REGISTRATION/ QKR opens its doors on Bajram day. Who the owners are Erinda Ballanca, lawyer for the “family,” joins the new Supervisory Board of the refinery, along with representatives from Azerbaijan, the USA, and METE; the administrator is a collaborator of Taçi Pages 2-3 IN PHOTO: Rezart Taçi and his bodyguards

CULTURAL HERITAGE Gjergj Frashëri: 260 treasures in the hands of traffickers “It smells of robbery, the masterminds are Neritan Ceka and Apollon Baçe” TIRANA DHURATA HAMZAI This smells to me of robbery. There is no reason for these works to wander for months from one foreign place to another outside our republic,... Pages 20-21

Opinion BY EUGJEN MERLIKA On 17 July 2013, Albania’s future Prime Minister, Edi Rama, was invited on a visit to Rome. It was his first visit in the role of Head of Government to a foreign country. In the tradition of the independent State, until the arrival of communism, Albanian Prime Ministers, as soon as they were appointed, made their first visit to the Italian capital, because of its geostrategic position and the special ties maintained between the two countries. Today the conditions have changed. Italy and Albania are no longer, in terms of weight in the international sphere of politics, what they were in the last century. Nevertheless, Italy still has a strong voice in continental bodies, especially with regard to the problems of the Balkans and of Albania. It is no coincidence that the EU sent to Tirana, as its representative, an Italian diplomat, Ambassador Sequi. 17 July was an unusual day for Italian politics and government, fully absorbed by the “Shalabayeva Affair.” If, on that day, the leaders of the Albanian socialists managed to meet Prime Minister Letta, Foreign Minister Bonino and three former Prime Ministers of... continued on page 11

Pages 13-17 Lasgushi and the magical holidays with the family The Osum Canyon, a lure for tourists in every season

Page 22 Historic Kukësi advances to the play-off

Page 4 The House of the Army becomes the PD headquarters

Pages 18-19 The account of Bashkim Shehu’s brother-in-law, what happened to the family in 1981

Page 6 Berisha directs Basha and the PD from “Facebook”

Page 8 Fees for all private schools in the country

...always one step ahead... Spices and dried fruits Address: Tirana-Durrës Highway, km. 7, Vorë Tirana Tel: 042 406 500, 042 406 501; Fax 042 406 502; e-mail: neranxi@neranxi.com; www.neranxi.com

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