Decree of President Berisha Today, 16.03.1996, the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, issued a decree remitting the 100,000 lekë fine imposed on the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Koha Jonë,” Aleksandër Frangaj, by the Tirana District Court for the criminal offense of violating press regulations.

Interview of the week Interview with the renowned writer, Sotir Andoni The forces of democracy are against the Socialists, who have more spies and executioners p. 4 Interview of the week They were sewn together that way, and that is how they will be torn apart Interview with the renowned writer, Sotir Andoni The forces of democracy are against the Socialists, who have more spies and executioners p. 4

President Berisha’s address to intellectuals from across the country Today, we can realistically affirm that 22 March 1992, the date that divided two eras, opened the gates of freedom for Albanians. This is because on the morning of 22 March, a very foggy dawn lay before us, with a ray of light but no paths, whereas now, after four years of great efforts, the fog is gone from before us, and the road is bright and open. Freedom is the gateway to democracy. For precisely this reason, the battle of ’96 is a battle for democracy and its consolidation, for prosperity and its achievement, and for the country’s final integration into Europe. I am sure that we will win it. It is a particular pleasure for me to meet with you today at one of the most decisive moments of the efforts, sacrifices and achievements that concepts, laws, procedures, institutions and varied connections—she faced not only the unknown and the legacy of the occupier, but also impunity. They made Albania into a state, a country where the sun rises in the West, and gave Albanians the alphabet, CHRONICLE. The year 1996 is the year of the great test of this very tone, of truth itself. Democracy and truth are an inseparable pair. History has proved that they cannot exist without one another. We, Albanian intellectuals, know this better than anyone. By defending the truth, we make our democracy more secure. So this year, our resolve, ability and wisdom are being tested as we choose the alternative of consolidating democracy, prosperity and Albania’s full integration into the West. This was expressed by the President of the Republic, Mr. Sali Berisha, at the meeting he held yesterday with distinguished intellectuals from Tirana and the districts, at the Palace of Congresses in Tirana. The meeting was opened by the Secretary General of the Presidency, Mr. Kolec Topalli, who, after giving the floor to the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, who delivered the main speech at the meeting, also gave the floor to dozens of intellectuals from all over Albania. In his speech, President Berisha analyzed the role of the Albanian intelligentsia in the years since the overthrow of the communist dictatorship. He described the Albanian intelligentsia, after the overthrow of the dictatorship, as the first designers and implementers of the reform program that brought about the formation in Albania of a Western-style democracy of the Renaissance ...tive is the unrelenting attack and aggressiveness of intellectuals against the Albanian intelligentsia, the elite that carries development, and their amoral race to reject and humiliate the country, its culture, civilization and present-day democratic order in Albania, Berisha said. As the second alternative course, he mentioned the Socialists’ attack on our partnership with Europe and the Euro-Atlantic institutions, and as the third, the struggle against reform, the pathological hatred of the rule of law and the market economy. The Enverists at the head of the PS drive out of their ranks those intellectuals with Western inclinations who had joined it in order to reform it, President Berisha said. The Socialist Party is the most isolated force in Europe. An imaginary victory for it would mean Albania’s isolation, Berisha stressed at the meeting. After President Berisha’s speech, dozens of intellectuals from the capital, including Maks Velo, Vehbi Skënderi, Tinka Kurti, Burjar Kapezhi, Mentor Petrela, Bardhyl Matraxhiu, Refik Kadia, Anesti Rako, Pal Doci, Afrim Dangellia, Siri Sulejmani, Vikor Gjoka, Tefta Tase, Uran Kosreci, etc., spoke at the meeting and expressed their full support for President Sali Berisha and his political line of integrating the country into Euro-Atlantic structures and carrying out successful reforms in Albania. CHRONICLE Europe. Analyzing the achievements of the four years since democracy’s victory on 22 March 1992, President Berisha said that we first opened the country, secured its membership in the Council of Europe, the Central European Initiative and the Black Sea Initiative, joined the Partnership for Peace, and established close ties with the countries of Western Europe, the USA and other friendly countries. Speaking about the achievements of Albanian democracy, Berisha said it is also the story of the confrontation between Albanian democratic Western thought and totalitarian pseudo-intellectual thought, the bearer of pseudo-dictatorships and great dangers for Albania, which exists in its most organized form at the head of the PS, which leads the red front. Berisha called Marxist ideology an ideology of national destruction, a barbaric doctrine, and the Socialist alternative a serious threat to the country’s integration into Europe. The first line of this alternative—Euro-Atlantic structures and the successful reforms in Albania. The intellectuals of the city, whose participation is essential for the future fate of democracy in the country, emphasized the victories of the DPSh in this year’s elections. They stressed that only the DP and President Berisha could preserve and deepen the historic values of Albanian democracy, created with great sacrifice over these four years while confronting, among other difficulties, a destructive communist opposition that has not distanced itself in the slightest from its dictatorial past. The intellectuals used the meeting to address the Albanian people clearly, urging them to vote once again for the DP and for their future in Europe. At the same time, they expressed their commitment to consolidating democracy and called on Albanian intellectuals to become promoters of victory in this year’s great battle, making possible the victory of democracy and the country’s permanent separation from the shadow of the East. The meeting lasted three and a half hours. Correspondent of “RD”

Former spies and sections of the secret police insult the citizens of Tepelenë Yesterday at midday in the city of Tepelenë, a decision of the Municipal Council was announced that gravely insulted the citizens of Tepelenë and their aspirations for freedom and democracy. The Mayor, Skënder Hasa, informed the city’s citizens that at a meeting held the previous day, the Municipal Council had, by majority vote, declared Fatos Nano, the former Socialist leader convicted of corruption, an honorary citizen of Tepelenë. The news, made public at a so-called press conference by the Mayor before several newspaper correspondents from the south and some PS extremist militants, shook the city and provoked various reactions among citizens, who feel insulted and cannot accept that a man convicted of ordinary criminal offenses should be an honorary citizen in their city. But the Municipal Council, made up of Enverists and individuals who were active in the communist secret police and have also been tainted by corruption over the past three or four years, apparently received orders from above to make such a decision, an anti-pluralist one that is unique not only in Albania but in other countries as well. According to information gathered, “Cigaria” held a secret meeting with “Portokalli,” “Silurja,” “Tomorri,” “Trimi” and “Uji i Ftohtë,” where it ordered that Nano be declared an honorary citizen and instructed them to take all necessary measures to ensure the operation’s success. ... as mayor, Skënder Hasa, who has engaged in shady dealings in the allocation of houses, and with such Enverist members as Xhevdet Xhemali, the [unclear] of Enver’s association, involved for a long time in visa smuggling, his brother, the first secretaries, active members of the “Enver Volunteers” association, Fatmir Gumeni, an Enverist, Felek Hoxha, son of a spy, Memush Nelaj, implicated in corruption in tenders, and someone like Flamur Mehmeti, carrying out such a shameful plot has not been difficult. The incident was also commented on last night by political leaders in Tirana, among whom only Pellumbi called it a normal act. “What is wrong with it, when it is known that Nano is a prisoner of conscience?” he said, referring to his “Ylli.” Godo, meanwhile, called it a serious violation of the law. the law. A.I.

most decisive moments in the prospects, sacrifices and achievements that we have jointly realized over these four years, and also at one of the most decisive moments for democracy, the future and Albania’s belonging. The 1996 elections will determine the fate of our democracy and Albania’s Euro-Atlantic orientation. It goes without saying, therefore, that the main purpose of this meeting is for us to discuss together this vital issue for Albania and the Albanian nation. It is entirely appropriate for us to ask together today: what has been the role of the Albanian intelligentsia, and what have we achieved over these four years? After the overthrow of the communist dictatorship, the Albanian intelligentsia was the first to design and implement of a Western-style democracy based on the rule of law, a market economy and the country’s integration into Europe. The Albanian intelligentsia shaped Albania into a Western democracy The role of the Albanian intelligentsia in the last decade of this century closely resembles its role during the shining years of the National Renaissance and Albania’s independence. At the beginning of this century, the ruler of Albania’s independence as a country of Western Europe [as printed; passage unclear], while at the end of this century the Albanian intelligentsia shaped Albania into a Western democracy. In this process of shaping, which these processes of shaping, which these processes of shaping, which the intelligentsia of this shaped into a Western democracy. In Albania into a Western democracy. With concepts, laws, procedures, institutions and diverse connections, it faced not only the unknown but also the legacy and devastating consequences of the 50-year dictatorship in the economic, political, social and psychological spheres, on the one hand, and the fierce and amoral opposition of pseudo-intellectual thought, on the other. The entire history of Albania and the history of the development of Albanian thought is an uninterrupted duel between intellectual thought, which was born and developed as a synthesis of our Western thought, and pseudo-intellectual thought, historically the thought of foreign or domestic occupiers, a product of Albanian and human obscurantism and darkness. We must acknowledge that in this duel Albanian intellectual thought has indeed achieved great successes, but has also undergone some of the most tragic dramas. Albanians are among the founding nations of European civilization; therefore, the history of our intellectual thought, from its earliest beginnings to the present day, is one and inseparable from the history of Western European thought. This thought guided Albanians like a ray of light throughout their history and, even when it dimmed, it was never extinguished; it pierced the darkness of the centuries and flourished during the years of the Renaissance, bringing Albania’s independence. As the doctrine of Albanianism, it not only ensured Albania’s survival and triumphed over the pseudo-thought of the occupier and Albanian collaborators who, instead of the eagle, wanted the Baba; instead of self-determination, they wanted supervision; instead of independence, they preferred the East forever; instead of letters that sprang from the very soul of our beautiful language, they wanted it to be written—and extinguished—with the occupier’s letters. The Renaissance figures prevailed. They made Albania independent as a state and a country where the sun rose in the West, and gave Albanians their own alphabet, flag and Western government. Thus, after centuries of suffering and deep sleep beneath the East, Albania would awaken as the West. Pseudo-intellectual thought has followed Albanians like a black shadow for centuries This is precisely what explains the fact that we Albanians, as one of the oldest peoples, established the first democratic government in the Balkans, with a Western-style elected Prime Minister and Parliament. Even when we had to choose rulers from abroad, we chose them in the West. Later, the administration and institutions of the Kingdom of Albania were built by distinguished experts from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland, in accordance with the models of those countries. The Albanian Kingdom was not a genuine democracy in the modern sense of the word, but it respected freedom of belief, trade and movement, just like neighboring countries. And it must be acknowledged that freedom of thought had ample scope, and art, culture, literature and intellectual thought as a whole developed in their own Western tradition. But centuries. Like mold in the dark, it has always flourished in difficult times. During the war it flourished and was grafted onto the ideas of Marxism, the paranoia of Enver (Continued from page 1)

Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Suzana Anjeli, is coming to our country on 18 March 1996 for a one-day working visit, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her delegation includes a number of senior officials, among whom are Roberto Nixhito, Director General for Economic Affairs; Pierluxhi Rakelë, Director General for Immigration and Social Affairs; Paolo Bruni, Director General for Cooperation and Development; as well as other officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Minister Anjeli will hold separate meetings with her Albanian counterpart, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfred Serreqi, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Aleksander Meksi. Mr. Anjeli will also be received for a separate meeting by the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha. Susanna Agnelli