His Imperial Highnesses Government of United Duchies Public Relations Department

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Announcement on Svarna Surya
We the Government of Svarna Surya ahead of talks are announcing the end of all sanctions on Svarnan officials with a total amnesty and legalisation of trade with Svarna Surya and the use of transport facilities for goods and people to Svarna Surya as a gesture of goodwill. We will talk on a package at upcoming talks. Its time to end this and move on however we will still be watching events , Svarna Surya should in future avoid intimidating people and killing people with secret services on ECON soil or indeed any foreign soil. That is not acceptable state behaviour.

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Announcement on European Funding Policy
We the Government of the United Duchies praise the Right Honourable Junker and his budget. This is the much needed funding for a green transition in Europe and to support the goals of food security in the EU. However we also recognise we are a big rich nation that can look after ourselves. Therefore we are ordering all Duchian agencies to be careful in funding bids to the EU to make sure there is enough in the pot for lower income nations in the EU. For this reason we are setting a cap in law on funding bids to the amount of 10% of the European Agricultural Fund , European Development Agency and European Arts Collaboration Fund. These caps shall be 3,743,900,000 , 4,760,010,000 and 146,812,509.50 Euros respectively from each fund. This is to ensure United Duchies doesn't drain more than it contributes and remains a net contributor to the EU as is only right for the richest nation in Europe to do so.

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Our position in Europe
We have asked James Mizrachi-Roscoe to pull back on policy proposals in Europe and only work on collaborative co-sponsored bills that put the European interest first forgoing the Duchian interest in order to work for the good of Europe. As part of this working in Europe for Europe policy that has been our stance for a while we will be seeking collaboration always and to pull back our influence in Europe. We seek not to be dictators of European nations and imperialists as many see the United Duchies right now as a nation who acts selfishly solely in the interests of the Duchies forcing a Duchian model on Europe but instead to reinforce our collaborative approach in Europe of looking out for the common European interest. It is not the role of our councillors and representitives to act or be seen to act in a selfish nationalistic self interested imperialist way in Europe and we appologise unreservedly for our military mistake of declaring war rashly and for appearing to be a destabiliser of the entire European continent and a nation seeking to control the council and European Union for its own ends. It was never our intention to promote anything but the common European interest and we invite nations of Europe to partner with us for glorious period of common European unity and policy making for the benefit of all Europeans. We are sorry for our previous perceived arrogance and bullying of the nations of Europe.

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Svarnan Reparations Payment
We have today transferred the first Rreparations payment to Svarna Surya of 20 Billion Euros from our government accounts.This is will be the first reparations payment as an act of goodwill that is unconditional. Further payments will be negotiated in the future at EU negotiations n conditions of reform in the area of human rights and democratic reforms and changes in behaviour of the Svarnan government overseas. We recognise the United Duchies , Reitzmag and the United Kingdom over reacted and destroyed peace in Europe over this issue and while still critical of Svarnan actions we recognise it was not our countries place to take part an imperialist regime change by war.We apologise and take primary responsibility for the messs to Europe and the Svarnan government for our actions.We call on the United Kingdom and Reitzmag governments to step up,man up and apologise for their actions also and step up on their reparations responsibilities.

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Government of United Duchies statement on asset seizure situation
The United Duchies government have frozen assets worth high hundreds of billions or Euros within United Duchies held by Inimican or North Diessan businesses benefiting from asset seizures or who are linked to the governments of those countries. We are giving a one month deadline before the assets frozen are seized and given to companies and Duchians who have lost property to the seizures and which the proceeds from the sale of will be given to companies to fund the diversification of their supply chains. We believe we have done enough to fix the Svarna Surya situation including being the only country to restrict the authorisation of troop movements only to ECON territories without approval from parliament by our constitution something which few countries have done.

We also will be banning any businesses and individuals from North Diessan and Inimicus who are not on a refugee visa from working for companies in the Duchies or setting up and operating businesses in the country from February 16th . We will also be banning businesses from doing business with businesses in Inimicus and North Diessan and buying products from factories operating in Inimicus and North Diessan with some exceptions where it is absolutely necessary such as in Airbuses case. We do not wish for a trade conflict and hope that Inimicus and North Diessan can come to the table, they are valuable partners but not irreplacable, they should know that we want to cooperate and fix the situation but it requires them to return seized assets within the month. If nothing is done by February 16th any freezes on accounts and assets linked to businesses and individuals benefitting from seizures of Duchies assets or linked to the government of North Diessen and Inimicus will take effect and be given to victims of the the seizures.Duchies will protect businesses and investors in businesses in the Duchies from asset seizures abroad and ensure there is compensation in case of unreasonable asset seizures.

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Standardisation to Harmonized Tariff System Codes Act Format
We are pleased the Harmonized Tariff System Codes Act has passed to make doing international business easier. We understand the importance of easy and quick processing of parts and products in ports to reduce the costs of shipping by increasing efficiency. Therefore we will work on setting up a government customs system working with I.T partners within 6 months to generate codes for businesses for a small cost that are standardised under the Harmonized Tariff System Codes Act standardised HS Code system which will then be checked against at the ports and entry points for goods to make entry of cargo into and exit out of the country of goods quicker, we will look to be working with European partners to maybe even spread this out to many EU countries as a collaborative project with this being funded by fees from those requiring codes. This will hopefully make exporting and importing easier for the future.

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Statement on Situation in Gaddaland Aspern
We have updated the travel advice for Gaddaland to Aspern and now advise at least temporarily that all but essential travel is avoided to Gaddaland and Aspern. Furthermore we will not recognise the independence declaration without an official referendum result in favour of such a result that is shown to be legitimately won in a popular referendum that is conducted democratically. Furthermore even if such a referendum was to take place we would encourage negotiation between the two parties before any official separation. We hope this situation can be resolved in a democratic and peaceful manner.

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Statement on kidnap of Journalists by Asperninian authorities
We condemn the kidnap of RTD journalists and Yosainese merely performing their job and duties to report fairly, impartially and accurately on the stories on the ground for just doing their job. We call on Aspern to release the journalists with immediate effect and respect freedom of the press. If this does not happen within one week Aspern will be placed on a list of countries where it is banned to do business in or with. We will not tolerate the political arrests of our citizens for just doing their jobs and reporting on stories ongoing on the ground.

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Statement on Gaddaland and Aspern situation
We will as a government take up the Sertian offer of negotiating through them and a third party nation for the release of the kidnapped journalists from RTD after consultation with the families of the journalists. We are thankful for the offer and care shown by our Sertian friends. These negotiations will be jointly done with Yosai so as to ensure a resolution for both nations journalists families.

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Statement on Foreign Assistance and Development Programmes
We as of today will be removing any conditions on foreign assistance and development money beyond sustainable development and anti-corruption restrictions. This means the end of the policy requiring money to be spent on products made domestically in the country of the foreign assistance recipient. This has come after it has come to our attention it has made programmes using Duchian money harder to develop especially in smaller countries where there is not a manufactauring base at present. The policy was aimed at developing manufactauring bases however this has proven to be uneconomic and just resulted in less development in target countries. All aid will now be unrestricted and handed to trusted governments and organisations to spend how they wish using local knowledge and expertise.We will seek to set up a co-ordinated aid programme under ECON to more effectively pool foreign aid money from all ECON states and share adminstration costs of the funds among member states for more efficiency.

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Statement on Terror Attacks
We have today faced a brutal terror attack that was a cowardly attack on humanity. To kill innocent members of the public and target family events intentionally to kill children is a disgraceful disgusting act. We in the government are taking this very seriously. We at a COBRA meeting have decided the borders and airports will remain closed until Monday. We are setting up emergency checkpoints at stations around the country , all public events have been cancelled until Monday while we seek to make the public safe. We are urgently hunting down the perpatrators of this cowardly act and promise we will seek and get justice. We will stay strong and united as a nation and defeat these terrorists. There will be a review into the lowering of security recently and whether such a move was appropiate and if more security and arming of police are needed in the future.

We do not wish to have a police form that is all armed as this is a barrier to public trust of police and against over 100 of years of tradition in our nation. However we recognise this may have to be revised following recent events.

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Istkalen situation
We do condemn the coup of a legitimate democratic government by the National Salvation Council and still refuse to recognise the NSC as the legitimate government. However we do believe the EU and Europe must proceed cautiously with its response. Sanctions risk making the poorest and most innocent Istkaleners pay the highest price while the government do not suffer or can evade the sanctions. We do not believe at this time that sanctions are the answer however we will leave the ultimate decision on the vote up to our councillour James Mizrachi-Roscoe who is independent of the government here in Cair Para. We do not believe the threshold typically used for United Duchies of a nation presenting a threat to United Duchies or its allies in ECON or citizens of ECON is currently the case. There has as of yet been no killings on foreign soil or intimidation of citizens on foreign soil that the United Duchies government is aware of so we do not believe as of yet sanctions are the appropiate response. Never the less we do call on the NSC to respect democratic norms and civil liberties for all including the LGBTQ in Istkalen and will consider asylum applications from Istkaleners.

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Statement on Spain and Telum Trade Situation
We condemn the antagonistic and dangerous interviews given by President Juncker that contain half truths and lies. The facts are Spain has had almost two years to come and negotiate the future trade relations as have Inimicus and North Diessan but all three have fully ignored the calls for talks to settle on a stable zero tariff and low trade barrier arrangement with visa free arrangements. The transition arrangements clock ran out forcing us by law to introduce 10% tariffs at a minimum as is our standard tarriff rate without treaty. We would also like to point out the tariffs on the Inimcus and North Diessan are 35% and not 50% as claimed by Juncker.

We have also called for Inimicus and North Diessan to meet to discuss issues and reverse the seizure of assets from Duchians a racist and xenophobic act that targeted people based on nationality. We therefore had to act and freeze innitially for 3 months and then seize assets of those with links to the governments of North Diessan and Inimicus to compensate our companies for their losses to the North Diessan and Inimicus seizures. These two countries have refused to come to the table and talk over any issues that exist. We are keen to resolve all diplomatic issues through talks and Spain , Inimicus and North Diessan are free at any time to meet and resolve issues and resume the zero-tariff, and zero visa arrangements as well as education exchange progammes we had under Telum. We are not the tension causers here, we have given an open invitation to resolve issues if Spain , Inimicus and North Diessan don't take the oppurtunity there is nothing more we can do.

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Unification of Duchies Quality Standards

We are proud to announce we have unified the miriad of quality assurance schemes in Duchies to four quality assurance schemes for products that garuntee the world leading Duchian standards in sustainability, quality , labour and environmental standards. The schemes will be run by the national bodies of the Duchies Federation of Manufacturing and Duchies Association of Farmers in conjunction with sector specific organisations and environmental groups. The new logos are available to use on any products that meet the standards made by Duchian or foreign companies selling in the United Duchies. The marks will garuntee the the product is long lasting and made to the highest safety , environment and sustainability standards saving you money in the long run and making sure you contribute to the ethical economy. Look for these marks on goods going forward to garuntee you get the best products money can buy made to world renowned Duchian manufactauring quality standards.Find out more HERE.

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Change in Vehicle Tax systems for 2024
While we welcome the widespread adoption of BEV vehicles we are concerned with higher sales of heavier less efficient EV models especially that of crossovers and their impact on the road surface maintenance bill. we have therefore decided the vehicle tax will be split into two ways of calculating vehicle tax. Petrol and petrol hybrids will be calculated the same system as previous with the new rates of:

Band	Co 2 per km	2024	Euros
1	0-100 g co2 per km	£133	€206.31
2	101-140 g co2 per km	£333	€515.76
3	141-160g co2 per km	£449	€696.28
4	161-180g co2 per km	£606	€939.98
5	181-200g co2 per km	£819	€1,268.97
6	201-220 co2 per km	£1,105	€1,713.11
7	221-240 co2 per km	£1,492	€2,312.70
8	241-260 g co 2 per km	£2,014	€3,122.14
9	261-280 g co 2 per km	£2,719	€4,214.89
10	281-300g co 2 per km	£3,671	€5,690.10
11	301g- 350g co 2 per km	£4,956	€7,681.64
12	351g + co 2 per km	£5,556	€8,611.80

From this year BEV , Biofuel and Hybrid Vehicles will have road tax calculated under a new weight based method:

Weight class	KG	Tax Dux Libra	Euros
1	0-1500	£133.00	€206.15
2	1501-1750	£250.00	€387.50
3	1751-2000	£350.00	€542.50
4	2001-2250	£500.00	€775.00
5	2251-2500	£600.00	€930.00
6	2501-2750	£1,000.00	€1,550.00
8	3001-3500	£2,150.00	€3,332.50
9	3501-4000	£2,450.00	€3,797.50
10	4001-4500	£2,950.00	€4,572.50
11	4501-5000	£3,350.00	€5,192.50
12	5001+	£3,850.00	€5,967.50

The move should hopefully balance out emissions and road damage factors.

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Terrorist threat level set to Critical
We have in response to statements on twitter and social media by one Tarek Al-Wazir and evidence from intelligence set the terror level to critical. This means we consider there is a high risk of terrorism in the immediate future if we do not act. We are authorising police extra powers to deal with any threats and the authorisation to deploy armed police in all major areas of cities such as stations , airports , stadiums and major events. We will not cower to terrorists and will make sure events are safe. We are reviewing security arrangements for the families named in the tweets and the families of politicians who may be under threat. We will act against all forms of terror and not stand for this threat to all Duchians.

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Creation of Public Broadcaster Content Library
In partnership with all public brodcasters in the United Duchies we have set up a Duchian Public Broadcasters Content Library. This project will be funded by a 0.5% of revenue membership fee and at least 50% of their programmes being put into to the content library in for access . The project shall give all producers working for public broadcasters access to clips, assets , graphics and programmes much like if you pay for access to shutterstock you get access to all images and clips in the shutterstock library. This will mean producers don't have to individually licence clips or programmes or travel with production crews and presenters to create duplicate content wasting public money on producing content and shall enable the production of many more original programmes with the same budgets benefitting all Duchians by reducing repeat programmes on television. The idea was proposed by Mary Beck and shall be in existence until such time an EUBC content library is created. We will welcome other public broadcasters to put their only programmes and content in on the same terms to widen the benefit of the programme. The Public Broadcaster Content Library shall exist until a bigger international Content Library is founded.

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Statement On the Annexation of Nofoaga Issues
It has come to our attention that Spain has shown signs of intentions to annex Nofoaga. It goes without saying the United Duchies highly values national sovereignty and believes in the peoples will in any decision on who governs them .We will not accept the annexation of Nofoaga against the peoples will and without a fair and free referendum free of any any military interference. We do not believe it is appropiate to hold such a referendum with security forces on the ground and Spanish military in the country and we believe Spain needs to respect the sovereignty of Nofoaga. Should such a blatantly illegal annexation against the will of the people occur Spain will face the harshest diplomatic consequences and sanctions.