In a session of what political experts ironicly described as "limited in size" members of parliament have finally revealed the plans of Theodora Lackmann for the future of the Dual Republic. It includes a temporary composition for the Nationalrat for the next seven years as seen in the infographic above. It consists of an enormous majority of OF parliamentarians and smaller seat attributions to the other parties, with the second largest being the VVP. The DRP can't be seen with even one mandate. While this is already a very restrictive reform, we did not even talk about the new constitution. This newest version replaces the revised Constitution of 5453 and includes sweeping modifications to the elections and the parliament. Being actively legitimized to vote in the Dual Republic now requires a certain amount of yearly income and is also integrated into a system of weighted votes. Individuals with a larger yearly income get 'more votes' so to speak. Passive legitimization for the elections (becoming a candidate) now comes after a invasive screening of personal life by the SaSA with the exception of having support from at least ten members of parliament (voucher-system). The direct election of the President will be terminated, from now on the presidency will be determined in the halls of the parliament. Another reform this package offers is the ban on communist parties. Communist in the spirit of the law meaning advocacy for the abolishment of the Dual Republic, the free-market or other radical demands directly opposed to our glorious Dual Republic. In the same breath, the name "Nationalrat" will now be history as the parliament is now *formally* designated as "The most Serene Chambers of the Dual Republican Senate." Concluding this new constitution is the explicit reservation of seats in the Senate for the "Industriellenvereinigung." (Industrialists) A conglomerate or rather advisory organization for the largest corporations of Narikaton & Darnussia. 

The Senate of the Dual Republic has recently passed a bill allocating funds to the construction of a massive statue of Theodora Lackmann overlooking the port of Bannerhafen. It is supposed to be 100 meters in size and be made out of metal. Its purpose is to honor the presidents accomplishments for Narikaton and Darnussia as well as her service in protecting the Dual Republic from traitors and the red dangers lurking in the shadows of Terra. According to public information the construction is going to take a few years. Theodora Lackmann was spotted leaving the Senate building with a beaming smile and greeted the masses applauding her with a lovely wave.

Lackmann being welcomed in Brakav

While the last administration already recognized the trigunian break-away states associated with the NEC, Theodora Lackmann has decided that it was time to grant a symbolic act of recognition to start reconnecting the new states into the international community. The Dual Republican President is confident that this visit is going to be the spark for increased intercontinental cooperation and a prosperous relationship with the two states she has chosen to visit personally. The first one is the pan-dundorfian sister republic of Brakav where she is going to shake hands with key politicians, after her meeting there she will continue to Vrosnok where she is also going to try to establish a good working base from which to conduct diplomacy from. 

Since the takeover of a communist dictatorial regime in Baltusia, the population of Baltusia had to endure closed borders and has been largely cut-off from the rest of Terra. In his new documentary series, famous  Darnussian adventurer and harsh environment enthusiast Urs Rost has at least according to his claims visited Baltusia. And his resumé.. its... incredible. It seems like he has obtained video evidence proving that the Baltusian society has degenerated into a technology free wasteland filled with aggressive tribals. In an interview with him we got to ask him a lot of questions about his trip and he was happy to answer them in detail. Rost tried to communicate with the what he now calls 'proto-humans.' "They were all hairy.. and stuff.. I think they've never seen a razorblade before. AND THE SMELL, DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE SMELL." He sighed and continued to tell the story about how he walked through a deserted city where torn up syndicalist flags and boarded up windows dominated the view of the streets. While mustering the remains of a once developed civilization he let his guard down and was ambushed by the above mentioned tribals. They started throwing rocks at him and yell "nuuuk!! uuuwuu!! nuuuuuk!!" Rost escaped by getting on a majestic steed which fortunately just stood in the street... randomly. On the way back out of the city he has seen a bunch of children abandoned in some alleys or lying on the street, what he could see in the panicked retreat was that they probably had some kind of birth defect, or were they normal in comparison? Who knows? Anyways after getting out of the city he saw what probably had been agricultural lands, they were dry and the earth didnt look healthy. "Probably explains why they're eating each other there. I swear on my mothers name, and my viewer counts, it's a tragedy." Sadly he did not want to spoil anymore of the footage he managed to record there and instead wanted us all to wait for the official release of this series.

The Bannerpakt, which was once a broad diplomatic vehicle hailing from the last century has lost its original purpose a long time ago, and that is what the current government of the Dual Republic also started to accept in the recent months. After a long-term observation period in which the influential parts of the Bannerpakt have been examined, the responsible ministry, the Ministry of Finance has now announced their future plans with the Bannerpakt. The Pakt is gonna liquidate it's diplomatic departments and purposes in an orderly fashion and will relocate relevant assets to the 3rd Point Trade Federation which will instead take on the tasks of joint economic security risk management and trade protection. To accommodate these changes, the Dual Republic is going to propose a system of differently tiered member-statutes to the current partners in the Trade Federation. What remains of the Bannerpakt is its genuine economic side, the Bannerpakt Investment and Stabilization Fund, which has acted as a sort of globally accesible investment fund for Dual Republican money, many entitites over the years have requested money and it has been granted with discreete and business-friendly arrangements. Now Finance Minister Wagner plans on formalizing what has already been custom for years by reducing the Bannerpakt to the just explained fund. It's current portfolio mostly consists of assets across the Jelbic Empire especially in Beiteynu, some in Badara and a very diverse range of shares or loan-demands of smaller businesses in the Dual Republic itself. Wagner has announced that this fund will now be accessible to the world.

Vice-Director for Federation Affairs, Friedrich Graf von Kozaria at an ad-hoc interview about the situation

The recently appointed Vice-Director for Federation Affairs Friedrich Graf von Kozaria has apparently called Yishelem to calm them down and intervene in favor of stopping their planned aggression against Lodamese drones. "It seems instead of Lodamun, Beiteynu has not gotten the memo. Last time we had a conflict with Lodamun, we, the Dual Republic have acted rashly and recklessly, we need to be moderate and measured as well as appropriate in our communication. We have made a promise to the Commonwealth of Lodamun that we would protect their assets, and if they see that promise not fulfilled it is their good right to gather surveillance, or rather it is their good right to gather this information to even be able to decide if this promise is fulfilled or not. Bannerhafen's ears are always open for the concerns of all trade-minded nations and is welcoming lodamese cooperation in this area, we need to secure the trade routes. I hope Lodamun recognizes our efforts in increasing the Trade Fleet's escort capabilites and are willing to respond to any of their concerns. There will be no drone shooting in the Pass. Good day"

After constructive talks with the Commonwealth Lodamun and its respective officials we can report that we have reached a very positive outcome. The Dual Republic and the Commonwealth will exchange their own genuine information about the situation unfolding. Let it be clearly stated that the trade will be safe and that we appreciate the cooperative attitude we've been met with in our Lodamese counterparts. In this day and age it is of utmost importance to work with reciprocity and with respect toward the assets of all the sovereign nations of the world. We can not tolerate overly assertive action and will continue to work with our valued partners to ensure stability. If you are worried about your assets or the flow of your capital please call the Ministry of Economic Affairs permanent 24/7 hotline for investor care.

According to released information from the Defence Ministry, the Dual Republic has decided to place orders for 15 more vessels. Eight of which will come from Narikaton and Darnussia's own Passschiffe Bau AG. Those are modernized and upgraded "Kontrollschiff 1" Class frigates which are designed as multi-porpose vessels and seven orders are for the Snba Prtastat-class from vanukese producer "Jadjohydwasfabrk Hafndam" who are going to serve as anti-air vessels. This marks the completion of the naval expansion phase of the long-term military modernization plan of the Dual Republic. The funds have been gathered for a long time but were constrained during the Clenonberg-era social-policy focused terms and have now been released by the more military friendly Lackmann administration. The Ministry of Defence have not published a clear-timeline yet we expect them to be launch-ready in four to five years. Most of the vessels are temporary designated to become part of the Home Waters Fleet group but are expected to be redistributed to other tasks later along the line.