Long Sea Cooperation Initiative [Attn: Eif, Aur, Ser]

WIEN, PALAST DER VOLKSREPUBLIK.

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser is nervously waiting in the designated meeting room at the top floor of the Palace of the People's Republic. As opposed to previous occasions and diplomatic meetings, this event is dominated by a layer of discretion and secrecy. There will be no ceremonies, no formal handshakes and batallions of photographers or goose-stepping soldiers. For the first time in its history, Ostmark is hosting an international meeting. It is also the first time Horst Grasser and his nation venture in such complex and important international discussions, in clear contrast with the isolationist stance promoted by the National-Syndicalist People's Party.

Once the representatives of the nations of Eiffelland-Retalia, Auraria and Serenierre are seated and ready to star the meeting, Horst clears his throat and delivers his speech. Next to him his sister, Vizekanzlerin Andrea Grasser, is silently watching the guests.

"Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen,

I will skip pleasantries and formal greetings, for i believe the issue at hand is of utmost importance and requires a great deal of pragmatism and discussion.

The stability and political balance of Gallia-Germania is at stake. According to the events reported by the press and various speculations, rumors and theories, it is my belief that this new escalation in the Long Sea, which i don't think can be resolved with national, unilateral initiatives, is a clear attempt to destabilize the region and dismantle the already precarious stability of the Long Sea in particular, and Gallia-Germania in general.

This meeting is not meant to find responsibilities or blame any country in particular for past conflicts and escalations, but to find a solution, a common, lasting solution, to the interferences promoted by certain stateless entities of the far east and the far north.

I am aware that past rivalries and fullscale conflicts are vidid memories among some of the participants in this meeting, but despite my country's reluctant decision to commit itself to international initiatives, i think we can all agree that peace in Gallia-Germania must go hand in hand with cooperation between its nations. The People's Republic of Ostmark believes that cooperation between our nations is not only possible, but necessary to guarantee our children and the new generations a future of peace, prosperity and harmony.

We are all aware of our differences. Our societies, our political systems, our cultures, our economic systems are different. Similar, sometimes, but different if not ideologically opposed in most cases. Nonetheless such a circumstance has never, in history, prevented certain degrees of cooperation between nationstates.

Foreign, hostile forces are seeking to undermine our cooperation efforts by prompting naval mobilizations and increased surveillance, which also go hand in hand with suspicion, tension and ultimately saber-rattling, with war being the ultimate resort. These reactions are natural, and understandable, from a geopolitical point of view. Ostmark also has increased its activities in territorial waters and, as you all know, staged a number of exercises as a deterrent to potentially hostile forces.

If such hostile forces are actively seeking to turn our countries one against another, i think the best way to undermine their plans is to show that the nations of Gallia-Germania are capable of showing unity and cooperation in the face of a common danger. The Long Sea Cooperation Initiative could become an excellent and useful deterrent against those who would profit from an unstable and politically fractured Long Sea and at the dismay of the nations of Gallia-Germania and the Long Sea.

In my opinion, the only way to effectively counter piracy, maritime terrorism and foreign interferences which we are objectively struggling to cope with, is the creation of a multi-national naval task force, a police force so to speak.

The creation of this task force would require our nations to commit part of their naval forces to a unified High Command, which can be transferred to each member nation with a rotation schedule, or in alternative a permament High Command, or a "Long Sea Security Council", in which all member nations can address their concerns, share intel reports, or inform other member states of ongoing situations or imminent threats.

In this room we represent our countries and our peoples. Our ultimate task is to ensure the well being and the safety of our respective nations. Ostmark has shown in the past that it is committed to regional stability and world peace. But there are some forces, inside and outside Gallia-Germania, who don't want it. We must show these foreign, hostile forces that we are prepared and willing to react as one, that Gallia-Germania is ready to settle past disputes, bury the old and rusty hatchets of war, and awaken in the hearts of our peoples, renewed faith in the destiny of Gallia-Germania and the Long Sea."

This time it was Minister Leverkühn who represented Eiffelland-Retalia in Ostmark. After Volkskanzler Grasser, she took the floor.

"I totally agree with your words, Herr Volkskanzler. The Long Sea is a sea connection between East and West with great importance. It should be open for all sea traffic, but the recent behaviour of submarines from post-delegationist countries is rather intimidating. Carrying out a privateer assault on a cargo vessel is more than that, and setting a ship filled with explosives on a course towards a large seaport city is much more than that. Everybody is welcome to use the Long Sea, but we must act when entities abuse our hospitality."

The Aurarians sent Deputy Minister Adilah Mirza for Gallo-Germania to attend the summit in Wien. She was certainly high ranking as she oversaw all diplomatic missions in Gallo-Germania but considering the weight of the conference she was an interesting choice. Minister Mirza was here for the Aurarians’ preference of discretion. She traveled significantly lighter than Minister Ferreiro. The Aurarians were generally skeptical of the Ostmarkers, but the outcome of this conference was too important and the nations at the table could not be ignored. If playing nice to Chancellor Grasser would advance the Aurarian cause, then play nice they will.

“Chancellor Grasser,” she began “Thank you for taking the initiative to bring these countries together. The Aurarine Republic’s sole goal in the Long Sea is the preservation of free commerce between all States, or…Anti-States. The present situation is of great concern to the Republic and we are thankful for the opportunity for nations to cooperate on a long-term solution.”

In truth, the Aurarians were spending a large sum of money to maintain their deployments in the Long Sea. President Sanabria proposed a P$250 Billion infrastructure plan over the next four years. The Republic had been planning to introduce the initial phase, a P$75 Billion injection into rail and highways, but it has been continuously delayed as the massive naval deployments were taking priority. Then, her phone buzzed. She took a glance down and peered at the preview of the message that popped up.

“Frigate Amusco disabled private vessel; pursuing unknown submarine.”

A shiver went down her spine as she covered the phone.

"Speaking of the Hyacinthe, if I am not wrong it was a merchant ship. Why would a pirate sink a merchant ship without stealing its cargo first? Or maybe highjack it to ask for a ransom. This is what piracy usually consists of. It is supposed to be a lucratrive activity, unless there are political reasons behind it."

Horst Grasser's paranoia kicked in when Vice Admiral Pompadour mentioned a new situation in the Long Sea. He couldn't ignore the fact that these 'pirates' were moving closer to Ostmark as the days passed, or at least that's what he believed. Wondering if the People's Navy will be capable of facing hostile forces in a real combat situation when the time will come, he sighed and took the floor again.

"Clearly, these incidents cannot be classified as 'classic piracy' but military operations carried out by military vessels. The question is: who is operating those warships and submarines?"

Horst couldn't hide the way he eyed the far east and the far north when he looked at the map of Europe at the center of the table.

"Besides, how many criminal organizations have access to submarines and warships? According to our State Security Service there are no criminal organizations, inside and outside Ostmark, with such an advanced arsenal. Not even in Loago. These warships can only be manufactured by highly specialized shipyards, not to mention the fact that operating modern submarines requires years of training, studying, and mathematical and geographical knowledge."

Claude was a welcome sight for Adilah. The “reset” with Serenierre meant that she had been to many swanky receptions across the country that the Vice Admiral found himself at it. It was nice to see a friendly face in Ostmark, and especially at this table. She nodded in agreement at his comments on the Hyacinthe.

“it is compelling,” she began “the instance with the Hyacinthe and the attempted attack on Tauritania both featured an attempted hijacking but no valuables stolen. The Republic Navy is still collecting the wreckage and it is very much under investigation, but we do believe that the cargo was still onboard. It leads us to believe that this piracy is more targeted, and well..thus not piracy.”

She cleared her throat before continuing.

“since it was announced, the Republic has been very concerned with the Pohjanmaans’ military activities in the Long Sea and the announcement from the Anti-State that it is increasing deployments doesn’t give us any sense of calm.”

"So again," Minister Leverkühn said. As a typical Eiffellandian, she was not the person to take much time for lamenting about a problem, because lamenting about it would not solve it.

She took a sip of her water. Then she continued.

"This new event clearly underlines the need that we cooperate in keeping the Long Sea safe. I think that we can agree on that. What we need to discuss out, is how we are going to organise our cooperation, and how it has to look like. It remains to be seen what the real intentions of the postdelegationist states are, but we have to formulate an answer to what they voice as their concern: That their vessels are not safe in the Long Sea and that we react prematurely and too harshly on piracy and privateer threats."

Leverkühn was not really afraid of the navies of Touzen and Pohjanmaa. She knew that the Eiffellandians and Retalians hadn't used the complete potential of their navies and air forces during last year's war. She also knew that the Eiffelloretalian navy and air force could keep a massive invasion by the postdelegationist navies out. The only thing that concerned the Eiffelloretalian armed forces was the fact that this Pohjanmaan submarine was so difficult to see. The Eiffelloretalian navy had very good sonar equipment, but coincidence was a larger factor that contributed to the discovery of that submarine. An answer needed to be found on those submarines.

"I do agree with setting up a coordination centre to coordinate our efforts in keeping the Long Sea safe. The Long Sea Security Council can fulfil that role. I do have some questions w.r.t. the unified high command. How much power will that have? Furthermore, is it really needed? Currently Auraria and Serenierre cooperate in the western part of the Long Sea without a unified high command. I can imagine that our four navies can cooperate in the same way," Leverkühn said.

She knew that the Eiffelloretalian navy would never accept to be commanded by a Serenien, and she realised very well that the Serenien navy would probably never accept to be commanded by an Eiffelloretalian. But she did not say that. Instead, she would insist on a cooperation between the navies of Serenierre, Ostmark, Auraria and Eiffelland-Retalia without a high command above those navies.

Adilah’s eyebrow raised at the Chancellor’s suggestion. Of course, it was strange that the Ostmarkians were capable of bringing together Auraria, Serenierre, and Eiffelland-Retalia into the same room. Perhaps the country’s stark contrast to the other three made it the only viable option to bring them together.

“I believe that a lot could be accomplished through cooperation,” Adilah finally stated “The Aurarians and the Serenien are more or less operating in the same vicinity and partnering when appropriate…efforts to increase cooperation would be welcome.”

She paused for a bit. Naturally the men of the room would whip their dicks on the table about the pettiness of it all. Who should lead it? Where should it be headquartered? She had little time for it.

“Perhaps a Security Council could include a delegation of nations supported by our four nations through financial support and hard assets. The Council should recommend policies to keep the Sea safe and have certain capacity to enact emergency responses to handle those situations while its overall mandate must be approved by the memberstates.”

Horst is aware of the sea of distrust and suspicion between Eiffelland and Serenierre. While he initially believed a rotating Commander in Chief would allow a security council to properly operate, he is realizing that this option is neither viable or acceptable for Serenierre and Eiffelland's political elites.

"The establishment of a High Command, or Security Council, does not necessarily imply the nomination of a Commander in Chief. The body would serve as a 'coordination room' in which we delegate our representatives, from either military or government background and that is entirely up to our choices, who would simply agree on the best solution during a situation by involving all the members of this initiative if necessary. Organizing deployments and patrols, which may vary depending on the area and waters involved, will require a certain degree of delegation. Delegating such tasks to a security council will most likely ensure more efficiency.. and let's not forget we are talking about international waters. Provided at the end of this meeting we will all agree to the creation of a multinational task force in the Long Sea, the presence of a naval force made up of Ostmarkian, Serenien, Aurarian and Eiffellando-Retalian vessels would surely act as a deterrent and discourage new attacks."

Adilah made a visible reaction to the Vice Admiral’s mention of being the only military man in the room. She listened to his comments and compared them against the Chancellor’s.

“Respectfully,” she began “Look at the nations in this room: Auraria, Serenierre, Eiffelland-Retalia, and Ostmark.”

She paused for only a moment.

“These four are not known for their strong bonds or historic ties. Therefore, it is my imagination that each of our countries will have extreme difficulty selling this concept to our own governments, let alone the people. I agree that in order for this task force, or whatever we decide to call it, to be successful we need to agree to a degree of delegation to allow it to act on its own and…” she searched for a word that wasn’t command “authorize action with the assets most appropriate for the job.”

"Sorry, but it is not clear to me, Deputy Minister Mirza, which concept you consider difficult to propose to our governments. Do you mean the security council construction proposed by Volkskanzler Grasser, or the simple naval task force concept proposed by Vice-Admiral Pompadour? We do need a communication hub between the vessels and planes we will use for patrolling the Long Sea and the Retalian Sea, but to which extent is it needed to let this hub authorise the actions of the task force?" Minister Leverkühn said. She took a sip of her glass of water. Then she said: "By the way, it is good to know, Vice-Admiral Pompadour, that the Serenien Navy can handle the situation in the Western Long Sea with the cooperation of the Aurarian Navy, and that you can handle the situation in the Retalian Sea as well. Of course the Eiffelloretalian Navy is also perfectly able to guarantee the safety of the Retalian Sea; furthermore, I envision that the Ostmarker and Eiffelloretalian Navies will handle the security situation in the Eastern Long Sea, when needed with the cooperation of the Pelasgian Navy."

"To be very honest, Vice-Admiral Pompadour, I think that there is already a good plan on the table: The navies and air forces of Auraria and Serenierre will handle the situation in the western part of the Long Sea, the navies and air forces of Ostmark and Eiffelland-Retalia will handle the situation in the eastern part of the Long Sea, and the navies and air forces of Serenierre and Eiffelland-Retalia will handle the situation in the Retalian Sea. Of course we will need communication lines between our respective navies and air forces, but I think that the plan won't need to be that complicated," Minister Leverkühn said.

The remarks by Admiral Pompadour about Pelasgia didn't go unnoticed. Leverkühn would certainly use it to agitate the Pelasgians against the Sereniens.

"I also think that we cannot deny Pelasgia a role in our initiative. That country is clearly a Long Sea country, with a large interest in the Long Sea being stable. I don't see a reason why that country should be barred from cooperating with us in this initiative. Indeed, we are discussing the safety of the Long Sea here, and indeed, there is a plan on the table to make ourselves responsible for different parts of the Long Sea, but that does not mean that we are going to treat the Long Sea as our territorial waters, or as areas where only we are allowed to conduct military operations. Denying Pelasgia a role in stabilising the Long Sea would be an insult to that country. An insult that my government will refuse to formulate."

Leverkühn took a sip of her water. Then she continued.

"Furthermore, I think it would be good to discuss matters with Nicosia and Elamra as well, given the fact that those countries are also Long Sea countries. And finally, let's not forget that the Engellexian Republic formulated the ODEIS initiative, the Office for Detection, Emergency Interdiction and Security. The goal of the ODEIS initiative is exactly what we are discussing: Stability on the seas. Actually, Deputy Minister Mirza, Vice-Admiral Pompadour, our respective countries already voiced their preparedness to cooperate with this initiative. I think that we should involve the Engellexians in our plans as well, especially given the fact that they are the first ones to voice the idea about cooperating against forces that threaten the stability of the seas."

"Elamra is actually the Fifth Region of the Aurarine Republic," Deputy Minister Mirza chimed "I was born there, actually, so I see it to be sufficiently represented."

Adilah spent time to analyze the position, she was quick to get cocky which wasn't an admirable trait for her career. After thinking for a moment, she took a sip of water and spoke. The idea of containing the Aurarian Navy to the Western Long Sea was irritating, especially since the country's position in that area already gave it a de facto charge. If she were to go back to her country and tell them she had negotiated a treaty to limit Aurarian Navy operations to just the West, she didn't know how Solis would react. The conversation had moved from cooperation to simply dividing the Long Sea into four areas of influence.

"I agree with the sentiment that not including the Pelasgians in this initiative would be a mistake. However," she paused "I cannot see any circumstance where the Aurarian Republic would permit the inclusion of the Engellexic Republic, or any nation outside the Long Sea. We should be far more concerned with bringing in voices from Nicosia, Lars, and Friuli than the Engellexic."

"OK, I understand, Deputy Minister Mirza. My apologies," Minister Leverkühn said. "By the way, it may be good to explain my thoughts a bit. It is not my intention to divide the Long Sea into a kind of territorial waters. The Long Sea is, should remain, and should be considered by our countries international waters. It is not our backyard, it is international waters bordering our countries. Our role will be maintaining order in the Long Sea as a service to the international community. The reason why I suggested to take up that role in dedicated parts of the Long Sea is pragmatism-driven: It does not make sense that Eiffelloretalian and Ostmarker vessels sail to the western part of the Long Sea to maintain order there while Auraria and Serenierre send their vessels to the eastern part of the Long Sea to maintain order here. Doing so would cost fuel and take time. It is more efficient if the Aurarian and Serenien Navies patrol in the west, theOstmarker and Eiffelloretalian navies patrol in the east and the Serenien and Eiffelloretalian navies in the Retalian Sea. Of course this does not mean that the Aurarian navy should officially hand the hunt of a pirate or privateer going too far to the east over to the Eiffelloretalians and Ostmarkers; in that case, the Aurarian navy vessel can and should continue the hunt. Reciprocally, the Eiffelloretalian and Ostmarker navies should not have to officially hand over the hunt of a pirate or privateer going too far west to the Aurarian and Serenien navy. I just consider it a waste of fuel and a waste of time if the Aurarian navy sends ships to the east to patrol there and the Eiffelloretalian and Ostmarker navies send ships to the west to patrol there."

She took a sip of her water, and continued.

"I agree with the notion that Lars and Friuli should be involved as well. For the Engellexian Republic, I think it will be an added value if we at least coordinate our efforts with the Engellexian Republic."