Internal Affairs Commissioner - Caspian Countries: Negotiation Table
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Juncker smiled and then answered back:
"The European Commission is also for the destruction of those islands. We think it will be the best solution and we think it's the best option that could be taken. Now, I want to hear your proposals to destroy them within the law."
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The UD representitive spoke up " I propose no explosives are used and they are jointly removed by all nations with best environmental practise if they are to be removed. Working together on this could foster good will and ensure it is done properly in a way that least affects the environment. Though we maybe do humbly suggest building an air traffic control centre and some offices for the Caspian Authority on one of the islands to help with adminstration of the Caspian."
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"We agree. The islands should be dismantled in the least disruptive and most environmentally friendly manner. This will, hopefully, undo as much as possible the damage that has been done by dredging the sea and building these structures."
"That said, our position is unchanged that all the islands must be destroyed. I certainly have never heard of a problem with ATC coverage or airline safety in the Caspian, and I'm sure there are other locations where the authority could be headquartered."
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"Destruction of our properties is an act of war, that is unless the ones who will destroy it will buy our property instead. In this I can't believe you Mr. Juncker are in support of such a way. We built those islands for the benefit of everyone and not just my country itself. And I will tell you right now, if any military will move into those islands, we will not stop them from doing so unless they are doing it to harm anyone. The place can be a pitstop for your navies to get food before they continue their journey. The same goes for your air forces. What about this, we will let it be a free movement zone in our country including your military to use it. That will be for free, we will manage those islands, the profits for our own. We will not ask you to pay anything. That place can be for the benefit us all and we are here to develop it for us all. So, what do you say? By the way that also includes us building the probably largest air traffic control tower and center." said Simon calmly facing to the wall in disappointment.
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John Peter Key responded saying "It is overblown to say its an act of war to destroy an island in a controlled manner in line with a treaty. Now I see value in an ATC tower and joint functions but believe their should be no military installations and that if more or half the nations want to see the islands gone they should be gone. However if they remain they should be joint property of the council , the islands in the end were built without consultation and in contravention of diplomatic norms. Countries shouldn't be able to claim an island they build in international waters as under their control. It seems most nations around the table agree. "
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"Mr. Key I know what you want from these islands are money, but don't you think that is such a greedy move to make our property a profit vending machine from tourism even if your countries did not even contribute to building them? And if you want to destroy those islands, pay us first the total cost for the construction and destroy them." said Simon as he paused.
Then suddenly, he found a solution.
"Oh wait, I have an idea. Since we won't agree on the shit we have here, why don't we work on just moving these islands to our 200 nautical mile territorial zone? Wouldn't that be a good solution since there's still no structure built on any of the islands?" said Simon with a smile to them.
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"Mr. Bridges, if you cannot believe I'm supportive of the only solution for this problem, then welcome to the not believers club. Those islands are dangerous for the Caspian stability, as proved on the last days. If we move them to your waters, we would pollute even more than what you have, and I think everybody here, but I'm talking on behalf of the European Commission, we don't want to make the Caspian die. The destruction of those islands shall proceed with, as President Pravoslav said, the least disruptive and most environmentally friendly manner. It has also come to my attention how, suddenly, the purpose of those islands has again changed. Now, they are intended to be a massive ATC Center, a pitstop for armed forces and lots of very beautiful purposes. I might 66 years old, but I'm not stupid. We cannot change the purpose once we have lots of problems here, and what does even guarantees that the purpose won't change again? As I said, Eco-friendly destruction of those islands it's the only suitable solution to the conflict, but I'm proposing something for you all: We should agree to debate that on the Caspian Assembly, with no European interference. I still trust on the enforcement of this agreement, and I hope that we can all agree in what I think it would be fairer: to let Caspain countries choose the islands' future without any interference."
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"Mr. Juncker, how will it cause pollution by loading the sand from that place to a barge and then transferring them to what should have been the location of phase 2? What these people here just want is control and waste our money. They will not have a say on the future of these islands or even do whatever they want to these islands unless they pay. Only two options, pay or fuck off!" said Simon.
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"Mr. Bridges, as moderator of this table I call you to relax and use a better language in front of us all. Those expressions are not the ones that should be used in front of four Caspian countries leaders and a myself as the Internal Affairs Commissioner. I can understand your anger, I can understand your frustration and many more things, but that shall not justify those words.
Now, you have asked me a question, and I'm giving you an answer: So, you sand dredged the Caspian sea, which polluted it. If we now load the sand again, we will pollute again, cause you can load it over land, but not on the water, so you would need to sand dredg the same place again to load the sand, and finally, you would build the islands on another zone of the Caspian, polluting just not a zone of it but 2 zones. Thinking the European Commission, which proposes a green deal instead of making the Caspian look like a landfill, would authorise that is kind of insane.
Finally, Mr. Bridges, that comments such as 'they just want to waste our money' pr ' they will not have a say on the future of these islands' aren't helping to reach an agreement. I call you to give a thought to what it has been proposed, and decide what it's better for you: no agreement or an agreement you still have the chance to ammend?"
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John Peter Key responded to Juncker " I agree that would be the best solution. The fate of the islands should be decided in the Caspian Council with either keeping them under joint custody of the islands and development to make the best out of a bad situation or removal in a green manner. The Duchies position is we don't care either way so we'd rather the other countries decide on the matter but one thing must be made clear payment for illegally built islands is a definite no no. We have taxpayers money to think of and it would be seen as an outrage to pay for islands that should not have been built there in the first place."
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"Great then, so here it is the Agreement proposal for ending this crisis. I hope all the countries and auotnomous regions here agree with it:"
Europolis Agreements for a Better Caspian
PREAMBLE
We, the Caspian Nations and the European Commissioner of Internal Affairs, wishing to achieve their aim to take the Caspian political situation to the previous peaceful and friendly one, agree on the following terms:SECTION I - THE CASPIAN SEA AUTHORITY
I. The Caspian Sea Authority would be formed by all the former nations in the Caspian and the Autonomous Territory of Copala City.
II. Every nation or autonomous territory would get 1 vote on the Caspian Council.
III. The Caspian Sea Authority recognises 200 miles of EZZ and 12 miles of waters for each country. The Autonomous Territory of Copala City would get 12 miles of waters and a EZZ zone shall be agreed between all Caspian Nations.
IV. The Caspian Sea Authority is the responsible of making decisions that involve all the Caspian.
V. Any country willing to build anything on their own territory shall tell the Caspian Sea Authority before starting the procedures to build said infrastructure.SECTION II - REITZMIC ISLANDS
I. The Caspian Sea Authority, using the Caspian Council as a democratical parliament, shall decide on what to do with the Reitzmic Islands.
II. In case no agreement is reached between nation on the Caspian Council by an absolute majority, the European Commission shall decide on what to do with said islands.
III. If destruction is chosen as the islands' future, countries involved shall use eco-friendly ways to avoid more damage being made to the Caspian Sea biosphere.
"You can now suggest to add, remove or change this draft of the Treaty. I'm iup to hearing your ideas. Thank you very much."
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"I will not agree with any of that Mr. Juncker. And since you do not want to pay, why don't we have this agreement once and for all. We will transfer those islands into our own territory to which Phase 2 of the Island Building Program was to be located in exchange for no other military vessel entering the Caspian Sea through any route possible including the Kiel Canal. The main reason we built those islands were to establish a frontline defense system protect ourselves from the hostility of the Inimicians and of course any other possible danger from those countries hostile against us which have military access to the Caspian. One of the islands that had already been done will remain while the two will be transferred. The remaining island will remain there for the purposes of a pitstop for fishermen in the area where they can do some activity, rest and, dock their boats and fishes to easily access them when they'll start fishing again. The remaining island will also feature a light house, runway, and some small air traffic control under joint control of the Caspian Authority. And for your information again, only 3 islands have been finished and the other islands were scheduled to continue being built by next year but they will be cancelled. And perhaps we should start some joint environmental laws too on the Caspian and probably I offer our strict laws as a basis for them. and maybe liberalize them a bit if you would like to do so." said Simon before pausing to drink some water and then continuing.
"Copala City, as it is an autonomous territory however will not have any vote on this matter and no EEZ will be given to them as they are not an independent nation itself. So no, you Mr. Juncker are clearly in support of their independence and I am very frustrated. Hence, I wish this meeting be conducted in a different place with a different mediator as I clearly see how Mr. Juncker never helped in any of my problems and did not defend at any time my country's interests." said Simon before sitting down angrily and looking at the other delegates fiercely.
"Before we of course stop this meeting, I'd like to say that as per the Treaty of Buckingham, I am in fact in charge as the Head of State of the said Autonomous Territories including Copala City, New Saint Regina, and New Moreland. And I do not think that as a representative of the real head of state that Copala City needs a vote on these issues." said the Governor-General before sitting down again.
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John Peter Key annoyed with Simon Bridges got up politely " Thank you Mr Juncker for listening to all sides and coming up with a good compromise. I am dissapointed it still seems Reitzmag wants the treaty all their way , thats unfortunate we had hoped that the Reitzmag government would come to their senses. I want to make this absolutely clear , military access to the canal and not having our allies come through it is not on the table we much like you have treaties have treaty conditions, we cannot just willy nilly change those and quite frankly the canal was built legally with our money so we get full authority on the canal. That is the difference between the canal and the islands, we cannot expect the taxpayer to pay for illegal islands, that would not be tolerated.
On Copala it is whether you like it part of the Caspian affected and much more independent. This is the Caspian negotiations therefore it has to take into account all parties. I would urge you to heed Junckers warnings, compromises need to be made, lets let the island issue be decided on the Caspian Autority. United Duchies doesn't mind either way , they could be kept under joint custody for all we care or destroyed so we wouldn't vote either way unless convinced otherwise. I also ask that from now on we keep island building to your own waters unless consulting other nations. We didn't want this mess, we honestly want good faith good relations with Reitzmag, thats why we signed a trade treaty with you and you were told at the time and in communications that we were treaty bound on the canal.On environmental issues we will present fishery options with the aim of coming up with a unified policy, we also have some strong policy ideas that have worked regarding not fishing during spawning periods and allowed vessel size and types as well as nets, we like you are committed to sustainable fisheries management and look forward to working with all parties on the issue."
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Metodi paid little attention to the negotiations as he scribbled over his copy of the draft, before passing it to his aides. A few minutes later, they returned with copies which Metodi passed around the table.
"Thank you, Commissioner. This is a good start, and I'd like to propose the following draft, which would allay our concerns:"
PREAMBLE
We, the Caspian Nations and the European Commissioner of Internal Affairs, wishing to achieve their aim to restore the Caspian political situation to its previous peaceful and friendly one, agree on the following terms:SECTION I – THE CASPIAN SEA AUTHORITY
I. The members of the Caspian Sea Authority will be the Kingdom of Reitzmag, the United Duchies, the Kingdom of Pravoslaviya, the Confederacy of North Diessen, and the Autonomous Territory of Copala City.
II. Any other sovereign state with a coastline on the Caspian Sea is entitled to become a member of the Caspian Sea Authority.
III. Every member of the Caspian Sea Authority is entitled to one vote on the Caspian Council.
IV. The Caspian Sea Authority recognises that each member is entitled to 12 miles of territorial waters from their contiguous coastline, and 200 miles of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
a. Each member has within its EEZ exclusive economic rights over the exploration and exploitation of marine resources, including, but not limited to, fisheries, mining, drilling for oil or gas, and renewable energy sources.
b. Each member may sell some or all of its economic rights in its EEZ to other entities.
c. EEZs are not part of the member’s territory, and no member has the right to construct artificial islands, or conduct any business outside their proper economic rights, in their EEZ without the unanimous prior approval of the Caspian Council.
d. The Caspian Council shall by majority vote adjudicate on any disputes between members over their maritime boundaries.
V. The Caspian Sea Authority is responsible for oversight of the non-territorial waters of the Caspian Sea.
a. The Caspian Sea Authority shall not hinder the following activities of its members in the non-territorial waters of the Caspian Sea:
i. Trade, shipping, and commerce
ii. Public transport
iii. Border security
iv. Search and rescue
v. Routine naval exercises
VI. No country may construct artificial islands beyond their territorial waters without the unanimous prior approval of the Caspian Council.SECTION II – ISLANDS
I. The islands constructed by the Kingdom of Reitzmag in the Caspian Sea beyond its territorial waters as determined in Section I, Clause IV of this agreement (hereafter, ‘the islands’) will have their future decided by the Caspian Council.
II. In the event that an absolute majority of members do not agree on what to do with the islands, the European Commission shall decide what to do.
a. In this event, the European Commission shall act in accordance with its proposal, expressed during the negotiations for this agreement, that the islands should be destroyed in an environmentally friendly manner.
III. In the event the Caspian Council votes to destroy the islands, the islands must be destroyed in an environmentally friendly manner, aimed at restoring as much as possible the biosphere before construction of the islands commenced."As you can see, I've delineated the proper role of an EEZ, to underscore our point that, no, an EEZ is not an appropriate place for artificial military bases or any form of territorial expansion. We've also named the members and opened up membership to other nations who may wish to join in future, made clear that approval for future islands must be unanimous and secured prior to commencing construction. Mr Bridges may at least be pleased to see that I've added a list of things that the Caspian Sea Authority can't ban him from doing."
"On the other hand, I've rewritten Section II to make clear that we do not recognise these islands as 'Reitzmic'. We've also, and I hope, Mr Juncker, that you understand this doesn't imply any suspicion on our part, made clear that should the ultimate decision fall to the Commission, its course of action will resemble what I think we all understand to be the Commission's position right now."
"I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on our draft. I'm sure if Mr Bridges would like assurances about his country's sovereignty over Copala City, for example, then they could perhaps be incorporated."
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"It seems clear to me, Mr Juncker, that despite all of our best efforts, we are not going to get Mr Bridges to agree to cease his nation's hostility towards its neighbours. Furthermore, his autocratic, mean-minded tendencies towards Copala City and its many residents once again show where his true heart lies: in deceit, occupation, and territorial expansion. I would also like to point out that the reasons for the building of Reitzmic islands has now suddenly changed again: they have gone from being meant solely for fishing and tourism purposes, to being used as military bases, to being used for ATC across the Caspian, to now being defensive bases against, of all nations, the Inimicians, who, for heaven's sake, aren't even on the Caspian. Everyone here must recognise that this stance has long crossed into lunacy, and is approaching, dare I say it, idiocy.
"Now, we thank you for your proposal, Mr Juncker, and our thanks too to Mr Metodi and the Pravoslaviyan team for ironing out a much improved draft. North Diessen particularly values section I-VI and all of Section II, and we wholeheartedly agree with regulations around EEZs and territorial waters. We find Mr Metodi's version signable and urge everyone at the table to co-operate."
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Juncker noted down the most standing out phrases that the Reitzmic Prime Minister said, as Metodi's proposal, which in his opinion was just what he proposed but with quite a better wording and some terms which were really good:
"Mr. Bridges, Europe is not paying for, with loads of respect, a silly project which nearly brought the Caspian Sea to a bloody war. Those islands are a threat to other Caspian countries and to the European stability as a whole, and I am not tolerating this region to become a place of war instead of peace, of rudness instead of kindness. I have seen enough rudeness from yourself today, and I don't want more now. Said that, the European Union isn't a place where you summit with other countries, you reach an agreement and then you do what you want ignoring everything that took place to save the Caspian. I hardly doubt Inimicus would attack Reitzmag without a causus belli, so please get serious and forget about all the little films you have made in your mind concerning the different EU countries and their thoughts about Reitzmag. There are no ATC problems on the Caspian, fishermen doesn't need an island to pitstop, and please stop telling us what you want us to believe while, an hour or so ago, you told us you wanted the islands for money, benefits and defence. I think we can all be a little bit silly, myself on first place of sillyness if this is a contest, but I still get to remember what you said an hour ago.
Indeed I know Reitzmag has its interests, and Copala City, Pravoslaviya, North Diessen or the United Duchies do to, but we can't stick to those interests when we are the nation which could lose people, territory and even their honour and reputation for this. Reitzmag made this crisis to appear because your country, Mr. Bridges, was the one who built the islands. You are the only responsible of meeting with me and the others here, because this could have been easily avoided if your country had some sort of diplomatic capacity! Now, you'll blame the European Commission because we are not neutral and that caracteristic stuff which I've been hearing for the last months coming for you and say we don't defend the Reitzmic interests on this treaty, but tell me, how the hell are we supposed to defend something that it's non-sensical? Did you really expect everyone to applaud the idea of building islands in the middle of the Caspian, annexing those waters with no permission? Because I wouldn't have expected it. The Kiel Canal, by the way, it's controlled by the United Duchies and they are allowed, as you would be if you had a canal, to allow however you wanted to pass. You are not in a good position to tell the others what to do, Mr. Bridges, so please stick to the point where we try to solve this problem and not to make a war up of a project which only made the Caspian zone to being seriously thread by war.
Moreover Mr. Bridges, Copala City is indeed an autonomous territory, which is not independent from you, not from Icholasen. And I want to adress the Governor-General that as per the Treaty of Buckingham modified by Reitzmag, you are the Head of State of those mentioned autonomous territories, but not according to the at the moment legal Treaty. If you didn't know, a Treaty cannot be ammended if signatory states don't agree on those terms, and as far as I know, Icholasen hasn't got a word on that, so that amendment is not valid. I won't manifest my wishes for Copala City, because that's not up to the European Commission or myself, but the Copalans, the Copalan Government hereby represented by Ms. Romanov and Reitzmag. Therefore, you adressed me as a biased mediator, something I disagree with seeing how I could have proposed harder measures if I really hated your country, which by the way I don't. But Mr. Bridges, you cannot pretend to get my help on a matter that no one in this round table or in Europe approves. I've not seen any statement, any press release in which anybody supported the islands' construction. And I won't enter on the argument about the problems, but I want you to remember about the park summit between myself and President Aguilar from Spain in this very city.
Mr. Key, I promiss this Commissioner won't compromise any of your treaties because, basically, you are not guilty or responsible of what is going on in the Caspian Sea. I want to thank Metodi for his proposed Treaty, which will be great for us and I'm willing to accept, because I consider it much better than my proposal. Ms. Pekcan, I think we share the views towards what it's happening right here. I hope to see a sort of agreement, and I'm willing to listen you all. But my cocnerns about these islands are increasing every time their purpose changes, and that make them dangerous. Thank you very much."
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John Peter Key replied " I agree with the Metodi treaty its a good compromise for all our concerns.I'd also like to say despite the threats and bad behaviour we have put up with should Reitzmag sign this will be put behind us, for the good of innocent Reitzmic citizens and companies we want to see a resolution and we would reimplement our previous free trade arrangements , we are contrary to what Simon Bridges believes "out to destroy Reitzmag" , we just want Reitzmag to be a good citizen in the Caspian community and work together for the best for al all Caspian residents."
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"Listen Mr. Juncker, the Treaty of Buckingham states that National Laws in the Kingdom of Reitzmag apply on Copala City and all the other autonomous territories. They passed a law to establish the Governor-General as the head of state which means that this man is in fact the legal Head of State of Copala City. Next Mr. Juncker, you claim to have helped in the negotiation of the Spanish-Reitzmic Trade War, however the truth is you don't. It was me who invited Mr. Aguilar to Europolis and I didn't even invite you, but then you randomly popped into the scene and then saying you finally fixed that problem! And now you also think those islands are a threat to the other countries when we can see that the United Duchies had allowed foreign military ships to the Caspian for an exclusive access. We were concerned about that and in fact that was the main reason why we were making these islands. Which is, in case of an attack, they will find it harder to navigate through these islands which are frontline strongholds of our Armed Forces. Now if you want us to remove those islands if you want to then we will do it in exchange for no foreign military access to the Caspian in any way possible, including the Kiel Canal." said Simon as he sat down.
"That is what I want, if you can't make for that then we don't have a deal!" he shouts while sitting down.
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Finally John Peter Key snapped saying " Look Simon Bridges I will say this in plain english.Our canal which we invested in means our rules and you have been told multiple times its a treaty obligation. Unlike Reitzmag we treat treaties and conventions with respect. The irony is you talk about us being "controlling" when we've tried nothing but compromise yet you want to tell us who we can and can't let through our canal which we paid for. Now I want to make this clear as a day, sign on the dotted line or sanctions do return and trust me that won't be pretty, its that simple and it won't just be United Duchies we have whole regional backing on this issue, that is not a threat it is reality, you cannot just build islands in international waters and expect not only no response but also support, like it or not there are conventions to follow."
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Jean-Claude Juncker was astonished. While he was trying to reach an agreement, Simon acted like if he wanted a war, he wanted his people to suffer. Juncker could lose his neutral status, but that wasn't what he needed to do right now. While being on a neutral position, something that doesn't exist on Bridges' universe, he needed to remind Simon about how silly those Islands are, how concerned Caspian countries were and finally, reaching an agreement was the only thing that could save Reitzmic citizens lf a conflict they didn't deserve to suffer. He thought and thought, and finally, he came up with the exact words to say on that room. He then asked for the floor to be given to him after John Peter Key, and as nobody wanted to talk, he went on:
"Simon, please calm down and listen to me. I won't enter on the disputes you are trying to open for 2 reasons, it's not the moment and secondly, we need to fix this problem before tackling the others. I have always offered Reitzmag my help if needed, and once again I remind you about that. But you need to understand this agreement is necessary, with no conditions over other countriws because they aren't guilty of this islands. I can guarantee I would be acting the same way as right now if any other country had decided to do the same, but today you are, unluckily, the one who has to listen to all of this. I feel sorry for you Simon, even if now you cannot believe.
But the fact that I feel sorry for you doesn't change my opinion on the matter. The European Commission is not sided, but chooses the idea which, in its opinion, would be the best to solve the conflict. Sometimes, we agree with one side, another we agree with the other side, and in other meetings we have our own proposal which doesn't come from any of the sides. This time, we agreed with the opposite side to you, but if you had brought up a better idea then you'd have my support. But now, think on what could happen if you refused to sign this: maybe harder sanctions, even a war. I don't want your people to suffer Simom, nor I want you to feel bad. The proposed Treaty does not only let you convince on the Caspian Assembly the other countries about your ideas, but gives a chance to Caspian Countries first before the EU decides what's best to do with the islands. The Kiel Canal is subject to another Treaty, and should any military boat try to invade Reitzmag, I can ensure you will have my support if the war has no justification, with my most absolute mediation to avoid more deaths. You have my honest word.
Simon, I ask you to think on my words and if it's worth to risk your country's future because you don't want military boats from other regions on the Caspian or because you think they are invading you. I can ensure you they are not going to invade Reitzmag, because they have no reason to do so. And about the islands, I think you shall not worry about their proposed destruction. Simon, Reitzmag has lots of business which make your country economically diverse, so those Islands' supposed benefits could be gotten from other sectors if you apply the correct measures. You can do it, you just need to believe and sign this Treaty to end with this for once and all. I hope you consider my kind words, and finally accept this Treaty."
The Kingdom of Spain
