Pax Germanica

"That is true, but we must also remain pragmatic," Di Gravesano-Carone said. "The problem Burgundy is connected to another problem regarding safety in Gallogermania: Serenierre. At least that is a country that we consider a problem. Indeed, I know that the general feelings of Eiffelloretalians towards Sereniens is proverbial, but that does not undo the fact that we have very strong indications that Serenierre has been actively inducing civil unrest in Burgundy after the death of Grand-Duke Charles, leading to the breakup of the country and the continuing civil unrest in East Bourgogne. By the way, talking about East-Bourgogne, Your Excellency Minister MacPherson, it is urgently needed that the situation is stabilised there as well, otherwise The Domain will look east after having done with Neustria. By the way, that is a concern I voiced to the ambassadors of Elben and East-Bourgogne about two months ago. However, they were extremely relaxed about the situation in East Bourgogne. Too relaxed according to me at that time, and far too relaxed according to me at this moment. I don't know if they notified your predecessors in Elben and East Bourgogne about my concerns, but if they did not do so, they made a grave mistake according to me."

Di Gravesano-Carone did not say the last three sentences, but wheezed them.

"Madre Maria!" he wheezed. He grabbed two and a strip of prednisone pills. Then he raised.

"Please excuse me for a moment," he wheezed. He left the room to take the inhalations of his air discs and to take a prednisone pill.

"Perché le gente hanno cominciato da fumare il tabacco, che palle!" he whispered while opening the door and entering the room again. He was glad that Eiffelland-Retalia had very strict anti-tobacco regulations. [Why did people start to smoke tobacco, for God's sake!]

"Sorry for the interruption. Like I indicated before, I'm allergic to cigarette smoke, and unfortunately extremely allergic," he wheezed, although far less extreme than before.

"Anyway, Serenierre. Like I said, we have very strong indications that that country is responsible for a large part of the unrest in former Bourgogne. We can only secure peace in former Bourgogne if we neutralise the Serenien influence in former Bourgogne."

"What I can't figure out is, for all their... history in the region, where is Serenierre now? Radio silence after the Domain invasion. And as far as I can tell..."

MacPherson looked around the room, waving his cigarette around with an insouciant shrug.

"...they are not here now. If Villesen is such a threat, why do they cower under their beds now?"

The wheezing Retalian had caused the corpulent All-Union People's Commissar for Defence Bakyt Lazarbaev to smirk in a way that could be perceived as arrogant belittling. That was quickly undone when he was met by a disapproving, almost disciplinary stare from the First Secretary who proceeded to signal his aides to crank up the state-of-the-art ventilation system that had been running since the beginning. It was surprising, but also annoying to the All-Union leader that one of the delegations present suffered from the customs of others while they had spared no expense to have all the smoke sucked out of the room almost instantly. It seemed that Di Gravesano-Carone was extremely sensitive and the Kadikistani's would make arrangements to avoid industrial areas on the way back to the Eiffelloretalian embassy once the conference was done because surely the unhealthy industrial air would kill the poor man. As much as you were frowned upon in Eiffelland-Retalia for smoking you were frowned upon in most parts of the Kadikistani Union for not. Perhaps considered backwards by some, but given the importance of the tobacco industry for the Union, propaganda had never stopped promoting smoking as an act of distinction, charisma and even patriotism. Indeed the Union was one of the few places left in the world were you could see newsreaders and even doctors smoking as they were investigating you.

Moravscik looked at the Eiffelloretalian, "I apologize for the inconvenience, I suggest that for now we schedule smoking breaks regularly so that none of us will feel uncomfortable." The First Secretary was anxious to continue with more important topics. "I am glad we were able to reach common ground considering our joint approach to the Burgundian crisis. I suggest we allow our respective people to seclude themselves from this meeting and formulate the details of our joint engagement. An engagement we are hoping to include potential Gallian partners in such as Auraria. Not only would the inclusion of reliable Gallian partners add legitimacy to our operation, such operations need to be carried as broad as possible to increase the success-rate. They can come back to us as we proceed to tackle the other issues we are confronted with." Each delegation would dispatch one or more of its personnel to seclude themselves into one of the many other rooms in the decadent All-People's Palace to work out the details of the humanitarian peace-keeping mission. Not only numbers of manpower, equipment, aid, logistics and such would be discussed, but also a jointly formulated communique directed to the Engellkin Domain and the Burgundian People's Republic.

As soon as the Eiffelloretalians mentioned the Serazinist Republic of Serenierre one could almost feel the mood getting darker. Safe for maybe Grasser and his Ostmarkian delegation Villessen had little friends sitting at this table. Past violence between Leninovist and Serazinists strains of Marxist ideological thought, but mainly the recent unilateral Serenierrese violation of the Pact of Steel made between the almost equally notorious long-dead leaders Leninov and Serazin had caused an irreparable rift between Serenierre and the Kadikistani Union. Nonetheless besides the Federative Republic of Pelasgia and the Germanian allies the Serazinist Republic was still one of the biggest export markets that Ivar would seek to preserve. Moravscik choose his words very carefully as he addressed his counterparts, "The involvement of Serenierre in the Burgundian turmoil will become apparent once we have established our joint presence on the ground. I fear we can do little more than speculate concerning their involvement at this time and thus suggest that we anticipate upon it jointly once we uncover the full scale of Villessen's involvement."

If the other delegations agreed the conference would be able to proceed to from the Gallian to the Germanian issues.

Yaakov Zilberfarb had been silent for most of the conference, mostly following cues from the Kadikistani delegation, such as when to make supportive noises or when to light to a cigarette. The Polesian premier was by preference a teetotaller - something he had to hide while in exile in Kadikistan - but knew liquor and tobacco were both impossible to escape in his giant eastern neighbour. And so he sat, barely inhaling, sipping at his vodka, trying to hide his disgust.

As the topic of Serenierre crept into the dialogue - a sore subject given the Gallian nation's difficult relationship with the Rurikgrad Pact - Zilberfarb finally saw the chance to make his mark.

"The brave men and women of the Polesian Peace Force would gladly contribute to any peacekeeping efforts in former Burgundy. Perhaps more so than any other nation here, Polesia understands the horrors of war, and would be keen to prevent more needless bloodshed," he declared abruptly.

"Thank you for your flexibility and your understanding for my lung problems, Your Excellency First Secretary Moravscik. Luckily, my lungs only react so vehemently on tobacco smoke. Again sorry for that," Di Gravesano-Carone said. Meanwhile, the short-acting bronchodilators were in full effect.

"Your Excellency Minister MacPherson, I understand your question regarding Serenierre. Also I see that the country has been remarkably silent lately, and does not react at all on The Domain's invasion in Neustria and the People's Republic of Bourgogne. I don't know the reasons for that silence; the country seems to be locked out of the world. However, our alertness levels for machinations from that country cannot diminish."

"I agree that it will be wise to include Auraria in our initiatives regarding the Burgundian crisis."

While some of the aides left the room to discuss out the details on the humanitary mission and the response to Engellex and The Domain regarding the Burgundian crisis, the Eiffelloretalian aide Leonard Neubauer, who was the son of the former minister Neubauer, walked to one of the Polesian aides and said to him: "I would like to talk to you about Volxmashin when the discussions are over. It is needed that we reach a compromise on that topic."

"It surprises me as well that Serenierre is extremely silent at the moment. The country will probably have some internal troubles that prevent it from reacting militarily," Di Gravesano-Carone said. That psychopathic bitch of a Martinique is probably run out of nerve gas and napalm, and she knows that she can't win from The Domain without those substances; that's why she remains silent, he thought. But he didn't say that.

"I can show you, however, that the country has a very active and very sneaky secret service, extremly skilled in inducing civil unrest. The recent events in East-Occitania are largely the result of machinations by the Serenien secret service. It could be that the Sereniens induced Bourgogne falling apart as well, but the indications towards that are small. However, the indications about Serenierre's hand in the unrest in East-Bourgogne are strong. You should not have yourself misleaded by Serenierre's current silence, and definitely not by Premier Martinique's charm tour around the world," he continued. He decided not to make the remark that Eiffelland-Retalia could have provided all the medications to Ostmark that Serenierre was providing, but then of better quality, and better tested out under better ethical standards.

"I was not at the conference about the Long Sea Authority, but I know the assessments by Chancellor Rheinfeld. Herr Volkskanzler Grasser, I have to agree with you that the Anti-State is a threat as well. Eiffelland-Retalia gave it the benefit of the doubt in order to find out its motivations. Unfortunately, its motivations are power-projection and destabilisation.
For Lars, I think we are talking about a country in fear. It fears Serenierre to a large extent. Therefore, it was looking for protection. Apparently the Anti-State was the first country it looked at.
The 2000 Anti-State soldiers in Lars do not pose a direct threat, but are a kind of insurance: An attack against them will lead to a declaration of war by the Anti-State. I think it is best to monitor the situation closely. If those soldiers become more, we have to react. At least verbally," he finished.

The First Secretary locked his hands and carefully listened to what his counterparts were saying. Most of the people at this table knew very well why the Grand Duchy fell apart. No doubt years of tensions along the Burgo-Serenierrese border caused an indoctrinated fear psychosis among at least a large segment of the Greater Burgundian society and beyond, but even during the days of Serazin the Union had often come into conflict with what it considered to be a lax, almost amicable, position from Villessen to Chagny. Those who followed in Serazin's footsteps were no different. For Ivar it was clear that even the crackdown on alleged Burgundian royalists in Serenierre was mere a means to distract its own population from more detrimental issues that threatened their nation with never an intent of starting an actual war. Moravscik and his entourage knew this because the Union and its unitary predecessor had employed the same strategy on several occasion. Even the 7 Days War was a convenient event to keep those in the Kadikistani heartland forcussed on the west rather than the north. During that same war Burgundy and Serenierre never crossed swords, not even when they poured a forth of their army into Crotobaltislavonia. Indeed it was the Kadikistani Union and its allies that set in motion the chain of events that led to the fall of the Grand Duchy by ruthlessly defeating their invasion force and crippling their military structure, amplified by other occurrences such as the death of the Grand Duke.

Nonetheless Moravscik considered it wise and very diplomatic that the Eiffelloretalian minister did not point his finger at them. As courteous as the Kadikistani hosts were they were easily offended and the worst thing that could happen for this conference was for it to dissolve into a discussion between themselves and the Eiffelloretalians about the war and the collapse of nations that followed it. While doing his best to listen and understand what minister Di Gravesano-Carone was saying he felt he had already expressed his opinion concerning Serenierre the last time he spoke. The full scale of the alleged Serenierrese influence would only become clear once the combined peacekeepers were on the ground and given the speed of which the Burgundian conflict was escalating he didn't want to waste more time theorizing about Villessen's potential involvement. The point raised by President Grasser was far more prudent and interesting.

"It is truly a shame that the Larsians were unwilling to attend this conference. For us this symbolizes their unwillingness to cooperate with their neighbours and find a more durable solution to their security issues. A nation that hides behind foreign militaries and is unwilling to address their issues through diplomacy is dangerous. Indeed the weak cry the hardest and have been heard by opportunists in both the far-west and the far-east. Given our beautiful continent's reputation of being a powder-keg, sadly not without reason, they are the single Germanian nation standing in the way of future stability that we all seek to accomplish through this conference.", the world's oldest leader took a deep breath after that long sentence and unfolded his hands to allow for more gestures to accompany his words, "Alas we feel that there is little we can do that will impress Lars unless we are all united through our resolve for a brighter future. This being something that we owe to the generations that follow us so they don't have to suffer the hardships that we did. A red line has been crossed with a historically unprecedented incursion of non-Germanian military forces of not only the Anti-State, but also the same Confederate Republic of Beautancus that has stormed the shores of Burgundy. The Larsian regime needs to be taught a lesson in the merits of negotiations, but they simply won't care if they don't feel the implication. That is why we propose a Pan-Germanic set of economic sanction to be imposed upon them until they end their sable-rattling and expel the forces of Beautancus and the Anti-State. We should give them the option of doing so before the sanctions are activated while also offering them the advantages of Pan-Germanian cooperation through various incentives such as reduced trade tariffs."

MacPherson sighed. Lars was an important trade corridor for Gunnish goods to reach southern markets. His predecessor Larkin's Île-des-Pins Conference, ostensibly for Crotobaltislavonian development, had in fact been the achievement of a career-long effort to make overland trade goods flow smoothly from Dalmyre-Seaguard to Bremen. The trade deals had not yet borne fruit. A few months after the conference, the Burgundian powder keg exploded, the Gallo-Germanian credit crunch set in, and demand for now-unencumbered Gunnish exports dwindled anyway.

He kept his mouth shut. If Di Gravesano-Carone agreed to sanctions, the Empire would lose north-south trade anyway, and would have nothing to lose from joining the sanctions. But perhaps the assembled delegates would listen to a proposal for a more aggressive, fast-acting solution to the Lars Problem.

"The foreign troops in Lars are indeed an issue we have to look at, Your Excellencies," Minister Di Gravesano-Carone said. "Unfortunately, I cannot agree with the solution proposed by First Secretary Moravscik.
First of all, the relations between Eiffelland-Retalia and Lars are too cordial for us to take part in such a robust approach.
Second, Lars is in a very special position: It lies exactly on the route between North-Germania with Salen, Gunnland and Elben, and South-Germania with Ostmark and Eiffelland-Retalia. All the North-South traffic in Germania goes through Lars. Germania shoots itself in the foot when it imposes trade sanctions on Lars. Furthermore, if Eiffelland-Retalia and Ostmark want to get their contribution to the humanitary aid and the peacekeeping force in place, we will have to go through Lars; otherwise we will have to travel twice as long, through Kadikistan. Eiffelloretalian troops in Kadikistan may be a bit sensitive, even if it is for a good cause.
Third, a large trade agreement between Eiffelland-Retalia, Gunnland, Elben and Lars is in place. We would violate that trade agreement if we would proceed to sanctions.
Fourth, the approach you propose will turn Lars into an unvoluntary ally, meaning an ally which feels itself forced more or less at gunpoint into an alliance. Such an ally will not zealously fight with you, and will continuously look for a loophole to escape. Finally, your proposal will only increase the fear in Lars. And that is also a reason why it will look for a loophole to escape.
Maybe we will achieve our goal on the short term, but we will create problems with Lars on the longer term."

Di Gravesano-Carone took a sip of his water, and then continued.

"Let me explain something about fear handling. You will probably all remember from school that one kid in your class, or in your year, who was afraind of everything. He didn't dare to climb the ropes, he didn't dare to make headrolls in the rings, he didn't dare to climb the climbing frame, he didn't dare to jump over the vaulting-horse, he didn't dare to play at leap-frog, he didn't dare to swim under water, he didn't dare to jump off the high diving board, he was even a disaster in ball games. All because of fear. I had a very strict and very impatient gymnastics teacher in seventh grade, and also a class mate who was afraid of everything. No gymnastics class passed without the teacher scolding that guy, calling him a coward, a fag, whatever else because of his fears. Once the teacher even dragged him over the vaulting-horse. But that didn't reduce the fears. On the contrary. Three months later, the guy still didn't dare to climb the ropes, jump over the vaulting horse etc. He was completely traumatized. His parents put him on a different school. Luckily, that teacher was an exception to the rule, by the way. He was fired.
Years later, I was drinking with an officer from the at that times Eiffellandian army. He explained to me that they followed a completely different approach than that gymnastics teacher. You probably know those combined rope ladder constructs soldiers have to climb during excercises. Sometimes, when such a rope ladder construct is attached to a very high wall, somebody can get grabbed by fear when he is halfway. When that happens, somebody else immediately climbs to him and attaches a lifeline to him. Then he starts to reassure him, and makes him clear that nothing can happen now because of the lifeline. Then piece by piece they climb the rope ladder construct together. The end result is, that the person has overcome his fear. Next time he will be the one to climb to someone grabbed by fear on the rope ladder construct.
I think we have to look for a similar approach to Lars."

MacPherson's mouth fell open a little. The earnestness and sincerity of the Retalian diplomat, these simpering stories about friendship and kindness, it galled him. It was true what Friedrich Nietzsche said about the Eiffellandians, that they were all lining up to be the Letzter Mensch. He shook his head.

"Trier should attempt the carrot with Lars. If that doesn't work, or Lars refuses passage to Eiffelloretalian peacekeepers, I believe the Empire will be inclined to use the stick..."

He stopped short of calling Lars a rogue nation, and saying "régime change," only because a news alert came across his Lumin several hours beforehand from La Gazzetta di Lars: its foreign ministry would recognize the 'Northern Tiburan Empire' in official documents. Don't lose face before the emperor was even crowned, that was priority number one.

Di Gravesano-Carone's story wasn't understood by all members of the Union delegation. Near the end of the Eiffelloretalian gym-story People's Commissar for Defence Lazarbaev leaned slightly towards Vice Secretary Vujadin Mihajlovic and quietly asked, "Why did he get fired?". The story was completely lost on him, Kadikocentrist as he was, he believed the teacher was simply doing what he needed to do to break the weak and build them up again as stronger men, motivating them to strive for perfection as is the duty of an educator. While all the Kadikistani's internally agreed that Eiffelland-Retalia could use more such teachers, Moravscik and Mihajlovic did understand the point they were trying to make. Fear and punishment, so the Eiffelloretalians thought, would only drive Lars further into the hands of those who seek to gain a foothold in Germania. According to the Kadikistani perspective that was already too late. Showing a small sign of exhaustion due to old age Moravscik gestured Mihajlovic to continue while he could properly compose himself. Everyone knew Moravscik wasn't too much longer for this world, but a lifetime of war and violence made him more committed to leave a legacy of peace. Mihajlovic would try his best to make his political father proud.

"With the most sincere respect, Minister." The Vice-Secretary addressed Di Gravesani-Carone. "Your analysis of the situation seems to lack historical precedents and long-term vision.", Mihajlovic spoke with a bit more passion while keeping to his emotionless face, "Like we have stated we are willing to find a common approach, offering guarantees of safety and even economic incentives for Lars. A nation that hardly deserves such privileged position as their invitation of external militaries and refusal to sit at this table already illustrate that it is hell-bent on creating instability. What we are witnessing is a total refusal to cooperate with nations in the region and even provoking the East and the North. Let me ask you, if not handled now then when? When they bring in Engellexic forces too? When the Post-Delegationist Scanians are allowed to permanently settle their armed forces at our doorsteps? Imagine the consequences for the Long Sea, a vital life-line for all of us. What will it take before the realisation comes that an earlier economic punishment was more preferable to a heavier escalation? Indeed we would all feel a backlash from such sanctions, some of us at this table more than others I concur. But is it not preferable if it prevents far worse in the future? In the past we have seen that actions such as those from Lars have always lead led us on a path towards war and destruction. This is our chance to work proactively to prevent such a thing."

This was normally the time when Mihajlovic would grab a cigarette, the act of doing so giving him some time to think about the ending of his statement. He took some water instead before continuing. "Doing nothing is something we can not afford. What will we tell our respective people's if we simply sit back and see the situation gradually escalate to the point of carnage?" Mihajlovic then turned to the much respected Gunnishman, deemed of similar breed as himself, "We agree that should Lars not accept a mutually beneficial deal that allows the safe transit of peacekeepers into Burgundy it is a clear sign of aggression which unravels their true intentions. Regardless of their answer and with the agreement of all nations sitting at this table we are able to accommodate the trade between North and South Germania. They may take the Eastern route through the Polesia and the Kadikistani Union, a longer but indeed much more reliable and stable route."

"First it was the Anti-State, now it's the Domain. Who's the next alien foreign power to meddle in Gallo-Germanian affairs? Maybe Justosia will open a military base in Bergenheim or maybe in East Occitania? The Grand Duchy of Lars has made its move by allowing foreign, hostile forces to deploy in the heart of our region. Postponing retaliation will only reinforce the idea that we cannot agree on a common reaction and solution. Meanwhile, every country in Europe is seeking to deploy one or two brigades to get a share of the treasure chest".

Grasser's resentment against the Anti-State was widely known and Ostmark had already suffered the sanctions imposed by the Post-Delegationist Dictator. The Grand Duchy of Lars had also enacted sanctions against the People's Republic of Ostmark after the reintroduction of death penalty. The Volkskanzler had all the interests to join Kadikistan's suggestion and retaliate against the Grand Duchy with the same method and the same economic weapons used against his nation.

"Mr Di Gravesano-Carone, the relations between Ostmark and Lars are absoloutely terrible. We are not asking the Grand Duchy overcome its 'fears'. It seems to me that they have no intentions of overcoming any fear, given the fact they are not here to listen to our reasons. And if they wont listen to us, why should we listen to them? Their refusal, alone, is a clear hostility against this conference and our immense efforts to bring order in the chaos dominating our region. Will the Grand Duchy of Lars be part of the solution, or part of the problem? Germania is almost sorrounded, and we must react as fast as we can, as soon as possible."

MacPherson liked the vice secretary, Mihajlovic, who seemed to have read his mind and assuaged his fears about the trade corridor. Now if only these dour fucking Slavs would buy some goddamn tractors. He chuckled to himself especially at Grasser, who seemed like he was all in favor of peace and armed neutrality until you waved the red cape of Lars in front of him. He was beginning to enjoy himself now. And since he was in the hopeless situation anyway of not really knowing the mood in Windhaven, much less Eschenbach or Chagny... too many cooks... he leaned forward and decided to continue having fun. And so he began in his jocular cadence that brought out the Gunnish burr or trill that made their variety of Engelsh bedevil translators who had learned to speak Republican,

"Well, I say we let the Eiffellandian teachers try to help wee little Lars off the rope ladder. And if they dinnae want to get off the escalation ladder, I don't know, we're civilized people. A forty-eight hour ultimatum?"

He pushed his greasy black hair back.

"We have an old saying in my country apropos of this Pax Germanica conference. Aut pax aut bellum."

He turned to Di Gravesano-Carone and for some reason a melody from an overrated Engellexian rock band from decades ago wafted into his head.

"And don't worry, if you get scared on the wee ladder, King Albrecht can claim his right as an imperial elector, and we'll buy you a stairway to heaven."

Talking about operetta-dictators, Minister Di Gravesano-Carone thought after Grasser first talked about the Larsian sanctions against Ostmark because of the re-introduction of the death penalty, and then talked about the King of Justosia. But he didn't say that.

And for becoming a part of the Holy Tiburan Empire, Eiffelland-Retalia differed too much from Gunnland and Elben to let a Holy Empire between those three nations work properly.

"To be very honest, I am not that afraid of Justosia, Herr Volkskanzler. We both have a neighbour on the other side of the Long Sea who has one of the largest navies in the world and on top of that a severe allergy to everything Justosian. The Pelasgians have already shot the Justosians out of the Hamar Sea once, they'll do it again. And if they don't, we will. East-Occitania is already unstable enough without the Justosians.
Regarding Lars, I am thinking of the long term. That is why I want to keep the relations good. I will contact the givernment of Lars to discuss the matter out, but I will do it my way. That may take some more time than you expect, but it will pay out for all of us later. Your Excellency Vice-Secretary Mihajlovic, what kind of deal can I offer to Lars?"

Di Gravesano-Carone took a sip of water. Then he continued.

"There is also one other thing I have to point at. Take the military assets of the Anti-State and The Domain insto account. Then take our military assests into account. We won't have enough to fight a two-front war against the Domain and hte Anti-State."

Unfortunately for the Kadikistani delegation it became abundantly clear that a compromise concerning the Grand Duchy of Lars was impossible. Luckily Minister Di Gravesano-Carone had a lung condition which meant that soon enough those that did smoke, most importantly the Kadikistani's, Gunnish, Ostmarkians and Polesians (because they had to), would be able to seclude themselves from the Eiffelloretalians. The improvisatory smoking room could serve as a place were the 'hardliners' could meet without the Eiffelloretalian doves pleading for further appeasement of the regional troublemaker. Something needed to be done and at least from the Kadikistani side there was little faith in the ability of Eiffelland-Retalia to do as their Foreign Minister claimed. At least not to the satisfaction of most nations sitting at this table. The Union and its allies had no interest in accepting the way things were with Engellkin and Anti-State militaries at striking distance.

Without specifically laying the blame of the Eiffelloretalians Mihajlovic didn't hide his disappointment. "Sadly I believe there is no other option besides concluding that we can not find common ground concerning the belligerence of Lars. With the situation evolving so rapidly we fear that doing nothing will only turn matters for the worst. When they do we trust that this situation will be remembered." Mihajlovic looked at Moravscik for a sign of approval and quickly followed up by gesturing his fingers to make it clear that it was smoking time. "Most esteemed counterparts, we propose that we take a few minutes break and allow those who indulge to join me and Comrade First Secretary for a cigarette or pipe." Most delegations except for those from Salen and Eiffelland-Retalia left the room. Delegation leaders along with one translator each went into a slightly more luxurious room while the secondary members of the respective delegations went to a different room, mainly in a ploy to prevent a potential Eiffelloretalian for eavesdropping.

Minister Di Gravesano-Carone understood that Lars was in trouble. He didn't know what the Kadikistani, the Gunnish, the Polesians and the Ostmarkers would be discussing, but it would not mean anything good for Lars. Merda! He wished that he could warn the country, or at least his own government. But he couldn't. The Kadikistani would definitely tap the telephone traffic from this building, so if he would contact the Chancellor, the Kadikistani would listen in. Or at least try to listen in. He would be using a coded communication line. But now he was facing a dilemma: Would he use that coded communication line to inform Chancellor Rheinfeld and risk delivering the Kadikistani the possibility to crack the code? He decided to wait until he was in the embassy or in the plane, so that he could use communication lines foreseen with more advanced coding techniques.

He also made another decision: He would deny the contribution of Eiffelland-Retalia to the peace corps when the measures against Lars would be too harsh.

The smoking break lasted about 25 minutes, much longer than it takes to smoke just one cigarette. When the delegations smelling of smoked tobacco and ashes entered the main meeting room again it didn't take a social intelligence expert to see that the Eiffelloretalian Minister was wary of what had been said. Vice-Secretary Mihajlovic was quick to anticipate on that insight and kindly spoke, not only addressing the Eiffelloretalian delegation but also the one from Salen, "We apologize for the wait", he said genuinely, "We thought it was best to build up some nicotine reserves to we can conclude this extremely fruitful conference without any more interruptions", he concluded with a wink and a slight smirk. Much like the first time around the Kadikistani's waited until everyone was seated before sitting down themselves as a token of respect, notable exceptions being the delegations from Polesia, Nitra and Calidia whom tried to sit down at the same time as their Kadikistani allies.

All that needed to be said concerning the Grand Duchy of Lars had been said, but the lack of consensus was no reason for defeatism. Only time would tell who was on the right side of history. With the first preparations already being made to commence the peace keeping mission of the Continental Protection Force in Burgundy there were still some formalities that Moravscik and his entourage wanted to bring to the table. The following subject was the formation of the self-proclaimed Holy Tiburan Empire. The latter was yet to be recognized by the Kadikistani Union who also still had economic sanctions running against the Kingdom of Elben. Those sanctions dated back to the Second Crotobaltislavonian Crisis when the the former Grand Duchy of Burgundy unilaterally sought to establish a no-fly zone over the Kadiko-Slavonian nation which called in the assistance of the Kadikistani big brother.

Back in those days the Kadikistani Union did not have a direct border with Crotobaltislavonia, a recurring problem that was only permanently solved in the peace accords following the 7 Days War. Thus it had to established an air bridge to supply the All-Union forces in Crotobaltislavonia and when flying their air-freighters over what was still Trivodnia wasn't an option a bilateral agreement was reached with Elben. Several days later the Elbener authorities, under heavy pressure from the international community, unilaterally revoked the Kadikistani right to fly over their airspace. The regime in Ivar, for all its flaws, has never broken a treaty made with another independent country and in fact sees such an action as one of the most dishonourable things that one can do. The Union ignored the Elbeners closing their airspace and refused to abandon Crotobaltislavonia, but the betrayal had grave consequences for the relations between both nations. Ivar imposed crippling economic sanctions upon Elben leading to an agricultural and energy crisis. Diplomatic contact was broken and except for the absolutely essential all issues concerning Eschenbach were dealt with through Windhaven.

To this day a majority of those sanctions remained in effect and proper diplomatic channels between Ivar and Eschenbach had not been re-established. This was a problematic issue that needed to be resolved if the Kadikistani Union and its allies would want to peacefully coexist with the new Empire. Luckily for the Kadikistani delegation the Pelasgian Empire, one of Ivar's longest and most trustworthy partners, had recently ceased to exist. The fact that the Pelasgians formerly considered it a personal matter of honour that they were the sole Empire of the world worthy of that name meant that the Kadikistani delegation could take a more flexible position. First Secretary Moravscik took the floor again, "Permit me to show my gratitude to the constructive attitude that has been shown here by most during this historic conference. The next subject I wish to raise is the proclamation of the 'Holy Tiburan Empire' as a personal union between The Kingdoms of Gunnland and Elben and Chagny-Burgundy. We trust that all those in attendance here today can adequately assess the grave impact this has on Germanian geopolitics."

Moravscik paused for a second to clear his old throat, "The Kadikistani Union is willing to recognize the Empire as it is merely a representation of the current geopolitical situation. As a token of goodwill we are willing to revoke the economic sanction in place against one of the signatory states of the Tiburan Empire, the Kingdom of Elben. However in order to do so we request that our counterparts offer the same courtesy. With that we mean the recognition of the Polesian People's Republic and the People's Socialist Republic of Calidia as independent sovereign nations. With mutual assurances on that field we can more accurately anticipate upon the future and leave no room for uncertainty." Moravscik's brown-green eyes turned to MacPherson, eagerly awaiting his thoughts on the proposal.