Prime Minister Fatos Nano gives an account of the government’s work to journalists Pages 2–3

Minister Malaj in Brussels

January 1, 1998 LEGALIZATION OF IMMIGRANTS Decree awaits signature by the President of the Greek Republic On January 1, 1998, the presidential decree on the legalization of foreign immigrants in Greece will enter into force, the BBC radio correspondent in Athens reported. From that date, the announcement says, immigrants will have to report to local labor offices to complete the relevant registration, Greek Deputy Minister of Labor Kristos Protopapas stated. The Greek deputy minister made the above statement at the opening of a conference on employment issues in Thessaloniki. The decree has now entered the final stage of preparations, that of being signed by the President of the Republic. The decree provides first for the issuance of temporary green cards valid for 9 months; afterward, immigrants must submit a series of documents in order to obtain a three-year green card, renewable for a further two years. The first draft of this decree was presented in January of this year and, after revisions, was presented again in June, provoking a broad wave of reactions, since its implementation was expected to exclude immigrants from neighboring countries, namely Albania and Bulgaria. Several weeks later, at the initiative of the Prime Minister himself, Kostas Simitis, the article in question was restored to its original form, thereby including Albanians as well. Of the approximately 450,000 illegal foreign immigrants currently in Greece, according to official sources, more than 350,000 are estimated to be Albanian citizens.

Tuberculosis “kills” 160 patients Page 7

A reminder By Luan M. Rama Yesterday, Prime Minister Nano gave an account of the first hundred days of work by the coalition government of five parties that he leads, convincingly and realistically highlighting its achievements, far from euphoria and rosy brushstrokes, continuing the informative transparency and communication with the media and public opinion that have by now become institutionalized. In this way, Albanians have finally gained the opportunity to learn directly about everything their government does, and also to monitor, step by step and continuously, the implementation of the government program that received the vote of confidence of the People’s Assembly, elected by the free vote of June 29. But for mutual understanding and oversight to be as complete as possible (it is important not only to monitor how the government implements the program, but also for the government to monitor how its messages are conveyed and how tangible the implementation of its program becomes, right down to the most distant commune), communication channels must be expanded, and undoubtedly so must the number of participants. Why do we emphasize this point? Albania is much larger than a hall in Tirana, or even the areas reached by newspapers and television broadcasts. This means that a considerable part of the population remains outside the “game”—that is, outside the channels of communication with the government. To reduce these “free zones” as much as possible, it is essential that ministers first and foremost, but also members of parliament, department heads and specialists, leave their offices and go where the government’s achievements produce results, where hardships, concerns and numerous problems are to be found. I was prompted to emphasize this idea also by a harmless phone call from a minister, who was concerned about why a meeting he had held with the chairman of an environmentalist association had not been published in the newspaper. Without wishing to dismiss that meeting, I would have liked to do the minister justice if, for example, the issue had been the non-publication of a similar meeting with residents of Tropojë, or with livestock farmers in the village of Bulqizë, with Police employees or those at the port of Durrës, etc. The call for government officials to meet people where they live and work does not stem from a desire for propaganda, but from the necessity of clarifying the many problems and questions being raised, starting with the need for fiscal measures, the increase in VAT, institutional reform, the problems involved in restoring local government structures, law-enforcement bodies and the justice system to normality, the bill the new democratic government inherited from the PD government, and many, many other matters. Because, to be realistic, we must admit that not everything is going smoothly. (Continued on page 6)

Harsh measures against maritime smuggling Agreement on customs between the European Commission and the Albanian government tomorrow Page 5

A meeting of the General Steering Committee of the PSSH will be held on Tuesday, November 11, at 13:00. Members of this committee are hereby notified to attend. THE PRESIDIUM OF THE PSSH