Round table in the Austrian parliament on Albania The Chairman of the Integration Commission in the Albanian Parliament and Secretary General of the PD, Genc Pollo, meets with leaders of the Austrian Parliament and of the European Democratic Union Page 3

EUCD Council meeting in Bratislava The Secretary General of the PDSH, Genc Pollo, also takes part The work of the EUCD Council meeting held on 14 April 1997 in Bratislava, with the participation of representatives of the member parties of the EUCD, has concluded. The first topic discussed was the situation in Albania, the prospects for solutions, the position of the PDSH on the committees, as well as the electoral law, etc. At this meeting, the Secretary General of the PDSH, Mr. Genc Pollo, took part as a representative of the PDSH. All participants in this discussion, representatives of the member parties of the EUCD, supported the PDSH and the position it had taken in the situation experienced in Albania, and emphasized the urgent need to disarm the rebels and gangs throughout Albania. Among other things, at this meeting, it is worth noting the positions and analyses of several representatives regarding the analysis of the situation in Albania, the situation created, etc. Thus, Mr. Berna Sallona [?], representative of the Christian Democratic Party of Bulgaria, praised the PDSH and Albania, and considered as significant the comment by Mr. Franz Nano about the latter’s visit to the South, while taking a rather critical stance toward that comment. Mr. Jacques Malet, representative of the French UDF party, after expressing support for the PDSH and analyzing the situation in Albania, emphasized among other things: “It is communist propaganda to claim that Berisha is responsible for all events and the situation in Albania,” while positively evaluating the positions the PDSH has taken in all the difficult moments Albania has gone through. Mr. Forlani, representative of the Italian Christian Democratic Centre Party (led by Casini), in his discussion on the situation in Albania emphasized as highly necessary the disarmament of the rebel gangs and committees throughout Albania, saying that “Without disarmament there is no solution in Albania.” All the other speakers in their remarks used such language, supporting the PD and Albania, as well as the positions of the PDSH in the situation that had arisen and the necessity of disarming the population in order to ensure a free and peaceful solution. It should be noted that at this meeting, Deputy Chairman Ceka, who took part as a representative of the Democratic Alliance Party, gave a speech in which he attacked Butiglione’s party [?] for its stance in support of the PDSH and for its assessment of the rebels and committees in Albania. Regarding these gangs and committees, Mr. Ceka stated that “They are an armed people who impose order!” The accusations (naming names) he made, including about the current leaders of the PDSH, made Ceka quite ridiculous and caused several minutes of hilarity and laughter in the hall. Also, Mr. Ceka, as he himself did not forget, mentioned at this meeting the accusations made in the EUCD Council (by his party) against the main leaders of the Austrian People’s Party, Mr. Raul Kallot and Winston Jak, thus adding another comical element to his speech. RD correspondent

The President meets with the Minister of Finance, Mr. Arben Malaj, and the Chairman of the State Control Commission, Mr. Blerim Cela In addition, these companies should also be subjected to the independent control of international experts. In this way, people will know, without contradictory and independent sources, the truth about the activity of the pyramid schemes and the destination of the lost money, the total amount of the losses, etc. In the meeting held yesterday with Messrs. Malaj and Cela, President Berisha asked them to cooperate in making the pyramid companies fully transparent, including those that have gone bankrupt and others that have had activities and have not gone bankrupt. The President asked Mr. Malaj, who as Finance Minister comes from the former opposition party, to engage the experts he wants and to re-check the entire activity of the companies Populli i Xhaferrit, Gjallica and Sude, which have been inspected by the Control Commission, and to make the results of this inspection public. In addition, these companies should also be subjected to the independent control of international experts. In this way, people will know, without contradictory and independent sources, the truth about the activity of the pyramid schemes and the destination of the lost money, the total amount of the losses, etc. This is of great importance for people, because transparency has been lost, but it is even more painful when one does not know where those funds have gone. Meanwhile, in parallel with the inspection of these companies, the inspection of companies that have not gone bankrupt has begun, by Albanian experts and by foreign teams made up of experts from friendly countries and international institutions. President Berisha stressed that representatives of international institutions, the IMF and the EU, need to be brought into talks; in telephone conversations with the main leaders of the IMF he has requested cooperation with these institutions for a full inspection of all rent-seeking companies, and on that basis the IMF had decided to send a team to Albania on 2 March. It had been agreed with these institutions that both the companies that had gone bankrupt and those that continue to exist would be inspected, and their future would be assessed together. Full transparency regarding the activity of the rent-seeking companies is a condition for the stability of the country, and therefore I asked Prime Minister Prodi, Mr. Vranicki and their allies on this issue. President Berisha stressed that he was determined that those who had committed abuses should be treated as the first, that their activity should be credited and that they should testify to the crimes, and that the people and all those who suffer should be treated. I told him, he stressed, that Parliament was determined to facilitate, through special laws, both the inspection of the companies and all implementing measures for the consequences of the bankruptcy of these companies, in the housing, livelihood and business activities of the families that lost their money. Mr. Malaj informed President Berisha of the readiness of the World Bank to send its experts to inspect the pyramid schemes and emphasized the need to secure financial resources to cope with the problems created by the bankruptcy of these companies in the housing, employment and lives of the citizens who lost their money. At the meeting, the view was expressed that the foreign team should work together with the Albanian Prosecutor’s Office and that the latter should be engaged in rapid investigations into the activity of the Albanian companies. Messrs. Cela and Malaj undertook to present within the week a cooperation platform of the two institutions they lead for clarifying this very important issue.

Italian Ambassador Foresti responds to “KJ” I will not allow myself to be dragged onto the ground of slander, falsehood and vulgarity, which do not belong to my civility and upbringing Page 3

President Berisha received Leka Zogu Leka Zogu - I see in Berisha the personality who knows how to show in these difficult times that Albanians decide for themselves Page 3

Page 4 Who are responsible for the chaos in Albania? For President Sali Berisha, the collapse of the pyramid companies is not the real cause of the current anarchy. While multinational forces enter Albania, President Sali Berisha does not see this at all as a threat to his power. “The Albanian police will restore order everywhere.”

Briefly get to know the armed wing of the PS The communist press yesterday called it a betrayal of Vlora that Vranicki did not meet with Zani of Vlora, the leader of the gang in this city, with whom the PS signed an agreement on 28 March Page 3

At the expanded meeting of the PD Shkodër presidency: Page 3