President Berisha in the districts of Gjirokastër, Tepelenë and Sarandë The socialists are now in the deepest isolation. The Red Front is a group of terrorists. Veterans enjoy the government's support. Our relations with Greece are very good …the deep respect for its freedom-loving traditions. You have also made history in this nation, a great name, a name of bravery, a name of courage, a name of patriotism. He went on to discuss the aims of the Red Front, saying that it is now led by a group of terrorists who ordered boys to be killed at the border, organized arson and devastation in Albania, and have never reformed. They, Berisha said at this meeting, are now in the deepest isolation and have no future. Finally, he introduced the Democratic Party's parliamentary candidate in this area, Mr. Sadik Bejko. …Albania's ties with neighboring countries and its integration into Europe. Going on to characterize the Red Front as a group of terrorists, he said they had no future and belonged to the past, a thesis in our national history. Therefore, we say no to voting for them, because that is a yes to our future, a yes to integration, yes to well-being, yes to cooperation, a yes to friendship. President Berisha welcomed the statement by Greek Prime Minister Simitis, stressing: “I want to give my assurance that the treaty of friendship and cooperation will be implemented, and will also be further enriched.” …by putting money in their pockets. With our vote, we must prevent their return, because their return means going backward, returning to Albania's isolation. The residents of distant Konispol, Albania's southernmost tip, were the first to welcome President Berisha yesterday. The 650 freedom-loving families of Konispol supported democracy from the outset in March 1992 and gave it their vote. Thanking them for this support, President Berisha said that during these four years the foundations of the market economy had been laid and property and proprietors had been created. On 22 March 1992 we won freedom; on 26 May we will further consolidate democracy. The Democratic Party's parliamentary candidate Leonard Demi said that by voting for the DP, you are voting for an alternative of development and well-being. Konispol now has its own border crossing at Qafa e Botës. On 30 April Konispol was declared a municipality, and we—he emphasized—and I, too, will bring it … Accompanied by cries of “Our votes are for you,” the President's speech was welcomed not only in Konispol but also in the other communities of Borsh, Livadhja, Delvinë, and later in the city of Saranda. In the community of Murrsi and later in Zare, too, the President's speech was met with cheers of “Everyone wins with us.” Later, in the community of Livadhja and in the city of Saranda, the President said that the DP is a party of freedom and human rights and, as such, has respected the rights of the minority. The DP demonstrated this by signing the Helsinki Charter. And finally, Berisha said, we signed the treaty of friendship between Albania and Greece. “This treaty,” Berisha stressed, “has been signed by thousands and thousands of Albanians and members of the minority, their fathers and grandfathers, with the excellent harmony, understanding, tolerance, friendship and brotherly spirit they have shown toward one another.” The vote you gave, President Berisha later said, was transformed into freedom of belief and movement, greater well-being and more foreign investment. Saranda will become one of the most beautiful centers in Albania and the Mediterranean. This is the DP's program for the next four years, Berisha said. The Red Front and the newspaper “ZP” lie to Albanians and deceive foreigners; therefore every vote for them is a vote against foreign investors, against Saranda and against Albania. Therefore, I invite you, Berisha stressed, to vote for the DP as the alternative for development, well-being, the security of property, and cooperation with Europe and the whole democratic world. Everywhere, in Livadhja and Saranda, President Berisha's speech was greeted with cries of “Our votes are for you.” On Sunday morning, President of the Republic Sali Berisha began his visit to the district of Gjirokastër. He held his first meeting with the people of the town of Libohovë. Berisha thanked the residents of this town for the support they had given the Democratic Party from the first days of its founding. Berisha then turned to the DP's program for the next four years, stressing that we aim for well-being as our greatest objective, and for rapid economic growth. If we assess what we have achieved, Berisha said, we all have reason to be proud. I assure you that our promises are realistic. Regarding the issue of organized emigration, Berisha stressed that no country in Europe has accepted organized emigration from one country to another, since all of Eastern Europe opened up at once. However, he added, we have recently reached agreement with the Greek and Italian governments to sign an agreement on seasonal migration. Regarding the Red Front's alternative, Berisha said they pledge legal protection for an approved …, intending to replace them with the laws of Marxism; but, he said, Marxism and democracy are incompatible, and Albania is a true example of this. After the welcome organized for him in the center of the village of Sofratikë in Lower Dropull, President Berisha visited the home of teacher Jorgo Manthio, a former political persecuted person. After they spoke about the achievements of the past four years, their conversation turned to relations with our southern neighbor, Greece. “Our relations with Greece are very good,” Berisha said. He praised the politician Papulias as a friend of Albania and discussed the contribution of the two current governments to strengthening friendly relations between the two countries, noting that the signing of the treaty of friendship and cooperation was a major act in strengthening these relations. After this visit, President Berisha stopped in the village of Haskovë, where he cut the ribbon to mark the start of construction of the regional water supply system, which will provide abundant water to the residents of the villages of Goranxi, Vanister and Haskovë. “We have always considered your democratic spirit inseparably bound up with your freedom-loving traditions,” President Berisha said at a meeting with the people of Lazarat. He recalled the very strong support Lazarat's residents had given the Democratic Party, voting 92 percent for the DP in the 1992 elections. Together, in these four years, we transformed Lazarat into a commune of free citizens, free proprietors and successful businesspeople, and likewise all of Albania. Speaking about the Red Front's anti-democratic alternative, President Berisha urged the people of Lazarat to vote 100 percent for the DP. The socialists think they can take Albania to India, but they will never achieve it. At this meeting, Berisha introduced the DP's parliamentary candidate in this area, Mr. Fatos Beja, describing him as one of his closest associates over the past four years. At the meeting with the people of Mashkullorë, Berisha … this town. Amid the participants' unrestrained enthusiasm, Berisha greeted the people of this town and thanked them for the great days of its founding. Building a true democracy with market values in a country that had one of the harshest dictatorships in the world speaks greatly in our favor, Berisha stressed. You people of Gjirokastër, with the deep respect you have for one another, you, members of the minority, are part of our program, which expresses respect for human freedoms and rights, he said, assuring the minority that the Democratic Party's program is the best program for human freedoms. I call on them not to be deceived by those who are willing to trample on the martyrdom of the minority; I call on them not to be deceived by the Red Front, but to vote for the Democratic Party, because it is their party, the party of all Albanians, he stressed. Berisha discussed the democratic government's efforts to strengthen treaty of friendship and cooperation will not only be implemented, but will also be enriched with concrete acts; it will remain a shining achievement in history and in the relations between our two friendly countries. I have …,” he continued, Beyond that. In his speech, President Berisha called on the people of Tepelene to vote for the PD, because that is how they vote for the future. “I want to assure the veterans,” said the President, “that they have my support and that of the entire government. The Anti-Fascist War is Tepelene’s pride, the honor of Tepelene and of all Albania.” He then went on to speak specifically about promises for Tepelene. The President told them that the investments over the next four years would be twice as great as those over the past four years. The Red Front is the Front of isolation. The President said that no one helps the Red Front apart from Cuba and Korea, because when the West helped them in 1991, they stole your aid and sold it abroad. He then focused on the efforts of the democratic government to strengthen the

Yesterday, Albania took another important step toward integration into the structures of the European Union. Albania took another important step yesterday toward integration into the structures of the European Union. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was informed by the office of Commissioner Hans Van Den Broek (Brussels) that the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union, meeting in Brussels, had approved the following text on Albania the previous day: “The Council of Ministers notes with satisfaction that the Commission will submit to the Council a mandate for negotiations with Albania to conclude a new agreement, which will be an important step toward an Association Agreement.” With this act initiating negotiations, the Albanian government is achieving one of the Democratic Party's most important objectives: reaching an Association Agreement between Albania and the European Union by June of this year. Some time ago, the EU's leading officials themselves determined that there are no political obstacles to such an agreement between Albania and the most important European organization. Likewise, the current head of the EU, Italy, through its foreign minister Anjeli, has pledged that the Association Agreement between Albania and the EU will be concluded during the Italian presidency, which ends at the end of June.

Yesterday, Democratic Party chairman Tritan Shehu in Fier The village of Mbrostar was the first stop. Introducing candidate Vasil Ndreko, Tritan Shehu stressed that “those who spent 50 years destroying the individual could not now raise him up as a free human being.” We destroyed the slave-owning state and are aware, the Democratic leader said, that they will try to restore the state of terror and totalitarianism. While we are building the rule-of-law state and private property, a state of human freedoms, the Albania of the year 2000. In Kurjan, in the commune of Shirag, Shehu emphasized that the Democratic Party's program places great importance on education and the entire school system. There is only one way, the Democratic leader said, for us to accelerate our development. That is education. He focused in particular on the near-term prospect of diploma equivalency, increasing the number of students, continually improving curricula, etc. Shehu also held several spontaneous meetings with residents of Roskovec, who assured the Democratic leader that they would vote for Mr. Fadil Çepele. In Peshtan-Bregas, the Democratic leader enthusiastically introduced candidate Hasan Halili, Minister of Agriculture and Food. “When the best program is joined by the names of the best people,” Shehu said in Peshtan. “While we aspire to Europe, they seek only darkness,” said Tritan Shehu, referring to the leaders of the Red Front. Their political spectrum is the spectrum of the bat. That means going far backward, Shehu pointed out amid applause. At a meeting with voters of Zone 77 in Fier, Tritan Shehu stated that the main feature of the Red Front's campaign is that it is being run by people who have been disqualified from the right to stand as candidates. Among the figures of the Red Front, besides Pellumbi, Dokle, Gjinushi and Çeka, Ruçi too—the minister of death—is directing the campaign from the darkness, Shehu said. Ruçi is responsible, Shehu said, for all the crimes committed in 1990–91 and at the beginning of 1992. I invite Ruçi, Tritan Shehu declared, to publicly explain his past, and how he rose to the highest levels of the state security service. Why, Shehu asked, does Gramoz Ruçi not make public the reason for his rejection by the Verification Commission? The Democratic leader went on to explain that terror is the only alternative of the left-wing extremists and that they will try to use it again. “But they are mistaken,” Shehu said, “because they face an organized state, a state governed by the rule of law, a lawful state alongside Europe.” Shehu held his final meeting in the city of Patos. The large turnout forced the organizers to move the meeting outdoors, to the crowded square. “Your oil-extraction sector has been and remains the heart of our economy,” Shehu said, among other things. Shehu described the investments attracted so far as only the beginning of a long road and assured those present that the next Democratic government would give oil a primary role. You have worked like heroes, Shehu said, but your work has been repaid with contempt and neglect. They, Shehu said of the socialists, “conceive of human society as a flock of beings in which they themselves are the shepherd.” Repeating his promise that oil workers would soon become shareholders, Shehu again stressed that with the Democratic Party's program, Europe's support and our own work, our children's future will resemble that of the … of Europe, Shehu concluded.

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RAPID INCREASE IN THE INDIVIDUAL'S WELL-BEING RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY CONSOLIDATION OF THE MARKET ECONOMY PAGES 2–7