Kalistan

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Her Imperial Majesty's Foreign Minister responds to Likatonian and Mordusian Provocations
"Nationalizations are beginning", said Dame DuMont
Kaliburg Free City, Ananto
January 12, 5572


Dame DuMont speaks before National Assembly to brief on Embargo

"Nationalizations of Contraband properties are beginning across the Empire," said Her Imperial Majesty's Foreign Minister, Dame Jacqueline DuMont.  "It grieves Her Imperial Majesty that things have had to come to this, but it is important to kneecap Luthori where ever we can, and that includes cutting off trade from all Seleyan Nations who have aligned themselves with the nefarious designs of Fort William."  Dame DuMont was called to the National Assembly to discuss the implementation of Sanctions ahead of the Embargo Bill.

"To date, we have turned back more than two dozen ships associated with sanctioned nations, and have also refused to entry to more than 60 ships who are hauling Luthorian cargo into Seleya," said DuMont.  "Upon order of Her Imperial Majesty, we have succeeded in costing Luthorian businesses more than ₭6.5 Billion in either lost contract or direct sales. The Port of Sulari is currently the busiest port in Northeastern Seleya, and the added cost of needing to return to Likatonian ports to offload cargo or carry on to ports further south will add another estimated ₭2.5 Billion to that cost. The longer these sanctions are, the more expensive it will become for Luthori or its allied nations to do business in Seleya, crippling the profitability of not only Luthorian firms, but also those nations who retain their loyalty to that besotted nation."

Kalistan has realized similar sanctions, but has mostly been able to weather the storm. "We have seen prices of certain goods increase, due to being unable to access trade from Likatonia where a lot of our Majatran commerce used to pass through," said Dame DuMont. "System wide, we have seen prices increase for consumer electronics by more than 38%, for instance, but a lot of these increases have been offset by subsidies for Kalistani business to keep consumer prices as low as possible, so at the end of the day, prices for those goods that used to pass through Likatonia but now either have to continue to Lodamun or port in Port Swedes have only increased at point of sale between 7 and 10 percent, depending on the item." Much of Kalistan's production is localized, and the biggest shortages are in both luxury items and foreign food supplements. "Some families are back to fish and greens," said Dame DuMont, "but as that meal is a staple in most households in Kalistan, many of those families do not notice much of a difference."

Dame DuMont said she will be dispatching a team of diplomats to the Jelbic Empire to get a read on their position regarding the Embargo. "We don't imagine that we will influence the Jelbic Khan one way or another, but we do not have much info on whether they support the Embargo or whether they stand with Luthori. So I and a team of six will be flying to Wiel to meet with our diplomatic staff, and seek an audience with the Great Khan. At the end of the meeting, we should have a better idea of how they see the Embargo from Majatra. Our preferred outcomes would be, in order, enthusiastic support, neutrality toward the embargo, and then indifference. Obviously, supporting Luthori would be a tragic break with the Anantonese Empire, and is one we would like to avoid."

Dame DuMont said that no Luthorian property has been nationalized to date. "Upon inspection, it would seem that Kalistan may be the only Seleyan country where Luthori has not tried to build anything. We feel very blessed to acknowledge that fact." However, several bank accounts, totaling ₭65.8 million in assets were seized. "We have frozen these assets, not seized them. Apparently there were a number of Luthorian investors, or rather I should say, those involved in Luthori's black market, who have been hiding money in Kalistani Banks. And while it is illegal under our Nation's law to divulge the information about these bank accounts of Luthori's Criminal Class to anyone, we will happily restore access to these funds upon settlement of the outstanding issues between Kalistan and the territory known as Luthori." Dame DuMont said it is not Kalistan's job to help a foreign nation deal with its criminal class, and does not plan on assisting the Luthori Government in identifying its drug dealers, tax cheats, or fraud purveyors. "Those individuals have broken no Kalistani Laws. They just happen to have the misfortune of being from Luthori."

Sanctions against Seleyan nations have been relatively light to date. "This is, I suppose a benefit to being a thrall in the service of an evil overlord," said Dame DuMont. "They handle everything for you, the same way our nurses do everything for the individuals with severe mental or physical disabilities, or those who live their lives in a persistent vegetative state in our old folks homes, because their family members are either too selfish or too afraid to put them out of their misery. All Luthori requires of Mordusia and Likatonia is that you continue breathing so they can continue draining your life blood." Kalistan has however moved to deport all foreign nationals from a sanctioned nations. "We will provide you a free train ticket to either Addisjah or Lucid Valley, where you can board the trains of Lodamun or Baltusia respectively and get yourself back to your own country. Those who are still found within Kalistan's borders who have not declared an intention to seek asylum for their incompetent, enthralled governments as of February 1 of this year will be arrested and forcibly ejected from Kalistan."

On Gaduridos, the Foreign Minister referred to the Empress. "Her Imperial Majesty is still weighing whether Gaduridos' acceptance of a Seleyan HQ for some Luthorian Bank will constitute a violation of the Sanctions Order. It is unclear whether Luthori will actually follow through on their plans first of all, and second, whether the concern will be large enough for Kalistan to waste their time sanctioning Gaduridos over it. As our goal is to pressure Luthori's Seleyan allies so they put pressure on Luthori to disband its Colonial arrangement, sanctioning Gaduridos will likely have no effect on that question, as Gaduridos is not part of the Luthorian colonial regime. Finally sanctioning Gaduridos will likely have a strongly negative effect on the Gaduri economy while producing no measurable effect on the Luthori economy, and so there is pressure against strictly punitive sanctions against a neutral nation. The decision is ultimately up to the Empress, but as of today, she appears to be leaning against sanctions against Gaduridos."

Over all, Dame DuMont said the sanctions are beginning to take effect, and the pain in Kalistan has been comparatively light. "We don't see drops in stock prices in the KalSiE at a similar level that see see corresponding drops in the Fort William Exchange," said Dame DuMont. "Kalistani stocks are largely sheltered, and Her Imperial Majesty has ensured that price supports, wage supports and profitability measures are imposed across the economy to help Kalistan's businesses and consumers weather this storm. Liberal economies will have a much more difficult time addressing these shocks without signigficant public sector spending, but that also tends to encourage business markups, where businesses realize there is more money in the economy, so they raise their prices to get as much of that money as possible making it look like prices are rising due to government spending. We are strongly insulated against that sort of choice in the markets, so we are able to keep inflation under control. And though we are experiencing scarcity, we are also prevent demand side deflationary pressures by ensuring that all have basic income regardless of what their employers are experiencing."

Dame DuMont said that the embargo will continue until Luthori decides it is in their interest to reach out to attempt to settle Kalistan's grievances against that nation. "We are prepared to keep this up indefinitely if we have to. I assure you, Nationalist Kalistan will finish better than the Liberal Luthori will."