Today , 22.02.1996, at 12:00, at the PDSH Headquarters, the Secretary General of the PDSH, Mr. Tritan Shehu, will hold a press conference regarding the recent visit to Italy and Germany by the PDSH delegation, as well as other important issues in current Albanian politics. All representatives of the press and mass media are invited to attend.

At the invitation of the Secretary General of the PDSH, Mr. Tritan Shehu, a high-level parliamentary delegation of Greece’s “New Democracy” Party, led by Ms. Marietta Giannako Koutsikou, Member of Parliament, International Secretary of “New Democracy” and former Minister, will pay a working visit to Tirana from 27 to 29 February. The delegation of Greece’s “New Democracy” Party will meet with President Berisha, Speaker of the People’s Assembly Arbnori, Prime Minister Meksi, representatives of the parliamentary parties, and other senior state officials. PDSH Press and Information Department

Socialist leader isolates the rank and file The Socialist Party has become a bed in which all the sick members of this party want to lie down. The genocidaires, the collaborators of the Sigurimi, Hoxha’s and Alia’s former advisers, criminals and new communists are all seeking a place there. Its central offices have become a Pandora’s box, from which they are ready to unleash their venom against Albanian democracy and Albania’s achievements during these four years of democratic government. Even the latest act, Nano’s letter, just published in the independent Albanian press, is an indication of the perfection of crime within the leadership of the Socialist Party. The common criminal who leads the Socialists has summoned to his side all the figures with the most anti-democratic pasts. The generation of 1991, four years later, is being brought back by its chief leader because they were blunted precisely in that year. They have been separated from the life of democracy since March 22 and are still looking for glorious dates for themselves. The only ones they can regard as such are those that occurred in ’91: the February killings, the killings at the border, the April 2 massacre, the coup at the United School, etc. Their glory rests solely on the battle against democracy, against the students, against the citizens of Tirana, Fier, Shkodër, etc. Now the Socialist Party has fully assumed the appearance it had in 1991. It has managed to preserve its features from those days so well that anyone hearing them declare that they are a party seeking to maintain the pace of development while in power would find it unbelievable. A party’s participation in democratic developments and support for democracy are subject to moral standards toward the people and the electorate it leads. This party lacks both. Albanians feel insulted by them when they put Hoxha’s collaborators on their candidate lists and have those who directed the crimes of 1991 leading the Socialist Party. They recall in silence the candidates with Hoxha’s collaborators on their lists and Party. They commemorated February 20 in silence, the day the dictator’s statue was toppled, seeking to portray divisions among ordinary Albanians. In response to this act, however, one cannot divide Albanians into two sides, but only one: all Albanians, who breathed freely after his removal. They have treated their electorate like servants. They have concealed from the rank and file all the political infighting between the factions within the Socialist Party leadership, presenting a united socialist front to them. They have concealed and severed their ties and established a leadership and program that do not reflect the aspirations of the rank and file. Within the leadership, unity exists where crime exists, and alliances are born and die only with leaders whose biographies are criminal. Gramoz Ruçi is a genuine terrorist; a member of the Socialist Party leadership has described him as such to his colleague who writes the Socialist Party’s candidate lists. What can be expected from an all-powerful terrorist who has control of the opposition party? His display of the whip against his colleagues is far more real than its use against others. The Socialist electorate has the doors of its own party shut to it. The socialist leader has created the conditions for a war against other alternatives and a threat to the realization of his own alternatives. The electorate has now become a muzzle for its leader. Meanwhile, the leader himself has created the Red Front, which encompasses the entire network of the Socialist Party and its satellites, while the terrorists within the socialist leadership are now preparing the red “thugs.” The Socialists are laying the groundwork for their revenge if they manage to take power. Gramoz Ruçi has expressed this unequivocally at a meeting of the Socialist Party in Sarandë. “The force of the Socialist Party will be merciless and deadly,” Ruçi said at the meeting, definitively legitimizing the nature of the government the Socialists would lead. “Our people have been waiting four years for this day,” Ruçi stressed in his speech, which the “independent” journalist of “Koha Jonë,” Fatos Veliju, noted down very clearly, since he is also a member of this party’s leadership in Sarandë. Of course, Ruçi’s statement does not come unexpectedly on the scene of Albanian political conflict or in the circumstances of the election campaign. The Socialists have been using such terms for a long time and have turned their vocabulary into a bunker. A few days after their major defeat in March 1992, it was the current head of propaganda for the Socialist Party, Kastriot Islami, who called for skulls to be cracked, while some time ago the mediocre archaeologist Moikom Zeqo called for a Night of Saint Bartholomew. At Socialist Party meetings and conferences in the districts, they have floated the possibility of creating a volunteer police force to guard the votes, which is wholly illegal and aims to challenge and use violence against the rule of law. Meanwhile, in an interview, Ditëro Agolli warned of the arrival of the red “thugs,” who would ensure the final peace of the Socialists who still feel like communists, former spies and Sigurimi agents, the old political detritus that spawned the Socialist Party. The note in the notebook of a

The force of the SP will be merciless toward those who will... (continues, illegible) The socialist leader, who is also a journalist for a newspaper that considers itself independent, reveals the dark scheme being prepared by the Socialist Party leadership. It is significant that, in the absence of a chairman, this party is led by a former interior minister who was responsible for tragic events for Albanians and democracy in Albania while in charge of the police and the security service. His being at the head of the party also defines the militarization of their ideology, or of the government that could emerge from this party. Albanians have rejected the police state, state violence and dictatorship once and for all. All the less can one now find supporters for carrying out a new genocide at the expense of Albanians. Democracy is a value that is part of everyday life and is reflected in all that citizens have achieved over these four years. It therefore remains a value in the civilizing of politics and of Albanians, who win or lose through this politics. Everyone loses under a politics of violence. Dictatorships have produced no winners. Nor will the Red Front preaching revenge among Albanians be any different. The genocidaire Ruçi may indeed be merciless and deadly in himself. He may also keep extra revolvers on him and have all the Sigurimi agents around him. Democracy does not rule out the existence of terrorist elements, but it does rule out the possibility of those elements having victims. The plans of Ruçi and the criminalized socialist leader were burned once and for all on March 22, 1992.

Andrews Tessoriere appointed the first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to Albania since the Second World War From the joint press conference of President Berisha and British Foreign Secretary Rifkind Finding a solution to the Kosovo issue and improving bilateral relations were the main topics of the talks held yesterday morning at the presidential headquarters between Albanian President Sali Berisha and British Foreign Secretary Malcom Rifkind. “I told Mr. Rifkind that the Kosovo issue is an open issue, and I am pleased that we shared the same views, that the time has come for a dialogue between the Albanians and Belgrade in the presence of a third party,” President Berisha said. “I am optimistic about progress,” Berisha said at the joint press conference after his one-on-one meeting with the British Foreign Secretary. “I agree with President Berisha,” Rifkind stressed, “that it is important to see progress toward resolving the Kosovo issue. Kosovo is an unresolved issue that adds to the other problems facing the region.” The two sides held an open discussion about the situation in the region and support for the Dayton Agreement, which they considered a real factor of stability that brought the war to an end and constituted a step toward peace. Albania has requested full assistance from financial institutions and seeks to establish relations with the EU. Asked whether the British Government supported the call for an immediate start to dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Foreign Secretary Rifkind replied: “We encourage President Milošević to begin internal reform so as to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Kosovo for broad autonomy. But the manner and path by which these reforms will proceed are more important than returning to the field of economic reform, with technical assistance in banking, with the know-how fund, as well as in education, military cooperation and other fields. We are happy to have secured the legal basis for this cooperation. British investment is increasing, and serious companies are operating in Albania,” Berisha said, thanking Prime Minister Major and his government for encouraging British investors to come to Albania. “This is a sign of the steady, step-by-step growth of our bilateral relations,” Foreign Secretary Rifkind said. “I am convinced this will create more opportunities for the United Kingdom to make a constructive contribution to the work Albania is seeking to accomplish. There is also considerable interest among British companies in investing to develop Albania’s economic potential and encourage trade, which has historically been at a very low level but has grown significantly over the past two years.” Rifkind mentioned as one opportunity the special agreement Albania had reached with the EU, which, he said, would enable Albania to increase employment and achieve economic development. Both sides described the visit as a substantial and very important contribution to cooperation between the two countries. Both region and support for the Dayton Agreement, which was considered a genuine factor of stability that put an end to the war and represents a step toward peace. Albania has long called for the admission of the FR of Yugoslavia to the OSCE to be conditional on resolving the Kosovo issue. On this point, the two sides found common ground from their respective perspectives. “I am happy,” Berisha emphasized, “that the British Government is also convinced that Belgrade must begin a dialogue with the Albanians, and that Serbia’s entry into Western institutions should be conditional on resolving the Kosovo issue.” “Together with the other Western countries,” Rifkind said, “the United Kingdom has made it clear to President Milosheviç that we will believe him only when we see tangible progress toward resolving the Kosovo issue, and when we see respect for the right to recognize Kosovo as a distinct identity. Only once this progress has been achieved will it be possible for the government in Belgrade to benefit in a way” Asked about Belgrade and Prishtina, Minister Rifkind replied: “We encourage President Milosheviç to launch internal reforms so as to meet But how and by what path these reforms are developed and advanced is of little importance compared with the restoration of genuine autonomy for the population of Kosovo. A further step toward improving bilateral relations is the promotion of Andrews Tessoriere from chargé d’affaires to ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom in Albania. After a freeze during the communist period because of the so-called Corfu incident, diplomatic relations between Albania and the United Kingdom... In June 1992, the chargé d’affaires of the United Kingdom was posted to Albania. “Political relations are developing successfully,” Berisha said, noting that relations in other fields are progressing in step with political dialogue. As progress in these fields, Berisha cited the assistance that the United Kingdom has given Albania

Both sides held an open discussion about the situation in the region and support for the Dayton Agreement, which was considered a genuine factor of stability that put an end to the war and represents a step toward peace.

Asked about Belgrade and Prishtina, Minister Rifkind replied: “We encourage President Milosheviç to launch internal reforms so as to meet the aspirations of the people of Kosovo for broad autonomy.”

NATIONAL LIBRARY TIRANA FOURTH YEAR OF PUBLICATION No. 43 (1190) THURSDAY 22 February 1996 Number of pages: 8 PRICE: 10 LEKË 1,000 Italian lire 200 drachmas

Alarm at the SP headquarters p. 3

The rally in Shtërmë is organized by PAD politicians Peshkëpia opens its wallet: 50–100 thousand lekë for each family We will lower the price of fuel to 10 lekë The village in Albania does not need foreign money... p. 3

Socialist hypocrisy A former branch official named Bajram Tresova is seeking to buy a hydroelectric power plant with securities issued by the Democratic Government p. 3

February 20, a day of mourning for the PS Not a word in “ZP” about the dictator’s overthrow The silence reaffirms Nano’s words: “We consider E. Hoxha our father” Alia’s message of February 21, ’91 confirms the mission of Nano and Ruçi ZËRI I POPULLIT ORGAN OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE PPSH 48th year | publication [?] No. 44 (13. 30 [?]) Price: 30 qindarka MESSAGE [?] - Addressed to [?] Z ALIA - Revisionist [?] p. 3