set out in the Memorandum. 1. We are not continuing the ideals of December, since we have become one with the PS. A party founded by protagonists of the overthrow of the Nano1 and Nano2 governments cannot form a coalition with the Nano3 government. 2. There is no longer any legitimacy in the PAD’s structures, since its highest body does not even include 20% of those elected at the first and only Eclizia in 1992, who could appoint or co-opt members. p. 3

The self-proclaimed liberal democrat, Neritan Ceka, known to everyone as the man who, behind the scenes, plotted traps with Ramiz Alia against Albanian democracy, has decided to join the PS. Ceka made this decision precisely now, on the eve of the election campaign, since his “friends” have assured him that with PAD he has finally lost all hope of winning as a candidate. And so he has decided to join the PS, so that even his defeat there will be more “noble.” To carry out this affiliation, N.Ceka has undertaken a series of “important” initiatives. First, he began with statements supporting Serbia, and then with meetings in the “clubs” of the party he leads, bringing together most of his former incriminated Sigurimi agents. As if that were not enough, Ceka continued this activity with a series of libelous articles against the “independent” pages that are affiliated with the PS or elsewhere, where, with pathological hatred, he slandered and insulted every which way the personalities and institutions of the Albanian state. And, as if to convince his old bosses who run the PS once and for all that he is worthy of them, Ceka, besides contributing to the red front panel (for the salvation of... the dictatorship), has been ordered by them to appear before TV cameras to voice insults, slander, and harsh threats against newspapers. These threats of violence and imprisonment against newspapers, accompanied by the phrase “when we come to power,” are irrefutable proof of Ceka’s decision to become an activist in the ranks of the PS. This is because, had he not made such a decision, he could not use this phrase, since he himself has repeatedly stated that the party he leads will not win even a percentage in the double digits. N.GJINI

Last year, the newspaper “Koha Jonë” was the first to publish the “Eurobarometer” data. This year, this newspaper, beholden to shadowy strings, received a direct order from Beça to censor the “Eurobarometer” results, which were provided by a source who also supplied other newspapers. The order was so severe that the journalists who sent these results to the editorial office were warned they would be fired. Two or three days ago, this newspaper censored an interview with a spokesperson for the EC, an interview that the newspaper itself had commissioned. We hope that today this newspaper has not censored the interview with the European ambassador, Germanos. A.DAJTI

Statement by the Journalists’ Association of Albania The Journalists’ Association of Albania views with concern the tense situation that some politicians are trying to create in the Albanian press, openly threatening press freedom. Yesterday, at a press conference, the president of the Democratic Alliance, Neritan Ceka, insulted Albanian Radio and Television journalists, calling them part of a criminal institution; accused its executives of collaborating with the State Security service; threatened the journalists of “Gazeta Shqiptare” that he would shut down their newspaper and expel them from Albania; and continued his threats against the journalists of the newspaper “Albania”. Mr. Ceka’s statements yesterday constitute open and unprecedented pressure on the Albanian press by a politician on the eve of the election campaign. They set a dangerous precedent, seeking through political pressure to align the press politically with the parties. The Journalists’ Association of Albania, as the largest organization of Albanian journalists, strongly protests this attack on Albanian journalists and the Albanian press, and calls on Albanian journalists to stand in solidarity with it in defense of journalists’ interests in the face of political pressure. The attack by Mr. Ceka on journalists of Albanian Radio and Television and on independent newspapers is the worst promise a party leader could make to Albanian society ahead of the coming elections. It is the ugliest and most dictatorial vision a politician could have for the future of press freedom in Albania.

The salvation of the PS is the separation of the communists p. 3

The PS did not accept Millosheviç’s invitation, but... p. 3

p. 3