1.5 tons of cannabis in Italy. Another one in Greece Italian police seize the new vessel worth 150 thousand euros. The moratorium is rendered obsolete Despite pressure from the EU, Albanian traffickers are regrouping. The vessel is the largest seized in recent years in the Apulia region. The other speedboat with one ton of drugs is seized in Patras The story A new Albanian speedboat, with two 250-horsepower engines, was abandoned on the Italian coast, but the traffickers had unloaded 1.5 tons of marijuana worth 8 million euros. Another one was seized in Greece with 1 ton of drugs, rendering void the moratorium “for watercraft” that the “Berisha” government enforced since 2005. EXCLUSIVE In the photo: The speedboat and the sacks with 1.5 tons of hashish that came from Albania ■■■ BRINDISI The drug speedboats from Albania are back. One and a half tons of marijuana that landed south of Fasano, in Brindisi, from a speedboat that had broken down was seized on Tuesday... ► Continued on page 12

Editorial BY AFRIM KRASNIQI Against the snow ...with speeches! The serious situation caused by the snow in the mountain and southeastern areas once again highlighted our lack of preparation and ability to cope with such situations. Natural disasters are not scheduled, but in Albania the circumstances have almost always been foreseeable. The Shkodër floods some time ago and this year’s snow are foreseeable: the first because of the opening of the hydroelectric dam gates themselves, the second because of the worsening weather first in other countries and then here. Every serious country, every serious central and local government, has ready funds and structures prepared for these days; they have technical and financial means at their disposal, they have food reserves, they have contracts with private operating firms, they have an early-warning and prevention system. Our practice continues to be different. Here when a natural disaster happens, we have two permanent scenes: people praying to God to survive and politicians filling TV screens with political speeches. That happened again this time; in Dibër, Kukës, Tropojë, Mirditë or Pukë, thousands of people are fighting for survival, while in political Tirana every hour and every day we hear politicians speaking and speaking, saying nothing, giving no real hope, unable to produce any... ► Continued on page 4

The project on the occasion of the 100th anniversary, who will benefit from the 4,750 convicts VOTE IN PARLIAMENT ■■■ TIRANA ELTON QYNO The Ministry of Justice has begun discussions to make a major amnesty for those convicted in Albania’s prisons within this year, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Albanian state. For the moment the discussions are in the phase... ► Page 9

“Meetings with Kadare under the fear of surveillance” Pages 22-23

► Page 11 Linguists against Berisha: Chinese in schools, nonsense

► Page 4 Frozen Albania PD holds a million-dollar concert in the capital

1991 ...always one step ahead... Raw materials for restaurants, pizzerias, creperies and fast food.