Message of greetings For the attention of: THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CITIZENS OF HELSINKI. (Commission for Peace Policies) Delegation in Spain. GOVERNMENT OF THE REGION OF VALENCIA. For the attention of: THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CITIZENS OF HELSINKI. (Commission for Peace Policies) Delegation in Spain. GOVERNMENT OF THE REGION OF VALENCIA. Dear fellow citizens of Helsinki, I am pleased to confirm that these days, in Tirana Prison, where I am being held in isolation for political reasons well known to you, I received your meaningful invitation to participate as an honorary guest in the Valencia Conference, May 12–15, 1994, “The European Order, Peace and Democracy in the 21st Century.” Thanking you for this message of solidarity, I assure you that my many constituents, fellow citizens and fellow sufferers in Albania, too, clearly understand and will amplify its civilizing and democratic content, associated with the very liberating current of Helsinki that it brings to our troubled country and region. Dear colleagues, The contribution, initiatives and perseverance of the Assembly of the Citizens of Helsinki are not unknown to me and my compatriots; rather, they are highly valued, as the Assembly has proven itself a promoter and mediator of European-wide civic dialogue among advocates of peace and of resolving conflicts by democratic means. They have brought together, particularly over the last two years, outstanding figures from political, cultural and civic life in tireless and noble efforts to include every corner of our continent in the Helsinki process and, above all, the hotspots of post-communist crises and renewed ethnic, religious, social and cultural conflicts. In this context, the distinguished official authorities of Valencia deserve special respect and greetings as hosts and sponsors, for the second time, of such an important conference, following the one in September 1992, devoted specifically to “The Peaceful and Democratic Integration of the Balkans into Europe.” As before, not only because of the critical course of democratic processes in my country, a significant indicator of which is my political persecution and the state’s intolerance toward the opposition, but especially because of the dangerous situation experienced by my compatriots and the other peoples of the Balkans, I cannot but share with you my concern over the tragic opposition of post-communist nationalism and neo-authoritarian tendencies to the protection and development of universal civic rights in our wholly civil and democratic societies. Expressing my joy and relief that these pressing issues are once again at the center of discussion, I am convinced that, with contributions from the distinguished figures participating—Felipe Gonzales, Joan Lerma, Mihail Gorbaçov, Sonja Licht, Achille Occhetto, etc.—the Valencia Conference will further develop and enrich strategies for dialogue and reconciliation between opposing sides in conflict situations, to prevent and put an end to political violence, ethnic intolerance, apartheid and genocide, whose victims today also include Albanians. without Europe’s new visions, those of Maastricht, the principles of solidarity and peacekeeping of President Clinton, and the UN’s commitments to this end. Once again conveying my greetings to all the Conference participants, I reaffirm my unshakable conviction that overcoming these difficult challenges of the 20th century depends on our united efforts to deepen the civilizing influence of the principles of Helsinki in our societies and to develop transnational democratic values founded on open borders and the affirmation of the European identity of nations. With reaffirmed solidarity and continued cooperation. Tirana Prison, 03.03.1994. Cell No. 47. FATOS NANO Chairman of the PSSH

— HE BELIEVES THAT WITH THE SOCIALIST PARTY THERE WILL NEVER BE A RETURN TO COMMUNISM — The first round of elections in Hungary put the Socialist Party in the lead with 32.57 percent of the vote. The Hungarian Socialists won a third of the vote on the national electoral lists; as AFP notes, “in the second round they may secure an absolute majority” in the 386-seat parliament. The second round of elections will take place on May 29, and until then we should not speculate about the final percentages. Regardless, the Socialists’ result is clearly positive. They are ahead by 13.4 percent of the alliance of the Free Democrats with the Liberals, and by 20 percent of the ruling Democratic Forum. A particularly important point to note is that, among these three main groups in the previous parliament, in the first round alone the Socialist electorate tripled, the vote for the Liberals and Free Democrats fell by 2 percent, while the ruling party’s vote fell drastically, by half. Within Hungary, the increase in the Socialist electorate and the decline of the ruling center-right had their own causes. The economic policy pursued by the Hungarian Democratic Forum (the center-right) has “caused great social hardship”; for most of the Hungarian population, inflation of 22 percent a year has been higher than income growth. Unemployment reached 12 percent, rising further as the elections approached. The number of elderly people living in poverty has also risen noticeably. These economic facts mentioned above, among others, had long foreshadowed the drastic decline in the initial popularity enjoyed by the Democratic Forum after the overthrow of communism, while also bringing about a very significant decline in the political standing of the Hungarian Socialists. All domestic and foreign polls on the eve of the elections put the Socialist Party in first place, both because of the weaknesses of the policies pursued by the center-right Democratic Forum and because of the economic and political alternatives put forward by the Socialist Party itself. Polls showed that the leader of the Hungarian Socialists, Gula Horn, was Hungary’s most popular politician after President Arpad Goncz. In fact, what did the Hungarian Socialists offer in their election program that made the alternative of European democratic socialism appealing to the Hungarian electorate? The Socialist Party’s economic policy would seek to create the conditions for the country’s economic growth, improve the country’s finances, reduce inflation and lower unemployment. The foreign policy of Hungary’s Socialist Party would focus on cooperation with Europe and NATO. But perhaps the most important fact is that, for the Hungarian Socialists, there will never again be a return to communism, to which virtually all the reformed Hungarian socialists themselves had contributed. It was Gula Horn, leader of the Hungarian Socialists, who, in 1989, when he was Hungary’s foreign minister, brought down the “Iron Curtain” between East and West by allowing the passage of…

Six days after Martyrs’ Day and one day after the International Day of the Struggle against Fascism, Ibrahim “bey” Vasjari of the Democratic Party presented his oration in parliament about May 5. According to this Ballist, temporarily a refugee in the Democratic Party, Martyrs’ Day should not be May 5. What they lost in the war, the Ballists want to win in peace, and they have gained quite a lot by claiming that they should not be denied their due. Now, it seems, it is Martyrs’ Day’s turn. The Ballists want to claim that too. May 5 drives them mad; it terrifies them. The blood of the martyrs horrifies them. That blood reminds them that in those years of the “national liberation war” they joined the occupier. It reminds them of the massacres of February 4 and 28, 1944, of Lejla Malo, wounded and thrown down by the Ballists, of Memo Meto, treacherously killed in an ambush; it reminds them of the heroes of Vigu; the three heroes of Shkodra; it reminds them of the 28,000 martyrs, whose fate the Ballists themselves helped bring about in no small measure. May 5 reminds the traitors of their treachery. That is why, for them, it must not be May 5! They had been circling around this day for some time, as they do around those who joined the fascist occupiers, but they did not imagine they would go so far as to speak openly. Today’s Ballists surpass even their predecessors in demagoguery. “Lahim”—“bueh” of the Havaur people has fought wars and given martyrs throughout its history. Well said, my bey! You “fascist” Fori, the national liberation war is the most glorious war our people have fought over the centuries. BEQIR SKRELI (Continued on page 3)

(NOTES) Luan Hajdaraga — The Socialist Party considers Greece a friendly country, a key to Albania’s integration into Europe. — We will establish institutionalized contacts with the USA. Luan Hajdaraga — to Albania’s integration into Europe. — We will establish institutionalized contacts with the USA. A meeting with PS members and supporters in Libohovë had been scheduled for Saturday, May 7, at 2 p.m. We arrived at 2:10 and got out of the car at the entrance to the town square, at its narrow end. There was a little concern among those waiting for us. Before we had properly noticed it, on the other side of the square we saw four policemen walking slowly and deliberately side by side, as if they were reluctant to approach. It was clear that something was going on. What was it? Following a serious incident involving the police and the chairman of the Socialist Party organization in the village of Kolonjë, which had also been reported in the press on May 1, the PS district executive committee had announced meetings for May 6 and 7, which were to be with supporters and members and held privately, not as large public demonstrations. For work-related reasons, the Libohovë meeting was moved from Sunday to Saturday. This made it seem at first that the authorities had been informed. While the district PS chairman was talking with representatives of law enforcement, Baftjar Ruli said we could meet at his house. He offered his home and earned our gratitude for that coffee. “We’ve come for coffee; if we hold the meeting at home, we won’t have coffee,” they said, and a small group of local and visiting comrades went there. Baftjar Ruli is Genci Ruli’s uncle—Genci, a former communist and a socialist today—as is his wife. “Has Genci come?” Leontievi asked the host, whom he knew. “Only twice,” he replied; “he is keeping himself safe, because there’s nothing he needs to protect me from.” As if that connection were not enough, Tefta, his wife, chimed in: “Arshi Pipa is my uncle’s son.” Everyone connected the dots, not without emotion, because these years of transition seem political: at last they became tangible and personal, like the people of those times. Baftjari continued: “We Rulis are a large clan, and I am related to the Balli too. We don’t hide things,” said Tefta. Another committed Socialist, a young man, asked permission to leave. “I have to take the minibus,” he said, “I have an engagement, but why are people mixing us up with these Democrats?” Baftjari recalled again that it was right here in Libohovë that fratricidal conflict began, a few days before Mukje. Tell me this is not a dramatic place. The soil of Libohovë, it seems, is mixed with all this. We got up and left the house. The police officer outside replied: “I don’t enforce the laws; I follow orders. The order is: don’t let the Socialists meet.” People were waiting in the center; more than 60 of them—old and young, men and many women—had gathered in a meadow near a playground, as if to say, “in Libohovë, over there where the road out of town passes.” “Let’s hold the meeting there,” someone suggested. The comrades said: “We are a legal party; we don’t meet in corners, at crossroads, by black fences.” But the people wanted to meet all the same, because they would not let you simply walk away peacefully. “We couldn’t meet in the hall,” Luan Hajdaraga began speaking while standing. “This too proves that this is not a democratic state. But this is their weakness, not their strength. If we were weaker, they would easily give us the hall. We are glad to come and meet even just two people, not only this many, and we must come to meet them. Despite all of Libohovë’s history, we will not make such mistakes as to close the door to reconciliation; we will guarantee political freedom to everyone. Pluralism is peaceful competition. When people are dissatisfied, the party that is incapable cannot hold on. Then elections are needed. How has the DP governed these past two or three years? It concerned itself mostly with the affairs of the state.” But I was moved by the things people said and did. A teacher (Continued on page 3)

Let us wait for an answer An Englishman, managers gone—perhaps this is addressed to the Directorate of Aid? The details emerge from a brief conversation with the Director of State Reserves, Mr. Skuqi. His words in fact add even more life, mystery and shadow to the arrival of this phantom shipment on our shores. “If the State Reserve warehouses, which should normally be ready to receive grain and other goods, have remained blocked for weeks, millions of tons of expired biscuits, 2,500 tons of large, completely unsuitable biscuits, and hundreds of sacks of old flour…” “And, if I know, I don’t know. But biscuits? Didn’t they ask? Before, then? ...” “So as not to ...” ... the phantom shipment on our shores. At one of the addresses that sent us the same fax, the Aid Institute in Janinë denied it as untrue, declaring, “I personally know absolutely nothing about such a fax.” The fax stated that, “on the basis of an agreement, the first shipments of biscuits arriving from Greece” were to be received. Whether there was a fax or not, who sent it and who received it before the fact that the Albanian government accepted these goods—and even distributed some of them—is not important. The government’s actions lead us to understand that it was fully aware of the matter; indeed, their arrival had been part of its earlier discussions. Only a small portion of the quantities expected to be transported onward to Albania arrived by truck from Greece. About two tons were distributed in the Kurbnesh area as food for people. Meanwhile, the current order is to block any further arrivals. Approximately 450 [unclear] loaded with biscuits are currently on the Greek side of the border and are waiting to bring them; to be continued, It would also be good to answer the other questions: why did part of this aid take this route? Why was the shipment divided? What role does the Aid Institute in Janinë play in this “operation”? What does this Institute represent, and with whom does it cooperate in Albania, when the fax received from that direction by the DSRH was, according to Mr. Skuqi, [unclear]? The goods that arrived on our shores cannot have been sent without a request. Who came up with the idea? Who signed to have them sent, and who ordered them to be held? Under what framework is this aid being provided? Could it perhaps be in connection with the disbursement of the 20 million dollars allocated as aid by the English government??? Did we really need expired biscuits so badly? Did the English government have no other goods? There may also be an agreement, or something of the sort, as Mr. Skuqi says. In this regard, it is better to wait and see what the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, Vullnet Ademi, has to say. ARDIAN MYSLIMI

Since a large part of the Albanian public does not trust Albanian Radio and Television because of its lack of transparency, every day we follow news from around the world. In recent days, the most prominent news came from BBC Radio, as did reports of renewed support among Albanians in a river, crossing through Greçi clandestinely. This news has left people very concerned; apparently there is information that these

Counterfeit money has appeared in Peshkopi too. Along with it, fear of it has appeared as well. On Sunday evening, near the police department, we met a group of people from the Luznia area. They were worried about the manipulation of their families’ and households’ money; they had come across counterfeit notes, in denominations of four or five thousand lekë, with which they had wanted to buy something for their homes. Unable to obtain information from the competent authorities, who, as with everything else, are also keeping silent about this case, we are giving the account received from the relatives of those detained. According to them, the money was taken from the Luznia municipal cashbox by a person who had done work for the municipality’s branch. Some families, to celebrate Shënqerthini, took

— Mekkeri declares — — The United States emphasized that they are not concerned about the victories of socialists in Eastern Europe, as long as they do not return to totalitarianism. Asked about the socialists’ success in last weekend’s elections in Hungary, as well as in other former countries of the Soviet bloc, State Department spokesman Majk Mekkeri noted that times have changed and political positions have changed along with them. “In many cases, those who were associated with the former regimes have adopted new policies and new programs and openly express new political positions as they struggle for political power,” Mekkeri added. “Clearly, we would be concerned about a return to the totalitarian past in these countries, but certainly that is not the picture you see throughout Central and Eastern Europe, where you see a transformation toward democracy, toward free markets and toward freedom of speech.” Hungarians flocked to polling stations to support the renewed Hungarian Socialist Party, giving it nearly one-third of the votes. (Continued on page 4)

(NOTES) Luan Hajderaga: — The Socialist Party considers Greece a friendly country, a key to Albania’s integration into Europe.

NATIONAL LIBRARY TIRANA