Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Foreign Office confirms "total" withdrawal from Kundrati by end of month as Hutorians announce full retreat.
February 5657 (backdated)



"At the end, we don't even know why we are still here at this point.", these were the words from Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when asked to describe the Luthorian diplomatic retreat from Kundrati. After the military withdrawal of the last occupying troops from Kundrati and the ultimate Hutorian withdrawal from Kundrati, the Luthorian Government also announced its intention of conducting a "diplomatic withdrawal from the Kundrati state", with the Luthorian Embassy in Kundrati effectively shutting down operations in the nation and with Luthorians in the area advised to leave with the Embassy, except if wished to be left behind by the Government. The Foreign Office announcement comes in the aftermath of a similar announcement from Bekenial, announcing its withdrawal of its citizens and embassy staff from Kundrati, alongside major financial assets being withdrawn from the country, effectively sending their economy in yet another downturn, continuing their downhill trajectory engaged since suspicious activities in the stock exchange. The Department of Foreign Affairs reportedly took the decision to withdraw some years ago, with communications between Bekenial and Fort William leaking to the press, where Luthori expressed its interest to the Hutorians towards a withdrawal. 

The operation, code named as "Flying Dragon" by the Defence Staff, has the objective of evacuating Luthorian citizens in a short timeframe and evacuate Luthorian government employees operating in Kundrati within that same short timeframe. The Citadel stated that the Operation was done "in concord" with Hutorian forces present in the area, with Luthorian planes operating from either the Kasaema International Airport for civilian planes or from Hutorian bases for military convoys. This operation is separated in two distinct parts, the first, code named "Bluesky", focused around the evacuation of Luthorian citizens from Kundrati, the Luthorian Embassy will send a message urging Luthorians to either go to the Hutorian military bases in Kundrati, where representatives of the Luthorian Government would greet them and help them or towards Kasaema's international airport, where the national air carrier, Luthorian Airways would operate more than 6 planes a day between Fort William and Kasaema to allow for the evacuation to be done in "swift motion", some planes aren't going to go towards Luthori directly, with some Luthorian planes going towards Bekenial instead, where Luthorian citizens in transit would ve hosted by the Hutorian Government before the next plane towards Fort William will be scheduled. The decision of allowing planes towards Bekenial was done to also take Hutorian citizens towards their homeland if needed.

Foreign Secretary Powers nonetheless expressed a feeling of "saltiness" about the whole withdrawal operation, stating that the Luthorians "had failed" to "prevent a second rise of authoritarian ideals in Kundrati", leading to a far more dangerous situation for Luthori's overall security and the stability of the Artanian Sea. The Chief of the Naval Staff's Office also released a paper detailing what a lack of cooperation or rather, the lack of a working relationship with Kundrati will bring to the overall security of the Artanian Sea, warning that such lack of a relationship will merely bring more instability and prevent an effective response to future threats by nations bordering the Sea. Professor Arthur Winderberg of the University of Fort William stated in a report detailing his view on the government's announcement, that "the total collapse of any form of relations between Luthori and Kundrati means the end of the peaceful Artanian continental scene that we all dreamed of, as the two nations are likely to remain as 'rivals', although, for now, this rivalry is more one-sided than anything.", he continued, stating that "the security of the Artanian Sea and the fate of such an important passage for international commerce is now in jeopardy, as, even though, the Luthorians have been conducting patrols of the Sea every now and then, the main focus was hoping that a "responsible" government in Kundrati would return, something that was not the case."

The Naval Staff announced that it was "studying" pathways for Luthori and other nations in the Area to engage in diplomatic cooperation to provide a "much-needed sentiment of security" in the Artanian Sea, while also assuring that the Empire would play a "significant role" in "preserving the current status quo" in the Sea, before an alternative shows itself, focused around international cooperation on this difficult matter. The Secretary of State for Defence also stressed the "necessity" of cooperation between nations bordering the Artanian Sea, although for most, this statement from the Defence Secretary is merely meant at pushing through reforms for the military and its de facto role in politics, the first step was the renaming of the Army Ministry, Navy Ministry and Air Force Ministry into the Department of Territorial Defence (Army), the Department of Maritime Defence (Navy) and the Department of Air Defence (Air Force), in an effort to permanently sever the last remaining ties between the civilian and military affairs.