Kalistani Major History

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Foreign Minister Ulysses to travel to Deltaria
"It's time to finish a deal we started years ago" says Ulysses
Kaliburg, Ananto
September 8, 5070


New Socialist Foreign Minister to conclude purchase of Deltarian Missile Destroyers

"Years ago, we were on the verge of purchasing 10 recently decommissioned Destroyers from Deltaria," said Kalistani Foreign Minister Troy Ulysses at a press brief yesterday in the Capital, "but unfortunately rampant corruption and gross government mismanagement of our predecessors led to that deal being put on the backburner. The state of the Regular Forces of Kalistan, already extremely inefficient due to age and neglect, nonetheless needs a major modernization effort, which Kalistan should be putting significant resources into."

The Foreign Minister is responding to a recent offer from the Deltarian Government to sell 15 of its decommissioned Udaloy Class Destroyers to Kalistan for a sum of 3.5 Billion KRB. "The Defense Ministry has earmarked 10 for replacement service on the Ananto Strait Northern and Southern Limits, and 5 for detail and deconstruction, so our engineers can begin producing Kalistani variants at the National Shipyard. The ultimate goal is of course self sufficiency in our Naval Procurement."

Ulysses was asked about political commitments that are rumored to accompany the transfer. "We would reiterate the words of the Previous President. We have made no agreement with regard to access of the Ananto Straits. That has been part of the discussion, but National Security Experts have expressed indifference to Deltarian military access to the Ananto Strait, which in any case would be purely symbolic for Deltaria, but would drag Kalistan closer to Deltaria's International positions in Artania and elsewhere. Kalistan wants no part of that, nor do we really need a powerful international patron to guarantee what we have successfully defended for hundreds of years."

The Foreign Minister was also keen to acknowledge that the last major Powers to challenge Kalistan in the Strait have long since recognized Kalistani control over that water, concomitant with guarantees of peaceful commercial transit, which Kalistan has not abrogated. "Powers such as Dorvik, Hutori, and even Lourenne have either explicitly or in fact recognized Kalistani Security concerns in the Straits. It is a matter of international fact at this point. We would encourage other Nations to follow suit in the Straits and refrain from attempting to crack them open for whatever their reasons are."

The foreign Minister also noted that he was at the opening stages of discussing military modernization with Dorvik. "Dorvik has recently reached out to the Republic to inquire about our government's position vis a vis various power plays in Artania. The Foreign Ministry Informed them that Kalistan takes no position with regard to the affairs of Artania, and opened the door for talks about military purchases, which Dorvik received receptively. Modernization is a priority of the SP in the Assembly and in the Government, and we aim to carry it out with the assistance of any and all partners across Terra."

The Foreign Minister is set to fly to Deltaria later this week to conclude the Destroyers' purchase.