Prime Minister Meksi received representatives of international institutions Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi received yesterday at midday representatives of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE), the American National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, etc. As the Prime Minister’s press office announced, the upcoming elections in Albania were at the center of the meeting. Mr. Meksi presented the government’s full, serious commitment and dedication to guaranteeing free elections in full compliance with the law. Prime Minister Meksi expressed his conviction that the elections would be free and fair, stressing that the parallel noise about manipulation had no real basis and was being made by the SP and its allies to justify their inevitable defeat in the upcoming elections. For their part, the representatives of the international institutions welcomed Prime Minister Meksi’s invitation to observe the upcoming elections and assured him that representatives of the best-known institutions in this field would be present. The meeting also discussed the possibilities for providing technical training to the Central Commission and the other electoral commissions that would be established.

For the extremist leaders of the SP, true democracy is only that which has Enver and Marx in its content

The first anti-communist demonstration in Kavajë is commemorated The President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, takes part President Sali Berisha visited the city of Kavajë yesterday to mark the commemoration of the first anti-communist demonstration in Albania. On this occasion, alongside many other activities, he also delivered an important speech in “America” Square, where he analyzed several current issues concerning the situation and the efforts of the former communists to return to power, as demonstrated at the recent SP congress. Six years ago, on 26 March 1990, the people of Kavajë rose up and held the first anti-communist demonstration, which became the signal for the overthrow of communism in Albania. Today we are inaugurating the first monument to the struggle for the victory of democracy in Albania. He thanked— I thank, on behalf of the people of Kavajë, the mayor, Selim Veizi. The memorial, which will be 12 meters long, will be built with contributions from the people and artists of Kavajë and with funds allocated by the Government. On the sixth anniversary of your liberation from the communist dictatorship, Kavajë, its men and women, brave fighters, fought in this square and prevailed over the dictatorship. Their deed will be honored forever, for as long as Albanians cherish freedom, President Berisha said, speaking at the ceremony. Kavajë was the first to stigmatize the Albanian dictator; “the Albanian Hitler,” “the tyrant Enver-Hitler” was a liberating call. Later, gradually, Albania turned to Kavajë and Europe understood Kavajë, President Berisha said. He went on to say that in 1996, in the Paris Declaration of the 37 democratic parties of Europe, Enver Hoxha was described as a dictator of the Hitlerian type. President Berisha emphasized that after 26 March ’90, Kavajë became the strongest bastion of freedom and democracy. It became a powerful base of support for the Democratic Party, leading to the greatest victory of anti-communist forces on 22 March 1992. On this day, Berisha said, we ... (Continued on page 3) We have gathered here together today to undertake the work commemorating the great courage of Kavajë and its brave citizens, its undefeated democratic citizens, who on 26 March fought here against the fiercest dictatorship in Europe and triumphed. On this day, we know, the brave girls, men and women of Kavajë defeated the savage Hoxhaist dictatorship, liberated their city, and transformed Kavajë into a cradle of the democratic movement that swept across all of Albania. The powerful demonstration

We have gathered here together today to undertake the work commemorating the great courage of Kavajë and its brave citizens, its undefeated democratic citizens, who on 26 March fought here against the fiercest dictatorship in Europe and triumphed.

Thus, after March 26, Kavaja would become a powerful epicenter of the democratic movement, its unassailable bastion. It would be among the first cities where the Democratic Party was founded and one of the main sources of support for democracy’s victory in Albania. In the March 22 elections, it voted more than 90% for the DP, or the vote more than…

In their platform, the PS leaders declare that they will begin dismantling Albanian democracy precisely with the rule of law and the market economy. Thus, they will defend, with only a free… [text unclear] the values of democracy built by Albanian Enverists. “Dismantling and assembling”—that is, dismantling democracy and assembling socialism in Albania. After adopting an anti-DP stance as their only alternative for four years, the Enverist leaders of the PS openly declared at their congress that the major objective of the imaginary victory of the red front in the upcoming elections was to dismantle Berisha’s regime of anti-values. For the Enverists at the head of the PS and their archaic way of thinking, Albanians today are not free citizens, but, according to them, just as in…

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For us, Albania had gone further than China, German Minister Ruhe told him last night at the dinner hosted in his honor by President Berisha. “Look,” he said, addressing the President, “we have the historic merit of bringing Albania back to Europe, and that is why we have supported you and will continue to support you fully. The Balkans are regarded around the world as the continent of the unpredictable. You deserve credit for having embarked on a clear and lucid policy, entirely successful. President Berisha thanked his German guest and described relations between our two countries as very good and friendly. He also thanked the German guest for the comprehensive assistance Germany has given Albanian democrats and for its continued international support. The dinner took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

…brutally in Europe and triumphed. On this day, the brave boys and girls, men and women of Kavaja defeated the savage Hoxhaist dictatorship, liberated their city, and turned Kavaja all of Albania. The powerful demonstration against Enver’s living busts in Albania and his regime, the overthrow of the dictator’s bust in Shkodër, and the silent demonstration in Tirana were the events that [??] the ugly communist dictatorship in Albania. But on March 26, the brave citizens of Kavaja not only took control of their city and liberated it from the communist dictatorship; they also turned Kavaja into a powerful center of communist propaganda. They have the honor of being the first—not only in Albania, but in Europe—to brand Enver Hoxha as the Albanian Hitler. Honor to the sons and daughters, the brave people of Kavaja! At that time, when Albania was living under the yoke of the dictator’s cruel rule, branding him a Hitler had the immense power of a call for liberation, encouraging and inspiring hundreds of thousands of other citizens in every corner of the country in their struggle for victory over communism. Your description of Enver Hoxha as the Albanian Hitler was endorsed not only in Albania but throughout Europe. The Paris Declaration of March 1995 described Enver Hoxha and his secret police as the most barbaric regime in Europe after the Second World War—in other words, as the postwar Hitler. A chronicle of the people of Kavaja! Today, together, we build the anti-communist resistance of all Albanians, of the 400,000 Albanians who experienced the terror of communist barbarism during 45 years. Today we honor the deeds of those men who gave their lives, youth, families, and hopes for a non-communist, free, democratic Albania. Eternal honor to all those who were killed, sacrificed, and stood against the communist dictatorship. This year, the rule of law and the market economy in Albania face a serious threat: the threat posed by the red front of Albanian left-wing extremists. In recent days, the PPSH, under its new name, having appeared without a façade or a roof [text unclear], held its final Congress—or the first phase of its final congress. I think it deserves to be called a congress of denial and deception, while their platform can be described as the highest leadership of the PS itself described it: “The Platform of …” …would become a powerful epicenter of the democratic movement; the coming elections; dismantling as in Enver’s time, they are simply zeros after the number Berisha; and everything they have achieved during these four years of freedom is an anti-value that must be dismantled and destroyed, solely because it does not conform to their Marxist ideology and because they cannot accept the rule of law and the market economy. During these four years, we have experienced the greatest freedom and prosperity in our entire history. These have been the best years of our lives. Our policies have benefited not one or several groups of people, but not hundreds or thousands—millions of Albanians. To regard the Albanian owner, the Albanian farmer, the businessperson, the free creator and scholar, the free individual and citizen as a whole, and the great values they have created in freedom, as zeros and worthless means that you value only the anti-values of socialism. To regard the replacement of communist laws with new laws modeled on Europe, the country’s membership in the Council of Europe, cooperation with the European Union, and the Partnership for Peace as anti-values means that you are nothing but an ugly double or ghost of Enver in a pluralist system. To regard the ownership of property by Albanians, the convertibility of the country’s currency, public order, the fall in inflation by dozens of times, and the highest economic growth in post-communist Europe as anti-values proves that you are drugged by socialism and experiencing not a crisis but a complete moral and spiritual collapse. In this platform, I want to express my conviction that the head of the red front will be able to dismantle the democracy that has been built and the values on which it rests—the freedom of speech, belief, movement, and property—only when they see the far side of the moon. I am convinced that Kavaja will… and the market economy. Thus, they proudly declare that they will “change” and “fix” the laws they voted against, which means replacing the laws of democracy with socialist laws. They voted against two-thirds of the laws passed by the Albanian Parliament, against the Charter of Human Rights, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, and other laws governing institutions of the rule-of-law state; they will replace these laws with socialist ones. At the congress, they openly declared that they have no democratic, party, or national interests, only the interests of criminalized groups and clans. That is why they want to win in order to repeal the genocide law and the files law, solely so that they can bring back the secret police, the apparatus, and the old nomenklatura. The Enverist leaders of the PS pledge to leave the country more devastated than before. They paralyzed Parliament for four months when we submitted the constitution to Parliament, and later refused to take part in the new commission to draft it, setting up an illegitimate commission in opposition. In full accordance with our program, we made every effort to give the country a constitution, and I assure you that this will remain a constant objective of the Democratic Party after its victory in the next elections. To dismantle the rule-of-law state and market laws, they are seeking a two-thirds majority in the Albanian Parliament; only then will they be able to replace the Charter of Freedoms and Human Rights and the other fundamental laws of the state with their Marxist-inspired laws. (Continued on page 3)

the

Letter from the President of the French Senate, Rene Monory, addressed to Mr. Pjetër Arbnori The President of the French Senate, Rene Monory, has sent a letter to the President of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Pjetër Arbnori, in which he writes: Please accept once again my warmest thanks for the welcome and the long-lasting signs of hospitality that you showed me in Tirana, as well as for the opportunity afforded to me to be a guest of the People’s Assembly, which moved me greatly. Please also convey my gratitude to your colleagues, who took care of organizing this visit and contributed to its success. This trip, which I made, was in fact of great interest to me and allowed me to better appreciate the quality of the relations established between the two countries and to gauge the extent to which interest in France is keen. (Continued on page 3)

Interview with Mr. Besnik Mustafaj, Ambassador of Albania to France p. 4

Speech by President Berisha delivered in the city of Kavajë