Yesterday in Parliament Meksi submitted the draft law "On the vetting of the backgrounds of senior political and state officials for the protection of the democratic state" It seems that the Democratic Party has thought that all the State Security collaborators in its ranks should be removed from political life not by opening the files, but by sidelining them without opening them, unlike what the political opposition has demanded.

Editorial The entire democratic world welcomed the Dayton agreement, in Dayton, Ohio, USA, between the warring parties in the more than four-year conflict in Bosnia, the gravest ordeal that democratic Europe, the foundations and the values of European security and cooperation have endured since the Second World War. This is the reason why the negotiations among Presidents Izetbegoviç, Tuxhman and Millosheviç, respectively the presidents of Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia, which lasted about three weeks, were followed with concern by Albanian public opinion as well. - Dayton is very far from Albania, but the theater of the fighting in Bosnia is very close to our country. So when the cannons fall silent and the military troops withdraw in Bosnia, the Balkans feel safer, and so do we Albanians and the democratic processes in which we are involved. The role of the USA and personally of President Clinton is decisive for the conclusion of this historic agreement, just as the American role is extremely great in all democratic processes, in the security and cooperation brought by the new era after the collapse of communism. But we Albanians are very sensitive to the fate of peace in Bosnia, because after this solution there must naturally come greater international engagement, up to an agreement to resolve once and for all, with justice, the Albanian national question, the fate of Kosovo and its future. The agreement on Bosnia shows the path that must be followed to reach an agreement on Kosovo's future. And that path is: dialogue and respect for the national and human rights of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia. The congratulations addressed by the President of Albania, Sali Berisha, to the parties signing the Bosnia agreement, which he openly and plainly says opens a new page in cooperation and understanding between them, carry the hope that a fair and final solution will also be found for the Kosovo issue, overcoming historical injustices, prejudices and negative sins that have often troubled the Balkans and its peoples. Dayton also gives a highly current message for political developments in democratic Albania itself. When parties that had committed terrible and destructive crimes against one another—hundreds and thousands of victims, billions of dollars in historical losses, economic, cultural and historical values, the displacement of thousands of refugees from their homes, etc.—managed to sit down at one table, democracies are capable of dialogue, the round table of talks, consensus, becoming the way of conduct for all political forces in the country, for all organizations and institutions, because in this way we bring democracy closer, consolidate the rule of law, and affirm civic and national values. Dayton is a great example from which many valuable lessons come.

The People's Assembly of the Republic of Albania has addressed a message to Mr. Bill Clinton, President of the United States of America, in which it says: The Albanian public as a whole received the news of the agreement reached for the establishment of peace in Bosnia and in the entire former Yugoslav area with interest and supports it fully. Convinced that we are expressing the wish of the Albanian people, the Parliament of the Republic of Albania has the pleasure to address Your Excellency with its best wishes for this important achievement and at the same time to underline the contribution of the American government and yours personally as President of the USA in putting an end to the human massacres in Bosnia. The Albanian Parliament expresses its belief that in the future too, the USA and the international community as a whole will play an active role in resolving, as a priority, the acute problems in the troubled Balkan region and especially in the former Yugoslavia. On this occasion, while expressing our appreciation for the support that You personally and the American administration have given to the Albanian population in Kosovo, we have confidence in Your continued engagement on the Albanian question, as the most sensitive and inextricably linked to the Balkans as a whole. Once again, congratulations and best wishes for the future. With high consideration.

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National activity of the commissions for social affairs, health and education at the Socialist Party Read on pages 2-3

The petition of 100 employees Shkodra tourism is being sold arbitrarily Read on page 5 The massacres of Gostivar, Ulcinj, Skopje... Read on page 10