On Sunday in Tirana Perry will arrive on Sunday in Albania’s capital, Tirana, where he will take part in the meeting of the defense ministers of the southern Balkan countries, which aims to increase cooperation in the field of security in the region. The defense ministers of Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria and Macedonia will participate, while Greece has declined to take part. Albania, one of the countries in Eastern Europe with the most hard-line communist system, is now enthusiastically seeking to enter the heart of Europe. “More than anything else, Albania wants us to understand that it wants to be part of Western Europe,” the official noted.

As the Italian Embassy reports, on Sunday, 31 March 1996, Italian Minister of Defense General Domeniko Corcione will arrive in Tirana, invited by his Albanian counterpart Safet Zhulali. Corcione will come to Tirana as part of Albanian-Italian bilateral cooperation in the field of defense, and to the Balkan countries, which will be held in Albania’s capital. As the Italian Embassy reports, on Sunday, 31 March 1996, he will arrive in Tirana

Message from President Berisha The Parliament of Reform Yesterday the Albanian Parliament concluded its four-year term. It was a period of intensive work to create new Albanian legislation, democratic legislation, and laws for justice and Albania’s development. As a parliament that came immediately after a previous period of former-communist dominance, it had the task of creating the legislative image of an Albania that had definitively chosen its path toward democracy and a market economy, toward freedoms and rights. The parliament that has just concluded its work gave Albania the appearance of a state governed by the rule of law and created the European character of the country’s economic and political structures. The laws it adopted laid the foundations for a highly advanced Albanian legislative system and provided the entire functioning of the Albanian state with a framework of laws. This was only one aspect of its work. The Albanian Parliament of the 13th legislature will remain in Albania’s parliamentary history as the parliament of reform. It adopted laws that broke with the past, sanctioning the complete severance of Albania’s communist foundations and definitively eliminating all the mechanisms that produce dictatorship in every sphere of life. The debates in Parliament and the votes cast for the laws accompanying the reform process in Albania were its direct confrontation with the dictatorial past. The land law, the law on human rights, Albania’s accession to the Council of Europe, the criminal codes, the laws on privatization, On the occasion of the conclusion of the work of the first full legislature in the history of Albanian democracy, I greet you and express my most sincere thanks and my highest appreciation for your essential contribution to building the rule-of-law state and the market economy. The Albanian Parliament, elected by free vote on 22 March 1992, concludes today its work, having adopted hundreds of laws and ratified dozens of treaties and bilateral and multilateral agreements; having replaced the laws of the socialist system with laws modeled on Europe; having given the country the institutions of the rule of law and the market economy; and having created the legal basis for the country’s emergence from isolation, for Albania’s cooperation and friendship with friendly countries and international institutions, and for its integration into those institutions. This parliament gave the country political stability. Through parliamentary debate and the important work of its committees, the members of this legislature developed the tradition of Albanian parliamentarism as a fundamental factor of democracy in Albania. On the whole, this parliament’s work has been a success, and I therefore take this opportunity to extend my warm greetings to you once again on the conclusion of this parliament’s legislative work. the parliamentary history of Albania first. It adopted the laws accompanying it, thereby sanctioning the complete destruction of the communist base in Albania and definitively eliminating all the mechanisms produced by the dictatorship across the fields of life. The debates in Parliament and the votes on the laws accompanying the reform process in Albania were perhaps the most direct [measures] it had taken against rights, Albania’s condemnation by privatization, Albania’s entry into NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme, the anti-genocide law, etc., were the fruits of extraordinary work carried out by the democratic government and supported, justified, and approved by the Albanian Parliament. Despite the complete success of this Parliament, red cards were also cast against even the most lenient laws; nor were there any shortage of walkouts and abandonment of Parliament whenever laws were discussed that would finally strike at the collectivist ideology and the communist structures previously created in Albania. The parliamentary group of the Democratic Party showed titan-like dedication and, despite the constant pressure from the left, managed to give Albania a European legal framework and present it as a state founded on law. It was this group that successfully supported the initiatives of the right-wing government led by it to finally bring Albania into the market economy. Had things happened otherwise, Albanians too would have found themselves at a crossroads. Throughout the entire period of parliamentary work, the Socialist parliamentary group was a destructive and anti-reform opposition, demonstrating the representative party’s unrestrained origins. Nevertheless, stability in Albania was maintained for four consecutive years. This is one of the few cases in post-communist Europe in which a government governed for four years in a row, thus maintaining continuity in the development of reform and ensuring the pace of development. This was precisely the parliamentary approach Albania needed, and thanks to it the country surpassed [others] in the highest economic indicators in Eastern Europe compared with four years earlier. The conclusion of this Albanian Parliament’s work also marks the end of a victorious struggle. The laws Albania needed are now a reality, while the reform is fully equipped with the legislation of a developed capitalist country.

Speech by Mr. Arbnori at the final session of the 13th legislature of the People’s Assembly These four years represent a new experience, hard work, regret over mistakes, and joy at the well-deserved successes we achieved together: 560 codes, laws, amendments to laws and decrees adopted, in addition to decisions, interpellations and question sessions. I greet you and express my sincere thanks and the socialist system with laws modeled on Europe and stability. parliament’s legislative work.

The Swiss newspaper “Handelszeitung” writes: The re-election of the current regime, the Democratic Party, promises stability; its opposite—a victory for the opposition, the Socialist Party, which has many “ex-” members in its ranks—could bring unrest p. 3

Leaders of political parties in Korçë comment on the Socialist Party congress p. 3

Former security officers run Albanian prostitution in Italy Edmond Bakiassi, 28, a former officer who worked as a guard for senior officials during the Hoxha regime, has ended up in prison in Italy along with six compatriots because they tried to force a mother into prostitution. According to the Italian ANSA news agency p. 2

Frankfurter Allgemeine writes on 27 March: Herzog against a general amnesty You cannot make the idea of human rights the foundation of the very essence of the state and at the same time let people who have blood on their hands go unpunished. This devalues the idea of human rights.

Neue Zurcher Zeitung writes: Herzog against an amnesty for the crimes of the GDR regime Only remembrance can prevent the return of the SED regime and the Nazi dictatorship p. 2

* all the entities of the “League” will B.K.