The Rome Conference — Nano’s shame. Western donors refuse to open their wallets for an adventurous and deceitful government 100% conditions, 1% aid Nano’s and Pasko’s 1.2 billion dollars are turned into 12 million dollars. Albanians pay the government’s electricity tax of “those people, may they prosper, courted by the West” Fatos Nano’s government at the Rome Conference is trying to suffer an unspeakably heavy defeat. This is due to Nano’s failure to secure a serious commitment from the donor countries. After the tragic success of the left-wing officials in “demonstrating” the need for 1.2 billion dollars in revenue for the supposed, all-sorts-of-named reconstructions of Albanian infrastructure in exchange for the 240,000 people who have left, Western officials were extremely “tightfisted” yesterday in Rome, the host city of the conference, leaving the representatives of the Albanian government speechless. According to a statement by World Bank President James Wolfenson at the press conference closing yesterday’s meeting, the participating countries did not allocate 1.2 billion dollars to the Albanian government. The amount promised is no more than 12 million dollars. Meanwhile, a number of donors such as the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, etc., have made the granting of funds conditional on the Albanian government’s respect for a series of conditions that guarantee the proper use of their funds. Thus, as the President of the World Bank declared yesterday, “many of the donors are interested in seeing progress in the criminal prosecution of senior officials involved in the pyramid schemes. Others are interested in the privatization of state enterprises and land. Others are interested in progress toward resolving the issue of land ownership.” According to Mr. Wolfenson, the donors were not inclined to contribute large sums in the unclear political environment and, according to media reports, they seek convincing reasons that their resources will not be used improperly or corruptly. In a comment on the conclusions of yesterday’s Conference to the press in Tirana, Mr. Berisha gave a harsh assessment of the failure of the Albanian government in Rome, especially regarding the West’s lack of willingness to provide the financial support requested for Albania. Berisha said that the government accepted all the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, but failed to obtain the promised aid. Emphasizing how powerless and unclear the Albanian government is, Mr. Berisha said that the Tirana government is incapable of fulfilling its obligations. He said the government paid political tribute by accepting every request from the Western donors, but received nothing in return. Mr. Berisha said that the conference showed the West has no confidence in the current government and considers it adventurous and deceitful. He added that the Albanian people will pay the costs of this wrong policy through taxes, price increases, and further impoverishment. OUR OFFICIALS RETURN FROM EUROPE WITH EMPTY POCKETS.

Pseudo-opposition did not save Nano Recently, Nano has begun to pin his hopes on a group of self-proclaimed opposition figures who call themselves an “opposition” group, whether through their institutional or street-level influence, but the gains seem minimal. To some extent, Western propaganda and specialized local propaganda are also trying to present this anti-Berisha unit as some kind of influential grouping and as a necessary balance for political “stability,” but the evidence of its failure is now clear. Yesterday Nano had to improvise this “anti-opposition” in order to give a final echo to his narrative in Rome. But even this operation did not produce the desired effect. Unable to win the trust of real donors, the prime minister tried to use the presence of several self-proclaimed figures as proof of a “broader” political climate. However, this propaganda mechanism did not work. In the end, the message that emerged was the opposite: the West did not find either the government or its opposition decor credible. Seeing the emptiness of representation and the lack of real strength, the donors kept their reserves. That is why Nano failed to get what he wanted and why the pseudo-opposition did not manage to save him. ON PAGE 3

Berisha: The elections proved they were not a political solution The Tirana Conference against the narcodictatorship Karapici at the head of the capital’s democrats Berisha: The elections proved that they were not a political solution While the state television of Mazi competes, the Rome conference and tele-shame Instead of the 360,000 dollars promised for the activities of the Democratic Party as a result of the aid for the election observation mission, the [?!] [?] foundation has [?!] suspended the payment. This, as senior Democratic Party leaders said, is a scandalous act after the molotov attack on the PD headquarters and its burning. According to the statement, instead of helping the main opposition force, some international structures are leaving it without support. Berisha said that the recent elections proved that they were not a political solution and that the country continues to be in a severe institutional crisis. He accused the government of manipulation, pressure and the use of narcodictatorship against political opponents. The conference also discussed the need to reorganize the party’s structures in the capital and strengthen the democratic opposition. ON PAGE 2

On Monday Mazreku in the Tirana court The prosecutor’s office is not investigating accomplices On Monday Mazreku in the Tirana court ON PAGE 4 PROSECUTORS ARE DRAGGING THEIR FEET

“How do we escape VAT?”, prices rise by 1.6% Bread 70 lek, 200 grams missing “How do we escape VAT?”, prices rise by 1.6%. ON PAGE 5

Smuggling by those in power continues Official phone call iron manueri Smuggling by those in power continues ON PAGE 4

A Council of Europe mission visits Tirana at the end of October ON PAGE 3

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