United Duchies Government Foreign Office

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Statement on Adventzura Strait Dispute
United Duchies calls for calm and fair negotiations on both sides of the dispute including from Innimicus and Spain. We love Spain and consider them a valuable friend and Ally but we cannot back any more than 50% split of the strait as long as Yosai claims 50%. We must with respect back the 50 miles claim by Yosai in the negotiation and call for Spain to accept and respect this fair split.

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Statement on Adventzura Strait
We are happy that our allies Spain have compromised to 50% of the strait as a territorial claim . However this means Yosai must be able to do what they want with their half of the strait unless said activities affect resource stocks in the other side of the strait. This includes laws over taxation and maritime standards therefore any agreements or decisions on tax on Yosais side should be up to Yosai.

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Statement on Istkalen Allegations against Reitzmag
The United Duchies has seen no evidence of truth to the allegations from Istkalen and will consider them fake news until such proof can be provided .From the evidence that exists we believe that Reitzmag was proportional and fair in its response and abided by human rights standards during what was a counter to an attack on Reitzmag and the security of Europe during the time period. We suggest it is not good for the Istkalen government to promote such blatantly obvious falsehoods about the Reitzmag military.

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Making the change to Co-Councillour Model
What is the change?
At present the Duchies elects a Councillour and Deputy Councillour to the European Council every 5 years. While this model does work we have realised from reports back from our councillour this is more than a one person job and takes up alot of time. So we are changing the role to Co-Councillour where two would be elected on one ticket as Co-Councillours equal in power and responsibility rather than current practise of the Deputy only stepping in occasionally in an emergency.

Why the change?
At present the scale of the job means it restricts who can run and particuarly is excluding of those with challenges due to disability or those with greater responsibilities than average at home such as single mothers. We have tried offering support for these , but its clear its not quite enough so we have decided job sharing the role is the way forward. This will enable new groups of people to run and be respresented and tap into new experience we previously couldn't have, it will also mean you could get tickets that have more expertise overall and tickets could respond to constituents more, an example of this is one Co-Councillour could be home consulting people in the Duchies and running surgeries while the other is debating and voting on the council floor , another example is one Co-Councillour could focus on issues relating to women or men or any area of speciality or one could always be the one to attend business related laws while another could always attend health related laws for example. It makes the role more flexible.

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Statement on Events in Anastasia
Today we have decided to put Anastasia into lockdown following organised efforts to cause disorder and terror in the city. We are investigating the cause of the event and who is responsible. Our Police , Law enforcement as as as Armed forces assisting in civillian police duties as well as Firemen and Ambulance service have courageously acted quickly to protect lives and have acted with great restraint against drug induced violence and have brought hundreds into custody. It is with regret deaths have occurred as a result of police action to protect lives but it was sadly utterly unavoidable. We are in contact with families of those killed most of whom are victims themselves of a scheme. The events are similar in nature to events in Copala and the Haahne Republic so we have called in foreign law enforcement to help with our investigations. We very much will get to the bottom of this night and bring those responsible to justice and get the justice Anastasians deserve. We can reassure Anastasians we will continue to protect your safety but in the meanwhile we ask you co-operate with the temporary lockdown and we will work on getting food and supplies into the city to assist.

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Statement on Anastasia City
The Anastasia government have made the decision to invited 2,500 Spanish military to take part in security operations in Anastasia city which we have approved as a national government. The deployment will only allow standard armed police patrol powers and only allow the patrols to be done under civillian uniform. Operations will still be overseen by the Anastasia police as is standard practise. We hope this operation is as short as possible but thank Spain for its support in matters relating to Anastasia City.

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Statement on Anastasia City
After concerns from other parties in parliament and Duchies National police. The government have decided to override the request for foreign forces help in Anastasia. The government have had petitions of concern from locals indicating it might complicate policing operations and cause lack of trust. We welcome help from a coalition of foreign police officers to help if it is needed but we have decided to cancel the operation as currently planned by local enforcement.We will instead be deploying extra police from the Duchies High Police to the area to help with operations.We will also be limiting the amount of armed police on streets as a matter to returning more to policing by consent.

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Changes on Border Checks
At reccomendation of the Weisser Report reccomendations we have introduced the Extraordinary Border Check process with extra steps required for citizens of the following nations required on entry including extra checks on visas and interviews to establish reason for visits. The nations affected are:
Gadalland and Aspern
Istkalen
Nofoaga
North Diessen
Pravoslaviya
UNSR

All flights to and from those nations will also face extra anti-trafficking checks. We assure the nations this is in aid of fighting crime especially of the drug and human trafficking nature . We are doing this to protect citizens of said countries from exploitation by criminal gangs.

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OOC:Non canon Istkalen Travel Ban
Following the Vatican Attacks and concerns over security of traffic from Istkalen all passenger traffic from Istkalen and any Istkalen planes are to be banned from the United Duchies including from being flown over. Also to secure the security of the Baltic Canal, Istkalen ships shall be banned from the canal. Any Istkalen ships are to be limited to highly secured berths in Baltia with no crew allowed off or on the boat and only goods transfers allowed. Any goods must be transferred to Duchian, Reitzmag or other nations ships in the port to procede to outside the canal zone or transferred to rail though all Istkalen cargo will be searched in order to ensure no security breaches happen.

Duchians are asked to return from Istkalen straight away and no Duchians will be allowed to travel to Istkalen. Any who do so may face fines and prosecution under the National Security Act.

Any Istkalen passport holder who is not resident of the country is to leave within 3 days until we can establish the security situation and no Istkaleners are to be allowed in the country. This will be checked at the borders. We hope we can lift these restrictions soon but until such a time the situation is stable and secure and Istkalen can prove its procedures for security are safe and secure these will remain.

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OOC:Non canon Istkalen Travel Restrictions update
The government after discussions with Istkalen has come to the decision to allow Istkalen ships through the Baltic Canal though they must dock at Baltia for a security check if coming from Istkalen or in Porterdam if coming from rest o Europe. The Flight restrictions will remain on direct flights to the Duchies though Istkaleners may be allowed after May 1st if the security situation is stabilised. This is not intended to punish Istkalen but we must keep both the canal and our airspace safe in present circumstances and this will always take top priority. Individual special visas to Istkalen citizens without residency may be permitted as needed.

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OOC:Non canon Statement on Terrorism Classification of Arian Church
As of today the Arian Church is to be considered by the United Duchies government a terrorist organisation following the attack on the Vatican and United Duchies will contribute all it can to the joint operations to eliminate this organisation and its leaders from the Earth and deliver justice. We will seize all assets of anyone known to be involved in the organisation at leadership level and arrest anyone who does not immediately desist to be linked in the Duchies. Membership or affiliation to the church shall be considered an offence under the Terrorism Prevention Act. All assets of the Arian Church will be seized from this point forward. All seized assets will be sold off and any money raised given to victims of the attacks, Any leadership in the Duchies is to be arrested if they maintain links to the Church.

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Removal of Telum Discount for Canal
After review it has been decided that the Telum Discount for the canal shall no longer apply on voyages through the canal from this date. The discount shall instead apply to nations in the European Coalition of Nations. This is no slight against Telum however no longer being part of Telum we do not feel it is appropiate to continue the discount in light of the loss of zero taxes on the Gibraltar Strait. We may eventually look into discounts in the future in future trade deals.

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Apology for Blair Gobnite McLucais government
We the PoT administration of Strathae would like to appologise on behalf of our party and the government and the people of Strathae for the government of Blair Gobnet McLucais more correctly known as Blair Gobshite McLucais.We especially appologise to all Catholics of the world for her shameful persecution of Catholics in Strathae. We are a nation of tolerance and acceptance and Blair Gobshite McLucais and her supporters are true traitors to the state and those values of acceptance, tolerance and democracy we hold dear. We will do all we can to continue to protect Catholics from Blairites and their extremism and blind hatred. That is not what Strathae is about and they should be ashamed for ever having graced this nation and we will work to represent the values of love, tolerance, acceptance and hospitality for all regardless of your creed ,culture or ethnicity. I hope you the world can forgive Strathae for the pain caused to the world by Blair Gobshite McLucais's government.

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JOINT STATEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN COALITION

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We, the Governments of the Republic of Brickston, the Kingdom of Reitzmag, the United Duchies, and the Federal Republic of Yosai, who form the European Coalition of Nations, express our condemnation of the irrational response from the members of the Treaty of Telum.

Our conduct of a practice bombing was an exercise of our capability to support our allies, and that no country without any intention of invading or threatening the sovereignty of our allies or our nation shall feel threatened. We also debunk that there is "environmental terrorism" during such exercises, especially due to the fact that such was conducted in an area specially designated for training. It is also concerning how the members of the Treaty of Telum has informed us of the existence of a "Southern European Sphere of Influence", something that clearly shows the still ongoing colonialist and hegemonic mentality from the said group. Our nations are independent and sovereign, and that we reserve the right to conduct whatever internal affairs within our nations' boundaries. The parties involved had authorized the conduct of such missions and that there is no intention of conducting any offensive mission against any of the members of the Treaty of Telum. Finally, we also clarify that the location of such exercises were clearly stated to be on the Duchian mountains and is therefore very far from the boundaries of the Kingdom of Spain and Empire of Inimicus unlike what they claim in their statement.

We hope that this statement clarifies the situation and shows how our nations are treated only as "underdogs" by the members of the Treaty of Telum.

Signed,

Okonkwo Cyryl Lavoie
President, Republic of Brickston

Sir Simon Bridges GCB KCMG GCT MP
Prime Minister, Kingdom of Reitzmag

John Peter Key
Prime Minister, United Duchies

Junichi Watanabe
General Secretary, Federal Republic of Yosai

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Change in Immigration Quotas
We have assessed immigration against the growth in our economy and demand for labour in our economy. After an assessment of this and our ability to invest and support immigrants in the country we have decided to increase the quotas of immigration in the points system.

Immigration and Residency Visa Type	Current Number	New Number
Humanitarian	500,000	500,000
Skilled Work or Family visa	1,500,000	2,500,000
Anastasia Visa Programme	850,000	500,000
Temporary Work(Less than 6 months)	500,000	650,000
Student	1,011,000	1,350,000
Total Permanent Visas Available	2,850,000	3,500,000
Total Temporary Visas Available	1,511,000	2,000,000

We expect about 550,000 people to emigrate for work or other reasons on a permanent basis. We have made available 3,850,000 permanent visas. As is usual temporary workers and students are not counted towards the population figures of the nation itself.

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ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JOINT SHIELD PROGRAM

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We, the Governments of the Republic of Brickston, the Kingdom of Reitzmag, the United Duchies, and the Federal Republic of Yosai, who form the European Coalition of Nations, express its greetings to all.

Following a meeting between the members of the European Coalition, through the Defence Council, the Joint Shield Program has been established. This program aims to establish a unified Air Defence System among its members to protect its assets from possible incursion and attacks. In addition, various Surface to Air Missile Systems, Anti-Air Artillery Systems, and Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, have been considered and certified to be fielded and participate in this program. Through this joint program, members are given a significant increase in national defence against any aerial threats, including nuclear weapons. Apart from the deployment of ground-based air defence assets, members are also establishing a joint datalink system to allow sharing of intelligence from any possible sources, including sea, land, and air-based equipment. This will enhance our nations' capability in cooperating to protect the interests of each other, and ensuring the safety and security of our people.

This program shall form part of our joint initiative for enhancing our defence capabilities along with the Joint Procurement Program. We hope that our programs pose no threat to other nations unless otherwise such has intentions of aggression against any of our members. The intentions of these programs are for the defence of our nations and are not intent on aggression against any nation. To this end, we urge more nations to join the European Coalition to participate in our cooperative programs, that also reach to Economic and Civil Development Cooperation.

Signed,

Okonkwo Cyryl Lavoie
President, Republic of Brickston

Sir Simon Bridges GCB KCMG GCT MP
Prime Minister, Kingdom of Reitzmag

John Peter Key
Prime Minister, United Duchies

Junichi Watanabe
General Secretary, Federal Republic of Yosai

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Statement on Joint Shield Programme and security in Europe
It is our belief that the Joint Shield Programme or JSP presents no threat to the stability and peace in Europe and is not a provocation. We believe it is an essential defensive mechanism for our nation to ensure we can deal with all threats and that the real threat is increased investment in offensive technology and the proliberation of nuclear weapons which can only offer a defense in either a Mutually Assured Destruction situation or by destroying another nation. We do not believe in Nuclear Weapons due the the environmental destruction required to test them and the threat they pose if they get into the wrong hands but we have to acknowledge the threat of their existence and the need for a defensive system to deal with all and any aerial threats.

Furthermore the dangerous claims on the Red Strait and Gibraltar Strait are the biggest threat to peace , stability and commerce in Europe. It already is raising prices of shipping and goods with the taxes and constant workarounds required and is not good for anyone including Spanish consumers and citizens. The claim to the whole straits risks conflict and the best thing to defuse the situation would be for Spain to be fair and share the straits on both sides 50/50 with the respective nations on each side and allow Yosai shipping through rather than placing petty sanctions on a nation for simply wanting its fair 50% share of the Red Strait. This is the only truly sustainable solution for defusion of tensions and the ball is in Spains court in this scenario.

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Statement on Waters Management in Yosai
After talks with Yosai officials our Foreign Office have decided to announce we will fund up to 1/3rd of the budget of a new unified agency to manage coastal water environmental protection , transit safety and tug services for the waters up to half way or 210 miles offshore of Yosai whichever is the smallest. This new unified agency the Yosai Maritime Agency will be taking over roles that were already being conducted out of Yosai taxes for many years just with a boost in budget for those services. We believe this is a fair system for all and are only too happy to help our ally and partner in funding their agency to assist our ships to our benefit. This arrangement will continue to exist as long as their is not a European funding of such activities though if such a fund occurs we will assess whether this funding will continue from Duchies Foreign Office. We are also willing to offer the same funding in equal measure to Spain for the management of both straits in return for the end of taxation of straits by Spain in order to simplify red tape in crossing of straits.

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Statement on Anastasia City
We have decided to produce an update on Anastasia City after lies were printed in the Copalan Appeal. Despite the attacks the of terrorists in the city just months ago the damage has been mostly fixed bar a few streets with continued development and move ins to the city of which we update you at the end of the year on population stats.

The city has had and will continue to get investment into public services , transport infrastructure including a wide network of cycle lanes and connection to a nationwide Cycle Superhighway network as well as a stadium to be built within two years with concert arena and hall and indoor event space for sports and cultural events as well as many shopping centres which will be run by government and be required to have 50% of units reserved for local businesses an co-operatives as requested by the Anastasian Metropolitan Council . We will continue working hard to create a good quality city , that is transit focused and with affordable pre-fab housing of a high standard from various Duchian Pre-fab housing companies in partnership with the council in order to provide an affordable city to live in. Obviously plans may change slightly over time with a new government dependent on election results but so far all but 1 party have backed Anastasia City and its fast tracked development. Furthermore we are issueing 500,000 Anastasian visas which will be decided by the Anastasian Metropolitan Council and overseen by the Duchies Government. We will know how many can live in Anastasia by the end of the year but very much hope that we can get the population up to around 600,000 with population of up to 1,000,000 by middle of next year. We know this is rapid development but we can keep up quality linking neighbourhoods by transport and creating community store hubs including a mix a national and local brands using the power of quality cheap pre-fab constructions which is being fully utilised with new factories coming online to help with production of pre-fab housing to solve the housing shortfall nationwide and develop more affordable office and industrial spaces nationwide. We are continuing our programme of lending to businesses to invest in jobs in offices , factories and leisure venues in Anastasia with the goal of creating a future tourist hub to experience many different cultures in one city. The diversity of Anastasia City has only been increasing over the year. We understand the importance of Anastasia City and its dream to its residents and that is why we are standing behind the residents of Anastasia City providing the tools for the city to thrive well into the future.

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Statement on Telum Relations
United Duchies government would like to say it has zero issues with Telum as a whole and especially no qualms with any nation that did not directly get involved in straits issues. Even with Spain we have no ill will but instead simply disputed the water boundaries and defend diplomatically the sovereignty of nations on the other half of the straits in being able to claim their waters. We have no desire for conflict and we wish to maintain friendly relations going forward that look past any issues we may have between us in terms of trade and visa policy. We very much hope that agreements with Telum and a potential Euro 3 grouping can go ahead and will do all we can to achieve these aims. We believe in diplomacy and peace and once again to commit to resolutions in this vein. We do not and never will support war or conflict and believe it should be a last resort for the most extreme situations and only in defense of either human rights or national sovereignty when all else has tragically failed.We are greatful for a resolution of the Red Strait crisis and thank Spain for their cooperation in this and believe we can all have a prosperous and positive relationship going forward. In short all is forgiven and we intend to move on in a positive and mutually beneficial manner.