Albanian Prime Minister Bashkim Fino and Italian Prime Minister Romanò Prodi among the people of Vlora 60,000 people conveyed messages of peace and understanding to the Italian prime minister Albanian Prime Minister Bashkim Fino and Italian Prime Minister Romanò Prodi among the people of Vlora Vlora Honors Albania 60,000 people conveyed messages of peace and understanding to the Italian prime minister Prodi: “The pain your country is going through is my personal pain. We have undertaken a mission that will be the rebirth of this nation.” Fino: “The welcome given by the people of Vlora is in keeping with Albanian tradition, with the tradition of Albanian civilization, which knows how to receive a guest—especially a good friend who stands by you in difficult times.” Pages 2–3

Strasbourg.— At the invitation of the parliamentary group of the Party of European Socialists, PSSH chairman Fatos Nano, PSSH Secretary for Foreign Relations Majo Lakrori, PSDSH chairman Skënder Gjinushi, and PADSH President Neritan Ceka made a working visit on April 8 and 9, 1997, to the European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, France. The senior representatives of the PS, PSD and PAD held meetings with the parliamentary groups of the Party of European Socialists, the European People’s Parties, Catherine Lalumiere, the Alliance of European Radicals, Rothl, and the Green Group, magdalene Hoff and Inbeni, vice-presidents of the PSE Group, Hannes Swoboda, vice-president of the PSE Group and its foreign affairs spokesperson, and with the heads of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the PSE parliamentary group, Luigi Colajani and Janis Rübatis. Nano, Lakrori, Gjinushi and Ceka also met and spoke with Van den Broek, Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, and Emma Bonino, Commissioner for Refugee Affairs and Liberal Democrats, Doris Pack of the European People’s Party group, and Janis Ribatis. They also met and spoke with Ivan for Refugee Affairs and Humanitarian Aid. At all the meetings, discussions focused on resolving the current crisis facing our country, the European Union countries’ monitoring of this process, and cooperation with other international institutions, first and foremost the OSCE, to ensure that free and fair elections are held at the scheduled time. The leaders of the PS, PSD and PAD also attended a plenary session of the European Parliament during a special debate on Albania. They also held a press conference. VIENNA On April 10 and 11, 1997, PSSH chairman Fatos Nano, PSSH Secretary for Foreign Relations Maqo held several meetings in Austria’s capital, Vienna. They discussed the situation in Albania with numerous senior political figures from the Social Democratic Party of Austria and the Austrian People’s Party. Meetings were held with Heinz Fischer, Vice-Chairman of the PSDA, Vice-President of the PSE and President of the Austrian Parliament; Peter Schlieder, Chairman of the Austrian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the Social Democratic Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Albrecht Koneçny, International Secretary of the PSDA and Chairman of the PSDA Group in the Federal Council of the Austrian Parliament; Erich Frosch, Director of the Karl Renner Institute of the PSDA; Alois Mock, member of Parliament, former Austrian Foreign Minister and President of the EDU; Walter Schwimmer, member of the Austrian Parliament and Chairman of the Conservatives’ Group in the Council of Europe; Maria Rauch-Kallath, member of Parliament and Secretary-General of the Austrian People’s Party; and Friedrich König and Spindlegger, members of the Austrian Parliament. As part of this visit, a friendly meeting was also held with Franc Vranitzky, former Chancellor of Austria and a well-known and respected figure on the international stage. PSSH Spokesperson

Following the meeting of the National Council Just a few hours after the meeting of the Democratic Party’s National Council, it has split in two. One of its leadership members, a member of parliament and a former senior government official during the past five years, said yesterday that the group he represented was declaring its separation from the Democratic Party. Former Deputy Prime Minister Dashamir Shehi said on behalf of a group of MPs dissatisfied with the current Democratic Party that what they considered closed was over. “The time has come for a new political chance, for a new alternative,” Shehi said. He added that politically they could no longer remain tied to this dragging-out process that had engulfed the Democratic Party. After declaring his break with the DP, Dashamir Shehi said his group was emerging from this dispute larger than when it had entered it. He left open the possibility of forming a genuine Democratic Party, with this group of MPs as its core.

Conversation with an army officer, eyewitness and participant in the events that took place in the town of Delvinë Page 5

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi yesterday in the city of Vlora (Photo A. Babani)