Kalistan

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FM discusses Luthori Deal
"Her Imperial Majesty Can Accept Offer," says Dame DuMont
Kaliburg Free City, Ananto
January 9, 5573


Dame Jacqueline DuMont welcomes terms of Settlement with Luthori

The Republic was granted an interview with Her Imperial Majesty's Foreign Minister, Dame Jacqueline DuMont, to talk about the recent deal with Luthori.  Below is the transcript of the interview.

[The Republic's] C[orrine] S[mith]:  Dame DuMont, thank you for taking this interview.

[Her Imperial Majesty's Foreign Minister, Dame] J[acqueline] D[uMont]:  I am happy to meet with you today.

CS:  First of all, congratulations on your success with the settlement.

JD:  Well, let's not break our arm patting ourselves on the back just yet.  We still have heard nothing official from the state of Luthori.  So we are still in the tentative phases.  They are notoriously slow at getting back to people about things that they aren't the sole author and exclusive beneficiary of.  So anything can happen, and it is still very possible that this whole thing can fall apart at any moment, until they officially confirm things.  But this is a deal we feel that Her Imperial Majesty can accept, and feel good about.

CS:  Fair enough.  You are correct that Luthori is a bureaucratic nightmare.  Unless they really want to move, they generally do not.

JD:  That's right.  It is really amazing that their leaders get anything done.  But, let's leave all that on the table.

CS:  Fine, My Lady.  Can you tell us where this deal stands right now?

JD:  Yes, Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Pavlina I Ananto has instructed me to release details of the deal that is a tentative offer for settlement.  We will of course wait ourselves until we see some movement, but Her Imperial Majesty has made some moves to show she is in good faith, so it is our hope that this becomes the permanent thing.

CS:  Our paper reported last month that Kalistan has lifted the Embargo.  Is this Correct?

JD:  Yes, for Mordusia and Likatonia.  The provisions concerning Luthorian shipping are still in place until Luthori actually settles this affair.  And should Luthori refuse to carry through on their part, we will reinstate the Embargo for Luthori-allied Seleyan States.  But for now, we are no longer refusing Mordusian goods or Likatonian Goods, and have begun to repatriate a lot of their impounded assets.

CS:  Do they still have the punitive actions in place against Kalistan?

JD:  To my knowledge, yes.  It is unfortunate, but I suppose like us, they too are waiting on word from their colonial masters to take action.  Her Imperial Majesty lifted that part of the Embargo act as a sign of good faith.  It doesn't require that it be reciprocated.  The Empress wanted to signal that we are seriously committed to restoring a sort of status quo ex ante.

CS:  My Lady, ex ante what?

JD:  Ex ante Luthori's aggressive expansion in Northern Seleya.

CS:  Alright.  Can we step back a moment?  Can you kinda fill in some blanks for us?  How did this deal happen?

JD:  Of course.  So.  As you know, the culprit behind this was Luthori--Kalistan had fair relations with Luthori for a long time.  We had a normal embassy and ambassador in Fort William, and Luthori had one here in Kaliburg.  This was due to the efforts of the Empress Nicolette II Ananto, who finished what her mother, Nicolette I Ananto, The Great had begun, which ended centuries uncounted of animosity between Kalistan and Luthori stretching back to the Plateau Wars.  At any rate, the troubles began when Luthori refused to attend the late Emperor Fredrick and at the time Princess Pavlina's wedding.  For whatever reason, Her Imperial Majesty took the absence as a snub.  Several additional provocations occurred, Her Imperial Majesty skipped the funeral for the king over there or whatever and tit for tat.  You are going to get that when you are talking about the personal politics of royalty.  Who understands anything they do?

At any rate, the real break came when Lourenne temporarily closed up shop, and abrogated its role in the world.  This action created a vacuum that brought out the vultures.  And one of those vultures was Luthori, who immediately rushed to Seleya to try to expand their wretched Commonwealth.  Their target was Likatonia--It seems that they were furious that Lodamun was charting a new course, so they felt that they needed to shore up their position in Northern Seleya.  No concern for the fact that Kalistan might object.  They simply just stepped in, found a compliant government in a Northern Seleyan State at the time we were talking about working together more specifically to resist something like this, and incorporated Likatonia into their web of exploitation in Northern Seleya.  

Despite the difficulties we were having domestically, such a provocation couldn't go unanswered, so the Emperor pulled the Ambassador to Luthori and shuttered the embassy in protest.  Instead of sending anyone to Kaliburg to ask what the problem was, and try to resolve it, Luthori decided to double down on their expansion plans for Northern Seleya, a place they do not belong under any circumstances, and expressed a desire to not only economically integrate Likatonia, but also to restore their old master-slave relationship with Lodamun, who, to their credit, has resisted admirably, and is still to this day, charting its course independent from advice from Fort William.

This was strange, and unnecessarily hostile, because we were in talks at that time to assist Luthori in building a monorail based on our MagLev system.  We were still working on that when they pulled their Ambassador from Kaliburg.  Again, no attempts were made to find out what Kalsitan was upset about.  We got the message that our concerns were entirely illegitimate, and that Luthori intended to set the terms for Northern Seleya.  Luthori also began making moves to tie Canrille States to itself as well.  That octopus had its sights set on this entire continent, and was showing itself to be very much the Luthori of old, who had been the nemesis of the Anantonese Empire, rather than the partner we thought we had in Artania.  Emperor Fredrick knew that he had been tricked, and so, well, the rest is sort of history.  I knew His Imperial Majesty:  he was not quick to anger.  But action after action after action demonstrated that Luthori saw itself as the hegemon of Seleya, and Kalistan has no modus operandi if it is not to oppose that sort of stupid and shortsighted attitude from any Artanian nation.

CS:  My Lady, what about this deal.  How did it come about?

JD:  Years passed, and the relationship remained hostile.  Kalistan insisted that Luthori leave, and Luthori refused, etc.  Fast forward to present:  Luthori continues attempting to colonize this continent with impunity, and announces that it intends to build Seleyan Headquarters for its major banking sectors.  Where?  In Artania?  No, why would it do that?  In Dovani?  Of course not:  that woudn't create enough drama.  In Majatra?  No, there is an empire there that Luthori respects, who would oppose that.  No, they choose Gaduridos of all places.  They did not discuss this, knowing full well how Kalistan views Gaduridos.  They didn't even attempt to reach out.  We believe they did this specifically to draw a response from Kalistan.  And Her Imperial Majesty felt that this was the final straw, and slapped an embargo on those nations that trade with Luthori and attempt to bring Luthorian Goods into Seleya through the Strait.  The goal was to get those nations, hopefully to pressure Luthori to stop its ruthless and irritating expansion, and focus elsewhere.  I will not lie:  I sat in those meetings, and was one of the sole voices of dissent, arguing that an Embargo would likely alienate other Seleyan nations more than Luthori.  

But at the end of the day, the Empress' Job is to make policy, and my job is to carry it out.  We put the Embargo through the National Assembly, and my prediction was correct--We probably alienated Seleya for a generation, not because the Embargo was incorrect, I don't think.  But more because Luthori is well liked by their drones, and Kalistan's action didn't have enough public context created to explain what the goal was.  Kalistan now appears overly hostile and Luthori is able to claim they are just doing what every other country does, when we in Kalistan know that there is a national policy in Luthori to continue the expansion of its system into Seleya, until it is involved in every nation in Northern Seleya.  Except Kalistan.  And probably Baltusia, because we can say to Luthori's credit that they hate communists almost as much as Kalistan does.

At any rate, when it appeared that the Embargo was hurting Luthori's economy, and yet they were still unwilling to come to the table, Her Imperial Majesty called her principles together.  I was in that meeting of course.  She asked us for ideas.  And some of us came up with ways to mitigate damage to the Kalistani economy, which we took.  And I advised her to end the Embargo due to the diplomatic damage it was doing to Kalistan.  That is advise she said she wanted to take, but could not because Kalistan had to take the hard line against Luthori, as the soft line had been ignored.  But by the end of that meeting, Her Imperial Majesty thanked us for our ideas, and summoned her daughter.

The next thing we know, Her Highness Crown Princess Carolina Ananto-Hulanevek is giving an off the cuff interview to her school newspaper, where she is openly disagreeing with our Empress, in public, in the press.  I was floored.  I couldn't believe the audacity, and apparently, state security was also taken in, because they actually interviewed the Crown Princess.  But you see, I think I understand now what was happening:  Her Imperial Majesty needed Carolina to take a soft line.  It was the policy that she had decided on, but could not credibly play it.  Carolina, on the other hand, was 'just an inexperienced girl.' The Crown Princess, she's pretty smart, I mean, insanely smart.  And I think, I'm not entirely sure, but I think, she and her mother worked out a good cop, bad cop gambit to signal to Luthori that the Empress cannot move off her position, but Carolina could represent a back channel.

The Crown Princess was set to go to Kundrati anyway to discuss the Metro with Kundrati engineers, another positive, due to the damage that had been done to Kalistani-Kundrati relations as a result of the Artanian Conference, and Mordusia, to their credit, saw the signals that there might be an opportunity to talk to someone with Her Imperial Majesty's ear.  I give a lot of credit to Mordusian officials for making contact with the Crown Princess at Ananto House in Etxea and suggesting that a meeting could be set up.  Kundrati offered us a neutral location, one of their leader's manors nearby Ananto House, and the Crown Princess arrived and met with individuals, all non-public officials, of course, from several of the affected nations.  Before the meeting, the Crown Princess called me to ask me what she should do, and I took the call with Her Imperial Majesty, who advised her to try to listen to what Luthori was upset about, to state Kalistan's position as clearly and as honestly as possible, even if it means providing them a little more information than we would tell even some of our close friends, so they know we are in earnest, and try to find a solution that will work for everyone.  Her Imperial Majesty assured the Crown Princess that she was smart enough to do well in this situation, and added that as Empress, Carolina would have to do this anyway.  So she may as well learn how to do it now.  Her Grace answered confidently and hung up the phone.

CS:  Can you share some of the details of the deal on offer with Luthori?

JD:  Yes, We expressed that we are emphatically opposed to any efforts on Luthori's part to expand their commonwealth beyond Likatonia and Mordusia in Seleya.  This was the main point that Kalistan made.  This includes taking slow steps to integrate Gaduridos into the Luthorian economy.  I think Luthori was most concerned that Lodamun not abandon the security and economic agreements that they had made with Luthori, and they were also concerned about the fact that our 4th Fleet had been repositioned in the Artanian Sea.

The Crown Princess discussed the issue of the Crown Lands, and reminded Luthori that Kalistan has legitimate claims there, but just because we are not actively pursuing those claims does not mean that those lands are open for some other imperialist state to simply come in and swoop up.  The Crown Princess reiterated that until Kalistan could pursue its claims in those lands, we have made ourselves guarantors of their independence from any other nation, and would resist any efforts by Luthori to spread its commonwealth to Lodamun, Baltusia, or Gaduridos.

At the end of the discussion, the Crown Princess believed that Luthori understood Kalistan's objections a little better:  they settled for leaving the fate of the Crown Land Nations in the hands of the Crown Land Nations themselves, which was an acceptable position to Kalistan.  Lodamun chooses its own fate, and chooses for itself who it wants to work with.  As does Gaduridos.  Baltusia is still an open question, because I believe both nations have an interest in crushing the communist revolution there, and Kalistan would be fine with any settlement as long as it has the opportunity to re-acquire South Suldanor.  But that issue will be left for another day.  Kalistan opts to support the decisions of the Nations we consider crown lands, and will not raise objection to Luthori's agreements with Lodamun as they currently stand.  Kalistan also expressed support for any economic investment Luthori should make in Gaduridos that benefits Gaduridos primarily, rather than ties Gaduridos to Luthori.  Kalistan is committed to Gaduri neutrality, and will act to defend it if Luthori decides to put pressure on them to abandon it.

To signal good faith, the Crown Princess agreed to an immediate suspension of the Embargo against Mordusia and Likatonia.  We also agreed to relocate our 4th Fleet.  Upon advise from the Defense Minister, the Crown Princess informed the Luthori representative that the 4th Fleet's mission is primarily surveillance and enemy asset tracking.  The 4th Fleet is a Vanguard force; it is not configured to wage long term combat operations, and is primarily part of the Defense in Depth strategy to provide our three combat organized fleets an early warning about the presence and movements of enemy naval units from our traditional naval adversaries.  As a result, to decrease tension, we would move the 4th Fleet closer to Karzon to focus on the Karzon Strait region.  Kalistan seeks to work closer with the Lodamese Navy in asset acquisition and monitoring.  These actions were designed to immediately reduce pressure on Luthori and to signal that our intention was peace and resolution.

We also asked Luthori to begin consulting Kalistan on Seleyan Matters, not specifically to get our permission, but so we know what they are doing, and give us the opportunity to at least tell them how their plans will affect Kalistan's position toward them.  Luthori, as a sovereign state, does not have to clear anything with any other state:  We believe that in principle, but actions have consequences, and if possible, Her Imperial Majesty would like Luthori to be aware of some of those consequences before they settle on any policies.  And Kalistan also offered to consult them on Artanian affairs, if we ever decide to make any moves on that continent.  This move recognizes our respective positions in our regions, and begins to acknowledge sphere's of interest.

At the end of the day, I feel that Kalistan ended up with the shorter end of the bargain, and I advised Her Highness to press for more concessions from Luthori.  But Her Imperial Majesty overruled me, and told the Crown Princess to tentatively accept their offer, and take the win.  The Crown Princess was not supposed to be in Kundrati conducting diplomacy, but starting the Metro project, and she had already spent far too much time on talking with the Luthorian reps.  The Crown Princess went back to work on the Metro Project, and I have subsequently been tasked with following up with Luthori. 

When we see movement in the Luthorian Government, I will dispatch my Artanian Deputy to Fort William to work out final details with Luthori.  I hope to have a final agreement by the end of this year, and then will advice Her Imperial Majesty to rescind the entire Embargo bill.  

CS:  Will this improve relations with Luthori?

JD:  Let's say this:  It will lay a foundation to build improved relations on.  Whether those relations are built is an open question still, but this is a start to repair decades of corrosion and resentment.

CS:  Madame Foreign Minister, I hope so, but I can't help notice that your own words felt unnecessarily harsh at times.  Can you credibly represent a position of conciliation with Luthori if you view the world as you do?

JD:  Ms. Smith, I am an old nationalist.  I served two lifetime imperial monarchs in my career, and if God wills it, I shall serve a third, who will make the others seem like republicans.  I am set in my ways, and will never fade from my duties to Her Imperial Majesty first, and Kalistan second.  If my words are harsh toward our nation's biggest rival, I hope that at least they admire my consistency, because I have never felt any different toward that country.  At the end of it all, I work to serve Her Imperial Majesty in all matters, and if My Empress ever feels that I am doing poorly, she knows she can have me replaced at any time.  I don't fear it:  I know that my replacement will serve her as well and as candidly as I do.

CS:  Very well.  Thank you for your recounting of these events.

JD:  It was my pleasure.  It is my hope that this sheds some light on their crisis, and I hope we are nearing its end.

CS:  I am sure the entire world does.

JD:  Indeed.