On page 3, read interviews with Servet Pëllumbi, Tritan Shehu, Skënder Gjinushi, Vasil Melo, Arben Imami and Idajet Beqiri

Yesterday, the Deputy Chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania, Dr. Servet Pëllumbi, received at the Party headquarters a delegation from Greece’s Coalition of the Left and Progress Party (SYNA-SFISMOS), headed by its chairman, Nicos Konstantopoulos. Thanking the delegation for taking the initiative to come to Albania and discuss the normalization of relations between the two countries, Dr. Servet Pëllumbi stressed that the Socialist Party, as the country’s largest opposition party, views with concern the worsening of relations with neighbouring Greece. We have considered relations with Greece important, and have therefore called for official policy to rise above incidents and look to the prospects for good-neighbourly relations, which express the aspiration of our two peoples to live in harmony and mutual understanding. Historically, our peoples have been friends and have stood by one another. Our view, Servet Pëllumbi continued, is that both governments should show greater goodwill and understanding in order to resolve problems, or at least set them on the path to resolution. We have taken a critical stance toward our Government over actions that have heightened tensions, just as we have supported it in its call for dialogue. Likewise, we have spoken out against Greece’s use of the refugee card at times of strained relations. (Continued on page 4)

Mother Teresa arrived in Tirana yesterday to visit once again the land of her ancestors. She will also visit the charitable institutions she has established in Albania and give indirect encouragement to other charitable institutions in our country.

The Party’s ties with local government and the struggle to unblock it These days, a meeting was held in the city of Pogradec between Socialist Party leaders and the district’s Socialist councillors. These days, a meeting was held in the city of Pogradec between Socialist Party leaders and the district’s Socialist councillors, chaired by Pogradec MP. The essence of this meeting, as emerged from the many discussions and the free exchange of views among participants, was an examination of the justification for the vote of confidence by those elected to local government. Tajar Koleci, Niko Pandeli, Zyko Zegolari, Maksut Malushi, Sinan Agolli and others strongly highlighted the importance and value of party-government ties in exposing to the electorate the central government’s embargo against local government. Such action is absolutely essential, since the electorate is bewildered by the Democratic Party’s dizzying propaganda on a host of vital issues and hardships that have ensnared them. Drinking water, irrigation, land titles, the privatization process, taxes and duties are among the issues raised by the central government, while the latter tries by every means at its disposal to [unclear] them; they are obstructed and do not find the proper solution at the hands of local government, in terms of the central government’s embargo against local government. (unclear text) (Continued on page 2) due to its inability, especially in areas without significant capacity. First and foremost, then, we would like Albania’s visa arrangements to be entirely based on reciprocity, a demand our group put forward when this issue was discussed two years ago. But this moment has still not arrived, so it is not easy to demand reciprocity. We need investors, trade and goods, so we have passed a law allowing citizens of a number of countries from the former Community of Twelve, plus some others—21 countries in all—to come freely to Albania without needing an entry visa. Now, among Community countries, Greece is the exception. The reasoning presented to us is that we are entitled to demand what Greece demands of Albanians: now that it requires visas, why should we not demand them from its citizens too? This reasoning does not hold in our circumstances. A simple fact is enough for this: these relations and—

Yesterday, the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army in Europe, General David Maddox, arrived in Tirana for a one-day visit. He was received by Defence Minister Zhulali; they discussed numerous areas of desirable military cooperation. In the official talks between the two delegations, the issue of joint exercises was alluded to first and foremost; General Maddox said that they would not be planned. General Maddox spoke with the offi-

Discussion by MP Halil Lalaj, on behalf of the Socialist Party parliamentary group, concerning the President’s decree “On the Issuing of Passports for Travel Abroad and the Granting of Visas.”

Yesterday, the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army forces visit. He was received by Defense Minister Zhulali, who emphasized that there are many areas of military cooperation and that his visit gives concrete expression to the visit to Tirana by U.S. Secretary of Defense Perry. General Maddox said that what we are doing for the future is very important. During the official talks between the two delegations, the Albanian side presented the issues of joint exercises, on which General Maddox noted that work needs to be done. General Maddox spoke with Albanian officials about the situation in the region, regarding which no announcement was made. Yesterday evening, Maddox was received by President Berisha.

A delegation of left-wing MPs from the Greek Parliament is in Tirana. Yesterday, according to RTSH, the delegation of Greek left-wing MPs was received by the chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Pjetër Arbnori, and others. The Greek delegation was told that Albania is interested in increasing cooperation with all countries, and especially with Greece. Pjetër Arbnori went on to present the overall situation and development, where nothing is permitted that amounts to chauvinistic pressure by Albania. The Greek left-wing MPs called for dialogue and said that, just as Albania needs Greece, Greece also needs Albania. The Greek left-wing MPs have opposed the policy of deporting large numbers of Albanian emigrants by the Greek police and condemned Athens’ blocking of 35 million ecus. These are the same people who, together with Greek intellectuals, organized a protest march last week to stop the deportation policy and the blockade.

– Asked by the Socialist group – Yesterday, in a special session, the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mr. Hasan Halili, gave the relevant explanations in response to questions submitted by Socialist group MPs Anastas Angjeli and Ibrahim Baci. It should be said that the minister’s answers painted a realistic picture of the distribution of land, the distribution of land deeds, the resolution of conflicts, property issues, land-tax issues, etc. Nevertheless, the problems in the countryside and the rather difficult situations that have arisen in agricultural development remain extremely acute, partly because of the Ministry of Agriculture apparatus’s neglect of its work, and more besides. At present there is no accurate data on land distribution; in many cases, land was allocated on the basis of guesswork, encouraged by party enthusiasm. The most acute problems arise in the classification of land, where hundreds and thousands of hectares designated as productive have been abandoned, or are expected to be abandoned, because no kind of yield is anticipated. Thousands of peasant families have still not received their land deeds. A factor in this highly negative phenomenon, with considerable consequences, has been the conflicts between the actual owners, who received the land under the law passed by Parliament, and the former owners. This is a reality, but does the Ministry of Agriculture recognize it, and is it taking measures to prevent conflicts? The truth is that the work has been routine and sluggish. Many peasant families feel insecure about having land; in reality, their land has been taken away from them. (Continued on page 4)

“We will make the world safer for everyone” Russian President Boris Yeltsin … [top text cut off and illegible] … to work together, as they were to… in an atmosphere of mutual trust. Clinton expressed optimism that the successful cooperation to date would continue in the future. The two presidents signed a partnership agreement covering economic affairs, security… [the rest of the column is unclear] … It seems that at this point the Bosnian Muslims themselves came to their aid; they are asking for a 4–6 month postponement of the lifting of the arms embargo. Apparently, they still do not feel prepared in this regard. The agenda for the American-Russian talks also included international arms trade, illegal markets trafficking in nuclear materials, and the fight against crime. On the first issue, Washington asked Moscow to stop selling arms to Iran, which the United States describes as a country that supports terrorism. On nuclear issues and nuclear leakage, the two presidents agreed that Russia should also be encouraged to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Meanwhile, although the Clinton–Yeltsin meeting gave attention to many European issues, the American mass media focused on the problems of Haiti and Clinton’s package for [unclear], making it seem as if the meeting did not have the real significance that had been expected. (Continued on page 4)

- 15 families struggling to make ends meet. - Ismail Sejdini from Ballndreni, Elbasan, emphasizes: “The land we were given, around one dynym per family, was allocated very late. Nothing has come of it here this year or last, while our [unclear] has also been cut off and we receive no kind of assistance or compensation. What are we supposed to live on? We have gone to the local government offices, but there is no solution.”

Final figures on the Baltic tragedy say that only 126 passengers survived out of the more than one thousand people traveling on the ferry. According to a sailor who survived, the large door through which cars enter had apparently opened. The crew had tried to close it, but without success, because a huge wave engulfed the vessel, which sank in five minutes. *** The meeting of NATO defense ministers began in Madrid yesterday; among other things, they will review the crisis in Bosnia and NATO’s involvement there. *** For the first time, NATO ministers will also discuss the alliance’s enlargement to include new members from Eastern European countries, an issue considered just as delicate as that of Bosnia. *** Britain is very close to formally recognizing the peace declared by the IRA, a British official in New York emphasized. *** The U.S. Secretary of Defense [unclear] warns the Bosnian Serbs that NATO will use force if necessary. *** French Foreign Minister Zhype once again confirmed that meetings are continuing against accepting the lifting of the arms embargo in favor of the Bosnians.

- Discussion by MP Halil Lalaj, on behalf of the Socialist Party parliamentary group, concerning the President’s decree “On the Issuing of Passports for Travel Abroad and the Granting of Visas.” Amid the deterioration of Albanian-Greek relations, reciprocal restrictive measures in one field or another have become frequent. In this regard, we understand the reasoning behind submitting a decree of this kind to Parliament for approval. Nevertheless, as I also stated in the Foreign Relations Committee, we must weigh the effects of this decree. If approving it helps us, we should do so without hesitation; if the opposite is true, then it needs to be discussed here, even though it comes from the President’s office. First of all, we would like Albania’s visa arrangements to be based entirely on reciprocity, something our group put forward as a demand when this matter was decided two years ago. Perhaps that moment has not yet arrived, although our interests in relation to our friends are in reality much more limited than those we have with Greece. This, then, remains a purely political act and should be judged as such. From this political perspective, the Albanian state is continually calling on the Greek authorities and international authorities to engage in dialogue, with a third party present. This is a reasonable request and a prudent position for the Albanian state. Yet, in the context of this moment, the contents of the decree run counter to this prudence, as does the traditional Albanian view that we should not compromise ourselves by imposing a sanction such as the one being proposed. Thus, instead of working not only through verbal appeals but also through practical measures to reach dialogue, this could take us further away from it. In this way, we would be acting rather unwisely. On the other hand, we note that the Greek fury has abated. We hope this is a genuine sign of the Greek state’s awareness that it should take measures to further calm the situation, so that relations can reach a level of correctness and good-neighborliness. From this point of view, we believe it is appropriate that we should not, even unintentionally, send messages of anger, but, as always, messages of tolerance, calm, and moderation. Believing that this position will serve the country better, reduce tensions among neighboring states, and benefit the economic circumstances of Albanian families and the country’s social life, we decided to convey the group’s position to Parliament as well, in the hope of understanding.