Kalistani Major History

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Statement from the Office of the Premier of the Republic of Kalistan, John Colbert

Fellow Kalistanis and friends from outside our borders, there has been much spread of disinformation with regards to the government's recent reintroduction of the crisis-time policy of issuing Letters of Marque to Kalistani citizens. This disinformation, which has been spread by the Dorvish who either do not understand our privateering policy or willingly and maliciously spread this false information, has even lead to the introduction of a resolution into the Security Council that would sanction and condemn Kalistan. As Premier of this great Republic and representative of the Kalistani government, it is my duty to dispel this disinformation and assuage the understandable fears of the international community.

In their Resolution 82, the Dorvish representatives in the Security Council claims that the Kalistani government has authorized privateers to attack the military and commercial vessels without provocation. This is simply untrue. The bill which has been passed by our National Assembly only allows Letters of Marque to be issued during times of insecurity between Kalistan and foreign nations and only against the vessels of nations who have provoked the Kalistani people to the point of being declared enemies of Kalistan.

The Dorvish also seek to smear Kalistan harming "international peace, stability and international trade," however there is no valid argument for this claim. As of yet, no Letters of Marque have been issued, no state of international insecurity has been declared, and no enemies of Kalistan have been named. Even if all of the preceding had occurred, it wouldn't have been Kalistan who had violated international peace, it would have been the nation who pushed us to those extremes.

We'd also like to address the recent claims of Dolgava, our neighbor across the waves to the north. In a recent article in the Dolgovina Freie Presse, the Dolgavians make a multitude of false claims. They claim that we've established a policy of pirating Dolgavian shipping. This is false. Kalistan has not issued any Letters of Marque against Dolgavian vessels and does not consider Dolgava to be an enemy of Kalistan. Any acts of piracy committed against Dolgava by Kalistanis since the passage of the Authorization of Privateering bill, in the eyes of the Kalistani government, is unapproved and criminal. Dolgava also claims that no country is safe from Kalistani privateers. Again, this is false. At the current moment, nobody should fear Kalistani privateers, as no state of international security has been declared and no Letters of Marque have been issued. In the future, if Kalistan is cursed by a state of international insecurity, only those enemies of Kalistan who have provoked us into declaring that state of insecurity should fear, as no Letters of Marque would be issued against friendly or neutral nations.

As an additional message to Dolgava, the Kalistani government and people respects your sovereignty and right to defend your people by force if need be, but let us offer a bit of advice: The best path to peace and away from bloodshed is through cooperation and friendliness. Kalistan would rather be a friend of Dolgava than an enemy, and the same goes to all the nations of Terra, including Dorvik. However, any unprovoked attacks against Kalistani vessels will be met with swift and fierce retaliation. So let us avoid any senseless conflict and instead live peaceably.

To conclude, the fearmongering of the Dorvish blows the current situation far out of proportion and it itself puts international peace and relations between Kalistan and the world at risk. Kalistan wishes to live peaceably amongst our fellow peoples of Terra, I believe our recent concessions to the international community with regard to the Ananto Straights is proof of this. But we will always put our people and their security first. We will maintain our current national defense policies and continue to improve the capabilities of our armed forces to defend our homeland against foreign aggression, and no supranational organization run by hostile powers will compel us to do otherwise.

Until the current situation is resolved, I have authorized Minister Stimson to put the Regular Navy on high alert and increase patrols in the Straights. We will continue our policy of not throwing the first punch, and the Navy will be forbidden from opening fire on foreign vessels without being first attacked.

Thank you, and goodbye.