This is an article for the second round of discussion and negotiation regarding the Caspian dispute, following the failed December 2020 negotiation process set by former Internal Affairs Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker. It will once again be hosted in the city of Europolis. The countries of @Pravoslaviya, United Duchies ( @BrumBrum ), @Kingdom-of-Reitzmag and @North-Diessen, as well as the autonomous territory of @Copala-City, are invited to this event. The negotiation process will start on the 13th of March and is expected to be concluded at the end of the month. The negotiations will be hosted by the Internal Affairs Commissioner of the European Union, Münevver Birdane.
(OOC: You have until 14th of March, 6 PM GMT / 1 PM EST to write the introduction about who's coming, the travel process, etc.)
John Peter arrived at the airport after flying from Cair Para . The flight had been smooth , they were soon on their way to the metting venue having booked an electric car to take them as per state policy. The jouney took 40 minutes due to the traffic. He greeted Birdane saying "Thank you for this , I'm so sorry its dragged on this long. Hopefully we can resolve this mess by the end of this meeting.I thank you for your support in this matter."
He had one goal settle the matter and get a treaty signed, there would be no more concessions, no more messing about. Reitzmag was to have one choice sign the compromise treaties and agree to joint custody of the Caspian or sanctions would continue. Simply put there would be no compensation of construction costs, no leasing of the island that time had long past.Reitzmag would simply comply or suffer the consequences of the sanctions they'd forced the Caspian to implement.
Birdane wasn't sure whether or not Peter meant the traffic or the dispute when he mentioned that "it dragged on this long", but she chose the dispute as that was the thing that mattered. "Thank you for your kind words. Please be seated as we wait for other countries to arrive."
Victoria Romanov was again chosen by the Copalan First Minister to attend the summit, because he had "important affairs to deal with". That was nothing new on Victoria's government life, and she was there for things like that. If it wasn't for George, what would she do to show the world her latest outfits? The World dressed so badly these days Victoria had lost all hope, or that's what she wanted to thought. She headed to the airport and took the Copalan Private Jet to Europolis International Airport. She was looking at Google Maps to check what the travellers' rating of the airport was, and their comments, when she saw a proposal to call it on behalf of Juncker, as a meme. That imediately remembered her something: if she was travelling today, it was because Simon Bridges, the most stupid Prime Minister of Europe (according to some), acted like a 3 year old kid in front of her and the other Caspian leaders, along with the former Internal Affairs Commissioner.
Birdane was someone unknown for Victoria Romanov, but she knew the Copalan Government could count with her in times of need. In fact, she was one of the candidates who believed Copala City should be independent from Reitzmag, which was great compared to Edmund Jasper Winston. The plane landed smoothly into Europolis, and a black Mercedes awaited for Victoria Romanov. The Minister got into the car and the way towards the European Union's building started. Europolis wasn't an ugly city, nor was beautiful. It was just normal, but the authorities were so kind seeing the massive amount of work they have to do when a Councillor from Eastern Haane or the Union of Syndicates goes crazy. She didn't know how the Europolis' authorities haven't already kicked the EU institutions out of their domains.
The car stopped, and the driver spoke: "Ms. Romanov, here we are. The Internal Affairs Commission building.". Victoria thanked the driver and got out. She entered the building, and she saw nobody, something strange. She was guided to the room where everything was going to take place, again, and greeted the new Internal Affairs Commissioner: "Ms. Birdane, nice to meet you! You are so beautiful today, also thank you very much for setting this up once again. I have some hope on Mr. Bridges, but let me give you an advice, be hard when you need to. Show them what women's real power is." Then, she shook hands with John Peter-Key, to whom she offered the condolences of the Copalan Government and the 1 million 65 thousand Copalans. She took a seat, awaiting for the others to arrive.
Metodi Pravoslav arrived at the next round of Caspian talks, a large file full of papers in his hand, including copies of almost all of the many almost identical proposals for the fate of the islands that had been put forward so far. He hadn't been sure what to make of the new Commissioner - although he had strongly preferred her to Edmund Winston, her opponent in the elections - but he'd been reassured by her recent statements on the matter.
"Pleasure to meet you," Metodi said as he shook hands with Birdane. "Let's hope we can get this sorted. Any sign of Bridges?"
Birdane greeted Romanov and laughed at her comments. "Thank you! Yeah, I'm planning to solve this by the end of this meeting, hopefully. Let's hope it doesn't go too off the rails."
Pravoslav came shortly after Romanov, whom Birdane also greeted. "Thank you, pleasure to meet you as well. And no, no signs of any representative from Reitzmag... yet."
President of the Confederacy of North Diessen Inge Pekcan had doubted whether to attend this summit at all, given the shambles that was the last round of negotiations. Having been convinced by her cabinet, she approached the Internal Affars Commissioner buildings, her files and dossiers in hand, thinking the Reitzmics would not even show up anyway, so what was the point?
Entering the building, she greeted Internal Affairs Commissioner Birdane and the other delegates - with whom she felt strangely connected this time.
"Esenlikler, Pekcan! Kuzey Diessen'de durum nasıl?" Birdane greeted Pekcan with excitement.
After all these hours, not a single person came from Reitzmag. Birdane was concerned about this. It may or may not be a good thing, given how you look at it- On one hand, it's good because the event would be less... messy, but it's not good as it might lead to even more isolation of Reitzmag from the European Union.
Translation: "Greetings, Pekcan! How's the situation in North Diessen?"
Simon remained silent, having to wake up early in the morning for a flight to meet the worst people in Europe is not something he wanted. Regardless, it's still part of the plan to destroy the Duchian Economy.
"They still keep getting fooled? I don't understand why they still don't know that Reitzmic Economy doesn't rely on the Caspian for the majority and instead uses railway services through Belarum to ship goods. Such fools really." said Simon as he laughs at how the Caspian Countries do not know the truth at how Reitzmic trade really works.
He went on to exit Downing Street, waving at the people and the media before boarding the car. The convoy went straight to Heathrow Airport where the legendary Vespina is waiting. As Vespina II taxis, the decoys are ready to fly including Vespina I (Tanker/Cargo). The flight is accompanied by fighter jets, the best of the country's defense products. After a few hours, the planes landed in Europolis Int'l Airport while the fighter jets headed back to Reitzmag. From there, it was time to fool the other Caspian Countries pretending that Reitzmic trade mainly relies on the Caspian.
When the plane was positioned properly on the apron, the Prime Minister and the entire army of delegates and media exited the planes and headed for the Stuart Building of the European Commission. Simon did not like that a far worse Commissioner would be leading talks, a far more unfair, biased, and unstable Commissioner. The group entered the building and swiftly stormed the meeting room outnumbering the other delegates. To the delegation's surprise, a Copalan delegate was there. It was such a disrespect against Reitzmic Sovereignty, in this way Simon had decided it's time to start the time bomb of Krexit.
"So what's the point of order right now?" said Simon with a fierce poker face looking at the delegation of the other nations and the Copalan Autonomy.
"I'm afraid that the Copalan Delegation isn't necessary, the Parliament of Reitzmag is now voting whether or not to pull out of the Treaty of Buckingham so I hope you understand. Our generosity had been abused by the administration of Copala City, which triggered anger from our Parliamentarians." he continued.
"Oh and Ms. Birdane, how does it feel to sit in the European Commission while oppressing the people of Northern Alkharya? Congratulations though for successfully bringing more chaos to your home country." he said sarcastically.
"Mr. Pravoslav, Mr. Key, it's been long since we last met. Maybe we'll see if your decisions and demands right now are finally more humanitarian, fairer, and more friendly than last time. And you remind me also of the recent sanctions you both started. Well what a great way to start friendly relations, right? I hope that your greed will finally be over in this meeting." he also said sarcastically.
"Ah yes, Ms.Peckan, the woman who refused diplomacy from Reitzmag. Now you are demanding things that are out of hand. I hope someday, violence would end in your country if your aggressive behaviour would be gone." he said while smirking at them.
"So? Why don't we go and start this sh_tshow once again?" he said as the entire Reitzmic delegation laughed.
John Peter Key refused to rise to the insults though he was pissed off. He could see this was going to once again be a hard meeting. He just shook his hand and sincerely said to Simon Bridges "Welcome , I hope we can truly sort issues out here. We honestly do want this to end for both our nations businesses including the people of Reitzmag. You have a great people."He'd already greeted the other leaders and thanked victoria for the condolences.
Victoria Romanov smiled while Simon Bridges was rating. In fact, she felt bad for Simon, not because of the great person he was, that was a lost game, but because of his reputation all around Europe. She noted Bridges comments and then wrote a text message with all the content which was sent to George Maxwells, maybe he could give those words some use, more than she could. When John Peter-Key ended his short speech, she clapped the Reitmic delegation and then Simon Bridges for a minute or so, smiling. She wasn't angry, but she was thinking on what Simon could be thinking on: "Maybe he wants to drop the Krexit bomb, maybe he wants another meeting to fail... What do you really want, Bridges?", she thought at the same time she clapped and smiled. She finally spoke:
"What a nice speech Mr. Bridges, congratulations... because you would have won a roast battle if this was one. But, sadly for you and the delegates on the room which I request the Internal Affairs Commissioner kicks out, as our delegates are staying outside, this is not a roast battle, but more of a serious issue. I have been studying a bit how Reitzmic commerce works and I've realised they are using risky ways, such as the Drommund Kaas railway or the rail connection with Belarum, maybe that's why you think this is pointless. But, at the same time, I would like to remember you about the recently passed European Commission Sanctioning Powers Act 2021, which could put just not Reitzmag, but Copala City, in a serious economical issue, and I think none of us want that. And even if Copala City, as an autonomous territory which was leased to the Nicolezians is here today as it wants its voice to be heard in Europe and in the Caspian Council, previous admission by the proposed institution; we also need to stop trying to set up a circus on the room, Simon. Please, let's not make the same mistakes again.
Anyway, I think you won't hear any of us on the room, maybe because you want to be the one that wins this kind of battle just because the islands were built near Drommund Kasas and you think you are the Caspian's strongest country, something which I'm afraid to tell you are not. Mr. Brodges, I won't aim for independence on this summit, I have the Copala City Assembly to aim for it, but I want to solve a crisis which is damaging my territory, and also yours. We need to avoid more sanctions, and we need this crisis to be solved by the conditions that former Internal Affairs Commissioner Juncker and now Mr. Pravoslav proposed. That's the best way we can sort these things out, but I'm sure the new Internal Affairs Commissioner will like to release a new proposal which I'm expecting to see. Let's give us all a chance and, for once, let's be kind to eachother."
"Her şey yolunda, Münevver!", Inge greeted the Internal Affairs Commissioner kindly. No such kindness was, apparently, intended from the side of Mr Bridges, and it took Inge all her willpower not to get up from the table right there and then.
"Mr Bridges, I know what this must be like for you -- everyone against Reitzmag, all over again. Everyone here seems to be out to get you, in your view. But you must realise that this would stop immediately if you assumed a constructive attitude. If you stopped hurling insults at everyone here, and if your government and your military stopped conducting an aggressive, dangerous foreign policy. I beg you, Mr Bridges, for all our sakes, work with us.
"North Diessen's demands are no different from the last time we met. We want those islands you illegally built gone, and nothing less. If Reitzmag agrees to demolish, by whatever means necessary, every single island it built, the Confederacy will agree to lift the sanctions it imposed against Reitzmag recently.
"I must also say that I agree with Ms Romanov in this regard, that North Diessen will not shun to launch a Sanction Request under the new Commission Sanctioning Powers Act if Reitzmag fails to even engage in constructive talks, which is very much what appears to be the case here."
"I'd like to start by thanking Commissioner Birdane for bringing us all back together. Bridges, if you're trying to get us all to walk out, it won't work. Like President Pekcan, Pravoslaviya's demands are unchanged, and they are for the islands to be demolished. We too would lift our sanctions against Reitzmag, if Reitzmag were to comply with our demands."
"Most of you will know that we, and others, have proposed various potential treaty drafts to this effect. We issued the most recent of those publicly on March 1st, and this remains our current position, although we will, of course, be willing to listen to anybody else's proposals, especially the Commissioner."
Birdane had quite a lot to say about Bridges' remarks mocking her countrypeople's struggle but decided to refrain from talking to have the moral high ground. She was surprisingly good at masking her anger, something she mastered during her Alkharyan political years.
"Nice to meet you, too, Mr Bridges. I am only here to solve this dispute once and for all. Please refrain from making ignorant remarks about the struggles Alkharyan people are facing right now. This is your last warning."
She then turned to everyone in the room.
"People, let's have some basic human decency in this room, okay? I would also like this room to be a little less crowded." She pointed at the Reitzmic delegates, then pointed at the door, essentially wanting them to leave.
"Anyway, in case if anyone has forgotten, my stance on this quote-un-quote dispute, a dispute which is quite one-sided, actually, has not changed since I made the second statement as Internal Affairs Commissioner. I do not believe in any excuse regarding the creation of these islands. It is an invasion of other Caspian countries' spaces to give Reitzmag an unfair advantage. Obviously, Bridges knows this, even though he will argue about how they actually do better via transportation from Belarum or Dromund Kaas or wherever they'll go next, and how they rarely trade with the Caspian countries, which is probably a lie, to be honest... This is an act of aggression and a demand for dominance on the Caspian Sea. From the information I could gather in the previous round of discussion, it was almost unanimously agreed that a council would be created to decide the future of these islands. Juncker was definitely too nice for a country invading other countries' personal space this blatantly. I am fairly certain almost all of us agree that these islands should be demolished in the most environmentally friendly way possible, which is probably going to happen regardless of what Reitzmag thinks here."
Birdane then whips out her copy of the Caspian Treaty, and continues talking:
"Is there any objections or changes anyone wants to make to this treaty?"
(OOC: You have until 16th of March, 6 PM GMT / 1 PM EST to respond.)
"Thank you, Commissioner Birdane. We have no objections."
Victoria Romanov smiled with Birdane's speech and then, took the copy of the Caspian Treaty draft, which was the same Juncker proposed. "Oh, sweet smell of victory. It seems we are finally going with option 1 and the Redraft Pravoslav made, which is nice."; she thought while reading it. She was especially satisfied to the chance Copala City had to join the Caspian Sea Authority, in a majority vote which was pretty easy to win, they just needed to convince Pravoslaviya and North Diessen about the benefits of such an admission and they would be in. Romanov wasn't obviously going to let the chance leave now, and she would not wait until the Caspian Council was formed, she had to act now:
"I'm very happy to see how Copala City has been included on the Treaty by giving us the chance to join the Caspian Sea Authority if a majority vote approves it, which is what we wanted. Copala City would like to thank Pravoslaviya, United Duchies and North Diessen for their trust on us in order to make us part of this treaty, same with you, Ms. Birdane. You are also helping Copala City to get a voice it deserves, as an autonomous territory. I have no objections to this treaty, and I hope we can sign it for once and all."
John Peter Key responded "Thank you very much for gbringing back the fair treaty proposed before. We really have no objections and our red lines are the same as last time, leave islands to the caspian council to be created and no new islands outside the territorial waters without Caspian Council approval. So the treaty last time really is the final one .Hopefuly we can resolve all this right now we defiitely don't want to be sanctioning and if this is signed we can drop the sanctions and forget this sordid episode happened.I guess my only modification would be Caspian Council setting fishing quotas for the Caspian like in the older versions of the treaties to protect the area as a common resource"
I suggest the following addition:d:Any waters outside of the EEZ of nations shall be subject to a fishing quota and resource extraction quotas set be the Caspian Sea Authority on the Caspian Council
"Mr Key, I think that is more suitable for discussion in the future Caspian Council."
"North Diessen is certainly still in favour of the proposal as it lies on the table, and we thank our Pravoslaviyan friends for drafting it up. I will say though, we would be willing to compromise on some of the text in the treaty. I know the issue of Copala City is a contentious one for Reitzmag and Mr Bridges personally, and although I mean no offence to Ms Romanov, but North Diessen would be open to scrapping the Copala Clause from the Treaty if that would make Mr Bridges more inclined to agree to the whole thing.
Similarly, I would be open to rewording Section II, Clause II, to include the European Council rather than the Commission determining the fate of the Caspian islands in the case the Caspian Council does not determine what to do with them. I sincerely hope Mr Bridges takes these potential concessions for what they are, concessions, with the intent of constructively working with Reitzmag."
John Peter Key listened intently then thought of an idea to solve the impasse . He said "What if by signing we agree the island dispute goes to vote in the European Council , then nations of the council vote what happens with the islands it means there will be less influence from the Caspian nations in the outcome but the Caspitan council is still used for future approvals outside of territorial waters."
