IV

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 104

Concerning the crisis in Albania.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 20, 1997

Mr. ENGEL (for himself and Ms. MOLINARI) submitted the following

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Concerning the crisis in Albania.

Whereas during March 1997 United States Armed Forces

personnel evacuated approximately 500 Americans from

Albania;

Whereas no Americans were injured in the evacuation;

Whereas the military operation was at times risky and dangerous, with helicopters of the United States Armed

Forces occasionally receiving fire;

Whereas several United States diplomats, including Ambassador Marisa Lino, have remained in Tirana during these

unsettled and perilous times;

Whereas the evacuation is the result of a rebellion in Albania

which followed the collapse of several pyramid investment

schemes;
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Whereas hundreds of thousands of Albanian citizens lost

large portions of their life savings in the pyramid investment schemes;

Whereas more than 100 people in Albania have died in the

rebellion;

Whereas with the almost complete collapse of central governmental authority, Albania remains in a state of near-anarchy;

Whereas many weapons depots were raided by the general

population of Albania and many small arms were taken

by the citizenry;

Whereas the proliferation of weapons in Albania has made

the situation very dangerous;

Whereas on March 9, 1997, Albania’s political parties agreed

to a nine-point agreement on political reconciliation;

Whereas under the nine-point agreement, President Sali

Berisha, a member of the ruling Democratic Party, has

appointed a broadly based unity government, led by an

opposition socialist, former mayor of Gjirokaster

Bashkim Fino;

Whereas under the nine-point agreement, President Berisha

and opposition parties have agreed to hold general elections by June 1997; and

Whereas the solution to the crisis in Albania cannot be found

through further recourse to violence or any challenge to

Albania’s international borders or territorial integrity:

Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That—
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1 (1) United States Armed Forces personnel are

2 to be commended for the evacuation operations in

3 Albania;

4 (2) the United States diplomatic corps are to be

5 commended for their service in Albania during these

6 dangerous times;

7 (3) the nine-point agreement of March 9, 1997,

8 among all Albanian political parties represents a key

9 step toward lifting Albania out of the current crisis;

10 (4) Albania’s new multiparty leadership is

11 strongly urged to implement in good faith the terms

12 of the nine-point agreement of March 9, 1997, and

13 to do all possible to reinspire the trust of the Alba14 nian people;

15 (5) the Albanian people are strongly urged to

16 afford their new government an opportunity to gov17 ern by laying down weapons and making any

18 changes to the government through peaceful means,

19 particularly the upcoming elections;

20 (6) the United States should support the new

21 Albanian Government as it attempts to reestablish

22 calm and achieve political reconciliation and should

23 urge the new government to guarantee human

24 rights, free and fair elections, and freedom of ex25 pression;
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1 (7) the United States must remain closely en2 gaged in the diplomatic efforts to ease Albania’s cri3 sis and should strongly support similar efforts by

4 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

5 Europe and the European Union;

6 (8) the United States and the international

7 community should work with the new Albanian Gov8 ernment to ensure that upcoming elections will be

9 free and fair by supplying political inducement, tech10 nical advice, and large numbers of observers; and

11 (9) the international community should consider

12 ways to assist Albania with the financial crisis

13 brought about by the collapse of the pyramid invest14 ment schemes, including the convening of a financial

15 donors’ conference if there is full cooperation in in16 vestigating the schemes and their role in the crisis.

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