Kalistani Major History

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Kalistani News in Brief: FM welcomes Kazulia to NAM, Ananto Strait Accord
Container Ship Yard at Port Elga Expanded; Olympic Athletes Honored
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
February 27, 5537


Increasing Kazulian Diplomatic Ties welcomed by Government and Regent in Kaliburg

Kazulia signs NAM and Ananto Strait Accord II
A major diplomatic victory was celebrated in Kalistan as word arrived of the Kingdom of Kazulia's signing of both the Non Aligned Movement Treaty and the Ananto Strait Accord. "The Prince Regent has instructed me to thank the Queen of Kazulia and his cousin Queen Helga for her forward vision and sincere expressions of peace and cooperation to not only Kalistan, but all nations of the Non Aligned Movement," said Sir Paco Delgado, His Imperial Majesty's outgoing Foreign Minister. "As I will be retiring soon, I will consider this a fitting book end of my tenure here in the foreign Ministry, to say that the Non-Aligned Movement has grown on my watch. This movement is one of the most important movements in the world because it allows countries who seek to follow independent courses in their own foreign policy the opportunity to know they are not alone and should not feel threatened by larger states with more impressive gangs of supporters. We stand for those who wish to work for peace, rather than support those who start the wars." The Foreign Minister also had kind words for the Labor Party in Kazulia, calling their commitment for cooperation "admirable and an example to others, especially around ensuring peace and security in the Northern Anantonese Ocean." Delgado said that it was his hope that his successor in the Foreign Ministry, Dame Jacqueline DuMont will pursue the opening with enthusiasm, "... if the Emperor wills it, of course," he added.

Container Shipyard at Port Elga Completed; Military shipbuilding moves to Kaliburg
In an effort to specialize facilities, Sulari has completed its container shipyard at Port Elga. This multi-billion ruble expansion project was set back a number of years by a combination of issues that required addressing before the port could be expanded. "Port Elga was never supposed to be a ship yard that builds ships," said project Director Lionel Roberts, of Sulari Shipping Consortium, the private firm that has been in charge of the Contract. "It began operating this way when Kalistan needed to rapidly rebuild its military fleet at some point in the past. So we needed to more or less take out all the inappropriate and out of date infrastructure, and essentially start the ship yard from scratch, save the dry dock facilities. But the new facilities allow us to construct the most modern, state of the art container ships, and use Kalistani materials and labor to do so. And in addition, we do so in a way that doesn't significantly alter the environment of the Sulari Bay."

The new shipyard will be able to produce a new super container ship every 3-4 months, or a more modest size ship every 6-9 weeks, utilizing all four dry docks. "We wish to place Kalistan in the lead of shipping, and we'd like to see the Elga-SSC name on ships that sail each sea." SSC said they plan to market their ships at a "very competitive price" according to Roberts, and will begin accepting orders within three months. "We also have opened the Shipping Container Works and stamping plant here at Port Elga and are currently fabricating dozens of new containers each week. They are first being supplied to Kalistani Exporters, but will eventually make their way into the Global commerce stream." The rebuilding of Port Elga removes all of Kalistan's military ship construction operations to the National Shipyards in Kaliburg.

Kalistan Honors Terra's Olympic Athletes
While the 5532 Olympics in Aldegar had an indeterminate ending, and in fact it is unclear whether or not they actually have ended, nonetheless, Kalistan decided to celebrate those who had participated, and honored the Games' heroes. "Technically, where it stands as of this moment, five years later, Kalistan tied Aldegar for number of Gold Medals, and while predictably not netting Kalistan the coveted Diamond Medal for most medals, we apparently are the only nation who was really still waiting for Olympics Results to be fully posted," said Morris Kennan, of the Kalistani Olympic Committee. "The Committee felt that it was an injustice for the games to simply end without final results in a number of sports or even a closing ceremony, especially when our Athletes trained so hard, and put their lives on hold for so long to participate, so the Committee in Kalistan has decided to throw Kalistani Athletes a Celebration to honor those who competed and represented our Empire before the world. We also invited members of other national teams to Kalistan for the celebration," added Kennan. "12 nations took us up on our offer and we welcomed and celebrated them as we welcomed and celebrated our own Athletes, because for a moment five years ago, Kalistan is proud to say we were finally treated as equals to other nations in the world."

The celebration was held in Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor, at the Sulari National Stadium, and was attended by more than 15,000 who wished to cheer these living legends of athletic achievement and physical mastery, and say thank you. Most of the athletes themselves turned up for the celebration, and all were treated as equals, whether they won gold, silver or bronze or no medal at all. Many athletes were deeply touched by the acknowledgement of their participation, and many were moved to tears. The Prince Regent and His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, on leave from the NSP, also attended, and Prince Bjorn performed the duties of personally granting each athlete a Kalistani medal, made of solid highly polished electrum, and minted especially for the occasion that declared each an Olympian. "This is an honor that no person can take from you," said the Prince Regent in opening remarks. "It says, you were one of the greatest of all time." The celebration was capped off by a concert by Kalistan's FOMAT XXVIII entrant Brad Willis, and the celebration finally ended around 1 am.