International Biographical Centre: Congratulations! You are among those who were selected ON PAGE 3

Foreign investments in Albania are seriously at risk ON PAGE 4

Brojka denounces the state scandal. Will the justice system act? ON PAGE 3

The note from the OSCE offices was issued several hours after the DP’s official statement The International Community asked the Albanian government for guarantees that it would respect the conditions of the European troika’s package, while Prime Minister Nano yesterday provided the clearest example that the left-wing coalition is the sole generator of Albania’s political crisis. The OSCE representative sent a note to all the important chancelleries involved in Albanian politics, requesting a clear statement on the position regarding the recommendations and proposals of the joint delegation of the EC, the OSCE and the European Parliament. The request, which reached all the important offices of the governing coalition and the opposition, was sent several hours after the Democratic Party publicly expressed its support for the January 23 package. At a special press conference, Chairman Berisha and other Democratic Party leaders expressed their full support for the European troika’s assessments, emphasizing the opposition’s model positions, including its presence in parliament and its position on the constitution. The Democratic Party was the only political force in the country to make an official statement, having studied the European troika’s recommendations and suggestions with the utmost seriousness. On Monday, Berisha told reporters that the Democratic Party had consistently addressed the delicate issues also dealt with in the January 23 package. Seen in this context, the request from the international community was directed at the governing coalition, identified above all with Prime Minister Fa- Fatos Nano, who was asked to provide a written response on the most contentious points of the January 23 package. The fact that Nano was once again reminded of all the mechanisms of his government’s wrongheaded rule—relating to violations in parliament, the violation of the judicial system and public media, and the purge in the administration—reinforced the troika’s recommendations, which the governing coalition had previously treated merely as advice. The request that the Prime Minister respond in writing on this delicate matter reminded the left-wing coalition that not only had it read the January 23 package, but that, on the other hand, there was not even minimal confidence that the Albanian government would react positively to it. The OSCE’s responsibility required the Albanian Prime Minister’s signature, to provide institutional guarantees that the government would no longer abuse its power, just as it was required to honor the European troika’s January 23 declaration. Fatos Nano was forced to speak plainly to the international community because there was a complete lack of confidence in the coalition’s seriousness about honoring agreements. Just as the rapid slips of the tongue by Pandeli Majko or Kastriot Islami could not be considered a statement—they do not say the same thing twice, even on issues they have learned by heart—the International Community had been disappointed by Prime Minister Nano’s irresponsible silence, or by Gjinoshi’s unofficial answers, in which he insults the opposition even when he is supposed to comment on the monitoring of parliament. But the disappointment grew when Fatos Nano responded last night to the request mentioned in his demagogic statements, while the specific questions had effectively been left unanswered. Nano’s statement was a response forced by the West’s tactical demand, unlike the Democratic Party, which had openly expressed its position on all the European troika’s recommendations. Nano was forced to approve the Democratic Party’s assessments of the troika’s package and that of the State Department, demonstrating the effect that international pressure to respect the rules of the game is having on those currently in power. But Nano’s forced prostration was nevertheless an incomplete move, because he did not address the International Community’s concrete concerns regarding the serious violations by the Tirana government. By declaring only that he supported the troika’s and the State Department’s statements, while not saying what he would do about the judiciary, which had been brutally violated, and those dying on hunger strike over this, nor about the jurists dying on hunger strike over this, the political purges in the administration, and the return of the armed men, he could not be regarded as meeting the United States’ requirements. It is hardly surprising when the prime minister of a country with hundreds of problems caused by his own government says that he agrees with what the West says about the problems caused by his own government. Yesterday Fatos Nano provided the clearest example that the current government in Albania responds to nothing but international pressure, while no one can ever expect from it faithfulness to the rules of the game, to resolve the crisis and uphold the laws of the country. The International Community’s request—asking the Prime Minister for a response—should have been understood as a warning to the Albanian government, which, instead of respecting the opposition and all those compelled to act by international pressure, responded only in general terms. No guarantees can ever be expected from him; Fatos Nano, although compelled to respond, proved the opposite yesterday. The West is seeking written guarantees that the package of the European troika will be respected: “The Prime Minister should state his position on parliament, the courts, the reorganization of the administration, and the return of the Sigurimi agents.”

Every moment worsens the health of the lawyers on hunger strike. Doctors on alert ON PAGE 2

Berisha received the Mayor of Bari The Rome–Istanbul Corridor, a Major Project The current Albanian government is trying to divert this corridor for its political purposes, the residents were told by the municipal officials from Bari

Bode, Hajdari and Cikuli meet hunger strikers from among the politically persecuted in Kavajë and Durrës ON PAGE 2 Hunger grips all of Albania. Formerly persecuted people in a sublime protest against the return of dictatorship and class warfare

A letter from the OSCE mission in Tirana was needed to compel him to comment on the points in the advisory package addressed to the government The Prime Minister delays his statement on the advisory package of the European trio Prime Minister Fatos Nano has hesitated to give an official response to the advisory package of the European trio. advisory package addressed to the government. Last night he issued a message stating that the government was considering implementing the OSCE’s requests. The only political force that immediately welcomed the advisory package of the European trio was the PD, which, through its chairman Berisha, declared that it considered it a major contribution to democracy in Albania, while the PD itself would base its activities on this package. While Nano was trying to take a position on meeting the demands of the EC and the OSCE, more than 100 politically persecuted people had been on hunger strike for ten days, while all the others had entered the 24th day of their hunger strike. Likewise, there is no sign from the government or Parliament of a solution to the Constitutional-Parliamentary conflict, not to mention the economic and social collapse and the lack of security in the country, which are also at the top of the European trio’s advisory package.

The chairman of the Socialist Party and Prime Minister Fatos Nano issued a strained response yesterday to the US State Department statement on the package put forward by the “trio” of European parliamentarians to resolve the severe crisis that has gripped Albania following the violent elections of June 29. Nano was compelled to speak only after an official request from the OSCE office in Tirana. In a long address to the official media, Nano obscured, amid his response to the text of the statement by the US Deputy Secretary of State, his obligation to give a clear answer to the demands the international community has made of the Albanian government. Yesterday Nano did not utter a single meaningful line about how he intended to meet the declaration’s requirements of the President. But this time Nano’s evasions could neither be tolerated nor dismissed. Europe and the US expect commitments and concrete action, on the basis of which the international community will assess the response from Tirana. Nano has always been assessed negatively.

The International Community, like the PD, believes that such a person cannot be “entrusted with leading Parliament” The International Community will monitor Gjinoshi. This is one of the points in the advisory package of the European trio. Calls for monitoring followed a provocative act of violence and a parliamentary brawl throughout Parliament by its chairman, Skënder Gjinushi. The outcome of this session and his maneuvers and provocations included the removal of PD deputies from Parliament, the wounding of Democratic deputy Azem Hajdari by a Socialist deputy, violations of parliamentary procedure, the sidelining of laws and the trampling of parliamentary processes, and the violation of several constitutional laws—all of which raise the question of who can lead Parliament and be responsible for its governance. Time and again, the PD has called for international monitoring of Parliament, but Gjinushi has angrily rejected this. Indeed, he had declared that it was the opposition that should be monitored. Yesterday, the OSCE ambassador in Tirana asked Gjinushi for his official position regarding the European trio’s request. Thus, Gjinushi became the first Speaker of Parliament in Europe to be monitored, and perhaps the only one in the normal history of parliaments. This has not happened in the country’s previous pluralist parliaments, and it is believed that Gjinushi will remain an experiment. There is still no sign that Gjinushi will resign following such a decision, which cannot be dismissed even by the Speaker of Parliament himself.

Late-breaking news Last night, in front of the ATSH headquarters, several masked individuals stopped a police van and ordered the innocent police officers to hand over their weapons and the money they had with them. The weapons were quickly handed over; when it came to the money, the officers shrugged, complaining that they did not have a single lek, and that what they received was not enough anyway. Asked by one of the masked men whether their minister had announced the removal of police guards, the officers replied that they were [??]. Meanwhile, the police officers asked for help from several citizens who were standing silently nearby. They intervened, and the masked men immediately left, while the police officers quickly drove off in an unknown direction, also taking advantage of the darkness of the night.

ALBA soldiers in front of the OSCE headquarters in Tirana