Oketo in Tirana:

The Chairman of the Delegation of European Socialists emphasizes: Page 3

Editorial Notice the government press of these days! It is enraged. Listen to the spokesperson of the presidency on TV! The least that can be said is that they use harsh language. Read the speeches of the leaders of the PD! They show that our rulers are on alert. Why all this panic, this uncultured language in their newspapers, why do the “democratic” rulers speak in Enverist style? There is only one reason: the closer the elections come that could leave them without armchairs, the more they feel this deep and deserved loss. It is like mice, which, as they say, are the first to feel earthquakes. That is the reason for their ferocity. The terms “democrat” and “ferocity” exclude one another, so they cannot coexist. Ferocity is a way of behaving of uncultured people who have nothing democratic at their core. We Albanians know this way of behaving well from the long years of communist violence. The democracy we dreamed of has a different way of behaving. It encourages dialogue. But how can the enraged members of the PD understand what dialogue is? Democracy encourages tolerance. But how could the enraged members of the PD want to know why tolerance is needed by Albanian society? Democracy calls for understanding. Meanwhile, the enraged members of the PD are the authors and servants of quarrels, grudges, and disputes that today run through the entire political life of the country. There is another reason why our rulers are very enraged today. They are forced to answer Europe for their anti-democratic positions in this delicate phase of the Albanian transition. The PD rulers, especially last year, on the occasion of Albania's admission to the Council of Europe, sounded the trumpets as if this were a great success and an extraordinary merit of this party and its governing course. They forget that Europe opened the door not only for us to enter it, but also so that it could come and see how the fragile Albanian democracy is taking its steps. Several teams bearing the names of highly respected European personalities have already come to Albania to check how the observations and tasks entrusted to our rulers have been carried out in order to deserve the status of a country admitted, albeit not formally, to this authoritative body of the continent, the Council of Europe. Nevertheless, the rulers of the PD do not manage to meet the requirements of democratic Europe, Albania still remains without a constitution, and this is only because of the stubbornness of the PD leadership; in Albania there continues the scandalous subordination of the courts to political power; the PD is defending its mandate by keeping the head of the socialist opposition Fatos Nano in prison, etc., etc.; they are put on alert. This is the reason they feel tension and for this they lash out at the opposition. It is a wasted life for the Democratic Party. It is the prelude to what will happen when all of us go to the ballot box.

The vice-chairman of the PSSH Servet Pëllumbi and the head of the European PS delegation Akile Oketo

Yesterday, the President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr. Arpad Goncz, arrived in Tirana for a three-day visit, at the invitation of President Berisha. He is accompanied by a large number of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Telecommunications, Industry and Trade, and by 31 Hungarian businessmen. Also yesterday, the Hungarian president was received by President Berisha, with whom he held a one-on-one meeting and was then joined by the two respective delegations. At the end of the talks, two agreements were signed: one on road transport between the two countries, and the agreement on the elimination of double taxation in the protection of investments. Read on page 13

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It is not the first time that the newspapers "Albania" and "RD" have become a tribune for slander and shameful fabrications against "Zëri i Popullit". But yesterday's case is more flagrant and more base, invented in special disinformation offices. The accounts of "Zëri i Popullit" have been subjected for the last 7 months to detailed checks by the prosecutor's office, and despite the special attention of specialist experts specially instructed by the Prosecutor's Office, there was found not only no illegal financing from Serbia as the government newspapers wrote yesterday, but no violation whatsoever, no irregularity. Someone else is being illegally financed and this is very well known not only by "Albania" and "RD"; but surely also by the National Intelligence Service itself. The newspaper editorial office "Zëri i Popullit"

NOW ALSO IN THE MORNING FROM TIRANA BY TRAINS FROM BARI, BY EARLY AFTERNOON YOU ARE EVERYWHERE IN ITALY. THE WHOLE JOURNEY BY PLANE AND TRAIN ROUND TRIP ABOUT 299,000 LIRE. TEL. AND FAX: 273 06