Yesterday, the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, received Mr. Leonard Johannson, President of the European Football Association (UEFA), and Mr. Gerard Aignë, Secretary General of UEFA, as well as the people accompanying them, at a special meeting. In the very friendly and open conversation, after discussing in general the difficulties overcome and the optimistic situation of Albanian football, the particular necessity of strengthening cooperative ties between UEFA and the Albanian Football Federation was emphasized, as was the continuation and deepening of UEFA’s support and assistance for Albanian football.

States Ives Berthelot, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe. The UN Economic Commission for Europe published last month its annual European report on Western and Eastern Europe. In it, Albania ranked first for GDP growth, at 13.4%. In our latest edition we reported that Albania undoubtedly had the highest GDP growth rate for 1995, at 13.4%, and interviewed Ives Berthelot, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe. “This is a high rate of development, but what is important is that the indicator of development maintains strong momentum,” Berthelot added. “Stability is an important issue during reform; what matters is maintaining development policies,” Berthelot stressed, referring to Albania’s current situation on the eve of the elections.

PS surrendered and dismayed in Tirana and Shijak The city of freedom signed its new contract with the PD On 26 May we will vote to safeguard what we have achieved, the freedoms we have won, property and freedom of movement. We will vote to consolidate democracy and its institutions; we will vote for progress, greater prosperity and Albania’s further integration into Europe. This was the main message conveyed yesterday by the President of the Republic at his meetings with residents of the Durrës and Tirana districts as part of the election campaign. At meetings with residents of the villages of Pezë and Ndroq, President Berisha was warmly received and received their promise to support the PD in the 26 May elections. President Berisha promised these residents greater investment over the next four years in infrastructure, telephone services, telephone services, water supply systems, schools, roads and hospitals. “We will fulfill these promises,” he said, “because over these four years the PD has shown that it delivers on its promises.” Berisha pointed out that dozens and hundreds of agreements already signed with European and international states and institutions also now guarantee that these promises will be fulfilled. The high point of yesterday morning’s meetings was the extraordinary welcome that the residents of the town of Shijak gave President Berisha. They had come out to welcome Mr. Berisha with more than 5 0 [?] cars decorated with flags, from 10 km outside their town. And President Berisha, to honor the people of Shijak for this enthusiastic demonstration and welcome, walked with them for about 2 km, from Katër Rrugët to the town center. Greetings, applause and flowers continued along the entire route. Shijak had turned yesterday into a day of celebration, as if to show that in this town the result of the 26 May vote had been “sealed” in favor of a guaranteed and decisive PD victory. More than 10,000 residents, who had decorated the town square, cheered for a long time to welcome the President. Addressing the democratic people of Shijak, President Berisha said that Shijak is a powerful center of the country’s economy and one of Albania’s most successful towns over these four years, but that it will become even more successful in the future. He promised the residents of the town much greater investment in infrastructure. The elections of 22 March 1992, Berisha said, separated the systems, while the elections of 26 May this year will make history. At the meeting with residents of Sukth, President Berisha also promised them that Sukth would soon become an asphalted municipality. He assured the farmers that the land would be given to them as private property. Mr. Berisha also told them to have faith in the PD program because it is based on your free initiative. “While the Socialists talk about progressive taxes, we will lower them,” Berisha assured them, “because we believe in you. We believe in the private sector because it is the reliable investor.” In the village of Rubjek, in the Maminas commune, after highlighting achievements and promising investment and increased prosperity, President Berisha invited the Socialists (not Marxists) to vote for the PD because, he said, they are much closer to the PD program than to the Marxist Enverists who lead the PS today. At the meeting with residents of Kamza, which was very enthusiastic, Berisha assured those who had arrived and settled there that they were welcome, and that the government would invest in urban development and infrastructure, especially telephone services, schools, a health center, water, etc. “Those who fear freedom of movement,” he said, “fear urban development, they fear civilization and culture. The PD,” Berisha said, “will not abandon [?] you, because it is the party of your freedoms. So,” he said, “you must not trust the Red Front, because behind their devilish idea of pluralist property lies the idea of changing your property.” President Berisha also met yesterday with residents of Shkoza and Krraba. At these meetings, President Berisha urged residents not to fall for the Red Front’s game. “The Red Front,” he said, “has surrendered Tirana. It insulted its electorate by leaving districts in the capital open to those people who have emerged from Ramiz Alia’s predecessors.” Among other things, President Berisha told the residents of Krraba that the PD program envisages restructuring the mine, improving living conditions and infrastructure, etc. “My contract with the students is eternal,” President of the Republic Sali Berisha declared to thousands of students gathered, as they had been in December ’90, in the historic “Democracy” Square. President Berisha expressed pride in the achievements of Albanian students and the University of Tirana, among the best in Europe. President Berisha presented those attending the meeting in large numbers with the PD’s objectives for the next four years: setting the education budget at the same percentage as in wealthy countries, doubling the number of students at Albania’s universities—an ongoing goal—and continually improving living conditions in the dormitories. Introducing the PD candidate for the district that includes Student City, the director of the Art Gallery, Alush Shima, Berisha drew a parallel between the worldwide resonance of the students’ historic achievement in overthrowing Europe’s most brutal dictatorship and the worldwide resonance of Shima’s artistic and dissident work. Continuing his meetings yesterday, the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, held afternoon meetings with voters in Tirana electoral districts 50, 52 and 44. President Berisha called on residents of these districts to spend the remaining days campaigning for the Democratic Party, which, as he put it, is the alternative of the future. “The Red Front,” Berisha said, “has surrendered Tirana in 10 districts. I call on you to surrender the Red Front too and turn their hope into defeat. This is to Tirana’s honor.” At these meetings, Berisha emphasized the idea that one of the reasons to vote for the PD in the 26 May elections is the consolidation of state institutions, because through them we can fight corruption, defend the laws we have managed to draft over these four years, and consolidate democracy. Berisha assured residents of these districts that just as over these four years we restructured 70 percent of the Democratic Party’s structures, over the next four years renewal will continue to be the Democratic Party’s motto. During these meetings, the President of the Republic called on the many residents in attendance to vote for the PD candidate. NDREKE GJINI

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