ALBANIA:  Forget Communism...or Sell It
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TIRANA, Aug 10 (IPS) - Bunkers? Underground catacombs? Submarine bases?  Albania has been shaped by one of the most bizarre communist  regimes ever and the potential to exploit it for tourism is  inestimable.
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One man's small business struggles for stability in a country still uneasy about market forces unleashed by the fall of communism.
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BANSKO, Bulgaria  - The citizens of Bansko, a ski resort in Bulgaria's Pirin mountains, are selling their land with gusto to buy fancy cars and replace communist-era furniture.
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On its way to Oz via Kazakhstan It didn't take long for George Bush's wristwatch - allegedly swiped on Sunday by Albanian former godless Commies - to pop up on eBay.â¦
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BERLIN, Oct 4 (IPS) - Imagine the world's poorest trading their way  out of poverty. A grand vision indeed, but how to turn it into  reality?
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Text of report by Estonian newspaper Postimees website on 5 September  [Commentary by Rein Veidemann: "Media Circus"]  Elections make for fatty raw material to the free media. The supply of news and opinions is far greater than the demand.
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Albania will destroy a decades-old stockpile of chemical weapons within two years, using $18.3 million ($26.5 million) of funding pledged by the United States, Defence Minister Pandeli Majko said on Tuesday.
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Those who think there should be no compromise and concessions in politics will end up paying a heavy price. That is the lesson of history and, hence, a basic principle accepted by all nations.
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BUDAPEST, Aug 28 (IPS) - Many European politicians look desperately for  alternatives to Russian gas, but while concerns over excessive  dependency on one source are legitimate, many have missed the  point that in the big energy game economic considerations weigh  more heavily than political ideology.
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BELGRADE, Jan 7 (IPS) - Going by official media, the Kosovo dispute seems  to top the nation's agenda. But Serbs have their mind more  on visions of free wealth that they believe will be theirs, after  the Law on Free Distribution of Shares came into force last week.
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The Polish government is preparing a plan to privatize the Warsaw Stock Exchange by selling shares exclusively to Polish companies, possibly in defiance of European Union rules that require equal treatment for all members of the bloc. In a little-noticed speech filled with patriotic themes, the treasury minister, Wojciech Jasinski, outlined a strategy last month to sell 49 percent of the governmentâs holdings to âPolish investorsâ in blocks of 5 percent to 10 percent. The government also intends to introduce rules to prevent companies listed on the exchange from being taken over by foreign companies to ensure that the exchange retains its Polish character, Mr. Jasinski said. The plan appears ripe for a conflict with European Union rules, which require privatizations to be open to all union members. Catherine Bunyan, a spokeswoman for Charlie McCreevy, the union commissioner for the internal market, said Brussels was not aware of Warsawâs plans.
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When one considers the United States&#39; cold war preoccupation with containing or destroying socialism over the past 50 years, and Washington&#39;s exemplary record at destabilizing communism world-wide, it is a mystery that some cannot for a moment imagine
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The country is split over a possible permanent trade deal with the US.
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Investors have ignored this country's promise for too long.
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ATHENS, Sep 17 (IPS) - Some years ago most Greeks knew Albania only as an  unknown frontier. It was a country from which impoverished  migrants crossed into Greece in search of a job and a better  life; a place that people were leaving, where nobody wanted to go.
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You may ... if you don't consider owning stocks.
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BUDAPEST, Jan. 24 (IPS) - The possibility of an official trip by charismatic  Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to Venezuela, China and Libya  is causing uproar in the media and opposition, who insist  Slovakia should stick to its Euro-Atlantic orientation and rid  itself of socialist nostalgia.