— New Year’s greeting from comrade Ramiz Alia to the people — 77 Dear comrades, brothers and sisters; Happy New Year’s Eve! We are turning the last page of the 1990 calendar. And naturally, everyone asks: what was the year that has passed like, and what will the year ahead be like? The year 1990 was a special year. In the field of material production, we are satisfied with the year we are leaving behind. We faced great economic difficulties, which we still feel. But I believe that 1991 will be a more successful year. The extension of the new economic mechanism to all sectors, the full implementation of measures to consolidate agricultural cooperatives and to establish household plots with land and livestock, competition among the various forms of ownership, work and initiative, as well as the expansion of economic and financial cooperation with foreign companies and countries, will create greater new opportunities to invigorate the economy in every field. The duty of every patriotic citizen—workers and peasants, intellectuals and young people—is to feel more than ever the responsibility and obligation they owe to the country. Albania belongs to everyone, and work and perseverance are required of everyone; stability and a sense of social responsibility are required. Great endeavors reveal the true fighters for progress, devoted patriots and honest citizens. Therefore, strengthen the homeland, how to empower the economy, and how to unite our forces to build as democratic a life as possible; this gives every true patri[?]ot further opportunities to contribute to the good of the country. [Those who] represent its interests will choose those who will lead the country forward toward new victories, those who will know how to defend the rights, the present and the future of the people, submitting to no one and fearing no one. The February elections and the adoption of the new Constitution at the first session of the Assembly that will emerge from them create the conditions for further strengthening our state governed by law. The aim is to place all the activities of the state’s political and economic entities, and of citizens, even more firmly under the control of the law—that is, under the control of justice and of the people. Strengthening the rule of law is a guarantee for democratizing the whole life of the country and safeguarding human rights in accordance with accepted international standards. In 1991, too, Albania’s foreign policy will be an active policy, a policy of friendship, cooperation and peace. Our country will work to draw closer to and integrate better into Balkan and European processes. Dear comrades, Once again, I wish you all the best. To you, dear children and “Enver’s pioneers”; to you, young men and women; to you, worker and peasant comrades who bear the heaviest burden for the country’s development; to you, engineers, agronomists, creative intellectuals and intellectuals in various fields; to you, soldiers and officers; and to you, veteran comrades of the war and of labor—to all of you I wish joy and prosperity in your families, a year that will bring new and greater victories to our beloved Albania, a year that will raise the name of our homeland even higher. I wish our greetings, from all citizens of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, to reach all our compatriots wherever they may be, and every home where our brothers and sisters of the same blood have gathered. Happy New Year, and many happy returns! The Albanian people, in working for democratization, are demonstrating exemplary maturity and wisdom. However, along this path there has also been—and continues to be—a lack of democratic tolerance, as well as improper and harmful actions that distress people, hinder economic development, and incite division and violence. Such acts must be firmly condemned, because they are blows against the democratic process. The Albanian people have needed, and continue to need, unity, order and a secure life. Throughout their ancient and modern history, during the National Liberation War and in building socialism, they have emerged victorious because they have always been united and have placed above all else the interests of the homeland and its freedom and independence. The creation of conditions for a life that is as democratic as possible provides wide opportunities for every true patriot to contribute to the good of the country, and to help advance and prosper it. Let us move forward resolutely along this path, with unwavering faith in the future of our dear homeland! Dear sisters and brothers, On February 10, elections will be held for the new People's Assembly. These elections will be entirely free and democratic, pluralistic and secret. The people will elect as deputies those sons and daughters who, better than anyone else, will— (Photo ATSH)

Important supportive and incentive measures for agricultural cooperatives — A well-deserved joy for the cooperative members. At its latest meeting, the Council of Ministers adopted a decision on measures to grant benefits to agricultural cooperatives and underdeveloped cooperatives, as well as on irregular installments for repayment of long-term loans from 1990–1995. Their benefit in this economy … as an essential measure … the income … around 800 million lek. … The New Year will bring joy not only to those who benefit from this important decision, but to our people, who have … interests for … in the countryside and especially … of the countryside and among the peasants. … is an important measure … for the whole country, where the sector … in the city and in the countryside, … its contribution to the all-round development of the homeland … these measures will benefit … the agricultural cooperatives and mountain cooperatives throughout the country. Thus, a well-deserved boost is created for further increasing the existing level of remuneration in these agricultural cooperatives by 3–5 lek per workday, and in some economies in the districts of Mat, Dibër, Krujë, etc., by more than 5 lek per workday. In this way, generally, there will no longer be any agricultural economy paying less than 10 lek in remuneration per workday. The agrarian policy of the Party of Labour has been and remains a powerful support for the progress of the countryside. Our patriotic and hardworking peasantry has responded to this care with devotion. Loans granted from time to time have had a positive effect on strengthening these cooperatives. They now have more arable land, more fruit trees, while the number of livestock in the animal-husbandry sector has also increased. But the fact that this decision is being made at a time when the whole country is entering the new economic mechanism makes it a relief and a support for shouldering the reforms undertaken by the Party in the economic sphere. As before, difficulties will be overcome through work, through our sweat, through everyone’s contribution. In this sense, the cancellation of all debts owed by mountain and [“kordinore”] cooperatives should serve as an incentive to mobilize their forces and face the difficulties that have arisen or may arise in the future. Our peasantry, and especially that of the mountainous and [“kordinore”] areas, has deserved the support it has been given. Through its work, it has known how to repay society’s concern. All the more will this decision of the Council of Ministers be appreciated. It is indeed good news on the eve of the New Year, but above all it is and will be a moral obligation to work conscientiously for the benefit of strengthening the cooperative zone. Our entire people welcomed and rejoiced at this decision of the Council of Ministers. Like every other step undertaken by the Party of Labour to democratize life in the country, this decision too will have a powerful effect in further raising and encouraging the initiative of our patriotic and hardworking peasantry.

As the clock strikes 24:00, everyone at family tables rises to their feet, clinks glasses and exchanges heartfelt wishes for joy and prosperity during 1991. Yet at many of these tables someone is missing: the son serving as a soldier on the border or at a remote military unit, the metallurgist father whose face is lit at that moment by the blazing molten metal, the doctor on duty safeguarding the health of the sick… An extra greeting for those who sacrifice this night amid the general public celebrations! “There is no particular pleasure in leaving a table laid out, but it has to be done, in the name of duty, in the name of work. This year it’s me, next year it will be others, and so on. This is a rule that has been established for a long time now.” This is also what the metallurgists at the cast-iron plant of the Elbasan steelworks think, as they prepare to work the third shift. The engineer of blast furnace section No. 1, Ymer Graceni, the metallurgist Ruzhdi Lukani, and all their shift-mates are already prepared for this night. Usually, those finishing their shift prepare a little surprise for the comrades replacing them, and welcome the New Year beside the channels through which the metal flows: What will this shift’s surprise be? Only one thing is certain: after the “handover” to the next shift comes the greeting: “May you start the New Year on the right foot!..” And so the New Year will begin its “life” in this workplace. Every craft here has its own distinctive character and its own impressions. But those who, at this moment, when others are rejoicing and celebrating, devote themselves to work deserve the respect of all society. And rightly so. The metallurgists would not be working this shift for their own personal interest. A greater interest obliges them: the interests of the plant, of production. By taking turns at work in this way, they honor themselves, honor their collective, honor their homeland.

At the invitation of Adil Çarçani, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, Greek Prime Minister Konstantin Micotaqis will pay an official and friendly visit to Albania on January 13–14. (ATSH)

As is known, pursuant to Council of Ministers Decision No. 228, dated 11.7.1990, “On the reorganization of services and crafts,” various private-initiative commercial and craft activities are operating and increasing in all the cities and districts of the country. They are helping to expand the variety and improve the quality of services, as well as to create new jobs. To support this, the Council of Ministers amended the existing decision, allowing private activities in services, crafts, trade, etc. to be conducted not only on a family basis, but also by removing the restriction on working with one partner. (ATSH)

NATIONAL LIBRARY TIRANA sh/7471 Let us put our minds to work on how to strengthen the homeland, how to empower the economy, how to unite our forces to build a better life for the people. The year 1990 will remain in our history as a year of great democratic transformations in the life of society. In this field, developments took place at a speed that could hardly have been imagined. Within one year, the country was once again drawn into the multifaceted processes of democratization, undertaken on the initiative of the Party of Labour. This created favorable conditions for activating people’s creative energies, their thought and their political and ideological consciousness.