Commission Debate, Apr/May 2020
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Good evening! I’m Antoni Reynels and I’m running to be your next Foreign Affairs Commissioner.
I’m sure many of you are watching this debate with skepticism and worry. Uprisings, revolutions, coups, condemnations and embargoes have dominated European affairs in recent weeks. European institutions have proven to be too weak and ill-equipped to manage these events. Diplomacy has been discarded in favour of coercion. The European Union is now at a crossroads. Shall we continue with a Union that has proven to be unstable and without authority, or shall we build a Union that promotes peace, stability and community?
With every challenge, comes an opportunity. I believe now is the time to be bold and ambitious. It’s time that we build a brand new Europe. The European Progressive Alliance recognizes this fact, and recognizes that we need to build a better and stronger Union. That’s why it is vital that you lend your support to my campaign, as well as to the campaigns of Mrs. Whiteford and Mr. Juncker.
A robust Foreign Affairs will be vital for a better Europe. I strongly believe in our Union’s motto, ‘United in Diversity’. I treasure the beautiful diversity of our Union, and believe that it should be expanded to include more states. I believe the Union needs to take a broader outlook to the outside world, and that we need to build stronger relationships abroad in order to improve our security and our soft power. I also believe that we need to secure the sovereignty of our territories by establishing a Eurocorps to protect our region.
If we work together, we can achieve anything. If you’re interested in being part of the movement for a ‘Brand New Europe’, I invite you to join my campaign by texting ‘Antoni’ to 42069.
Thank you.
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Winston went to the podium and the crowd began to cheer so loudly that the other candidates are covering their ears.
Good evening to my fellow Europeans here and around the world!
I want to thank everyone for showing their support to my campaign as a candidate for Internal Affairs Commissioner. I am Atty. Edmund Jasper Winston IV, PhD, and as you can see is a doctor of education. I have recently moved and found a new Eurogroup called European Liberal Democrats in which welcomes democracy and liberty and is a main opponent of dictatorship and authoritarianism.
I'd like to thank the managers of this debate for being democratic and for aiding our very respectable Europeans on the right persons to vote in this coming European Elections.
Now, I want to explain my main agenda on my candidacy for Internal Affairs Commissioner. I have noticed inactivity with our former Commission and that I criticized it for being useless and unprepared. And that I believe it is time for me to serve Europe after gathering and analyzing the best solutions I can use in my administration. This includes both social and economic development, climate action, diplomatic and democratic solutions, and policies for enhanced cultural and education. This is what lacks Europe. We need leaders with experience, rightful education, and integrity.
And yes, I have proven this when I worked as the special economic adviser to former Reitzmic PM Carl Dewitt, and as a professor at many universities in and out of Europe. My experience in politics was highlighted when I became a co-author of many laws concerning issues that are now faced by the European Union and was faced by the KoR.
What we need is a free market economy, free trade, free political expression, and most especially free European People! Together, we would establish projects and campaigns that would be beneficial to Europeans. An example of this is the discount on all fares for Senior Citizens (ages 60+), Persons With Disabilities, and Students. Economic loans for small scale businesses to help them develop to larger industries. We must work together to do this, we should rise from the ashes of armed conflict like Phoenixes born from the ashes of their parents.
And we would achieve this by voting for Atty. Winston as Internal Affairs Commissioner in this coming 2020 Elections. Europe needs people that would serve with integrity and not liars.
Thank you and God Bless!
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Before we move on to the question period of the debate, I'd like to remind the candidate from Reitzmag that there was a two minute limit to your opening statement. As you ran 30 seconds over ((OOC 106 words)) in your opening statement, we will have to dock 30 seconds ((OOC 106 words)) from your first rebuttal ((OOC Your first rebuttal should be no more than 94 words.)) Should you break the decorum of this debate again we will have no choice but to engage in further disciplinary action. I also find your use of fake applause highly inappropriate. In true Fremetian tradition, there is no audience here for the debate, just those watching us live from across Europe.
Now, on to the quesitons:
Our first question comes from Gallorum, Gerard de Montagne of Escolives asks, "People are taking their destinies into their own hands via coups across the region. How are we as a Union going to address these coups and should we accept certain types of coups over others?"
You may now begin.
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Apologies for the overtime, but may I request that the 30 seconds be instead deducted to my closing statement.
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No, the policy deducts time from the next timed portion.
((OOC: Because if you were to go over on your closing speech as well there's nothing I can do about it))
Please, no more interruptions. Continue with your answers candidates.
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First of all I would like to say thank you to Gerard de Montagne of Escolives, from Gallorum, for his question.
The coups in the European Union are a tough problem. We are seeing how we had a Communist coup in Icholasen, a coup in Inquista, where they now have their own Caudillo, like Franco when he ruled Spain, and some others. As a candidate for being the new Internal Affairs Commissioner, I would like to say that diplomacy should be used always and we need to avoid wars. We have seen wars just only bring chaos and destruction to our region, apart from hundreds of deaths.
In the Coup of Icholasen case, I think that peace talks would work, in order to restore the legal government of Icholasen. On that peace talks, the Monarchy of Icholasen and the Communist regime would be accompained by the Internal Affairs Comissioner and negotiators coming from some neutral countries that haven't taken part on the conflict, to ensure that the agreedment will be fair for both parts. Once the peace talks starts, we need to listen both sides' proposals and try to find a point in the middle where we can start working on an agreedment.
In Inquista's case, what we do need it's something completely different. Inquista is going trough an election very soon, and my proposals are very clear. We need to send European observers to check that elections are fair and no fixes are made. Inquista needs to get back to normal as soon as possible, and if I reach the Internal Affairs place, my first destination will be Inquista as these observers need to have the authorisation of the current authority in order to supervise the next Inquistan elections.
Finally, all the coups are bad in some way. We shouldn't accept any coup that goes on in the European Union, because it's our responsability to avoid them. That's why we need to work all together to finally end with these dark times. Thank you.
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First of all, I want to express that coups are also democratic. They may have both negative and positive effects , but it's still a democratic expression of opinion from the usurpers. Though, our goal is to maintain peace through diplomatic action. In terms of the crisis in Icholasen, I have a theoretically effective solution. I more consider the Inquistan coup to be a revolution rather than a coup. In my administration, I would assign political analysts to study these events to know the possible outcomes so that we can prevent negative effects.
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Mr Juncker you are over time. As such, I will have to dock time ((OOC 35 words)) from your rebuttal ((OOC your rebuttal should not exceed 165 words)). I urge all candidates to follow the guidelines of this debate.
Please continue. -
Jean, I know you’re a tough guy, but you’ve got to settle down! Let Whiteford speak!
I am the only anti-coup person on this stage, OK?
First of all we’ve got Whiteford, who we all know is for coups so long as they’re not against her. And when they are against her, she loses. So we can’t trust Whiteford, and everybody knows that.
But Mr Winston is so wrong, I can’t believe it. I think he’s a good guy, and his country did a great job stopping the Communist coup there, but he’s pro-coup, and that’s so bad. Coups aren’t democratic, they’re actually the opposite. Democracy is elections, OK? In Pravoslaviya we got rid of a really bad guy, and we did it with democracy. You only do a coup if you can’t win elections. So I think you’re a little muddled there, Winston, but that’s OK, it’s a long evening.
And Jean, give me a break. You can't say coups are bad when you drive around in a great big tank in your campaign! And this guy, let me tell you about this guy – a few days ago, he said he would kill Winston. It's true! Look it up, he said he would throw Winston from a balcony – which, by the way, is what they did to Craticus in that coup – and this guy says he's against coups?
The way to Make Europe Safe Again is so simple, it’s beautiful. If there’s a coup, whether it’s Communist or globalist or whatever, that country gets suspended from the EU for at least six months, and the Council should be able to extend that. We bring other countries together and we do sanctions. If you want the benefits of being in the EU, we don’t want coups. No coups!
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Thank you for the question. I think that coups against corruption that then hold elections are worse than coups that never go onto have elections and are coups against a legitimate elected government. Inquista is having elections right now, when will the UNSR have elections? Not anytime soon.
But what this also shows is a weakness in leadership at the top of European government. Where was the Premier Commissioner? Nowhere. The other candidates for Premier aren’t going to be there either, not in a meaningful way. We need a Premier who has dedicated her life for the cause of liberal values, of fair capitalism and of anti-communism.
I remember back in my onion farm, back in ‘88, when the communist central-planning Committee ruined our onion crop. I vowed never again would an onion be wasted by a leviathan-like state that doesn’t know its onion from its shallot.
I and other EPA Councillors and members are endorsing a plan to standardise diplomatic relations across Europe. Councillor Falk’s proposal, when complete, will be a cornerstone of diplomatic policy in Europe and will be a way to manage diplomatic disputes. I also commend Kristian Nyuland’s skills in mediating the peace talks in Reitzmag, these skills are the kind of thing I want to encourage during my premiership.
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It's very important that we, as a Union, take a strong stand in favour of democracy across Europe. The European Union can't champion itself as a bastion of democracy without ensuring that the member states themselves adhere to democratic tenants. I believe that the EU needs to be bold in this regard, and I think the resolution passed to condemn Icholasen, for instance, was a right move. The problem is, many member states have since disregarded that resolution, and there's no repercussions against them in doing so. We need a stronger Union, one where member states who disregard the EU's laws are punished, and one where we take strong actions to protect democracy. In terms of Foreign Affairs, we can't advocate for European ideals abroad without making sure our own home is in order first.
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Thank you for your responses. Our next question comes from Ria Levion, an
intern at the Center for Public Policy in the Duxburian Union, specifically for the Internal Affairs Candidates:"There has been much talk on the campaign trail about new projects in Europe. The European Union only has a 52 billion euro budget, much of which is already allocated to existing programs. How do you plan to go about funding all these new projects?"
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Folks, it's very simple. I am not proposing a load of crazy spending projects.
We can Make Europe Great Again without wasting a load of money, OK? I'm a businessman, I like saving money. To be honest, we could probably do a lot more with €52 billion, but I don't trust our politicians with it. With spending, we need to be more efficient, first, and then, maybe, we can look at spending a bit more.
The way we Make Europe Great Again isn’t with crazy spending, it’s changing our leadership and changing the way things are done in Europolis which, right now, is a total swamp. We repeal the Refugee Protection Act, we suspend countries after a coup, we pass laws to make sure the system isn't rigged against small businesses in favour of global corporations.
The politicians on this stage want to play at being businessmen without actually being businessmen, OK? They want to build their Trympov Towers but with other people's money. And folks, they wouldn't cut it in the world of business. Crazy spending, and no way to pay. Give me a break.
But these guys, OK, they want to spend billions and billions, but what do they do if a country says ‘we’ve had enough of globalism, we’ve had enough of your crazy laws, we’re not paying any more’? They’ll be like ‘GIVE ME MORE MONEY, MOMMY! GIVE ME MONEY, DADDY! I WANT TRAINS!’ and they’ll make everyone in Europe pay the bill. They're pro-coup because they need the money of the countries that have coups, so they can have their trains that go bing-bing-bing all over Europe.
If the globalists get back in, you will all be giving them so much money, you won’t believe. Europolis needs a businessman, OK, and that’s me.
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Thank you Ria for your question.
We've to point out some interesting facts to answer this question. First of all, we haven't actually had an EU budget in years, so it'd be of utmost that we actually first draft a new one before we begin looking at expanding programs.
Secondly, the EU have tended to have pretty big budget surpluses, so there hopefully should be room for these programs. I'd like to add that the EPA is committed to repealing old pieces of legislation and programs that we don't use, like the European Institute of Culture and Education, which should open some extra revenue, which means getting even more funds than we expect.
And last but not least, I only support programmes which are truly beneficial to all member states, especially which are supported by big countries like the Duxburian Union who contributes a large sum of money to the budget and which is a very important member state.
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Karl looked a bit confused
"I knew that we would have to set limits on the lengths of your responses, but not on the time that you'd have to initiate your response. We have alot to get through tonight, and as such, I'm going to get moving."
((OOC: There was a two day response period. We have to move this debate forward.)) -
My next question is for all the candidates, straight from Vayinaod.
Erik from Nyetthem asks, "How do you pronounce Vayinaod? How will you seek to balance preservation of our national cultures and bringing us together?"
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Thank you for your question Erik.
About your first question, I pronounce it like this: Vayinaod (Which he pronounces as Vaiyinood)
Attending your second question, I'm not planning to get into any member state government, others can't say that. (Juncker looks at Winston) Every culture will be preserved and will have the same relevance than other European culture, as every single one is special on its own. We've remained united the last years and we will, we just need to work together and coloperate in everything we are able to.
We know that bringing up together it's difficult, and sometimes is tough, but we can do it if we want and we really try to. We don't need to surrender on these ones, we need to be determined on that. Respect will be a very important tool, because if we don't respect each others, we aren't going to be respected, so we need to respect, have determination and also, cooperate with other member states.
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Excellent questions, Ethan.
Firstly, I pronounce your country as Vay-in-ood.
Your second question is very important and is something I've actually been discussing on the campaign trail. Diversity is very important, because it’s both a strength and an asset. All our nations and cultures have certain strengths. All of our nations and cultures bring something to the table. That’s precisely why we are stronger together in the Union. It’s our region’s diversity which makes us strong. That’s why I believe that we need to expand our Union and allow even more states into it.
Even though there are differences in our cultures, there is a lot of common ground between us. Conflict only damages and weakens us. We are all better off living harmoniously and cooperatively. We are all human and we are all fundamentally born equal. We also all share a common home, which is Europe. It’s from this viewpoint of commonality that we should be working together where we can, such as by working together to defend the region from invaders.
I believe we should allow our common ground and common humanity to guide us, but we should embrace what makes each of cultures unique and strong.
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Erik, I'll tell you how I pronounce it; I pronounce it correctly, OK? I've been to Nordsyen and I've been to Nyetthem, and you folks have such a beautiful country.
Folks, I am so proud to be Pravoslaviyan. And everywhere I go, all over Europe, I find so many people are so proud of their countries, and it's so beautiful. People don't want to be what they're not, OK? People like their countries, and they want to keep their countries.
But the globalists in Europolis, they don't want that. They're globalists, OK? These guys don't get into politics for you, they do it for the illegal migrants and the global corporations. That’s it, essentially. They want to suck so much money out of your countries, you wouldn’t believe; it’s why they didn’t like that question about spending.
I like governments that put their citizens first. And when I'm on the Commission, I'm going to support them, and I'm going to protect them – and all legitimate governments, let’s make that clear – against the coups.
We have Communist coups, and we have globalist coups, and both those – what do you call it – ideologies, they’re against nations. It's simple. And we all know the globalists in Europolis, like Whiteford, keep losing to the Communists, and we can't keep losing if we want to have our countries, because the Communists don’t want our countries to be countries.
And one thing we have to do, if we want to keep our countries, is repeal the Refugee Protection Act, which is so bad. With that Act, our countries don’t have borders, and how can you have a country without borders, it doesn’t work! So we need to repeal that and restore our borders. I’m in this to help you all take your countries back, OK?
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Thank you for this wonderful question Mr. Erik!
So, I pronounce your country's name as Vayinaod* when I made a campaign rally there. [* = Vae-yee-naud]
On the aspect of preserving our diverse cultures and at the same time uniting us all. This is the challenge to us on how we would fulfill and show the EU Motto in our administrations. And I agree to Mr. Juncker that we need respect, but that's not enough. We need cooperation, we need virtues, we need ethics. Reitzmag, my home country, is home to diverse religions which were mostly based in former E. Moreland county together before it was bombed. We managed to do this by enforcing laws against discrimination to ensure that everyone respects each other. The use of religion in our courts to charge cases or defend is not tolerated and is considered racism. That's what Europe needs, prevent racism so that we would all be developed both socially, economically and culturally, and that we will of course be United in Diversity!
Thank you and God Bless!
The Kingdom of Spain