President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Miguel Angel Martinez in an exclusive interview with «Zëri i Popullit» MARTINEZ emphasizes: - Other countries will have an obligation to support Albania, just as Albania will support the needs of others. - Albania needs a Constitution in order to live in a democracy. - The NANO issue has never been only a matter for the Socialists. It has also been about democracy. In the Inter-Parliamentary Union, it is not the Socialists who have raised the NANO issue; I can say that it is the entire Inter-Parliamentary Union—in other words, Christian Democrats, liberals, conservatives... Question: Two weeks ago Albania moved beyond the status of «special guest» and became a member of the Council of Europe. By becoming part of this large family, Albania will now have a greater need for support and cooperation. Today, during the flag-raising ceremony, you said that it would also have the right to ask. What, specifically? [...the needs of others in this joint undertaking.] Question: The road to Europe was a difficult one for Albanians. Today you emphasized that the debate held during the accession process brought to light certain shortcomings, inadequacies and deficiencies in Albanian institutions, which must be made up for by both sides: by me and by President Berisha. We were indeed tense. He was very tense in Tirana, but I was quite tense too while listening to him, and I appreciate that he called me. It is rare for a President, a head of state, to pick up the receiver and call at 8:30 in the morning; at that hour, I begin work... Question: Two years became a member of the Council of Europe. As a member of this large family, Albania will now need even more that it would also have the right to ask for things. What, specifically? Answer: From today, Albania is a major country; it is no longer an adolescent. The mentality of a candidate, a fellow member, inherited from the past, must disappear as soon as possible. We cannot be engaged and married at the same time. Starting today, Europe and Albania are married. This brings benefits and advantages, but perhaps, of course, some disadvantages as well. There is no longer any mystery; we now belong to the same family. Being a member of a family presupposes, among other things, not asking for things but taking part. Starting today, Albania will sit at all the Council of Europe’s tables and will have the responsibility of deciding together with the others. This is fundamentally a joint undertaking based on solidarity. The other countries will be obliged of others in this shared for Albanians. Today you stressed light certain shortcomings, inadequacies and deficiencies in Albanian institutions that need to be corrected. According to you, Parliament, the Government and the President have made a solemn commitment to this end. What commitments, specifically, are we talking about? Answer: The precise commitments are those signed by the President of the Albanian Parliament, Mr Arbnori. These are documents you already know, and they are precisely the commitments Albania undertook. President Berisha is someone I hold in high regard. We spoke several times here while the debate was under way and voices were being raised in opposition to Albania’s admission. I told him that I would do everything within my authority, using my powers of persuasion, to try to get my colleagues to think things through; I would try to tell them that Albania would follow the right path and, moreover, that this path would be irreversible. The telephone conversations we had that day were tense on both sides—both for me and for President Berisha. We were truly tense. He was very tense in Tirana, and I was quite tense too as I listened to him; receiver and call at 8:30 in the morning. I start work early, and apparently so does he. I manage to get to the office before the secretaries; perhaps it was a coincidence for Berisha too. So he must have been alone in his office. He picked up the telephone directly, and when I lifted the receiver, I heard his voice, which I know well, say: “Mr Martinez, dear friend…” I was deeply moved. I was very sorry; he expressed his gratitude and his concern, and, moved, I expressed my respect and esteem for him and promised him that I had done what I had to do. This esteem prompted me to help Albania in its efforts to build a democratic state governed by the rule of law, as well as in its efforts to achieve prosperity. I am one of those who believe that people in Albania must be able to associate freedom and democracy with prosperity—but only when prosperity truly exists. This does not (Continued on page 3)

- While it is said that the Democratic Party has secured parliamentary control over the budget - In the exposition, The Democratic Party’s Contract with Albania, regarding foreign debt, it says, among other things, that Albania—a country in which debt and credit were constitutionally considered high treason—unexpectedly found itself in 1992 with a foreign debt of over 500 million dollars, accumulated by the governments of the PPSH during the last two years of the dictatorship... But it says nothing about how much this debt had reached by the end of 1993–94, or how much it will reach by the end of 1995. Nevertheless, one can indirectly learn again from the contract exposition that aid and loans for the balance of payments provided to Albania amounted to 135 million dollars from the European Union, 89 million dollars from the IMF, and 76.1 million dollars from the World Bank (not including the 25 million dollars recently forgiven by the World Bank toward repayment of the foreign debt). So, neither more nor less than 300 million dollars. But, as the DP’s own Contract with Albania shows, the foreign debt is greater. It is enough to bear in mind that, as the contract states, the World Bank’s 76.1 million dollars for the balance of payments are part of the 174.3 million dollars in soft loans granted by the World Bank to our country. This means that at least 100 million dollars in World Bank loans taken for other purposes must be added to the 300 million. This does not include other loans received from the European Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Bank, OPEC, etc. Put simply, the question is: What is Albania’s total foreign debt? How much interest must be paid on it? When will it be repaid? As is known, the 1995 state budget provides for 1.5 billion lekë in interest on foreign debt and 5.3 billion lekë in interest on domestic debt. So, neither more nor less than 6.8 billion lekë—or more than the total amount budgeted this year for unemployment payments, economic assistance and electricity compensation combined. Under these circumstances, for the Albanian electorate to sign its contract with the DP once again would ... (Continued on page 2) KOÇO BROKA

Moved here three years ago from the northeastern region and settled in the lowland area of Lezhë, they are now in a situation that, as they say, is «neither on earth nor in heaven». More than 60 families have been affected... they tell «Zëri i Popullit», including the President of the Republic. The heads of families mention that, on the eve of the vote on the constitutional referendum ... they were told, «vote yes»

Moved here three years ago from the northeastern region and settled in the lowland area of Lezhë, they are now in a situation that, as they say, is «neither on earth nor in heaven». appealed to all the authorities, but in every case they have found only «closed doors». Indeed, recently they have come under attack from law-enforcement forces, whose repeated actions have demolished dozens of shacks built with great effort, not to mention that violence has also been used. We are finding no support at all, they tell «Zëri i Popullit», including from the President of the Republic. The heads of families point out that, on the eve of the referendum vote, officials told them, «vote “yes” and afterwards we’ll settle you wherever you want», but in fact they were met with the violence of the whip. The situation is truly painful. These are people with no support and no hope whatsoever. They appeal to the government to make a decision concerning these miserable «refugees» within their own country. A. C.

New facts have come to light concerning the manipulation of the “Nano” file The official confirmation by the Italian media and the relevant Italian judicial authorities concerning the dismissal of the case about Italian aid to Albania, in which 12 officials had been accused, sheds light not on Nano’s innocence, since that had already been clear, but on a scandal in which state bodies, and particularly the Albanian judicial authorities, were deliberately involved, along with specific individuals who recorded, reported, investigated and tried the «Nano case». The subsequent details of these manipulations, with clearly defined political objectives, as well as other details concerning the substance of the criminal and procedural charges on which the accusations against Nano were built, were clearly brought to light by Nano himself and his defense during his trial, during the appeal proceedings, at the first trial, and in the case that he again investigated and condemned (?). Thus, in “Nano’s” own [case], on the day of his trial, it was clearly seen that the arena of corruption involving transfers and Italian aid to Albania exists, and that there is also a trial in Italy of several senior officials who are being tried, that is, (Continued on page 3) SPARTAK BRAHO

This concerns Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Albania signed back in 1931. This Article clearly establishes the need for a proper legal process as an essential precondition for an impartial trial. Besides the Venice Commission and Amnesty International, it is the Inter-Parliamentary Union that, in two public resolutions, has expressed concern over Albania’s violation of this critical Article in the case of the trial of socialist leader Fatos Nano. In this case, the substance of this article has been turned into its opposite, that is: An unfair trial. Contrary to what Article 14 prescribes for a fair trial, Nano still has not managed to see the 3,000-page case file, and the claims of the Albanian authorities have not convinced the Inter-Parliamentary Union either. Another major act of dishonesty by the Albanian justice system lies in its refusal to assess a host of original official documents and evidence, Albanian and Italian, such as the 8 contracts for the delivery of Italian aid, invoices, entry slips and goods-delivery records, the Italian accounting expert report commissioned by the Rome Prosecutor’s Office, etc., which provide incontrovertible evidence that the full amount of 20 billion lire in aid was delivered, with some [unclear] 300 million lire, in accordance with all the laws and administrative procedures of the time. These and other documents show that the prices of the goods were also in fact market prices, that a tender could be held with only one company not only then but even now under current laws in emergency circumstances, and that the Nano government of that time had taken all the relevant measures; that Decision No. 911 of 12 March ’91 in fact serves as a model even today: the Albanian court of Bendo did not take into account [?] the extraordinary conditions of that time, the hunger and thirst faced by the government of (Continued on page 3) Dr. JORGI KOTE

Question: Two years ago, Albania moved beyond the status of “special guest” and became a member of the Council of Europe. As a member of this large family, Albania will now need even more support and cooperation. Today, during the flag-raising ceremony, you said that it would also have the right to ask for things. What, specifically?

In the municipality of Fier Despite the inarticulate and divisive messages conveyed by the central bodies of the Albanian state, political pluralism has by now, together with the highly professional composition, ensured that the Fier municipal council has suitable conditions for taking the most rational and appropriate decisions for the needs and circumstances facing our city. But the ongoing deterioration of the role of the law and of its principal interpreter, the state, the grave social and economic situation, the growing imposition of anarchism, and the fact that, as part of the complex of municipal institutions, the officials bear responsibility for the situation created in Fier, have also subjected us councillors to rapid moral discredit in the eyes of the conscientious public. The group of Socialist councillors believes that this situation has not arisen because of possible shortcomings in decision-making—that is, in the council’s function—but because of the alarming failure to implement these decisions, that is, the usurpation of the function of the mayor, Sotiraq Aleksi, and of the executive appointed by him. We therefore believe that, in order to bring about a positive turn in the situation and ensure the transparency required before the electorate, the Mayor should explain to the Council why the Mayor’s institutions are not functioning, as well as present a concrete work program for achieving the most necessary positive changes. Our group requests that, at the next meeting, the Mayor’s interpellation (or that of his representatives) focus on these issues: 1. Why has Mr. Aleksi been unable (or unwilling) to ensure public order and peace in the city of Fier, as the law requires? What measures will be taken in the future to put an end to the nightly gunshots, kidnappings of girls, violent seizure of private and public property, violence and terror against citizens and even councillors, blatant violations of traffic regulations, frequent murders, etc.? How will cooperation with the Ministry of Interior be ensured so that the police become a source of hope for citizens instead of a source of fear? 2. Why have many important decisions of the Municipal Council, for example those concerning the workshop or the circus, been delayed or not implemented at all? How will they be handled in the future? 3. What relations have led the Mayor not to respond to the analyses carried out by the Municipal Council, particularly regarding the situation in the city’s municipal service enterprises, such as cleaning, landscaping, sewerage, etc.? Will he respond by making changes in these enterprises? 4. What motives have led the Municipality to become the servant of particular individuals in the administration— (Continued on page 2)