Kalistan

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Kalistani reaction to Istalian Announcement is Swift
"This is a major faux pas," says Trade Minister
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
September 7, 5659


Her Imperial Majesty's Minister for Trade Ms. Melanie Boone, speaks on Istalian expansion

The reaction to the news of Istalia's plans for continued economic encroachment into the Northern Anantonese came swiftly today, as Istalia announced a plan for a State Visit and a major free trade deal in Gaduridos, a Constituent Member of the Anantonese Empire. "This is a major faux pas," said Her Imperial Majesty's Minister for Trade and Industry, Ms. Melanie Boone from the National Assembly in Kaliburg today. "We'd like to continue to give Istalia the benefit of the doubt, but combined with their recent visits to Dolgava, Baltusia, Lodamun and Egelion, it adds up to a program to slowly encroach their way into the Anantonese Ocean."

Ms. Boone could not conjecture why Istalia was focusing its efforts on the Northern Anantonese. "I can't imagine that they feel that this region is underserved by major economic actors," said the Trade Minister. "Egelion and Kalistan are both major players in the Northern Anantonese itself, and Dolgava and Lodamun more or less dominate trade and commerce in the Eastern Mad Dog Ocean. So what is a country all the way over on the other side of the world, doing focusing a multi-year campaign on the Northern Anantonese? It is impossible to tell, unless their goal is to set themselves up as rivals to Kalistan. As they say themselves, they are interested in setting up a global trade network that they control, that they consolidate and that they expand. They are seeking to conduct imperialism in our part of the world, and they really have gone too far now."

The biggest issue with the State visit is that the Kingdom of Gaduridos (which the Istalian Paper called "the Republic of Gaduridos, though this is not accurate, nor has it been a republic since before Gaduri accession to the Anantonese Empire,) is actually a constituent Member of the the Anantonese Empire, and its head of state, Her Imperial Majesty Empress Mary I Ananto, is represented in the nation by Viceroy Plenipotential, Lord Javier Treviño. "The Viceroy is Her Imperial Majesty's Representative to Gaduridos. But he was not informed of this state meeting, on any level before Istalia announced it, nor would he have taken it without conferring with Her Imperial Majesty. This is a fairly serious breech of protocol, and one that the Emperor of Istalia should be well aware of--and yet they set the meeting and the agenda anyway."

What Istalia should have done was to approach Her Imperial Majesty first, discuss matters and asked if expansion of the Istalian economic empire into Gaduridos was in the Anantonese Empire's interest. "It's pretty simple: Istalia is targeting our region. The Empress will want to have a stake in that. But the Istalians absolutely bypassed the existing power arrangement, demonstrating that they do not respect the status quo in this region and setting themselves up as challengers to Kalistan. Imagine if Her Imperial Majesty went to some city in Egelion and made a special deal that sidestepped the King of that nation entirely. Does anyone think that's legitimate?"

The Trade Minister was clear: "We have had to tolerate the encroachment of economic liberalism from that distant land into our Ocean for years. We don't get to have a say over what Lodamun does, or what Dolgava does, or what Egelion does, or regrettably, what Baltusia does. They are fully independent nations, and make their decisions without regard to how it will affect Kalistan on any level. But we stand upon our rights in the Anantonese Empire. There is no state apparatus in Gaduridos that the Istalians can treat with: that is controlled in Kalistan, and Her Imperial Majesty has stated that further encroachment of Istalia into the region is antithetical to Anantonese Interests."

The Trade Minister then listed a serious grievance with Istalia, and suggested that sanctions may be in order if Istalia doesn't back off. "Kalistan was not approached by Istalia- The closest thing we got was an informal request by Istalia to allow them to build shipyards in Kalistan, specifically to compete with the Kalistani Shipbuilding industries centered in Sulari, Kaliburg, and Ciudad de Gadur, a request Her Imperial Majesty flatly rejected, because why would we allow a foreign competitor from half way around the globe, to set up shop in the Anantonese Empire to compete with the Anantonese Empire? We are not liberals after all. We are hard mercantilists. Other than that, Kalistan has been, in fact, ignored by Istalia who instead sees their success in taking everything around Kalistan. Her Imperial Majesty feels this is bad faith. But we would like to hear the Emperor of Istalia out. Perhaps there is mutual benefit that can be gained. But make no mistake: If Istalia insists that it should have the advantage, Kalistan will take appropriate steps to block Istalia as much as possible."

The Trade Minister answered a question about possible walk-back. "It's not too late. Let's do things the correct way, rather than this little sneaking, way that Istalia has been engaging in so far, which reeks of opportunism and deception. Kalistan does not want a trade war with Istalia. So far, Istalian economic encroachment into this region, despite its several free trade treaties has been minimal, and mostly to the sending country's benefit, not to Istalia's. Her Imperial Majesty's position is that Istalia doesn't go to Gaduridos before it comes to Kalistan. Proper is proper. If there is any economic treaties to be made with either Kalistan or Gaduridos, our advantage must be secured in that treaty. Not Istalia's. Her Imperial Majesty has no desire to allow either nation to become part of an Istalian controlled trade network. Free trade that is mutually beneficial on the other hand is an entirely different matter."

The Trade Minister said little of the Istalian desire to promote the cultural narrative of Istalian responsibility for Vintalli. "Our own history confirms a large part of Istalia's story about Vintalli's cultural origins. That was millenia ago though, and the idea that there is still a distinct culture on their whose roots can be drawn directly back to Istalia is kind of silly given the number and different kinds of people who occupied those islands since then. But sure: If they want to tell a cultural story that centers them in Seleya 5600 years ago, so be it- Kalistan was there more recently than Istalia and for longer, and the people we met there were Vintallians. We have no dog in that ancient race."

@TheRepublic