WITH SABRI GODO, CO-CHAIRMAN OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION FOR DRAFTING THE CONSTITUTION Çeka is right We must move forward with the constitution Page 5

Sterile polemics are holding Albanian politics hostage THE OPPOSITION 60 YEARS BEHIND

“A commitment with which the Albanian prime minister is charting the course toward Europe.” This is how Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini, quoted by yesterday’s Italian newspapers, welcomed and characterized the “controversy” that erupted in Albania after the press conference concerning the interview Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano gave a few days ago to the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica.” Protection—which in Albanian means “defense”—has been interpreted with the mindset of 60 years ago by part of the Albanian opposition, which immediately rushed to exploit it for its own short-term interests, while Albania continues its arduous efforts to rebuild after the tragedy it experienced as a consequence of the rule of those politicians who today are pretending to be offended. Italian Foreign Minister Dini will come to Albania next Thursday to establish the protocol for the agreement to disburse 210 billion lire that the Italian government has offered Albania. Meanwhile, the Albanian prime minister is not only expressing resolve but also feels confident in the face of future challenges, with his projects to free Albania from the 555-year-old mentality of Ottomanism, clan chieftainism and totalitarianism, and to integrate it into Euro-Atlantic structures as a normal democratic country. “I have no intention of selling national interests to foreigners,” Prime Minister Nano declared when asked about the “controversy” in question, specifying with the same resolve that the protection we are seeking serves Albanian interests, just as is the case with the “ALBA” mission. He went on to explain in response to the Italian question: “In 1989, the government in Bonn offered Germany’s assistance to break through in Brussels, thereby opening important doors through which aid could arrive to build a different future for this country. I (that is, Fatos Nano) conveyed Bonn’s proposal to the authorities of that time, who blocked it with their communist mindset. We could have become a modern country, but, as it happens, we still haven’t. We will not repeat the same mistake,” Mr Nano concluded. To seek the assistance and protection of a friendly country in order to become part of the democratic community and the family of civilized nations means nothing more than striving to make real the Albanian dream expressed most significantly and meaningfully in the nationwide calls of the protests of December 1990 and March 1997: “Let’s make Albania like Europe.” This is all the more true when we consider that this assistance is being sought from a country that is a member of the European Union and NATO, like Italy, which has more than once offered Albania its generous helping hand. Moreover, the commitment of the international community in general, and Italy in particular, during the general crisis of March this year was a lifesaver and decisive for the very existence of the Albanian state, whose institutions had entirely collapsed as a result of the failed policies of the previous regime. Prime Minister Nano’s statement about Italian protection on the road to European integration, described by the opposition as an uncontrolled statement or as national betrayal, is in essence a call for the continued involvement of this neighboring and friendly country in particular, and of the entire international community in general, in helping rebuild the institutions of the rule of law in a country situated in a troubled region such as the Balkans. The aim is for Albania to stop producing crises and refugees, to stop exporting crime and prostitution as it has until now, and instead, as a partner country, to secure the support it needs to enter Europe’s development mainstream as soon as possible, with the goal of joining NATO and the European Union. Asked by the press in his own country about the controversy that erupted in Albania after Prime Minister Nano’s interview in the newspaper “La Repubblica,” Italy’s foreign minister said: the course toward Europe”

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THE PROSECUTION’S SENTENCE 16 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MAZREKU The defense has its turn on Tuesday Page 4

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the protection we are seeking serves Albanian interests.”