Kalistan

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"Yeah, no." says Kalistani Chancellor to Egelion Peace Plan
Lady Donahue outright rejects preliminary peace proposal
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
June 1, 5684


Lady Ericka Donahue discusses Kizenian Peace with reporters at National Assembly

"Well, to be honest, we haven't seen an actual written draft of the peace accord yet: I am not sure one exists yet," said Chancellor of the Empire, Lady Ericka Donahue. "But I can assure you, if it looks like the trial balloon the Egelians floated in their press, Kalistan will reject it out of hand." The Chancellor's comments came during a discussion of foreign policy at the National Assembly in Kaliburg. "There are not enough guarantees that Kizenia will remain an independent, sovereign and integral nation free of the influence of their neighbors and Kalistan will not be made a party to a whole scale partition."

The Chancellor made it clear that discussions that occurred prior to Kalistan's entry into the war on Egelion's side said nothing of Egelion administering the southern coastal territories that Kalistan is currently occupying and administering. "Their Imperial Majesties kind of feel like they were stabbed in the back, as I imagine the Kizenians would as well--we definitely got into the war under what appears at the outset to be false pretenses. The understanding was much different than this, with territorial gains remaining absolutely minimal, historically based, and not in any way fundamentally affecting the balance of power in the region," said Lady Donahue. "What we have seen instead is a massive territorial annexation of a huge portion of the country by Nadiya, of all nations, who have no historical claim to any of that land, as well now as an essential puppetting of Kizenia by Egelion and a virtual protectorate along Kizenia's Anantonese Coast. This is not how the venture was presented to Kalistan. And so we aren't doing that."

The Chancellor was careful not to fully alienate the Egelians. "Look: its not too late to settle this in a way where Egelian aims for the war are met, but ALSO Kalistan's war aims are met. Kizenia being carved up by Egelion and Trigunia is pretty offensive and destabilizing. Trigunia's blatent landgrab is the most egregious thing we've ever seen--It is very destabilizing, and will happen with no pushback from anyone except Kalistan. But I have to ask: On what planet does Egelion and Trigunia partition a country directly adjacent to Kalistan, Egelion fully puppets that country, and Kalistan has no interest? Where would that exist? The notion that we would not consider an independent Kizenia absolutely vital to Kalistani interests is absurd, especially if Trigunia is taking so much of it, and Egelion is stepping in to administer even more of the Anantonese coast than they already do."

The Chancellor also noted the fate of the tens of thousands of Kalistani Nationals who live in Luncasi and Deltabor. "Why does Egelion believe they can keep those towns safe and secure more than Kalistan can? We have been working with the local governments for years. We have close connections to significant portions of both cities' population. We have dumped tens of millions of Imperial Rubles in to the infrastructure of both cities. Those cities are democratically self governing and have been at peace for more than a year-- All things Egelion says they need to administer those territories to ensure. Well, that's what's already going on there, under Kalistani security arrangements. So, before we return those cities to Kizenia, we want assurances now that they will not be subsequently handed over to either Egelion or Trigunia to be used as a base of operations under the guise of 'free cities'. We want to take Egelion at its word, but the announcement in its paper of its preliminary peace terms makes that hard for the Empire, given the terms we set down as part of our entry into the conflict."

The Lady Chancellor said she will be dispatched to the Peace talks, and will hold Kalistan's position firm. "We went to Kizenia to restore legitimate government to Kizenia, and we praise Egelion's committment to restoration of the Monarchy. We did not go to Kizenia to participate in a land grab and a partition. We want to see Kizenia stable, free of external influence, and supported by all its neighbors, rather than carved up. And to be quite honest, we hope the world will indeed weigh in as heavily against Kizenian annexations as they do against Athosians: If the world remains silent on the part of Kizenia's vivisection, which, if the status quo on the ground remains as it is, will be the case, it is our hope that they keep their trap shut when other nations move into their neighbors to similarly carve out their own enclaves. But if Trigunia keeps the territory it currently occupies and calls it an integral part of Nadiya, then you can believe Kalistan has no intention of giving up the territory we occupy. They'll have to bomb us out of there, and in the process destroy those two cities. Because fair's fair. And any standard the world sets for Kalistan gets set for the other countries in the region as well."

The choice of sending the Chancellor of the Empire to the talks rather than the Foreign Minister who is seen to be slightly more conciliatory is aimed at sending a message to Keris: The division of Keris will not be as cut and dried as they originally intended.

@TheRepublic