Internal Affairs Commissioner - Caspian Countries: Negotiation Table
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Metodi Pravoslav wasn't used to the European stage. For most of his time as Prime Minister, he'd allowed Dragan Trympov and Tupac Shakur, who'd recently swapped jobs as European Councillor and Deputy Prime Minister, to take the limelight in Europolis, while he quietly wielded power back home.
He was happy to let Trympov and Shakur do this, at least in part because it had diverted Trympov's attention away from domestic politics, where he led the League Against Corruption, and towards various long-shot Commission runs. In the meantime, Pravoslav and his National Movement - Purity had reasserted itself as the dominant partner in the governing coalition.
And he'd achieved a lot. The last Turkish-language schools had been closed; the economy was growing steadily; the migrant boats from Dromund Kaas had stopped; and Pravoslav's predecessor, Apostol Tsrvenovski, was in jail along with half of his former ministers, awaiting trial for embezzlement, corruption, and the assassination of former ECoJ justice Francois Beaufort. The actual opposition was moribund. Most of the main ethnic minority party's MPs were also awaiting trial, albeit on bail, after the latest brawl in Parliament between them and some of the more, er, streetwise right-wing legislators.
But this was different. Pravoslav was a nationalist to the core, and while he was willing to tolerate Trympov's antics most of the time, in this he saw an issue where Pravoslaviya's national sovereignty was being threatened. He couldn't afford this to become another sideshow for the Make Europe Great Again movement. He'd been kept up all night by the thought of Trympov rambling about balconies and how Harriet Copala should be locked up. This was time for someone serious, and Pravoslav was convinced he was the only serious man in the room. He went to greet Juncker and the United Duchies representatives.
"Commissioner Juncker, a pleasure to meet you. Mr Key. Foreign Minister."
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President of the Confederacy of North Diessen Inge Pekcan had not been vocal about the Reitzmic building of extra islands in the Caspian, mainly because, frankly, she could not care less. North Diessen was fairly unbothered by the construction of small islands hundreds of kilometres away, despite a relatively recent encounter President Pekcan had with Simon Bridges of Reitzmag, a summit which had ended in a completely fruitless discussion in which Bridges had demanded North Diessen carve a literal path through one of its most precious nature reserves.
Despite all this, Inge had agreed to attend this summit, mainly out of courtesy more than anything. The United Duchies were certainly a force to stick closely to -- relations with North Diessen's southern neighbour Inimicus had soured recently, and along with the deteriorating views held by most Diessenians on Reitzmag, the Duchies may well be the only ally Inge could count on in the region.
Entering the Commission buildings, Inge surveyed the room and the attendees present; it was the first time she, or really any Diessenian official, had ever seen the Pravoslavyian Prime Minister in real life. Other faces she knew better: Commissioner Juncker, naturally. Delegates from the United Duchies. The wait was for Reitzmic representatives to enter the stage. "Commissioner, thank you for inviting me to this important summit", Inge began, "I trust we will find a peaceful way out of this pickle we find ourselves in."
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Simon felt a bit worried, and from his office, shouted in so much stress and anger. His voice could be heard from outside his office and the staff are a bit worried at what could happen. After a few minutes, Simon calmed down and the staff told him that it was time to go. A motorcade from Downing Street was led going to Hampton City International Airport where the famous Vespina is waiting for the Prime Minister and the entire delegation. The plane took off early and headed towards Europolis for the 3rd time. Of course he expects Juncker to appear because Juncker always appears magically like an alien or some teleporting human. Upon arrival, the motorcade from the airport started and headed quickly to the rendezvous. He went in together with the Governor-General for Copala City and sat down. There were no comments nor a single word that came from Simon or the Governor-General. They kept themselves silent along with the press outside.
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Victoria Romanov arrived to the summit on time, but being the last person to arrive. She was sent by the Copalan Government to negotiate on their behalf instead of letting Reitzmag do whatever they wanted with their voices. George told Victoria to "stay alert to any trick" and "refuse independence by now, but accept any proposal that benefits us". Victoria nooded before leaving the First Minister's office and getting into her private jet with the Nicolezian flag. She wasn't nervous, but happy to meet other leaders an try to make the Copalan way of thinking more visible, something the United Duchies had just discovered and were giving lot of support to. The Nicoleizian royal got off the motorcade and was photographed by the press, who were asking lots of questions which she answered.
She entered the building and greeted the other leaders, except Simon and the Governor-General who were isolated from the others, something she couldn't understand. She then greeted Juncker: "Mr. Commissioner, thank you for inviting me to this very important summit! Despite being an autonomous territory, we're very pleased that Copalans' voices can be heard here."
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Juncker welcomed all the leaders and thanked them for their attendance to this very important summit. He was happy to meet Metodi Pravoslav, Victoria Romanov and Inge Pekcan. The press was taking photos of the Commissioner with every leader and when the Reitzmics arrived, Juncker welcomed them, with no answer, not even a hand shaking. Juncker decided it was best to be polite instead of being like both of the Reitzmic representatives, unpolite and not being as exemplary as other leaders. When the both Reitzmic representatives (Juncker didn't invite the Copala City Governor-General) entered, he denied with his head and was asked by the press about what happened. Maybe he had a chance to ruin both men reputation, but he wasn't rude. "Well, I don't know why they didn't want to shake my hand and I also don't understand it. I feel disappointed with these behaviours, not because of them, I really don't care about that anymore, but because I haven't got any reason to deny a hand shaking or saying hello. But anyway, I think these things shall be talked in private, and so we will if they want to. Thank you!"
Jean-Claude organised a family photo and the press was allowed to enter. They took the photos, and when everything was done, the leaders and the Internal Affairs Commissioner headed towards the room. Juncker told everybody where to seat and he seated in front of the doow, as the table was semi-circular and the Commission seat was supposed to be isolated from the others. He tidied his papers and spoke from his seat:
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Europolis. Before I consider this negotiation as opened, I want to show my dissapointment with the fail of these negotiations. I'm incredibly frustrated that no agreement has been reached between both sides, even more if I listen to the private informations that reached me in which the other side was always pointed for this failure. I want to remind you that despite the fact the Commission is here to help, we are not your parents. You are suposed to be capable of reaching agreements between each other, and this mediation shall only take place in cases when no agreement is possible because the relationship between both sides is as bad as Climate Change, just to give a reasonable comparison.
With that said, I declare this negotiation open, and I trust both sides to reach an agreement today, because the Caspian and especially every nation citizens can't afford this disputes, Europe also can't afford them. So I ask you to leave every single thing that prevent you from reaching an agreement and work for it. I have several questions, each of them might be similar or different for each side. Of course, I'm considering Copala City, Pravoslaviya, United Duchies and North Diessen are in the same side. The questions for Reitzmag are pretty simple: Why are those islands being built? What utility do those island have? Why did you never asked the other Caspian nations, excluiding Copala City, about building those islands? What are your requirements to reach an agreement? And now, to the other Caspian Nations and Copala City: What are your terms to reach an agreement? How do you feel about the construction of those islands? Did you all negotiated the agreement as an only side? Why did the negotiations fail?
That's all by now, thank you very much."
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Simon got up to present the Duchies case. He Said " Trust me when I say this is the last place that the Duchies wanted to find ourselves in. We wanted a solution and tried compromise and patience as much as we possibly could but unfortunately after loss of communication there is not much we could do. I believe the proposed treaty agreement conducted with 5 nations and autonomous zones is proof of that . In short United Duchies does not accept Reitzmic Sovreignty or control of any kind outside of 200 miles and certainly does not accept wanton island building and dredging in what is most likely ruining the environment and a joint resource. All we want is simple we want it to stop in its current state, an environmental report be presented and a Caspian Authority set up to manage all affairs outside of EEZ's beyond 200 miles of our nations and in the future potentially Dromuund Kaas and any other future neighbours who join EU. We want this Caspian Authority to be the owner and developer of any projects and manager of the area with authority jointly shared equally between all nations with a least a super majority if not unaminous vote for developments and 55% + 1 for any other issues on the newly created Caspian Council. We want basically joint co-operation and custody of the Caspian recognising the important of it to all nations and Autonomous zones and the Caspian .
We believe this to be entirely reasonable and we were even willing to lease the existing islands for 1 million euros per nation but that was refused, we then asked that Copala be in included as a peoples greatly affected it was refused, we have tried and been denied on many reasonable points by Reitzmic authorities with virtually no compromise from the other side, I want to emphasise we are not out to get Reitzmag had we wanted to do we would never have suspended sanctions but there must be compromise , this is why we believe talks have broke down , I thank my other neighbours for patience shown and compromises they have been willing to make but sadly the Reitzmic authorities have shown virtually no flexibility in negotiations. I want to make clear we don't want it all the Duchies way but we just want co-operation in the Caspian and good honest faith joint management of the Caspian outside of EEZ's with a demilitarised zone in its managed areas. We believe this to be a reasonable solution that respects all sized.
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Simon still very stressed stood up to address the assembly.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to address the issues and concerns from the other delegates. Commissioner Juncker, thank you for those questions. I believe those will help me start my address."
"First of all, we have released the unclassified information about the project and is available in our government's website. The islands are mainly built for 3 specific things, economy, emergency, and security and defense. For the economic purpose, these islands will be able to cater some businesses and more tourists in the area which would help in further boosting our economy. For the emergency purpose, these islands may be used as a pitstop for ships and aircraft that are in need of maintenance or oil or food. These islands may also be a good place for fishermen to rest and also park their boats so that they may fish easily as they are in closer proximity to their fishing area. And of course, the defense purposes are pretty much obvious which is to serve as frontline barricades against any intruder trying to enter our territories. We did not ask the other Caspian Nations mainly because this project was done in either Reitzmic waters or waters that are not claimed by anyone which are hence recognized as International Waters. We have no violation of any European Law in our actions and that we are being forced by the United Duchies that they be given share on the management and profit and which we do not want. The profit in there is ours because the project is ours and that we funded it on our own. We did not conduct sand-dredging operations within the waters of any of the other Caspian Nations. They want to take a part on our large pie of profit that we could get from the islands when they are operational. We did not try to bother them on their operations of allowing exclusive military access for their allies to enter the Caspian. You Mr. Key and your government accused us of doing this to harm everyone even if this is for the safety of the people. Even if you survey the area below the sand dredging operations, you'll see that there are no living coral reefs there and I can even take you for a short scuba dive to prove you that. We also mentioned that we are building artificial reefs after every island done so that the fish population in the area may develop which would help the fishermen. The problem is that you want power, you want to press on our economy and be the superior. You don't care for nations like us who have a smaller GDP than your country."
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John Peter Key replied " The UD position is simply if thats true then there should be no issue in sharing authority and jointly funding any project and agreeing to a Caspian Authority where all stakeholders in the Caspian decide together on Caspian affairs jointly. We however disagree over the no fish we have word from our fishermen there is fish out there maybe not as rich as other parts of the Caspian in fishing but there is fish. We see them land everyday , and we worry about the economic and environmental impacts of this project on that industry. This is not about UD wanting control we work with our neighbours every day and our neighbours and even those not in alliance can testify to that , this is about acknowledging that projects that affect us all should be jointly decided on by us all. Its a principle in many fields including city planning , affected communities get a voice , compromises get made. This is like city planning except for the Caspian the principles should be the same. International Waters does not mean a free for all for whoever spends money in our view."
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Metodi Pravoslav passed out copies of Tupac Shakur's statement on the issue for reference.
Thank you, Commissioner. I think we are all thankful that you are here to help us defuse this situation and restore some normality to our region.
My first and last concern in government is protecting the identity and sovereignty of the Pravoslaviyan people. We will never allow ourselves to become a vassal or a province of any organisation or any nation. And the Caspian is vital to our interests. Economically, environmentally, and in terms of national security.
Mr Bridges’ government has unilaterally conducted dredging on an industrial scale, with obvious environmental consequences, in the centre of the Caspian – waters that we use for fishing, shipping, and so on. It has done so for a land grab, attempting to plant its flag, literally, in the middle of the sea, across from us. That upends and threatens our geopolitical situation.
It is an insult and an aggression against our country. We were not consulted, despite the impact it would have on us. None of us round this table were. We were not told where the islands would be, or how big they are. Information about the islands is still classified. Mr Bridges just admitted he intends to use them as military bases.
It’s true that there is no European or international law stopping what Reitzmag’s government has done – perhaps there should be, perhaps there only isn’t because nobody thought this scenario would ever happen. But the thing for us is, there’s nothing stopping us around this table from reacting to Reitzmag’s provocations in a way that protects our interests and our sovereignty. And that’s what brings us here.
Mr Bridges says he doesn’t want to share the profits of these islands. We agree. We believe they must be demolished, and the natural habitat restored as much as possible. We will not legitimise what the Reitzmic government has done; we want to right the wrong. We will not recognise Reitzmic sovereignty on these islands, or anywhere more than 12 nautical miles out from its coastline.
I think Mr Key is right, however, to raise the idea of joint custodianship of the sea to make sure this never happens again. Pravoslaviya, as I’ve said, will guard its sovereignty to the death; but beyond our territorial waters – and we should all recognise each territory’s territorial waters and EEZs – we know this sea is our common heritage and our common resource. A permanent committee making sure it’s treated like that would be a good idea.
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Inge had thought long and hard about what her government's response to these islands and their apparently military occupation ought to be. Her advisors and cabinet members had told her to be assertive, to join with the Duchies and Pravoslaviya in putting up fists to what they thought was Reitzmic aggression. Inge had not agreed -- North Diessen had more pressing issues than Reitzmig dredging in the sea way, way outside Diessenian waters. However, the words of the Reitzmic representatives at the table, blatantly admitting that this was an operation with military purpose, flicked a switch in Inge's mind. The words of the Pravoslaviyan Prime Minister filled her with defensive vigour. She leaned forward, and spoke:
"Mr Bridges. What you have just admitted to is one of the most unacceptable and blatant violations of the sovereignty of all nations present at this table today. You openly admit, without shame, that Reitzmag is building military bases in the middle of international waters. I have been quiet about this entire operation for weeks, trusting your government's good faith and peaceful intentions. Tourism, fishing, yes, yes. Fine. However, during your first few minutes at this table you have shown that you are, in fact, not acting in good faith at all. Your government is expansionist, devious, and cannot be allowed to get away with what it is doing.
"I fully concur with Mr Pravoslav's words, and Mr Shakur's statement from earlier. We must insist on the total destruction and elimination of these secretive islands and the restoration of the area they were built in to its natural state. If this does not happen, and Reitzmag continues to build a military presence far outside its own territory, the Confederal Government of North Diessen will defend its interests in the region by any means necessary. We are not afraid to join together with all nations present here, and further powers in the region, including Inimicus and its Emperor, who I know to be personally distressed at Reitzmic expansion of late, to stop what Mr Bridges's government is doing. Destroy these bases, Mr Bridges. Or, put plainly, we will."
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Victoria Romanov answered last:
"The Copala City's Government hasn't got an opinion on this issue, as we think it's up to the other countries seated in this table to decide what's up with those islands, and with that I mean that if Pravoslaviya and North Diessen want to make them explode, and if the islands are on their sea's area, they can do what they want with them. We have also been informed about what the United Duchies was asking for us, but I have to make clear that independence is something we refuse to take right now, so I guess that contacting the United Duchies to see what they were doing and asking for a seat in the Caspian proposed Authority, but Reitzmag refused it. We are a neutral body on this affairs, but still, we are still being excluded from having a voice on that Authority, not to tell the Governor-General, that wasn't invited to be here, has been created by amending an International Treaty with no Nicolezian agreement, something which makes that person to have no authority at all.
And now, you will ask me why does Copala City aim a seat in the Caspian Sea Authority. I have a very simple answer for you: despite being established in Reitzmic land, our Head of State is Queen Anastasia and we are managed by Icholasen, not by Reitzmag. So I hope everybody here understands that we need that seat, because we aren't a part of Reitzmag or an independent country, but an Autonomous Territory that is Nicolezian."
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Juncker was extremely surprised to hear the purposes of the islands. He had read the webpage, but hearing this from Simon's mouth was surprising and just confirmed something: Those islands were a risk for the European Union's stability. After hearing everyone and making some notes, he decided to speak:
"Well, I have to say I'm pretty surprised and worried about these islands. At first, I thought those islands could be fine despite all the environmental damage that could have been caused if Reitzmag payed, but this is going too far. I have to agree with you that there's no European law which tells you not do it, but because we all thought there wasn't someone that would do it. Mr. Bridges, those waters aren't yours, so avoid false statements if possible and also personal attacks to any nation as this is a negotiaiton table, not a boxing ring. But we cannot forget the fact that you want to prevent anybody who you consider as a thread to enter the Caspian Sea. If Pravoslaviya wants to do joint military trainings with Leagio, and you would consider them as a thread, I assume you'd take them down, right? That simply cannot be allowed, for much someone tries to beg me about it, and Mr. Bridges, I think no one here cared about your islands until your country started to make mistakes concerning them, so please, let's not victimise our speeches because we are all grown up adults. I would prefer to be preparing the Eurorail summit right now, and I have to be here.
On the other side, the United Duchies got a point on something: We need to look at the environment and not at our profit. And as I see, 2 nations want to basically see those islands destroyed, while the Autonomous Territory doesn't have a former opinion but they want to give freedom to other nations to do what they want with the islands on their waters. Meanwhile, the United Duchies has proposed to continue with their proposed treaty, which failed, something I consider a huge mistake, because, and with lots of respect to both sides, if a negotiation has failed because of that Treaty, it's stupid to bring it up once again. But there's something we are continuing, and that's the Caspian Sea Authority. This is the European Union proposal, which I'll tell you and also draft them later along with the other EU proposals, but let's go step by step instead of starting our house from the roof:
- The Caspian Sea Authority would be formed by all the former nations in the Caspian and the Autonomous Territory of Copala City.
- Every nation or autonomous territory would get 1 vote on their assembly.
- 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.
- The Caspian Sea Authority is the responsible of making decisions that involve all the Caspian.
- In those 12 miles of national waters, each country will have freedom to build whatever they wish, excempting military bases or any infrastructure that could risk the Caspian stability and would need the other nations approval.
We will get to what to do with the islands later. Right now, let's focus on this. Tell em what you think about this proposal, what would you add or remove. Thank you for your attention."
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John Peter Key took in the information. It was basically almost exactly what had been proposed by the Duchies in the first place possibly even stricter in some ways. Reitzmag as far as he was concerned had messed up badly. He spoke " United Duchies is fully behind such proposal and supports the co-operation and joint custody of the Caspian. Thats all we've ever wanted and proposed."
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Victoria Romanov listened to the Commissioner proposals and she liked it. After telling the Cabinet and Amal Maxwells, the Copala City Mayor through their WhatsApp chat, she was given the green light: "Copala City accepts those terms. I would like to thank you, Mr. Juncker, for including us on the Caspian Sea Authority and we hope to see that the other nations accept the same terms, so we can move forward to the next matter."
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The refusal of the Reitzmic delegates to accept the wrongness of their actions was telling to Inge. Nevertheless, she had considered the Commissioner's proposal in earnest, and spoke:
"Commissioner, thank you for bringing this proposal to the table. I also applaud your words to Mr Bridges, who must know by now that his government has committed a gross offence to decency and international morals with the reckless actions his government has been engaging in."Your terms are fair, Commissioner, and the North Diessenian government accepts them in principle. However, this treaty itself does not eliminate the issue of the islands. The islands are, we suspect, outside even the 200-mile EEZ zone, and are therefore not in line with this treaty. They must still be destroyed, regardless of whether these terms pass. In any case, thank you for this proposal, we would be most willing to sign."
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"We agree with President Pekcan. Pravoslaviya welcomes this new initiative to stop this ever happening again, although we'd like to make clear that no development beyond the 12 mile limit can be allowed without the unanimous approval of all members of the Caspian Sea Authority. Also, we should make clear what countries can and cannot do unilaterally within their EEZ - fishing, and charging for fishing access, yes; island building, no. And any islands built within the 12 miles should have absolutely no effect on the extent of territorial waters or an EEZ. No island-hopping your way to controlling the entire sea."
"But yes, we also agree that we must also resolve the question of the islands. As President Pekcan says, they must be destroyed."
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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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