22 March 1992–1998 “Democracy Day” Six years ago, on 22 March, the Albanian people brought down the communist dictatorial regime with a free vote. Today, neodictatorship and neocommunism are being rapidly restarted. On Sunday, 22 March 1998, at 12:00, in Skënderbej Square. On Democracy Day, “Union for Democracy” will gather to protest: - Against the establishment of neodictatorship - Against the campaign waged by the ruling clique to destroy the opposition - In defense of democratic constitutional institutions - Against extreme poverty and the daily rise in prices - Against the high taxes that are destroying business and trade - Against the deception about wage increases, while wages and pensions are not being indexed - Against the deception about the return of money deposited in pyramid schemes. Brothers and sisters, On Democracy Day, everyone to Skënderbej Square to defend democracy and oppose the re-establishment of dictatorship. UNION FOR DEMOCRACY GALLOPING PRICE INCREASES PD government — PS government 1. Oil 120 lek — 190–210 lek 2. Pasta 30 “ — 650 “ 3. Sugar 60 “ — 100 “ 4. Rice 60 “ — 90 “ 5. Flour 33–35 “ — 80 “ 6. Cheese 220 “ — 400–750 “ 7. Meat 350 “ — 650–700 “ 8. Butter 300 “ — 700 “ 9. Eggs 6.5 “ — 18–20 “ 10. Beans 75 “ — 190–230 “ 11. Salt 15 “ — 30 “ 12. Kerosene 28 “ — 72 “

Implementation begins of the shameful agreement by the Tirana government concerning Albanian emigrants Dozens of calls to the newsroom from Munich, Nuremberg, Bremen and Düsseldorf: The government has sold us out. The former communists are taking revenge on those who were the first to bring down the Albanian Berlin Wall in 1990 Implementation begins of the shameful agreement by the Tirana government concerning Albanian emigrants Nano sends back Germany’s refugees Dozens of calls to the newsroom from Munich, Nuremberg, Bremen and Düsseldorf: The government has sold us out. The former communists are taking revenge on those who were the first to bring down the Albanian Berlin Wall in 1990

The European Democratic Union condemns the attacks on the President of the Constitutional Court Mok expressed his appreciation for the PD’s positions in light of the highly abnormal circumstances created in Albania, emphasizing that the Albanian opposition is operating in an extremely difficult situation The European Democratic Union condemns the attacks on the President of the Constitutional Court EDU: Full support for Berisha and the PD Mok expressed his appreciation for the PD’s positions in light of the highly abnormal circumstances created in Albania, emphasizing that the Albanian opposition is operating in an extremely difficult situation European Democratic Union (FD?) The European Democratic Union (EDU) reaffirmed yesterday in Munich its full support for the Democratic Party of Albania and its Chairman, Sali Berisha. The EDU Steering Committee, which met yesterday in Germany, discussed the documents to be considered at the meeting of the leaders of the parties of the European Democratic Union, to be held in Salzburg next month. The meeting, attended by 26 member parties of the European Democratic Union, highly praised the role of the Democratic Party and its leader in recent political developments in Albania, assuring the DP of continued support. The Democratic Party representative, Vili Minarolli, presented the country’s acute problems, the deep crisis and its worsening as a destabilizing factor not only for Albania, but for the entire region. The DP’s Secretary for Public Relations focused especially on the government of Tirana’s strategy of physically eliminating political opponents, which it is implementing against the opposition. Minarolli emphasized attacks on institutions, assaults on the free press and the state media’s information blackout as some of the most typical manifestations of violations of the most elementary principles of a state governed by the rule of law in Albania. Mr. Minarolli said that, at a meeting of the ambassadors of friendly countries in Tirana, they had monitored state television and had been astonished by the findings: the latter’s policy gives the government six hours a week for news broadcasts, while the opposition gets only six minutes. EDU Chairman Alois Mock and many other speakers who took the floor denounced the grave incident involving the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Rustem Gjata, as well as his unlawful dismissal. According to the speakers, these acts are clear remnants of totalitarian dictatorship, showing that the government of Tirana is deepening the crisis and imposing political control over the judiciary. Mr. Mock expressed his appreciation for the Democratic Party’s positions in the face of the wholly abnormal circumstances created in Albania, stressing situation. All representatives of the sister parties at the meeting expressed great concern about the crisis Albania is going through as a result of the poor governance of the left-wing coalition in power, while unanimously expressing their unreserved support for the Democratic Party and its leader, Berisha. EDU Chairman Alois Mock told Minarolli to convey to Berisha and the other leaders of the Democratic Party the European Democratic Union’s unwavering support for their efforts to resolve the deep political crisis in Albania.

The hunger strikers are in very serious condition Two creditors were urgently admitted to hospital on Wednesday ON PAGE 5

Two creditors were urgently admitted to hospital on Wednesday ON PAGE 5 The strike leader before the press: Here is what Ellis told me

Prime Minister Nano returned yesterday to the opposition’s thesis on resolving the Kosovo issue. What Berisha has repeatedly declared—that Kosovo needs a solution through an International Conference of Dayton, as was done in the case of Bosnia—Nano finally adopted yesterday. Berisha’s thesis of an international conference on Kosovo has also been embraced by diplomats and Western countries which, recognizing the problem, have offered a real possibility of resolving it through an International Conference. Nano’s imitations look like those of a monkey, because this thesis has now gained full support and Nano has no choice but to say “agreed,” as he usually does on every issue.

The criminal clique continues its attacks on the December leader ON PAGE 3 Ngjela: The government wants to bring the court under political control Gjata’s dismissal violates the law

Rally by the Student Union for Kosovo A rally by students from Tirana in support of Kosovo. Hundreds of students gathered yesterday, Wednesday, in “Skënderbej” Square and on the city’s main street, expressing their support for their brothers under Serbian occupation and seeking to raise awareness among democratic and international public opinion about the tragic events being experienced by the people of Kosovo, representatives of the Independent Student Union said. The head of the Student Union, Sokol Marçuka, said that if the United States, the major European countries and all international organizations did not intervene soon to stop the violence in Kosovo, the consequences could be even graver than in Bosnia. The protesters marched toward Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard and then stopped in front of the US Embassy in Tirana, where, amid slogans and other chants, they called for energetic support from the United States and other international organizations for a fair solution to the Kosovo issue. Student Union rally for Kosovo The West must intervene in Kosovo as soon as possible The fatalism of Albanian television viewers

The fatality of Albanian television viewers The star who has taken it upon himself to rehabilitate the dictatorship appeared again last night on Nano and Mazi’s television channel to continue his age-old task. Seeking the help of a French-speaking woman, whose presence beside Pango was highly compromising, the man assigned to put on the makeup of Hoxha’s era once again blocked the screen for hours. The man who once cut his veins because of the problems he has with himself appears every Friday to tell Albanians that only under the dictatorship of Hoxha, Alia and Nano were they happy and content. The chance occurrence that brought him back to life after the serious incident with his veins has, unfortunately, become a fatality for Albanians who pay taxes for state television. Especially those in remote areas, who cannot watch any stations other than state television, are condemned by Nano and Mazi to turn off their televisions whenever Ylli Pango and his Friday programme appear before them.

Zija ÇELA Events in Kosovo are showing that the peaceful path and the representation of peace in general, as the most reasonable alternative for the peoples’ shared persistence, have not yet become a sufficiently secure doctrine to avert catastrophe. Ethnic blood is being spilled in Kosovo, and this crime has only one name: genocide. If genocide, even as a historical struggle, haunts humanity, then Kosovo, as the most vivid proof of Serbian terror, is enough not only to make the civilized world pay renewed attention, but especially to awaken it to take action. The scale of the crime, as a mark of the shame of the era and of regional and extra-regional terror, becomes all the more horrific when one considers that the Albanian people of Kosovo are being massacred not by spontaneous Chetnik gangs or rogue police squads, but by a Chetnik, bandit and police state. Dayton, which attempted to stem the rivers of blood in the Balkans, is now being recalled for its “accounts” left unsettled. It bypassed the interests of the Albanians and ultimately failed to free them from the bloody executioner’s Mongol-like violence. Although he lost fantastic aspirations, the dream of an entity resembling that of Tsar Dušan, Milošević remained unassailable, resistant and arrogant. In essence, he preserved the feverish spirit of the tyrants, for his own sake, always enlarging his crown to match the size of his kingdom. Without the grandeur of the imperial court, and with the fractures of presidential politics, Milošević nevertheless continues to make international diplomacy knock at his residence—sometimes with humble bows, sometimes to exert open pressure, and sometimes to make earnest pleas that he not set it alight by proclaiming Serbia; apparently, this power, which has long held sway over the Balkans, has drawn them to Belgrade. Perhaps the time has come for the relationships and children proposed with Slobodan, the turtle and foreign-clan states, the alliances of new forces there which, faced with evil..., instead of memory... they even weave together, invest in propaganda to the detriment of Albanians. The slogan currently being revived more than ever—that Kosovo is the cradle of Serbia—cannot even claim the force of a historical pretext. On this peninsula, the history of ancient nations and their ancient settlements dates back to long before Christ and to the sixth century, when the Slavs arrived in great numbers. They found Adam in Kosovo wearing a traditional garment and a white felt cap. But let us leave historical abuses aside and ask the question more directly. For human beings, from modern man all the way back to cave dwellers, could there be a more indigenous, more suitable and more closely connected cradle than a mother’s womb? It is precisely in this cradle that Milošević’s organized phalanxes will kill Kosovo villages. But according to the perverse logic of the lie arising from the aforementioned slogan, when the cradle turns out to have been withdrawn, perhaps it is better for it to be empty than to have Albanians inside. And this Albanian—Serbian chauvinists are Albanian—Drenica, the cradle turned into a grave, demonstrates this fully. Having made Drenica, Drenusha or Dren (the deer), Kosovo’s deer, bleed from gunfire, they now aim to cut off its head as well. There is a widespread, deeply rooted belief that when deer are struck by bullets, before giving up their spirit, they begin to cry out. If the world allows the values of Albanian democracy, the symbols they defend, to be trampled, and allows politics to be set on the tracks of Belgrade’s political path [?], there will be more Drenicas falling throughout the Balkans, throughout Europe, throughout the world. But what will the world do then for the Drenicas that are laid low? Faced with violence, it is hardly surprising that an individual is displaced among [?] Albanians, from the turmoil, the pangs of repression and progress in a single [?], in their duel of the fallen and wounded. Yes, the facts prove that Kosovo’s peaceful independence and action did not prevent the bloodshed. There is no sure doctrine capable of correcting even dictators. And the common denominators of Albanian membership in a fighting force, passing from the united Sllodani to Milošević of Belgrade, serve to point out unpleasantly that they do not...

Mock expressed his appreciation for the DP’s positions in light of the wholly abnormal circumstances created in Albania, stressing that the Albanian opposition is operating in an extremely difficult situation Alois Mock

Everts and Geremek at a press conference yesterday