Dashnor Kaloçi
The first part
– Western press: “Albania’s relations with Mao Zedong’s China are cooling, due to the attitude towards the assassination of President Kendi, to whom ‘Voice of the People’ devoted an article, where it appreciated his work, etc” –
Memorie.al/ publishes some archival documents labeled “Sekret” taken from the Central State Archive in Tirana (the fund of the former Central Committee of PPSh) which belong to 1963 and were separated from a file containing a correspondence with information, reports, announcements, relations, letters, telegrams, orders, report-information, etc., between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana, with accredited Albanian embassies in several countries of the world and the Directorate of Foreign Relations, near the apparatus of Central Committee of PPSh. As we will see from the documents in question, the holders of accredited Albanian embassies in several countries of the world, mainly those of Vienna, Rome and Paris, inform their superiors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana and through them the Central Committee of PPSh -, related to the various articles published in the Western press (such as “The Observer”, “Die Press”, “Stuttgarter Zeitung”, “Ilustre Kronen Zeitung”, “Industriekurier”, “Die Velt”, etc.) which dealt with and reflected the political line followed by the senior communist leadership of the Party of Work of Albania and official Tirana, after the breakdown of official relations with the Soviet Union, the difficult economic and social situation prevailing in the country, its relations with its neighbors , mainly with Josif Broz Tito’s Yugoslavia, from where as a result of the climate of terror exercised by the leadership of Tirana, many Albanians crossed the border illegally and fled to Yugoslavia, relations and reports of the Labor Party of Albania, with the Marxist-Leninist communist parties of various European countries, as well as the signs of cooling and separation that were appearing between Albania and Mao Zedong’s People’s Republic of China, due to their different attitudes in connection with the assassination of the President of the USA, Kennedy, to whom “Zeri i Populli” dedicated an article, where it appreciated his work, etc. One of the main topics that the Western press (mainly the British and then the West German and Austrian) has addressed in many of the articles published during the period August – September – October 1963, is the one where it was said that; in Albania, an uprising was being prepared by the senior military, led by the Minister of People’s Defense, Lieutenant-General Beqir Balluku, for the overthrow of the head of state, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Albania, Enver Hoxha. After these articles, as we will see from the documents in question, a leading place in the various articles of the Western press about the political situation in Albania at that time are also those that deal with the breakdown of official relations between Tirana and Moscow, as well as the punishment that did the high leadership of PPSh and personally Enver Hoxha, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of PPSh, Liri Belishova and Koço Tashko, (former ambassador in Moscow), accusing them of being supporters of the political line of official Moscow led by Nikita Khrushchev. For more about these topics and events that were covered by the Western press in 1963, related to Enver Hoxha’s communist Albania, we know the relations and secret reports sent to Tirana by the Albanian Minister of Power in Vienna, Gaqo Nesho.
The secret document compiled by the Press Branch at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana, sent to the Directorate of Foreign Relations at the apparatus of the Central Committee of the PPSh, by the deputy minister, Vasil Nathanaili
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA SECRET
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Tirana, on 11-XII-1963
PRESS BRANCH Ex.
No. 601
LAND:
CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF P.P. ALBANIA
(Foreign Directorate)
T I R A N E
Attached, we present you the copy of the relations as follows:
Press report for the month of October 1963, sent by our embassy in Budapest.
Reports on some problems that the Austrian press has dealt with, during the third quarter, on the problems that the Austrian press has dealt with, West Germany and Switzerland, related to our country, during the period, August, September, October.
Connection, 4 relations
VP/MINISTER
(Vasil Nathanaili)
The report of the Albanian ambassador in Vienna, Gaqo Nesho, sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tirana, regarding the articles published in the Western press, about Albania
RELATIONS ON THE PROBLEMS THAT THE AUSTRIAN PRESS HAS HANDLED, OF R.F. GERMANY, I R.D. GERMAN AND SWITZERLAND IN CONNECTION WITH OUR COUNTRY, DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 1963.
The press of the aforementioned countries published during this month, 32 announcements, 13 articles, (almost identical), which write completely against our country, 5 articles, in which Albania is partially affected, and in 10 articles where it is affected only once.
Of these, 28 announcements and 16 articles are from the Austrian press, two announcements and 10 articles are from West Germany, one announcement is from Switzerland, and one announcement and two articles are from the German Democratic Republic.
The notices wrote about the non-signing of the Moscow agreement, about the partial ban of nuclear tests from our country, about an international conference of Communist Parties, to which the P.P.Sh., the Communist Party of China, was to be invited. , etc., on the resolution of the delegation of R.P. of Albania in the O.K.B., for the restoration of the legitimate rights of the R.P. of China in this organization, on the non-acceptance of this resolution by the O.K.B., on the consultation of the representatives of the standardization organization of socialist countries in Varna, in which a delegation from our country also participated, on the position of our delegation at the meeting of to the governing council of the International Atomic Energy Organization, which voted against the resolution, which was passed here in connection with the agreement to ban nuclear tests in the atmosphere, on the alleged 14 Albanian citizens who have illegally escaped from Albania to Yugoslavia, on a trial that took place in Ohrid against “two Albanian citizens, for espionage in favor of the Albanian secret service”, with five years’ imprisonment each, on the storm that passes through Albania, and on five new sports stamps that have appeared in our country.
The articles have written about the military uprising that is allegedly being prepared in Albania, about the defense of the Austrian anti-revisionist communist Frans Strobel, the Party and our leaders in his personal letter to the Austrian communists, about other materials of the Austrian anti-revisionist communists, where also in defense of the leadership of our Party, on the telegram that the People’s Assembly of R.P. of Albania and the Council of Ministers of the R.P. of Albania, sends to the Council of State and the German Democratic Republic and the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic, on the occasion of its 14th anniversary, on the fact that Albania is not part of the K.N.E.R., etc.
The bourgeois press of West Germany and that of Austria, based on the British press, have aimed to present the turbulent situation in our country, unscrupulously slandering it.
The newspaper “Stuttgarter Zeitung”, (of the Federal Republic of Germany), dt.14/10/1963, making the words we said above, writes: “The British Sunday Liberal newspaper, ‘The Observer’, tells about an internal crisis politics in Albania. The newspaper claims that it has found out about an uprising that will take place soon in the Albanian army, which is said to be supported by the Minister of Defense, Beqir Balluku, who is described as pro-Soviet.
Due to the increasing isolation of Albania, as a result of the friendly attitude of the head of the government, Enver Hoxha, towards Beijing, a great dissatisfaction spread among the people, which erupted in the striking attacks of the angry peasantry against the government officials. According to the announcement of the English newspaper, despite all the strict protection, a crowd of refugees from Albania is crossing the border to Yugoslavia”.
Although from this article it appears that these slanders against our country have been spread by British newspapers, still, it is clear that they have their source from Belgrade.
Thus, for example, the Viennese newspaper “Ilustre Kronen Zeitung”, dt. 19/10/’63, at the beginning it is not written that the source of these slanderous news is London, but Belgrade. Even the West German newspaper, “Di Velt”, dt. 14/10/’63, as the source for the mentioned news, gives London-Belgrade, while other newspapers publishing the same article give London as the source for it.
The bourgeois press of West Germany has also aimed to introduce disunity in our leadership by fabricating vile slanders in this direction.
Here is what the West German newspaper “Industriekurier”, dt. 24/10/’63, writes in relation to what we said above: “News from Tirana emphasize that in the midst of the Albanian Army, there is an insurgent situation, which is directed against to the powerful man of this small state, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Enver Hoxha.
As it is said, this situation is supported by the Minister of Defense, Beqir Balluku. While Enver Hoxha and the “President of the State”, Haxhi Lleshi, have taken a pro-Chinese position in the conflict between Red China and Moscow, Balluk’s position is described as pro-Soviet………..” !
Another goal of the bourgeois press of West Germany was the fact that they tried to present our country as if it is getting closer to the West. The newspaper “Industriekurier” dated 24/10/’63, which we quoted above, writes, among other things, in relation to this, as follows: “… Since the break with Moscow, Tirana has tried for contacts with the West, but the only Western countries that have diplomatic contacts with Tirana are Italy, France and Austria…”!
The bourgeois press continues to support Yugoslavia against our country. In order to discredit our country and raise the authority of Yugoslavia, he constantly spreads news about the many Albanians who allegedly escape to Yugoslavia, since in Albania; they are “terrorized” and “live in difficult conditions”!
Speaking about this, the newspaper “Die Presse”, dt. 7/10/’63, among other things, he wrote: “14 Albanian citizens illegally crossed the border to Yugoslavia and sought political asylum. They declared that they have abandoned the Motherland, due to terror and difficult living conditions”!
While the newspaper “Industriekurier”, dt. 24/10/’63, in this connection, among other things, he writes: “….In a growing measure, officers, intellectuals and members of state enterprises (of chrome ore, copper, coal and of oil) to cross the border to Yugoslavia…”! Memorie.al
THE MINISTER PLENTIER
(Gaqo Nesho)
Next issue follows
