The government makes decisions to reorganize student life Cooperation between students and the government The Albanian government has also taken into consideration a considerable portion of the students’ demands concerning living and study conditions. It seems that good cooperation between the democratic government and the Democratic Party, on the one hand, and the students, on the other, has remained unchanged since December ’90, with the government showing in various ways its concern for ensuring as normal a life as possible for one of its strongest supporters. A General Directorate for Student Services will now be established, and an amount of money will be included in the state budget, within its limits, to be used to rehabilitate the ageing buildings. Meanwhile, consideration has also been given to student comfort: in addition to the rehabilitation of the buildings, the premises of the former Party School will be declared a student town, having been more or less adapted for such a clientele from the time they were built. The “Student City” Palace of Culture will become their property, thus ending its dependence on the municipality, while a ring road is planned to run through it to ensure that young people can get around in the most normal conditions possible. Through yesterday’s decisions, the government has declared its interest in a generation educated under the best possible conditions. Among their demands, the students had others that the government did not consider appropriate to address at yesterday’s meeting; nevertheless, its decisions broadly address the purpose of their demands, which concerned their welfare. It should be noted that students had demands such as an increase of one hundred per cent… an increase of one hundred per cent in their scholarships, which would mean bringing them up to the level of the salaries of the lecturers who teach them, or at least very close to those salary levels. But the government’s responsibility for students’ comfort and peace of mind has not been overlooked. Over the past five years, as students’ living conditions have improved, their demands have also increased, which is entirely natural and in proportion to Albania’s economic development. Their well-being is consistent with the logic of the other standards of living of Albanians. This also encounters not the slightest resistance in the entire activity of the democratic government, which is concerned not only with students’ well-being but with that of all Albanians. Their demands, now fulfilled, are consistent with what was offered in the Democratic Party’s economic programme and in its section on education. Students have been and remain allies of democracy and the Democratic Party, and they affirm this alliance through debate, demands and communication in various forms, from supporting it to opposing it. Yesterday morning, under the chairmanship of Mr. Aleksandër Meksi, a meeting of the Council of Ministers was held. The reorganization of students’ daily activities was discussed and a decision was adopted. The decision covers several important aspects of these activities: 1. Establishment of the Directorate for Student Services in Tirana, under the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and reorganization of all student-related activities. 2. The Students’ Palace of Culture is placed under the Directorate for Student Services. 3. In the 1997 investment budget for the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, an investment fund is to be allocated for the reconstruction of the ageing buildings in Student City. 4. Construction of the Student City ring road in Tirana. 5. Establishment of a new student centre by making the buildings and premises of the former Party School in Tirana available. The Council of Ministers assigned a number of state departments responsibility for implementing these measures. By a separate decision, the most essential living supplies and educational supplies for improving public special-education institutions, with and without boarding facilities, are provided free of charge by the state. Page 2

The December protests and the toppling of the dictator’s bust in Shkodër, the events of April 1991, and the blood of the heroes of democracy have now entered the city’s new history as its finest and proudest part Page 3

The PD Secretary for Public Relations, Ferdinand Xhaferri, at the PPI congress On the second day of the third congress of the Italian People’s Party, the Democratic Party’s delegate, its Secretary for Public Relations and MP, Ferdinand Xhaferri, also delivered greetings. In his address, Mr. Xhaferri praised the assistance and democratic support given to Albania by Italian political forces and emphasized the Democratic Party’s closeness to all the democratic forces of Italy. He also wished the PPI congress success in its proceedings. Mr. Xhaferri’s greeting was interrupted several times by applause and was viewed positively by PPI leaders and media representatives. During the day, Mr. Xhaferri also took part in a roundtable with the invited foreign delegations and representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Rome, where the values of parties with democratic and Christian foundations were discussed. Mr. Pandeli Pasko, Albania’s ambassador to Italy, spoke about the values of democracy in Albania, the freedom of different religious beliefs restored by democracy and mutual respect among religions, as well as the democratic values of the peaceful centre of the Albanian people of Kosovo. During the conference, Mr. Xhaferri also met representatives of various Italian and other countries’ parties, including the president of Italy’s United Democratic Centre Party, Prof. Roko Butilione; the president of the Christian Democratic International, Mr. Kalderon; the president of the Nationalist Party of the Left, Mr. Adami; the former speaker of the Chamber of Parliament, Ms. Irene Piveti; and others.

Students from various faculties in the capital began classes as normal yesterday, ending the strike initiated by a student association. The decision to end the strike came immediately after the government gave assurances that the students’ legitimate economic demands would be met. In the early hours of yesterday morning, students entered their lecture halls, boycotting the strike announced by the Independent Student Union, whose members were later convinced that the students’ demands were on their way to being met. Seeing that the “Independents of the Student Union” had very little support among the students, they joined the other associations that had called for classes to resume. At a roundtable held a few days ago at the initiative of the FRPD, with representatives of various student associations and government representatives, agreement had been reached to meet all the students’ economic demands, with deadlines for doing so also set. Yesterday, meanwhile, the government meeting adopted the decision “to reorganize students’ daily activities,” clearing the way for their demands to be met. The UT students’ strike, which lasted no more than a few hours, coincided with the strike by students at the University of Gjirokastër. As in Gjirokastër, the students’ economic demands were deemed entirely legitimate. The government’s readiness to respond positively to the students is also a recognition of the value of the student name. The students and the democratic government have found common ground, leading to the resolution of the main problems of student life. Anyone’s attempts to exploit the students for political interests have failed, with the government choosing to meet their demands.

Earthquake in southern Albania Page 2 Committees are being set up to help families and assess the earthquake’s effects

The high-level delegation of the prison administration has concluded its visit to Greece Page 2 Contacts next week between Albanian and Greek specialists will resolve all the problems that continue to hinder the extradition of around 700 Albanians, who have now also received second-instance sentences under the judicial system in the neighboring country

Yesterday, at the meeting of the High Council of Justice The High Council of Justice, acting under the authority granted to it by the law “On the Magistrates’ School,” and upon the proposal of the school’s Governing Board, yesterday appointed Miss Karmen Qineti as director of the Magistrates’ School.

Page 3 The Secretary for Public Relations of the Socialist Party, P. Majko, has called in an interview for his party to move closer to the “United Albanian Right,” seeing cooperation between the two extremes of Albanian politics as possible in the future. The right-wingers reacted sharply to Majko’s statement, rejecting the socialist leader’s proposal. “Any alliance with the Socialist Party? History separated us,” was the response of Selfo, one of the two leaders of the “Right,” who opposes an alliance with the Socialist Party, which has failed repeatedly since the end of the local elections on October 20.

The newspaper “La Repubblica” on Albania’s economic development Page 3

the dictatorship The bust of the dictator in Shkodër, the monuments of April 1991, the blood of the heroines of democracy have now entered the history of the city as its finest and most glorious part Page 3

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Vjesna Pesiç: The International Community should deal with Millosheviç as it did with Karaxhiç Page 6