Albania: Lock on the Door

A massive timber gate and electrified barbed-wire fence block the road between Yugoslavia and Albania—respectively, the most accessible and least accessible nations in the Communist world today. Armed guards on the Albanian side open the gate for authorized visitors, then bolt it behind them with a heavy padlock. Last week Roland Flamini of TIME's Vienna bureau, traveling as a "businessman" on a British passport, flew to Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia, where he joined a guided tour that took him to Albania for a two-day visit. His report:

Though neighboring Yugoslavia has abolished visas altogether, the Albanian People's Republic continues to maintain...

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