Minister Gjonçaj on the students’ conditions On the initiative of the President of the Republic, said Gjonçaj, we held a meeting with the members of the strike. We asked His Excellency, and through his mediation we decided to suspend the strike. We also asked for our representation at the meeting where the problem was discussed, and this was achieved. The students managed, through the President’s mediation, to win the right to study at the university and began their practical training. We lost ten years of study, but we gained a very important moral right. That is what the newspaper “Studenti” of 1 January wrote regarding the suspension of the hunger strike. Assessing the students’ demands seriously and correctly, Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi, in a special interview for Albanian television on 1 January, underlined once again that the demands of students with families will be handled responsibly, and the relevant ministries of the government have devoted themselves to this. The Minister of Education and Sports, Ylli Vejsiu, during his meeting with the students of the Agricultural University of Tirana, regarding the blocking of roads, says that they have not acted well; even the state itself is unable to deal effectively with all these difficulties. Their hopes for a solution are not weak at all; on the contrary, Mr Vejsiu made it known that the government is working to find means that will make it possible to find a way out of this difficult situation. Minister Ylli Vejsiu made it known yesterday that the government has allocated funds for students. As stated by his office, the government will allocate 4.5 million dollars for the students confined in the “Studenti” town. Such funds will be given not only to students in Tirana, but also to all other university towns. Minister Vejsiu also declared that the necessary subsidies for students who are successful in their studies. Vejsiu was referring to the statement of a student who had said that the state, which has spent money on former political prisoners, cannot subsidize students. According to the minister, this policy is not meritocracy at all. The minister clarified that compensation for former political prisoners is made on the basis of a clear law. Therefore, according to him, a distinction should be made between expenses for students and payment of obligations to former political prisoners. At this meeting he asked that students not confuse the current situation with that of former political persecuted persons. Speaking about the students’ family members, he once again emphasized the fact that the government is trying to make distinctions among categories of students. For example, there will also be support for children of teachers who work in remote mountainous areas, as well as for families with very low incomes. Regarding the new student town, Minister Vejsiu said that the project for its construction will soon begin. According to him, the project will include all the buildings of the former combined school. This project will also be supported by the “Soros” foundation, which will provide 4 million dollars. In the new town not only students from families will be housed, but also other students. At the end of his speech he said that the “combined school” would be closed. Page 3

The government sets up the unified system of higher specialists It was decided that the total income of the University for a specialization course used for the organization of the annual press and the premises are all to be with unlimited family tariffs Page 2

RD celebrated its 6th anniversary “Rilindja Demokratike,” said Vjollca Taçi in her greeting, “has been a tribune of the independent press. Its circulation grew very quickly. It belongs not only to the Democratic Party, but it is part of Albanian democracy.” Under the name “Rilindja Demokratike” last year Sami Neza, the editor-in-chief of “Rilindja Demokratike,” on the occasion of the 6th anniversary in a corresponding way with with publishing in RD? writes Zija Çela

Azem Hajdari’s flags place a “barricade” at the gates of knowledge All the requests are fair and will be fulfilled for the students, but we will not accept provocateurs like Azem Hajdari and his nephew Page 3

Albanian emergencies see realistically the criteria and practices that will be used for evaluating the forms Page 2

With Mr. Fetullah Gulen, president of the Association that administers the Turkish colleges Page 5

DEGOS AD, journalist/ATSH-AFP - Around one hundred thousand supporters of the Serbian opposition demonstrated yesterday in Belgrade in a rally in the center of the capital, taking part in a protest against a court decision that challenges the opposition’s victory in the 17 November elections in most municipalities. The Serbian riot police dispersed the crowd quietly without using force and, just as in the citizens’ demonstrations against the rule of President Milošević, the police remained in the background. The demonstrators passed in front of the headquarters of the Socialist Party of Serbia and chanted “resignation.” At the head of the rally was the leader of the “Zajedno” coalition, Vuk Drashković, who told the demonstrators that Yugoslavia (FRY) is under a pure post-communist dictatorship. According to him, all citizens of Yugoslavia (FRY), from bankers to doctors, cannot live in peace, because people will be expelled if the war in the Balkans does not stop. Page 1

The Devjollas community member of the PS of Elbasan, Mr. Fatmir Haxhillari Page 3

The government took Albanian farmers’ products under protection After the privatization of agriculture and the sustainable growth of agricultural production, agriculture and the domestic market in recent years, the country no longer depends on foreign food Page 2

For the people of Funar on the New Year. The traders’ “seal” begins