. It is a constitutional, as well as moral, duty of every political force to make a genuine contribution to the functioning of local government, to replace violence with law and chaos with order; to replace self-proclaimed local bodies with legitimate local institutions elected by the free will of Albanians. Only an unequivocal public declaration by each party of its concrete responsibility concerning the exercise of local-government power and the legitimacy of that power would make its political force’s willingness to normalize local government in Albania publicly known. The fact that international institutions have made the restoration of law and order a condition for economic aid and technical assistance means that every political force—and especially the Albanian opposition—must urgently undertake concrete action to institutionalize local government, police stations, courts, schools, communes, municipalities, and so on. But without law there is no freedom, no development or progress; nor can life be normalized, without which new parliamentary elections cannot be held. By openly declaring its support for the Government of National Reconciliation, the Democratic Party considers recognition of legitimate local bodies essential; these will put an end to the absence of government authority in many parts of the country, where it is currently usurped by so-called committees. The Democratic Party also calls on the Government of National Reconciliation to make every effort to put an end to the activities of these committees, allowing the lawful local-government bodies to operate as the only pluralist bodies elected by the will of the people. Only in this way will this government be able to exercise its authority throughout the country, thereby achieving national reconciliation, stability and order, and the normal conditions needed for the upcoming elections. The Democratic Party once again calls on all its members and supporters, and all its structures down to the most remote section, to work toward implementing the platform for national reconciliation, whose first condition remains the normal exercise of the authority of Mr. Fino’s government throughout the country. Members, activists and supporters of the DP, the people and the country are asking you to commit yourselves and help with all your strength to ensure the normal functioning of local government in every commune, municipality and district.

Parliamentarians support the Ministry of the Interior’s platform for restoring public and constitutional order Pollo called on Albanian parties to condemn and clearly distance themselves from the military committees, in which members and local leaders of several opposition parties are active and which have recently also been demanding autonomy for their cities and regions. TIRANA — Albanian parliamentarians again expressed their support yesterday for the government of Prime Minister Bashkim Fino and its platform for national reconciliation. Speaking during an interpellation with the Minister of the Interior, Belul Çelo, the deputies voiced their concern about the grave situation in the country and assured the minister that they would support his efforts to restore public order and peace and constitutional order. In their remarks, the deputies called on all those elected by the people’s free vote to distance themselves from the military committees, which have placed themselves at the service of foreign intelligence agencies. Deputy Genc Pollo, after congratulating Prime Minister Fino and all the ministers in his government, urged the Ministry of the Interior and the other anti-crime bodies to fight ordinary crime with equal severity, as well as the crime most dangerous to Albania’s future: political crime. Pollo called on Albanian parties to support the restoration of calm and the preservation of Albania’s territorial integrity. Foreign services and other anti-Albanian forces inside and outside the country, said Fatos Bejo, deputy chairman of the Democratic Party parliamentary group, after carrying out their mission of harming Albania so that its voice would not be heard in the Balkans, are now working to break up its territory. Bejo and the other deputies who spoke appealed to the national conscience of Albanians to support the Government of National Reconciliation in order to preserve Albania, which is at risk. Deputies Hajdari, Memia, Demi, Pollo, Bejo, Çela and Shamata welcomed the government’s declaration and the political parties’ position of not recognizing the military committees established in several southern cities, and of strengthening and supporting local government arising from the 20 October elections. Meanwhile, Deputy Leonard Demi congratulated and Deputy Shamata invited all parliamentarians to spare no effort in supporting and helping to implement the Ministry of the Interior’s platform. He called for the prosecution service and courts to resume their functions as soon as possible, and for the Ministry of Defense to be organized without delay. Shamata also called on the Ministry of Justice to reorganize the prisons. After making several concrete proposals to improve police effectiveness, Deputy Hajdari condemned as responsible for the terrorist campaign against the state all those voices that have spoken out against foreign assistance for the Albanian army, police and counterintelligence. ARTUR KOPANI

Interview given by Prime Minister Bashkim Fino to BBC radio —Mr. Fino, will the government take part in today’s meeting in Tepelenë? —The government will not take part in this meeting, because nobody will go there. But I can also confirm once again that the government is ready, as it was yesterday and the day before yesterday, and will be in two days’ time, to hold meetings from time to time with local government, political forces in the city and the rescue committees, so that they can engage in dialogue with one another to establish order and calm in their cities and reorganize and set up the structures there, especially the police and the army. —How would you describe the situation in the country these days? —Realistically, the situation does not show any positive signs of stability and security being established. This is also the message the Albanian government delivered a day ago, issuing an appeal and a declaration that it is determined to strike hard at organized crime, because these people are making life unsafe for our families and children at this moment. —Isn’t the establishment of stability and security in the country precisely one of the conditions set by the European Union mission for providing assistance to Albania, Mr. Prime Minister? —Yes. Absolutely. This was the main condition they set, because they are very willing to come and provide extraordinary, large-scale assistance at this time. But what they asked for was precisely a guarantee of stability throughout the country. —Realistically, we are seeing a slight improvement, although we are still not satisfied, because as long as police stations have not been reorganized in Albania’s cities and common ground is not being found—that is, among the political forces in the cities and, first and foremost, the local authorities—in order to Interior and the other anti-crime agencies to fight ordinary crime just as vigorously as the most dangerous crime for Albania’s future: political crime. Pollo called on the military committees, in which local members and leaders of some demanding autonomy for their cities and regions. days?” “Realistically, we cannot say that the situation in the country is calm. It continues to be tense; there are problems in several Albanian cities. For example, there are problems in Korçë, and there are problems in other cities too. The fact is that certain groups, now terrorist, are creating panic among people and are carrying out every kind of act; everything in many Albanian cities has been destroyed, has been wrecked.” “During these days, while you have been at the head of the government, have you [worked] among them to restore order and calm in their cities, and to reorganise and establish head of the government, as Prime Minister?” “Certainly. very willing to come and provide extraordinary, urgently needed assistance at this moment. stability in the country, so that this assistance could be distributed peacefully. We accepted this, because we are ready and we are Albanians, and we can trust one another and bring about stability together, without accepting, so to speak, the deployment of military forces from various European countries.” “Mr Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania, police commissariats and the police, and a common understanding is not being reached—that and foremost, the local authorities—for which we, as the Government of National Reconciliation, have also issued Order Number One, so that they function normally and are reorganised after the peace that followed. This means that we are still not satisfied and cannot say that the situation is calm in many Albanian cities.” issued a protest note following the visit to the districts of Gjirokastër and Sarandë by Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Kranidiotis, while the latter had stated that he was aware of the visit. What is the situation? “It is true that Kranidiotis”

The Albanian Prime Minister, Fino, will also attend ROME, 21 March /ANSA/— Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini reported to the Council of Ministers on the contacts he had had with Europe’s foreign ministers ahead of the meeting to examine the Albanian issue, which will be held in Rome on Tuesday, the minister’s spokesman, Xhanpiero Masolo, announced. Albanian Prime Minister Bashkim Fino will arrive in Rome on Tuesday. “We are not expecting [him] before Tuesday,” Masolo said. “We are awaiting the decisions of Monday’s General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, which should determine the modalities of European intervention in Albania.”

TIRANA, 21 March /ATSHA/— A. Keka/— The first aid from the Italian government for the Albanian police arrived today at Rinas airport aboard an Italian military aircraft. According to the spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, Ndrek Gjini, this shipment of aid, consisting of police uniforms for special forces and bulletproof clothing, was delivered to the competent bodies of the Ministry of the Interior under the supervision of the Italian Embassy in Tirana. As part of the European Union’s assistance to Albania, the spokesman added, a considerable amount of other emergency aid will soon be released to help deal with the situation.

Statement by the Minister of the Interior, Mr Belul Celo, during the parliamentary interpellation of 21.03.1997 Albania experienced, in recent weeks, a wave of violence, destruction, arson and looting on an unprecedented scale. The constitutional order was attacked, and most state and local institutions were burned and destroyed, including police stations. As a result of the break-ins and looting at many military depots, barracks and units, hundreds and thousands of weapons of various calibres and ammunition fell into the hands of a large number of people, especially criminal elements. Prisons were broken into and emptied, and now their inmates are not only free but also possess a considerable quantity of weapons and ammunition. During these weeks, dozens and dozens of people were killed and hundreds wounded; the killings and injuries occurred either as a result of score-settling between rival groups or criminal elements, or accidentally. In this situation, the National Reconciliation platform was put forward by the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha. It was approved by the first roundtable of political parties, and subsequently the National Reconciliation government was formed, receiving your full vote of confidence. As Minister of the Interior, upon taking up this position I committed all my strength and energy to the task, in accordance with the programme of the National Reconciliation Government, to restore order, discipline and peace. This was no easy undertaking either. The time when we took on this task and began reorganising the police coincided with the peak of the wave of destruction and arson. Many police stations and even some special units were almost paralysed, burned and destroyed. Work was carried out swiftly to make them fully operational, in some cases seeking the help of citizens as well. Services were reinforced and patrols set up in several cities and on city streets, with armoured vehicles. The gunfire, which had not ceased for a moment, and the wave of destruction and arson began to subside. The swift measures taken raised police morale. The police began to function again, carrying out their duties and maintaining order rigorously. As the days went by, the crowds began to distance themselves from the criminal elements, although the latter continue to commit murders, robberies and kidnappings. The police are therefore organising special units to identify, track down and capture these armed gangs that kill, terrorise and plunder the population. During this period, the Ministry of the Interior also faced an enormous workload in restoring all local-government structures to operation. These structures had been paralysed for several days by the wave of widespread destruction and arson. A series of urgent operational measures were undertaken to make all local-government structures fully operational, since in some cases, in several cities, there was a tendency to create parallel structures, which runs counter to constitutional principles and the laws and regulations in force. The Ministry of the Interior and the National Reconciliation Government have stated, and continue to state, that they recognise and will recognise as legitimate only local government, and no other analogous or parallel structure. These are the local-government structures that will

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