Valruzia

[Aethan]

Valruzia celebrates fifty years of democracy

August 5680

Nowogard's main street filled with citizens celebrating the event

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On 13 January 5630, Valruzia had its first elections to elect the members of what would become the first official Sejm following the downfall of the decades-long Morawski regime. Now, fifty years later, the Republic is marking its golden jubilee of democracy with a nationwide celebration of solemn ceremonies, jubilant street festivales, concerts, and above all, reflection, national pride and gratitude to all those who sacrificed themselves to build the Valruzia of today. 

Across Valruzia, the blue, white and red flags fluttered from balconies and all over the streets, city squares were filled with music and monuments glowed under the lights of the republican colors. In Brzansk, Valruzia's second largest city and considered by many as the city "where it all really started to change" after Major Iwan Gabris announced that he will obey no more the central government, more than 1,800,000 people – from its more than 5 million citizens – gathered in the Plaza of the Republic to celebrate their pride, while Nowogard, Valruzia's capital city, saw a huge attendance for the opening ceremony, where the bells of the Sejm Tower rang fifty times to commemorate each year of freedom. The government previously passed a law declaring the day "a national holiday", and announced that the Sejm would vote after the festivities end to name the 11th October – the date when the new Valruzian Constitution was approved by the people – a national holiday and Valruzia's national day.

Chancellor Iwan Nowik's speech to the Sejm, which was televised and projected onto the main squares of the nation, started early in the morning at 8:30am, and in his discourse, he mentioned that the Valruzian people "gave an example of dignity and courage to the world", and that the names of those who gave their life "would never be forgotten", after he announced that the Sejm's southern wall would be decorated with the name of all the victims of the Morawski regime. 

"Honourable members of the Sejm, dear citizens of Valruzia,
Fifty years ago today, in towns and villages across our land, the people of Valruzia did something simple, and yet extraordinary. They took a ballot and they chose – freely, fearlessly, and together as brothers and sisters – the path of democracy. On that cold morning of January 13th, 5630, after decades of silence, our nation found its voice again.

We remember the courage of those who dared to speak when speech was forbidden, who wrote when the truth was censored, who stood when others were forced to kneel. We owe them more than remembrance: we owe them our constancy, our vigilance, and our faith in the Republic they helped to build. Their names will now forever be engraved on the southern wall of this very chamber, so that every future generation may read and remember what freedom truly costs. We must never forget that that day was not the beginning of our freedom. It was the reward for years of struggle, for the tears and the courage of an entire generation that refused to bow before tyranny. We know what freedom truly costs. It costed the life of Robert Obrzut, whose name, whispered in grief in 5623, became the battle cry of a nation, became the small, little spark that ignited everything. It costed the lives of hundreds who filled the streets of Nowogard, Brzansk, Szary Kamien, Hel, Gryfitow and all other cities when the regime’s bullets met their songs of hope. It costed the bravery of mothers who hid their sons from the secret police, of journalists who smuggled truth through silence, of workers who refused to work for a government that tortured its own people. And yes – it costed the conscience of soldiers who chose honour over obedience, who remembered that their duty was not to a dictator, but to Valruzia herself, to their motherland.

When the guns fell silent in 5624, it was not because power grew merciful, but because the people, our people, grew unstoppable. The collapse of the Morawski regime was not a gift of fortune, was not something that happened overnight without Valruzians knowing: it was the victory of unity, the moment when every protest, every strike, every act of defiance became one single heartbeat: the heartbeat of a free Valruzia.

And yet, even after the fall, our democracy was tested. The night of 11 September 5627 remains engraved in our collective memory as the day when traitors to our freedom stormed this very chamber, seeking to end what so many had died to begin. But they failed, they failed so bad, not only because of the courage of those who stood unarmed in this hall – Marshal Roszkowska, General Szumski, soon-to-be President Pietrzyk and every deputy who refused to kneel – but because the people once again took to the streets. Citizens, soldiers, students, all standing together, declaring that never again would Valruzia return to chains.

And from that night of terror emerged something greater: the unbreakable truth that our liberty once born, cannot be killed. It can be temporarily restrained, but a Valruzian will always find the way to break their chains.

And today, as we stand here beneath the same dome where bullets once echoed, we must remember that we are here to celebrate our strength, our dignity, our unity, our pride, our liberty. This Sejm stands because the people stood first. This flag flies because thousands carried it through smoke and fire, through suffering and despair. And this Republic lives because our martyrs gave everything they had, so that we might stand here today and speak these words: we are free. Always remember what our flag represents: its blue it's a representation of stability and confidence as much as it represents our love for the sea that give us all life; the white and red stripes, a symbol of the peace achieved in our nation through the spilled blood of the martyrs; the yellow to symbolize the spark that lies within each one of us, and that can grow into the sun of our flag, representing a new dawn for Valruzia; and the laurel wreath, an echo of our victory. All of this together, merged under a single, distinct symbol that every Valruzian is proud of. If we look outside today, we see a beautiful sea of flags covering the streets of our cities, a representation of our dignity as Valruzians.

Let this anniversary remind us that our duty shall always lie with each one of our fellow countrymen. That the struggle of 5623 and the courage of 5627 lives on in each of us. As long as we remember, as long as we protect what they built, Valruzia will never fall again.

To those who are no longer among us: may your names be eternal. To those who continue your work: may your courage never fade. And to the future generations of Valruzians: may you always know the price of freedom, and may you always be worthy of it. Let the bells of this building ring not only for the past we honor, but for the future we will build, together as one. 

Long live the Republic. Long live Valruzia."

Nowik's discourse drew the applause for most of the parliament, with the notable exception of the Valruzian Alliance members. Opposition parties such as Forward Valruzia or Workers' Vanguard, however, did applaud, albeit shyly, the Chancellor's words. Inside the Sejm, this ceremony also gathered former presidents and chancellors, as well as foreign dignitaries, which included Premier Sherab Aurousseau and the Custodian of the Democratic Republic Ladakh from Xsampa; Emperor Tommaso V and Empress Melissa along with its Minister of State Fabrizio Moccia, Minister of Foreign Affairs Beatrice Fanelli and the Istalian ambassador to Valruzia, Elide De Mita from Istalia; Princess of the Empire Mary Ananto – very close still with former Chancellor Szymon Nowik – and Foreign Minister Henry Greene from Kalistan, Royal Councilor Mondragon II and High Councilor Formoselle y Castilla from Egelion and Vice-President Hank Wexler from Lodamun. All these foreign mandataries were also invited to say some words in front of the Sejm, and later, along with other Valruzian State officials and numerous other personalities from the culture, sports and civic society world were afterwards received by the Presidents of Valruzia in the National State Reception Hall, where the official ceremony and the official State dinner took place, and where a emotional tribute to Szymon Nowik, the 81-year-old statesman who led Valruzia’s first democratic governments up until 5655, as well as deceased President Karolina Pietrzyk, Major Iwan Gabris and Chief Marcel Szumski. Nowik, often referred to as "the Father of the Republic", received the Golden Order of the Republic along with the others, and was met with a standing ovation that lasted more than two minutes.

Former Chancellor Szymon Nowik received a standing ovation in the official afternoon reception

Along with the main events, the Valruzian government and the regional Voivodeships coordinated hundreds of activities for the public, including free concerts, exhibitions, open-air cinemas and family events. In Nowogard, the main concert gathered some of the nation’s most renowned artists, including Anja Borek, Tomasz Lew, the group AIWA or Valruzia's most modern international star, Jvlieta, still active after 17 years, all of them performing before an audience of more than a million people. Young and old crowds filled the concerts scheduled in other city parks, as the events for the rest of the week are expected to involve more than 50 million citizens all around the nation.

In Brzansk, the History Museum inaugurated a large-scale exhibition titled "From repression to liberty, 50 years of democracy" showcasing original letters, photographs, and artifacts from the resistance years, as well a original newspaper articles and interactive installations that allowed visitors to see how was life under the Morawski regime, including a 3D recreation of the old barricades that were put in many cities and that quickly became one of the most visited attractions, an exposition that will later be moved to Nowogard.

Educational institutions also took part in the celebrations, and for families, the capital’s and many big cities largest main avenues have been transformed into pedestrian zones, filled with food markets, local concerts, traditional folk performances and open-air film screenings of historical documentaries. And tomorrow, a commemorative parade will march through Nowogard’s main street, bringing together over 100,000 participants, including military units, veterans, students, firefighters and civic associations, as afluence is expected to be in the numbers of hundreds of thousands, with a heavy security device being deployed to ensure the safety of everyone.

In the coastal city of Szary Kamien, the city council led by the KPW has announced that there will be a beachside ceremony where torches and lanterns will be released into the sea to honor the fallen, and tonight, a massive fireworks show is expected to illuminate the skies at the march of the new composition by Valruzian composer Marek Stachowiak, called "Symphony of the new Republic". It is expected that the same ritual will be performed to end the week-long celebrations, where the National Valruzian Chorus will sing the national anthem.