Kalistan

[Doc]

Lodamun set to leave Anantonese Empire
Nearly 60 year "Marriage of Convenience" ends amicably
Addisjah, Duchy of Vrassa
August 15, 5641


Lady Waltrip, representing Her Imperial Majesty Empress Mary I Ananto, shakes hands with Dr. James Forrester just inside Lodamun

Following emergency meetings last week in Kaliburg between Her Imperial Majesty, Mary I Ananto, Her Imperial Majesty's Foreign Minister, and Lodamese Representative Dr. James Forrester, Kalistan and Lodamun have agreed to part ways amicably. This agreement formally ends the imperial relationship between the Anantonese Empire and the Commonwealth of Lodamun, and restores full sovereignty to the Northern Seleyan Nation. Spokespeople for the Foreign Ministry said that no specific event sparked the separation, but the catalyst for the event was Her Imperial Majesty's speech in June which declared Kalistan to be in "retrenchment mode."

"It is better for us to part on friendly terms than to let our relationship turn into estrangement and resentment," said Lady Anya Waltrip, just inside Lodamun, where the formal dissolution of imperial ties took place. "Kalistan has no interest in forcing Lodamun to remain with the Empire, especially if neither side is getting anything positive from the relationship." Formal dissolution took place over coffee on August 14th of this year, with both sides signing papers officially abrogating the Articles of Empire in relationship to one another and returning Lodamese Sovereignty to the People of Lodamun. Other agreements, such as the Anantonese Security Community and the Anantonese Economic Standardization Accord (which predated the Articles of Empire) remain in place, but are now considered bilateral agreements between the Anantonese Empire and Lodamun.

Technically, the Anantonese Empire and the Commonwealth's handshake settled a very brief and almost pro forma "war" between the two states. The Articles of Empire state that, because they are a "Constituent Nation" of the Empire, should Lodamun decide to break away from the Empire, Kalistan will immediately declare war upon them. In this case, this is exactly what happened. Following the informal agreement to end the relationship, Kalistan formally declared war on Lodamun. The war consisted of Kalistan sending one platoon of Regular infantry to Lodamun. The Platoon, Kilo Platoon 3/1, which marched into Lodamun across the Jah River at Addisjah on the highway link, was accompanied by Lady Waltrip and a host of staff from the Foreign Ministry. The Platoon were met on the Lodamese side of the River by a Platoon of Lodamese Infantry, accompanied by Dr. Forrester who represented Lodamun. The Kalistani Lieutenant was instructed to ask for terms of Kalistan's surrender, at which point the Lodamese stated that the terms they would accept for surrender was dissolution of the Articles of Empire. Lady Waltrip accepted the terms and after coffee, the agreement formally dissolving the Imperial bonds was signed and ending the "war". At the end of the action, the Imperial Flag was symbolically lowered at the border crossing and the Lodamese Commonwealth Flag was raised to the top of the flag pole, while both platoons rendered honors.

"It is important that Lodamun obtain their independence via an affirmative act," said Lady Waltrip. "It was not her Imperial Majesty's intention to force Lodamun to grant concessions: in fact, it was clear that she wanted the separation, and certainly opened the door for Lodamun to finally resolve the relationship on its own terms, and on terms that set it up for a more independent foreign policy than it would have had Kalistan opposed the split. Lodamun got the separation on terms that allows us to remain friendly with one another, to not damage our other relationships, and most importantly, to not throw it into the waiting arms of vultures who are currently circling the Anantonese Empire and are who are under the sway of foreign meddlers."

Nationalists in the National Assembly are reportedly "reluctantly acquiescent" to the Empress' agreement to Lodamese independence. They are, however fiercely loyal to Her Imperial Majesty as a person and the institution of the Monarchy, and so this will be only a temporary hurt for those who would have preferred to keep Lodamun within the Empire. "She definitely had to expend some political capital to do this," said Chancellor of the Empire, Sir Michael Koenig. "But calming these hard nationalists will not be too difficult for a lady upon who's very breath they await." The Liberals, on the other hand laud the decision, claiming it preserves the good will of Lodamun while allowing the Empress to also get some of what she wants. "We do not agree with her retrenchment idea, but if this separation quenches at least some of that fire, in reality, the loss of Lodamun is a small price to pay and it is also a victory for the democratic voices of the people of Lodamun," said Internationalist Deputy Rae Jones of Lucid.

Lady Waltrip said her Imperial Majesty will order the National Assembly vacate the title "Empress of Lodamun" before her wedding date in a month, but will maintain the title "Queen of Andalay" as a part of her Crown Lands claims, though like her Athosian Claim, she will not be permitted to actively enforce that Claim. Kalistan will dispatch a new Ambassador to Lodamun who will, unlike the Administrator General, represent Kalistan to Lodamun, rather than the other way around, and Kalistan will work to reassure markets on both sides of the Jah River Frontier that there will be no significant changes in the commercial relationships between our two nations. In addition, Lady Waltrip added, "We will not be giving up Gaduridos. It is far too important to the Empire, and House Ananto has far too many investments in Gaduridos. We are able to do that with Lodamun as we were not tightly bound on any level, but Gaduridos is a different story."

"Though our fifty six year relationship is now over," said Lady Waltrip, "Her Imperial Majesty wishes Lodamun all the best for the future, and stands by, ready to continue to help Lodamun where we may going forward. She also wishes it to be known that we intend to honor our treaty obligations where they still stand, and looks forward to peaceful and prosperous cooperation between Kalistan and Lodamun in perpetuity." The Foreign Minister invited Dr. Forrester to Eveari next month for Her Imperial Majesty's wedding.

International responses to the split are still unclear, but no doubt there will immediately be overtures to Lodamun to take advantage of the split now that it is formalized, especially from nations who seek to take some advantage of the situation and gain from the change in relations. "We expect nations of this world to do what they do, which is precisely the wrong thing for the wrong reasons," said Lady Waltrip. "There's nothing we can do to stop that, but we aren't in the competition business anymore. Lodamun is now fully in charge of its own affairs and is perfectly capable of managing its relations with others to maintain their own sense of independence and their place in this world."

@TheRepublic