Berisha is the guarantor of democratic developments in Albania, Papulias declared President Berisha received former Greek Foreign Minister Papulias President of the Republic Sali Berisha received former Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papulias yesterday. At the meeting, the President praised Mr. Papulias’s significant contribution to the friendship and cooperation between our two peoples, describing him as a distinguished friend of Albania. The two interlocutors expressed their satisfaction with the concrete results of President Stefanopulos’s visit to Albania. Mr. Papulias emphasized President Berisha’s special role in building friendly relations with Greece, something, he said, that I appreciated during our meetings even in difficult times in these relations. I would also like to add that, within the European Union as well, Berisha is the guarantor of democratic developments in Albania. At the meeting, President Berisha stressed that elections in Albania will be fair and free, and that all the parties of the European Socialist International may send observers if they wish.

A major cultural event on the occasion of 22 March at the Palace of Congresses I wish you a happy celebration today, the celebration of your vision I wish all the young people of Albania well on this day, and I assure you that I have believed, and continue to believe, in your vision as the best vision for us, the best vision for Albania. He will immediately understand that he was not mistaken about your vision. To anyone who may hesitate to join your vision, let us ask together a question: has it changed and grown? No one changes faster than you; no one grows faster than you. That is why I, too, believe in your vision.

Yesterday, on the first day of the SP congress, what was expected happened. The head of the SP had nothing new to present to Albanians, who had expected this congress not to be an imitation of the noisy Congresses of the Party of Labour, which, step by step and five-year plan after five-year plan, destroyed Albania and isolated it from the world, turned it into a vast concentration camp where life became hell and only hope managed to survive deep in people’s souls. With their hands fixed on the dark era of dictatorship, with Marxism as their theoretician and ideology, and Hoxha and Hoxhism as their method of action and judgment—even though they “condemned” him just to pay lip service—the head of the SP showed the delegates in the hall, as well as all Albanians, that they have no intention of renewing themselves; that they have no intention of removing Marxist ideology from their program, even formally; that they have no intention of condemning the past and rehabilitating the victims of the terrorist Hoxha; and that they have no intention of removing the Hoxhists, criminal elements and genocidaires from the Party. On the contrary, they are determined to use the party to the very end for their narrow interests, thereby, unfortunately, determining this party’s end: its deep isolation, its destruction, and its shameful departure from the stage of Albanian history. All Albanians who care about the fate of democracy in Albania, the prosperity of the nation and its integration into the civilized family of European peoples listened with regret to the report delivered on behalf of the leadership by the Marxist professor Pellumbi, who extinguished every hope of this party’s renewal, of its breaking free from old formulas and embracing the ideals of European social democracy and democratic Europe. Professor

President Berisha’s greeting

President Berisha’s message to the Congress of the Socialist Party The first phase of your Congress gives me the opportunity to express my profound respect and best wishes to the members and supporters of the SP, as well as my appreciation for the contribution they have made and continue to make to the development and consolidation of political pluralism as a whole and of reforms in Albania. I also want to assure them that I have always valued, and continue to value, my opponents and their objections with unwavering respect, and that, in keeping with the motto “opponents, but brothers,” I have considered and continue to consider the role of the opposition essential to a democratic society. According to the documents, they undertook to commit state crimes;—removing Marxism from the program and denouncing it not only for the face it gave the Albanian nation, but also because its dogma of “destroying private property” … Precisely on the basis of this unwavering respect, I wish to express in this message my deep conviction that the following are essential for the future of the SP and the Albanian left as a whole, and for its integration into Europe:—the transparent condemnation, in a special resolution, of all the crimes and genocide committed by Enver Hoxha and the Party of Labour of Albania during the 50 years of communist dictatorship in Albania; the rehabilitation of all the victims of the barbaric regime; and the reassessment by the SP of figures on the Albanian left who, through their resistance to the dictatorship, honored Albanian and European social-democratic ideals;—the removal from the SP leadership of those who headed the Albanian secret police, who were implicated in the February massacre and that of 2 April, and all those who, according to the documents, took part in uprisings and state crimes;—the removal of Marx from the program and his denunciation, not only for the insults he inflicted on the Albanian nation, but also because his dogma of “destroying private property” contains the mechanism of the ugliest totalitarian dictatorship known to humanity. This dogma, more than all the gulags and wars of this century, is the cause of the hunger and loss of life of millions of innocent people across the geographic expanse stretching from the Strait of Corfu to the Bering Strait. Expressing my conviction that without these conditions there can be no talk of the SP’s renewal, to those who may misunderstand my message I wish to recall Mark Twain, who wrote, “Never tell the truth to those who do not deserve it,” whereas I cannot consider my opponents to be such people. Once again, I wish your Congress’s first phase success. Respectfully, SALI BERISHA

All Albanians who are concerned dashed every hope of renewing this party, moving beyond old schemes Europe. Professor Pellumbi, just like his fellow party members before him when imperialism and the world bourgeoisie were cursed from congress podiums, attacked and vilified Albanian democracy, economic and institutional reform, the Democratic Party and President Berisha in his report. For Professor Pellumbi and the other leaders of the PS, these four years of freedom, these four years of reform and the institutionalization of democracy, have been dark years in which nothing good was achieved. For Pellumbi and his associates, the PD and the President are destabilizing, disruptive, non-constructive forces. For Pellumbi, there can be no solution to the crisis or overcoming of the political and economic situation without removing the PD from power. Thus, the alternative he presented is simply an anti-PD alternative, an anti-Berisha alternative. By presenting this alternative, they are calling on Albania to turn back! Indeed, they also set out the scenario for this reversal, following Marxist models: restructuring legislation—that is, repealing the democratic laws adopted by the Albanian parliament in accordance with European legislative standards, legislation that was also drafted with the assistance of consultants and experts from Western Europe. They proposed increasing state control over the economy, replacing private property with public property, and openly declared themselves against big businesspeople, aiming for equality in poverty. They openly declare their opposition to the free market, saying that they support state control (intervention) over the market and the creation of a balance between the private economy and public property, which they will achieve through nationalization measures. In other words, at their congress the former communists openly declared their support for reversing the reform, restoring the state-run and party-run economy, overthrowing the rule of law, passing a law on the crimes of the dictatorship, and redeveloping the country. With this as the central line of its program, the PS is setting out an anti-alternative to democracy: a return to socialism, which Albanians overthrew four years ago with their free vote.

I wish all the young people of Albania well on this day, and I assure you that I have believed, and continue to believe, in your vision as the best vision for us, the best vision for Albania. vision for us, the best vision for Albania. Your vision has been proven. The vision of clarity, the vision of broad horizons, the vision of lucidity. us—if you agree—take a moment to go back five years and remember the socialist darkness. They will immediately understand that your vision was the vision of truth. of genuine hopes, the vision of strength, wisdom, and enlightenment, a vision that can grow. They will immediately understand that they were were these not the four best years of our lives? And after they answer, we will be sure that they will join your vision, the vision of the years 2000. I believe in your vision because it is the vision of wisdom, strength and energy. An individual’s energy, strength and wisdom depend entirely on their ability to learn, change and grow. vision. I invite all Albanians to believe together in your vision, the vision of the years 2000. On your behalf, I want to thank and warmly greet the artists at today’s concert, as well as all the other Albanian artists who, through song, performance, instruments and direction, have changed our lives so much—and especially the lives of those who are changing the most: the young.

Political party leaders speak to RD The 11th Congress of the PS in focus p. 3 For more than three hours last night, the concert hall at the Palace of Congresses was packed as never before. “Vision 2000” was the title of the show held there. The name was justified by the attendance of around 4,000 young people. These were the (Continued on page 2)

p. 7