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Pelasgia

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New Constitution Approved, Empire Restored
Propontis, 21 January 2020 | Nikolaos Demosthenous

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Fireworks light the night-sky over the Pyrgos-Chrysoupolis Bridge in the midst of the Propontine Metropolis, celebrating the referendum's results and the Imperial Restoration

Celebrations broke out in Propontis tonight, as the results of the Pelasgian Constitutional Referendum were finalised: 69.18% of ballots cast in favour of the new Constitution and of restoring the Imperial Throne, and 30.82% against, with 0.61% of votes being invalid. Fireworks lit up the night sky of the major Pelasgian metropolitan centres, especially Propontis, the Queen of Cities, and Sindos, the Empire's second most populous urban area. Popular songs echoed in the streets, as did car horns and bells. The Imperial Guard (temporarily termed the "State Honour Guard" during the Fifty Years' Regency) gave an impressive performance in the public section of the Imperial Gardens, near the Great Palace of Propontis. From the famously loyalist capital of the now Second Pelasgian Empire, the celebrations certainly seemed justified: out of the eighteen Prefectures of Pelasgia, all returned a majority save for Makrinon and the Thalassinoi. Even in those two scarcely populated Prefectures, the majority for "no" was rather narrow. With the votes tallied, the "yes" campaign has claimed an uncontested (and incontestable) victory; by all accounts, the proposed Constitution found wide support among both urban and rural Pelasgians, of all sorts of economic outlooks, having some sort of reform to satisfy everyone: a powerful Chamber of Deputies elected via universal suffrage for the common man, guaranteed representation in the Senate for the bourgeoisie and nobility, and a host of rights and freedoms to be once more protected by Section II of the Constitution, like its pre-Regency predecessor.

With the validation of this constitutional proposal by the Pelasgian electorate at large, Pelasgia has firmly returned to Constitutional Monarchy as its form of government, further qualified as a Unitary and Parliamentary state. The bicameral Common Parliament composed of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate must lend its support to any proposed legislation for it to be forward to the Emperor for Assent. The Chamber of Deputies, composed of 525 Deputies, is to be elected directly by the Pelasgian electorate via universal suffrage and is to choose the Prime Minister via the principle of responsible government and parliamentary confidence. All legislation is to originate in the Chamber. The Senate, by contrast, is to be a body of 360 Senators; 180 are Peers of the Emperor, appointed for life, and another 180 are elected in batches of 60 every three years by land-owning citizens of at least thirty years of age who are net tax contributors. The Senate has the power to reject the Chamber's legislation, or to propose amendments to it. The executive is to be headed by the Prime Minister in the Emperor's name, and it to largely function as any other Western Parliamentary cabinet; elections are to be held every five years at most, unless Parliament is dissolved early by the Emperor at the Prime Minister's advice. Non-Parliamentarians may become Ministers of State at the Prime Minister's recommendation.

The judiciary is to be topped by a single Supreme Court of Pelasgia, which is to absorb the former separate supreme courts for civil, criminal and administrative matters (namely the Court of Cassation and the Council of State). This Court is to be composed of fourteen Associate Justices and one Chief Justice, all appointed by His Imperial Majesty at the Prime Minister's recommendation. The Chief Justice is to be the eldest of the Justices in seniority, and they are all to serve until seventy years of age. The Justices may not be removed or be otherwise interfered with (e.g. via salary deductions) except following defrocking by His Imperial Majesty at the advice of the Senate (which must itself start an investigation at the direction of the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice). The Chief Justice may never be removed from the bench. The Courts are to act as the guardians of the rule of law, of law and order, of justice and of fundamental rights and freedoms (including civil rights in the civil law sense). Based on Section II of the Constitution, any infringement of Pelasgians' fundamental rights and freedoms, whether by the State or a private body, might be challenged before a Court of Law. It is noteworthy that the new Supreme Court shall maintain the Court of Cassation's original jurisdiction over certain cases (e.g. attempts on the Emperor's Life).

Section I of the Constitution of Pelasgia still recognises Orthodox Christianity as the dominant religion of Pelasgia, one which is tied to the State via the Throne. The provisions of the Constitution for "religious and national education" maintain the Church's role in education alongside the State, while the Constitution explicitly protects the Church's monopoly on translations or publications of the Bible, as well as countless other ecclesiastical privileges and rights. Nevertheless, the new Constitution also protects minority faiths and minority religious groups, allowing them to freely exercise their rights by, inter alia, prohibiting proselytism.

The ratification of the new Constitution has been applauded by the current legislature, which has dissolved itself ahead of elections, which are to take place by the end of the month. At the same time, the newly restored Emperor of Pelasgia, Theodore II Laskaris, is set to be confirmed before the Senate by the end of the week and then crowned at the Imperial and Patriarchal Cathedral of Divine Providence in Propontis, in accordance with Pelasgia and Tiburan state tradition. In the meantime, the task of altering the country's nomenclature has slowly begun.


In other news
☞ (International) – Pelasgian Petroleum S.A. to continue planned surveying and drilling operations in the Long Sea, as tensions between Pelasgia and Montedoro continue to rise over the latter's gripes with perceived Pelasgian expansionism in the Long Sea. Government of Pelasgia stands adamantly behind its claims and claims that no provocation by Montedoro will dissuade Pelasgia from pursuing its lawful interests in the Long Sea in a peaceful and organised manner.
☞ (Law & Order) – National Public Safety Commission presents plan for law enforcement reform, amidst general drive for legal reform. General Directorate for Public Security, Imperial Politarchy, and General Directorate for Revenue and Customs to be reorganised and consolidated into the Imperial Police, Imperial Gendarmerie and Imperial Coast Guard. Commission also makes recommendations to expand permanent cooperation between the different law enforcement branches.
☞ (Health) – Propontis Imperial University Medical Research Centre uncovers potential strain of new coronavirus from Toyou following examination of remains of a sailor from the Legation Coast who expired on a ship quarantined off Cassandris. Researchers concerned new virus could already be spreading through Toyou and might reach rest of Europe via airborne or seaborne travel, infecting millions with potentially deadly effects.
 

Rheinbund

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Trier, Eiffelland-Retalien — Treviri, Eiffellandia-Retalia — Trèves, Eiffellande-Rétalie


On behalf of the Royal and Grand-Ducal Family of Eiffelland-Retalia, as well as Government, Parliament and People of Eiffelland-Retalia, we congratulate His Imperial Majesty Laonikos Laskarides with his ascension to the Imperial Throne of Pelasgia as Theodore III Laskaris. May his reign be long, wise and prosperous. We wish him all the wisdom he will need to lead his country.

Albrecht von Dietz-Hadamar, King of Eiffelland, Grand-Duke of Retalia
Roland Rheinfeld, Chancellor
 

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Governing Senate Authorizes Drilling in the Long Sea
Propontis, 21 April 2020 | Nikolaos Demosthenous

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The Palace of the Governing Senate, Pelasgia's highest organ of executive, legislative and judicial government, in downtown Propontis. The Senate Palace forms part of the complex of the Grand Palace of Propontis, being located on its western end.

Following months of surveying in the Long Sea, Pelasgian Petroleum S.A. has finally been given the green light by the Governing Senate of the Pelasgian Empire to proceed with offshore drilling in Pelasgia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The surveying efforts, which had been the object of tensions with the Serenien protectorate of Montedoro, yielded enticing results for Pelasgian and foreign investors, topped by the successful mapping of fields 12-24, rich in petroleum and natural gas. Propontis had taken its time before authorizing any drilling in the Long Sea, conscient of the flare in tensions with Montedoro this could cause, after uneasy months of silence between the two neighbours. Indeed, some have noted that Propontis' authorization of drilling via the Act Respecting Underwater Hydrocarbon Exploitation in the Long Sea Maritime Area (Act no. 87 of 2020) comes after the completion of the Imperial Pelasgian Navy's expansion plans for the year, including the replacement and upgrade of several ships of the First and Second Fleets. Back in January, the Imperial Pelasgian Navy had conducted drills in the area, seen by many to be a response to provocative challenges to the Empire's claimed EEZ. Posturing is nothing new in the Long Sea region, and the Pelasgian Throne seems determined to remind the region's nations that Pelasgia is still the local maritime hegemon, probably in no small part to address Montedoro's defiant and provocative attitude in recent months.

In the Chamber of Deputies, Pelasgia's largely advisory and symbolic elected assembly, support behind the move seemed unanimous. The dominant majority of the conservative Constitutionalist Party acclaimed the move as "a necessary step to reassert Pelasgia's sovereign rights in the Long Sea" through the mouth of the Constitutionalists' leader, Deputy Philippos Merkoures of Thoricus. The minority government-aligned party, the Absolutist Party, presented the Act as "a peaceful but firm statement of Pelasgia's assertion of its inherent right to develop its exclusive economic zone, despite the disingenuous provocations of certain regional actors with an inflated sense of their own power and importance," in the words of their leader, Viscount Gregorios Palamas of Hagios Demetrios. The business-dominated market liberals and parliamentarists of the Liberal Union spoke through Ioannes Kravatas-Apostolakis of Therisus, applauding the Act as a "positive step in the development of Pelasgia's economic strength and soft power," a statement largely echoing that of their powerful backers, the Association of Pelasgian Shipping Magnates (SPE) and the Association of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists of the Pelasgian Empire (SEVVP). Finally, the DKKP's General Secretary, Stephanos Plastis, stated that "the DKKP supports any measure of peaceful economic development of the Long Sea, in accordance with the Status Quo Treaty."

Closer to the port of Pyrgos, in the large and opulent edifices of the Imperial capital's coastal business district, the Propontis Stock Exchange (PROPEX) responded positively to news of Act 87/2020, with the stock of Pelasgian Petroleum S.A. jumping to a level unseen seen its first successful drills in the Far South, in the middle of last summer. The shares of associated business conglomerates, such as the Pygasus Holdings Group and Kassandros Heavy Industries saw a similar rise. Stocks of Imperial Shipyards S.A. also saw a moderate rise, perhaps highlighting investor premonitions about a naval materiel buildup in the Long Sea. So far, no comment has come from Montedoro, the traditional critic of Pelasgia's Long Sea policy, or from Pelasgia's long-term strategic and economic partners in the region. The Governing Senate has openly stated its intent to potentially open some of the fields to foreign exploitation or to joint exploitation with foreign firms, particularly those of the aforementioned partners, with many looking towards Trier and Ivar following these statements.

In other news
☞ (Education) – Imperial University of Propontis (VPP) announces plan to institute academic year based on the Engell model, rather than the traditional academic calendar followed by most Pelasgian universities, including the Grand Patriarchal University of Propontis (MPPP). Education Ministry so far supportive of initiative, which would see VPP's standard academic year start in early September and end in May, with an Autumn Semester from September to November and exams in December, and a Winter Semester from January to March and exams in April. An added summer term, from May to June, would also be available for optional intensive courses. This would be in opposition to the traditional Pelasgian academic year, adopted by all universities based on the MPPP model: the year runs from September 1st to August 31st, with the Winter six month term from September to mid-January (exams until February) and the Spring six month term from February to May (exams over the summer).
☞ (Justice) – Administrative Court of Cassation's decision regarding denial of entry of foreign Zionist activist stands as final, following refusal of leave to appeal by the Senate Court. The activist, David Ben-Yosef, was refused entry to Pelasgia following his landing at Hierosolyma International Airport "Attalos the Great" from Trier. Mr. Ben-Yosef claimed to be in the Holy City to study at the prestigious Talmudic School of the Supreme Israelite Council of the Pelasgian Empire; however, agents of the General Directorate for Customs and Revenue discovered that Mr. Ben-Yosef had in fact come to Pelasgia to stage a provocative protest at the Holy City on Easter. Mr. Ben-Yosef was then denied entry and banned from entering Pelasgia for five years, being repatriated to Polesia without incident. He tried to challenge the decision before the Hierosolyma Administrative Court of First Instance, without success. The Supreme Israelite Council publicly stated its support for the move, condemning Mr. Ben-Yosef as a "dangerous provocateur", who would only slander Pelasgia's loyal Jewish subjects.
☞ (Colonies) – Pelasgian Southern Himyar prepares for winter, as April draws to a close. Pelasgian Colonial Ministry and High Commissioner's Office reportedly in constant contact with the Kingdoms. Following violent conflict between the Kintu and Kéké up until the region was pacified by the Imperial Far Southern Constabulary (VPAN)'s intervention in mid-January. While, the Southern Kintu have asked for VPAN to withdraw to the Colonies, the Northern Kintu's Monarch, as well as the Kéké, have asked for the Pelasgian security forces to remain, fearing a continuation of attacks by the Southern Kintu rebels. Over in the colonies, Neolcis and Antiperama are competing for the highest rate of growth, while preparing for the peak of whaling season. Neolcis saw its population double within a year, as showcased by its rapid urban development, while Antiperama's more constrained geography has limited its growth, despite an advantageous position at the southern strait of the Sea of Buto.
 
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Serenierre

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We are most shocked by the imperial manner in which the Pelasgian rogue state has unilaterally decided to lay claim to the Long Sea and its god given bounty. We shall not allow such wanton acts of international piracy to be propagated.

Commissariat for External Relations
The République Populaire is aware of tensions between Montedoro and Pelasgia concerning maritime claims and urges restraint to prevail.
 

Pelasgia

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Foreign Ministry of the Pelasgian Empire

Propontis, 25 April 2020
Unclassified - Public - Normal

To whom it may concern,

The Pelasgian Empire once more rejects the baseless provocations of Montedoro. Pelasgia claims an Exclusive Economic Zone of 200 naturical miles, as per the established rules of customary and conventional law of the sea. To equate this with somehow claiming the Long Sea as our "God-given bounty" is laughable and provocative. We once more urge Montedoro to cease its pointless provocations, and commit itself to peaceful coexistence on both shores of the Long Sea.

Signed and sealed,

Nikolaos Chrysopoulos
8th Count Chrysopoulos
HIM Foreign Minister
 

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Liberal Union, Constitutionalists Form Alliance in Chamber of Deputies
Propontis, 28 April 2020 | Nikolaos Demosthenous


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Koressios Palace in downtown Propontis, the seat of the Pelasgian Chamber of Deputies since its foundation in the late 19th century.

In an unexpected political development, the Liberal-Conservative segment of the Constitutionalist Party and the Liberal Union have announced an alliance, potentially splitting the larger Constitutionalist Party. The Constitutionalist Party, which is the largest party in Pelasgia's largely symbolic and advisory Chamber of Deputies, has traditionally been composed of two factions: the Conservatives, who largely want to maintain the current status quo with minimal political reform, and the Liberal-Conservatives (also known as "progressive conservatives"), who wish to actively pursue parliamentary reform, albeit without proposing social reform. The Liberal Union, for its part, has always been the main advocate of liberal and parliamentary reform in Pelasgia. If it takes effect, the alliance would deprive the Constitutionalist Party, and its Conservative leadership, of its majority status in the Chamber of Deputies, with 145 (or slightly over half) of its Deputies shifting their allegiance to the new Liberal Constitutionalist Party, in a merger of the Liberal Union. The new Liberal Constitutionalist Party would have 232 seats, placing it 31 seats short of a majority, and leaving no one party with a clear majority in the Chamber. The Conservative Constitutionalists' seats would be reduced to 144, making them a large second party, while the DKKP would remain stable at 44 seats.

However, because of Pelasgia's Constitution, the new alliance could only take formal effect following a new election. In the case of such an election, the Liberal Constitutionalist Party might very well be able to gather a majority in order to push for parliamentary, politically liberal and market liberal reforms. Of course, the prorogation of the Chamber followed by an election is subject to the wish of the Throne; that is to say, the Emperor can call an election whenever His Imperial majesty wishes, and nobody can theoretically force Him to do so at any time. Though liberal constitutional scholars are pointing to an alleged convention of an election being called at least once every 8 years, neither the Throne nor the Courts have ever recognised such a convention. Many prominent conservative constitutional scholars join them in this position, and even among the liberal scholars it is recognised that constitutional conventions are not enforceable over the written Constitution. Given that the previous election took place 7 years ago, and that a new election would face the Throne with a hostile Chamber constantly agitating for constitutional reform, it is unlikely that such an election will be called anytime soon. The only possibility of an election being called would be if the Throne wishes to levy new large-scale taxes; it is considered sound practice to call for an election before such levies, to avoid provoking popular opinion. Though the Chamber cannot veto the taxes, the Throne tends to heed the advice of its non-binding motions on the matter.

As the HPU escalates its campaign across Himyar, the Far South might find itself in need of new deployments and emergency measures, both of which would cost a significant sum. Though the Throne could attempt to raise the funds through other means, such as through the income of Public Corporations, like Pelasgian Petroleum S.A. or the Pelasgian Southern Himyari Company, the most likely and effective route would be taxation. Moreover, a consolidation of Pelasgia's control over the Far South in the aftermath of the end of the HPU's main insurgency might lead the locals, settler and native alike, to call for more autonomy and representative government, leaving the Throne pronged on both sides from demands for more parliamentary control over public policy. As things stand, the new Liberal Constitutionalist Party is but an informal voting bloc in the current lame Chamber of Deputies, and one without a majority at that. Depending on how future events pan out, though, it might very well become the dominant force in Pelasgia's political future. For now, the ultra-conservative and reactionary Absolutist Party holds real power in Propontis, through its domination of the Governing Senate.

In other news
☞ (International) – Pelasgia founds the Claret Sea Council (CSC) to encourage dialogue and dispute resolution between the local states, following Serenierre's offer to mediate Propontis' dispute with Montedoro. Asteria and Montedoro quickly join new arrangement as full members, as did Serenierre as an observerswith other regional states considering membership. Concerns over limitation of states outside the region to observer status have been raised, though the CSC Secretariat has tried to assuage them by pointing out that the Council is meant to be a regional dispute resolution and trade discussion body, not a governing agency of the Long Sea. "The Long Sea remains open to all as per the principle of Freedom of Navigation, and is owned or administered by no one state or organisation," the Secretariat said in a press briefing in Propontis.
☞ (Tourism) – Interior Ministry preparing for tourism wave as the Pelasgian summer tourism season is almost at hand. Thousands of volunteers have already signed up, mainly under the auspices of the Orthodox Church, to encourage tourists and Pelasgian beach-goers not to litter, and to guard against wildfires or fires started by those wishing to turn forests into farmland. The Imperial Firefighting Corps (VPS) has already begun readiness drills from the wildfire season, which is expected to start in July. The Orthodox Church, for its part, is working with the General Directorate of Police and with volunteer organisations to handle the inflow of thousands of pilgrims at holy sites across Pelasgia, expected to peak on the week of August 15th, when the Feast Day of Dormition of the All-Holy Virgin Mary is observed as one of the most important Orthodox Christian holidays.
☞ (Colonies) – Imperial Far Southern Constabulary expands its operations in the Protectorates at the request of the Kintu and Kéké Kings, following several raids by HPU insurgents against villages near the capital of the of the Southern Kintu Kingdom, Ubontho. The Constabulary has also expanded its operations in the Colonies, following the detonation of a car bomb in the city of Port Neolcus, in the Colony of Neolcis. Though colonial circles are pondering requesting the intervention of the Imperial Army, the High Commissioner has ruled out that possibility for the moment. For now, the Constabulary and the Throne's local units, most notably the Emperor's Nethian Rifles, as well as the PSHC corporate security forces appear to have the situation under control.
 
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Imperial Government Authorizes Military Deployment in the Far South
Propontis, 30 May 2020 | Nikolaos Demosthenous


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The Colonial Minister, Duke Georgios Aslanides, and the Defence Minister, Marshal Isaakios Koressios, inspect an honour guard of troops to be deployed in the Far South.

The Government of the Pelasgian Empire has authorized the deployment of additional military units in the Far Southern Territories, to render military aid to the civil power in the Empire's southernmost possessions. The decisions comes after months of clashes in the Far South, following the Himyari People's Union's declaration of an insurrection against most Himyari governments, including the Pelasgian Colonial Administration of the Far South and its local Protectorates, the four native Kingdoms. According to reports, the Southern Kintu Kingdom risks being overrun, as the HPU rebels have taken advantage of ethnic tension between the two main native groups, the Kintu and Kéké, to overthrow the indigenous Pelasgian-aligned monarchs who have largely held back younger Kintu warriors from attacking the weaker and less numerous Kéké. This is due to the Pelasgian Throne's protection of the Kéké as part of the Treaty of Fort Antipas. As the Kings' own forces have proven inadequate for their defence, they have asked and received the help of the Pelasgian Far Southern Constabulary and the considerable forces of the Pelasgian Southern Himyari Company. Still, local Pelasgian military units, such as the Emperor's Nethian Rifles, have been placed on hold to potentially join in the fray to reinforce the currently committed troops. Though the use of regulars has not yet proven necessary, the Defence Ministry has seen fit to dispatch an undisclosed number of reinforcements to South Himyar, in case the conflict further escalates. Most analysts assume that the reinforces will largely be drawn from the Pelasgian Third Fleet, Pelasgia's smallest and most mobile naval force, as well as the Colonial Troops (mostly stationed in Zarakas and Southern Himyar), and the Imperial Marine Corps. The use of homeland land units has been ruled out for now, as it is deemed to be excessive and unnecessary.

Still, the financing of this rather costly endeavour has sparked controversy among the Pelasgian political class back at home. The parliamentarian reformers of the Chamber of Deputies, led by the Liberal Constitutionalist Party, have demanded that the Emperor call an election to levy new taxes, something which would likely give them a new majority with which they could attempt to pressure the Throne for constitutional and parliamentary reform. As it currently stands, the Chamber of Deputies, as a mostly symbolic body which only issues non-binding advisory motions, cannot de jure reject the Emperor's proposed taxes; however, a long-established constitutional convention exists by which the Emperor may not levy taxes without the agreement of the Chamber. Though the Emperor could force the taxes through anyway, wide resentment would likely come about as a result. Given the current makeup of the Chamber, the taxes could never be approved, as no one party has a majority. Only through an election could there be a majority, though this majority would likely belong to the Liberal Constitutionalists, who would try to extract reform concessions from the Throne. For this reason, the Throne is hesitant to levy new taxes; instead, the Throne is more likely to borrow money to fund the Far Southern Campaign. Pelasgian Petroleum S.A.'s profits in the Claret Sea could potentially be enough to pay this debt, though if the campaign proves more complicated than anticipated or if Claret Sea oil extraction stalls, the Throne might still be forced to levy taxes to finance its military operations. It would seem that the Throne is making a bet: if the Far Southern operation succeeds as planned, the exploitation of the Far South's resources would be more than enough to fund the campaign's costs, alongside Pelasgian Petroleum's operations. If, however, the operation does not go as planned, the Throne might be forced into accepting a parliament with actual powers, even limited ones. Either way, the stakes are high for all in Propontis.

In other news
☞ (National) – Pelasgian Petroleum S.A. begins major drilling operation off the Pelasgian island of Pharos, within Pelasgian EEZ, as Pelasgia applies to the CSC's Dispute Resolution Tribunal to resolve its dispute with Montedoro over EEZ claims in the Claret Sea. Conflicting protests by pacifist-environmentalist and nationalist groups outside the headquarters of Pelasgian Petroleum S.A. in downtown Propontis were kept apart by police and remained peaceful and relatively calm. An attempted protest by a small group outside the Montedoro Embassy in Propontis was quickly broken up by police, with all participants detained, as Pelasgia wishes to keep tensions low during the CSC dispute resolution process.
☞ (Law & Order) – Propontis Procuratorate files criminal charges against six individuals following incident at Propontis Cathedral on International Mother's Day earlier this month. During the incident, a small group of topless women attempted to enter the Cathedral while Divine Liturgy was being held, in order to protest alleged instances of "patriarchal oppression." The group was prevented entry by the faithful, and police soon arrested the women for gross insult to public morality and religious sentiment, attempted criminal sacrilege, public nudity, and gross indecency. The Orthodox Church has reportedly excommunicated the women, while the Holy Synod has met to discuss a potential Patriarchal Anathema against their organisation.
☞ (Economy) – Pegasus Aerospace unveils prototype of new supersonic passenger aircraft, advertised as being fast enough to fly "from Propontis to Welmonton in 9 hours." The aircraft, named "Velos" (Βέλος, Pelasgian for "Arrow") boasts a sharp shape and v-style wings, and is alleged to be much more economical than past supersonic passenger plane models. Though the prototype is still in its early stages, Pegasus remains convinced that the design could revolutionize commercial air travel and bring the company millions in profits. Regardless of whether such claims are true, the design has certainly attracted interest, both from investors and experts, as well as the broader public.
 
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Pelasgian Senate Renews Military Aid to Asteria
Propontis, 14 June 2020 | Markos Makellares


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Pelasgian Kataphraktos II Tanks (designated Type 24 by the Imperial Pelasgian Army) being transported by rail through central Pelasgia. Pelasgia's Pegasus Heavy Industries S.A. has sold hundreds of units of these tanks abroad, including many to the Christian Revolutionary Republic of Asteria.

The Governing Senate of the Pelasgian Empire has authorised yet another year's worth of military aid to the Christian Revolutionary Republic of Asteria, a close partner of the Empire across the Long Sea. The military aid, which is around 1.4 billion Euromarks, has been included in Pelasgia's annual military budget for over two decades, and often includes gifts of older Pelasgian military equipment (such as the legendary Type 15 and Type 24 tanks being replaced by Type 26 variants), low interest loans for materiel purchases, and discounted hardware, as well as some direct grants. Asteria partially pays Pelasgia back by buying more equipment and repair parts from Pelasgian industries using the money. More importantly, this funding has solidified a close political, diplomatic, and economic relationship between the two states, as Pelasgian patronage has served to build up Asterian military power and enabled the Christian state to survive in a region surrounded by atheistic and militant liberal regimes. Pelasgia's support for the Revolutionary Christian regime from its early days for ideological and practical reasons engendered this relationship, which has evolved to close bonds over years. Like every year, the Chamber of Deputies passed a motion supporting the funding almost unanimously, as almost all factions in the Pelasgian legislature acknowledge Asteria's importance as a partner of Pelasgian policy in the region.

As the Long Sea region has begun warming in recent months, Propontis has seen fit to lean more heavily on its traditional ally in Remuria, a strategy which seems to have bore fruit given the latter's membership in Claret Sea Council and increasing talk of formalised economic cooperation between the two countries. Pelasgia's increase of the military aid by 0.4 billion compared to last year could be evidence of the Empire's increasing concern over the expansion of foreign military alliances in Gallia and near the Long Sea, given Auraria's recent admission to the Democratic Defence Initiative, a body including many states which have openly voiced criticism of Pelasgian policy in the region, as well as traditional Pelasgian allies such as the Kingdom of Eiffelland-Retalia. Specialists have noted a sharp increase in Pelasgian defence spending this year, with increased funding for Asteria matching growing funding for the Empire's own forces, given the insurgency in the Pelasgian Far Southern Territories and the increasingly tenuous situation in the Empire's southern neighbour, Nzadiland. The Long Sea situation has certainly caused concern in Propontis, as the Empire has sought to prepare its navy for asymmetric naval warfare since the Long Sea Crisis which happened earlier this decade. Though the Empire has so far funded these expansions through the considerable profits of Pelasgian Petroleum S.A. and taxes, critics note that considerable additional credit might soon be required, obliging the Empire to levy taxes for its repayment. This is a move which the Throne has resisted for political reasons, namely the political reform that the Chamber of Deputies would likely request in exchange for additional tax levies. Whatever the outcome of the Southern Himyari Emergency, it seems increasingly likely that the Throne will have to yield to some of the Chamber's demands, if only to fund its own increasing military needs at home.

In other news
☞ (International) – Imperial Pelasgian Air Force and Pelasgian Southern Himyari Company begin airlifting additional supplies to the Confederation of Serenierre following thousands of deaths as a result of Cyclone Minerva. The Imperial Pelasgian Navy has offered to provide search and rescue and medical support following the arrival of a Third Fleet detachment in the region approximately next week, to support Southern Himyari security forces against the HPU insurgency. The Pelasgian Prime Minister expressed his grief for the developments in Serenierre in a press conference on Friday.
☞ (Law & Order) – Propontis Criminal Court of First Instance condemns six Mother's Day protestors to five years in prison for gross insult to public morality and religious sentiment, attempted criminal sacrilege, public nudity, and gross indecency. The six women attempted to hold a nude protest in the Patriarch Cathedral of Hagia Pronoia in Propontis on International Mother's Day, while red paint which (according to the Prosecutor) they planned to throw on the icons inside the Church was also found in their possession. The women apparently hoped their actions would bring attention to "the hundreds of Pelasgian women who lose their lives in backstreet abortions every year" due to the Empire's staunch criminal ban on most abortions.
☞ (Culture) – Eustathios Protopsaltes received the Irine of Iolcus award for this year's most beautiful icon with the icon of Christ Sovereign. The icon, which features Jesus on a golden throne dressed in Imperial regalia and carrying a book of Divine Law, is to be displayed in the recently renovated Grand Chamber of the Civil Court of Cassation in Propontis. Protopsaltes, a native of the island of Makri, is noted for his strict adhesion to traditional crafting and painting techniques, while demonstrating a style which combines Propontine iconography with classical painting styles, merging tradition with realism and beauty.
 
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Serenierre

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Confederation of Serenierre
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The kind assistance of the Pelasgian Government and the Imperial Pelasgian Navy shall never be forgotten. The Confederal Government is much obliged for the support we have received from H.E. The Prime Minister of Pelasgia and his tireless efforts to strengthen the resolve of the rescue and disaster relief efforts in the country.

Guillaume de Vollenhoven
Minister
 

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Senate Establishes Internet Oversight Agency, Places Controls on Internet
Propontis, 24 June 2020 | Markos Makellares


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The Ministry of Communications, Pelasgia's main oversight agency for mass media, telecommunications, and the internet, which includes the new State Council for Communications and Information Systems (KSTPS)

The Governing Senate of the Pelasgian Empire has published Act 97/2020, An Act Respecting Public Oversight over Mass Communications, Internet and Information Technology following Imperial Assent. The Act establishes that State Council for Communications and Information Systems (Κρατικὸν Συμβούλιον Τηλεπικοινωνιῶν καὶ Πληροφοριακῶν Συστημάτων) or KSTPS (ΚΣΤΠΣ) to "oversee all mass communications and electronic and online communications within the entire territory of the State, and the ensure their compliance with the public order, state sovereignty and laws of the Pelasgian Empire." Overall, the Act gives the new agency broad powers to censor websites or other online material deemed to contravene Pelasgian law, public policy or public morals, such as websites enabling the purchase of narcotics or child pornography, or websites seeking to subvert the rule of law. Likewise, material promoting antisocial or subversive tendencies is to be subject to censorship. KSTPS is envisaged as an agency tasked with enforcing the Pelasgian doctrine of "internet sovereignty;" i.e. the idea that Pelasgia's internet should be insulated from cultural and political influences that contravene the norms and public policy of Pelasgia, to avoid destabilising or otherwise socially deleterious effects of both foreign and domestic internet usage. Moreover, KSTPS is charged with oversight of standards for information technology and systems for the Pelasgian State and for Pelasgian overall, including commercial software and hardware in Pelasgia.

For the most part, the Act was received well in the Chamber of Deputies, which passed a motion supporting it, with most factions voting in its favour save for certain Liberal Union deputies. Notably, the DKKP abstained from the vote. Civil society showed a mixed reaction to the new law. One the one hand, the highly powerful Orthodox Church endorsed the law as a means to block the promotion of "degenerate tendencies" online, probably referring to unconventional sexual orientations or liberal social attitudes, which Pelasgians are increasingly exposed to online. On the other hand, the Pelasgian Civil Rights Association condemned the move as "blatant censorship," arguing that the Imperial Government would use it to silence dissidents and isolate Pelasgians from alternative political opinions from abroad. Professor Anaxandros Daganas of the Grand Patriarchal University of Propontis, who teaches geopolitics and international law, described the new law a step in Pelasgia's longstanding policy of "Sovereign Space," i.e. a space of Europe governed by Pelasgian laws and exempted from the encroachment of global progressive and liberal ideology, or modern political theory in general. He essentially likened the establishment of KSTPS to an online version of Pelasgia's long-standing policy of prohibiting subversive political associations. "The KSTPS," he said, "is like the Krypteia or at least the Gendarmerie, but merely online." Another stated objective of the new law is the protection of Pelasgians' online privacy and data. Compliance with related provisions is to be ensured by KSTPS, while the law stipulates that any personal data collected from Pelasgian citizens online must be stored in server databases that are physically located in Pelasgia.

In other news
☞ (Defence) – Imperial Pelasgian Air Force and Imperial Pelasgian Army stage large-scale exercises in southern Pelasgia using airborne forces, mechanised infantry, and light attack aircraft. Though the Defence Ministry merely called the exercises "standard practice," commentators speculated whether the drills were aimed at preparing for suppressing an internal revolt or for launching a rapid assault in an asymmetrical warfare setting, where Pelasgian would not be faced with an equivalent regular army.
☞ (Far South) – Third Fleet special squadron arrives in the Far South and begins conducting operations to suppress HPU insurgency. III Marine Division disembarks in Port Neolcus, while aerial bombardment and guided missile attacks are reported in areas where the PHU has been engaged in attacks against Pelasgian-aligned indigenous forces. Third Fleet forces have also provided search and rescue and other relief support to the hurricane-stricken inhabitants of the neighbouring nation of Serenierre, a long-time Pelasgian ally.
☞ (Society) – Orthodox Church and municipalities across Pelasgia celebrate Saint John the Baptist's Feast Day. Celebrated in most traditional Christian monarchies of Europe, the holiday is a favourite among the peasantry and is thought to be descended from older, pagan traditions. The lighting of large bonfires to dance around of, boys and girls' jumping over smaller fires, and celebratory processions in each parish are common customs of the holiday, with large feasts generally taking place on its eve.
 
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Pelasgia 1 News - Imperial Broadcasting Company (VER)

Please hold for an important message by His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor.


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THEODORE
EMPEROR AND AUTOCRAT OF THE PELASGIANS, AUGUSTUS OF THE SOUTH

To Our good and loving subjects,

Having taken into consideration the present circumstances of Our Far Southern possessions, and at the advice of Our Senate and Council of Ministers, We have the utmost joy and highest privilege of declaring that the Insurrection of the so-called "Himyari People's Union" in the Far South is at an end. Today, at six in the afternoon, the Banner of the Double Headed Eagle of the Pelasgian Empire rose over the City of Mfalme, the former capital of Our Vassal, the much beloved and wise late King of the Southern Kintu. This signifies the liberation of the Southern Himyari Kingdom from the murderous terrorists of the HPU, who put countless thousands of their fellow countrymen, including their own King, to the sword. This liberation, it ought to be noted, was effected not by Colonial Troops, but by Native Units, led by Our Own Nethian Rifles. For this feat, we have bestowed upon the Standard of the First Battalion of Our Own Nethian Rifles the Imperial and Military Order of Saint Valentian the Great. Though pockets of insurgent activity persist in the Far South, the insurgents' designs to abolish and replace the Kintu Kingdoms have been thwarted. Likewise, the attempts by Kintu supremacists within the HPU to exterminate our Kéké vassals have also been thwarted, as Our Far Southern units now safely garrison all four Protectorates, assisted by native and foreign troops of the Pelasgian Southern Himyari Company.

It is our distinct conviction that, in a few months time, the Southern Himyari Emergency will be at an end. Already, we have taken the initiative to lift the State of Siege previously active ιn the Colonies. This State shall be limited to the Protectorates until the end of the year. Let this be a signal to all that Pelasgia keeps Her obligations to Ηer allies, no matter the cost, in gold and in blood, that such obligations might entail.

However, the military defeat of the HPU terrorists is but the first step in the reconstruction of the Far South. The lands of the Kintu and the Kéké lay in complete desolation from the veritable civil war which occurred therein. Thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children have been slain, the exact figures for which are still unknown and being counted. To those who survived, grievous harm of both a physical and psychological kind has surely been done. Villages, towns, and cities lay ruined and burned. Families, friendships, partnerships, and communities have been destroyed forever. These wounds cannot heal through the mere pacification of the rebels, or even through their just punishment, which We have vowed to carry out. Reconstruction and support are the only means to give the Kintu and the Kéké the future that was stolen to them by the HPU. Our Treaty with the Kings in Fort Antipas clearly stipulated our obligation to provide support and social services to Our protected persons in times of hardship. This is an obligation which We take most seriously, and which We shall fulfill completely. Already, thousands of PSHC workers have been dispatched to aid in the reconstruction of the Kintu and the Kéké lands.

This reconstruction must be accompanied by another step: self-government. The Far South has, for a long time, been akin to a child for the Throne of Propontis. But, like all children, it must finally grow up and take its place among the world. It is Our distinct belief that a certain degree of home rule is not only helpful but necessary for peace, order, liberty, good government, reconciliation, and reconstruction in South Himyar. At the advice of Our Ministers, We have presented before the Senate of the Empire a document to serve as the basis for such a transition. This document, titled A Proclamation Regarding Our Far Southern Territories, is meant as a prototype for the Basic Law of a new, autonomous Dominion of Ours in South Himyar. Based on this Proclamation, We have summoned representatives of Our Colonies and Our Protectorates to Propontis, to discuss the formation of a new Federation of South Himyar. We call upon every loyal and true subject of Ours to support Us in the noble endeavour of rebuilding South Himyar and granting it home rule, so that it might develop itself to its full potential and take its place in the sun amongst the Nations of Europe. In this struggle, all the inhabitants of South Himyar, whether Native or Settler, Christian or Pagan, Pelasgian or Barbarian, Kintu or Kéké, shall have a role.

On the occasion of this broadcast, We must seize the chance to address Our loving and loyal subjects about two more issues which have occupied the minds of many in Pelasgia and in Europe as of late. First and foremost, We must address the issue of the Long Sea, and especially the Claret Sea. In so far as Pelasgia is concerned, the Long Sea is an international waterway which belongs to all Nations of Europe. It is, therefore, completely inadmissible that there should be any one body claiming to rule over the Long Sea, whether it be a state or an organisation. However, it is equally up to the Nations of the Long Sea to determine their own affairs and settle their own disputes without outside interference. Any such interference is illegitimate and must be resisted at all costs. Pelasgia, as the largest Nation of the Long Sea, has a duty to defend the Long Sea from outside domination. This duty We shall uphold to the bitter end, always in conjunction and consultation with Our partners on both coasts of the Long Sea. Pelasgia equally has a duty to keep the Long Sea safe and open to international trade, a duty which We have fulfilled continuously for centuries and shall continue to fulfill. As always, We shall cooperate with Our neighbours in the fulfillment of our mutual duties.

Secondly, We must address the issue of Nzadiland. Pelasgia finds the current situation in that colony of the Dual Monarchy to be an embarrassment to all of humanity, a tragedy beyond all description. Cannibalism, murder, genocide, rape, slavery, plunder, and injustice of every kind have been heaped upon the inhabitants of Nzadiland due to the inability to the local authorities to enforce the law. Criminals and terrorists have seized this opportunity to seize parts of Nzadiland and to attack neighbouring Nations, such as Pelasgia, South Himyar, or Natal. Unfortunately, the Colonial Regime has proven itself incapable of reasserting control. For this reason, Pelasgia has no choice but to endorse the Transitional Council for Home Rule in Nzadiland, the only real alternative to colonial rule, and the only hope for modern, civilized government of Nzadiland by Native Nzadis, of Native Nzadis, and for Native Nzadis. Pelasgia hopes that all of Himyar can come together to end the travesty in Nzadiland. If the situation in Nzadiland persits, the Nations of Himyar might have to seriously consider intervening in Nzadiland to restore peace and humanity.

By the Grace of God, We shall continue to defend Our Realms and the One True Faith.


Propontis, 28 June 2020

Theodore

I.
 
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Editorial: The Policy of Empire has Failed
Propontis, 1 July 2020 | Ioannes Kravatas-Apostolakis, Deputy for Therisus


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Riot police units of the Imperial Pelasgian Gendarmerie outside the Grand Palace of Propontis, during Wednesday's protests against the Empire's foreign policy, which has led to large deficits and a slowing down of Pelasgian trade

Since the end of the Thirty Years' Regency, the governing Absolutist Party has pursued a policy of renewed imperialism across all of Pelasgia's frontiers and far beyond. Pelasgia has sought to assert control over the Long Sea, to the detriment of its own taxpayers. Active colonisation of the certain unprofitable piles of rocks and dust on the southern fringe of Himyar, originaly merely beneficial as whaling outposts, overseas bases in the former Zarakas colony and Justiza, and three separate naval rearmaments since 2000, one of which took place no less than a year ago, have strained Pelasgia's credit and taxed many business and citizens dry. At a time when inter-Long Sea trade has slowed down over geopolitical concerns, the Governing Senate has done everything in its power to aggravate trade partners across the Long Sea and the mercantile business class at home, all the while raising tensions in the region by a heavy-handed dealing of the Montedoro EEZ dispute, a matter which realistically could be dealt with rather quietly, given Pelasgia's obvious strength in comparison to the tiny city state. Added to all these financial black holes are decades of annual military aid to Asteria and Serenierre, and general decades of deficits for social spending and Pelasgia's own massive armament programmes. Pelasgia's policy of always maintaining three carrier fleets on top of a professional army and modern air force are activities which necessitate a strong economic backbone. While Pelasgia was a centre of global commerce in the 1950s, today it is more isolated from Gallo-Germania than ever, and its own peculiar, non-transparent, illiberal, and at times violent political structure does not raise investor confidence.

This week, three international credit rating agencies stated the obvious: that Pelasgia's trustworthiness as a debtor has gone down. It will continue to go down, as long as Pelasgia continues to tread on this path. The goodwill built up by decades of responsible constitutional government can simply not carry over after nearly four decades of authoritarian rule. The Bank of Pelasgia, hardly an independent institution by this point, can continue its policy of "quantitative easing" for as long as it wants; it will only delay the inevitable. At some point, Propontis Stock Exchange (PRX) will start diving. All that the Governor of the Bank is doing is artificially keeping PRX up by plummeting the value of the Pelasgian Hyperpyron, supposedly one of Europe's (and certainly Himyar's) stable reserve currencies. As the price of a loaf of bread skyrockets, as wait-lists for medical appointments keep growing, as Long Sea trade slows down and factories slow down production accordingly, as the working man's pay can buy less and less, and the working woman has to worry about seeing her children drafted, as the Imperial Government supposedly blessed by God aligns with godless communists over the Emperor's own blood relatives in Trier, one has to wonder: for the man on the street, is Empire worth it?

I mean Empire both in its narrow sense as Pelasgia's form of government, our regime, and Empire in its broad sense, in the military domination of half a continent (and perhaps more) by the Propontine elite. While Pelasgia spends billions to upkeep detachments in Justiza and the Sovereign Base Areas off Azraq, while Pelasgia spends further billions of hyperpyra and the lives of hundreds of young Pelasgian men fighting a war on the other end of Himyar over unprofitable rocks and then more money to paint the whole thing as a humanitarian operation, while Pelasgia spends God knows how much meddling in Nzadiland, and our own troops mass on the border of that failed state as we speak, one has to wonder how exactly this benefits the Pelasgian citizenry. The State is supposed to protect its citizens, said Count Chrysopoulos, our Foreign Minister, in his latest heated exchange with the Sylvanian President, and yet, as Pelasgia faces ongoing ethnic conflict and insurgency in Perama, as the sight of riot police near university campuses in the Imperial Capital is now a near daily sight, as the Empire's last regent was assassinated at the heart of the Empire's second largest city, and as police and the Emperor's Own Krypteia violate basic rights of due process and privacy on a regular basis, on has to wonder exactly what the Empire's current policy is protecting us from. The native tribesmen of the Far South were certainly never any danger for Pelasgia, and the pirates in that region could easily be kept at bay by the mercenaries of the Pelasgian Southern Himyari Company without the Third Fleet and an entire Division of Marines. As for the warlords of Nzadiland, I can scarcely sense how they could threaten a modern country with three carrier fleets and more tanks than most warlords have technicals. The major enemy Pelasgia is supposed to fear might perhaps be Kadikistan? That was certainly the original target of the Zarakas and Justiza bases. But the latter brought us the Status Quo Treaty, which we have upheld at a great cost, and so peace should be assured. If anything, the Absolutists' latest overtures to Ivar would show that, far from an enemy, Kadikistan is an ally, of the Absolutists if not of Pelasgia as a whole.

Pelasgia must be the only country in the world where the government prosecutes Kadikistan-aligned communists at home and the same Church that ordains the Emperor preaches against communism, at the same time that the Emperor's Ministers shake hands and exchange pleasantries with Communist dictators while betraying their commitment to their partners across the Long Sea. The Status Quo Treaty is necessary, we are told, to protect Pelasgia. Protect Pelasgia against whom, I ask? There is no country in the Long Sea that could attack Pelasgia and hope to win, not even Kadikistan with its meager fleet, compared to ours. Could it be the radical anarchists from beyond the Long Sea whom we are supposed to fear? I find that quite hard to believe; no military strategist worth their salt could hope the wage an amphibious invasion of Himyar's largest power and win. Even if by some miracle the three modernised fleets the Pelasgian taxpayers have paid so dearly for were defeated, I still reckon that no trade-oriented nation, such as those of the ODS and DDI, would shut down the Long Sea. We are told that we need to keep expanding, or else we will contract. We must be on the offensive, on the conquering side of Empire, or else we will be on the receiving side. This, in a way, is a metaphor for all Pelasgian foreign policy under the Absolutists. With all due respect to His Imperial Majesty's learned Ministers, I must disagree. Pelasgia is not threatened by anyone. Pelasgia could perfectly well live in peace by focusing on Himyar, and limiting its Long Sea activity to peaceful trade, as it did for nearly a century before the Regency. This was, incidentally, the time of Pelasgia's greatest strength and wealth. We do not encourage trade in the Long Sea by inflaming the region or alienating our Gallo-Germanian partners; and we do not encourage internal development in Himyar by fighting wars in half the continent and colonising lands on its other end. The fact that the Absolutists have had to kick off the process of South Himyari Home Rule shows that, on some level, even the Grand Palace understands this.

The question is not whether the Empire should contract. It has already begun to do so. They question is how and how fast. I posit that it should be as fast as possible, and in an organised way, before the circumstances and events of international and domestic politics force it to occur in a much more unpleasant and much less organised way. The Absolutists will claim that there is danger in the Empire contracting, let alone in abandoning the failed policy of Empire. However, the only real danger is to the Absolutist elite, and their outdated, illegitimate form of authoritarian rule. The policy of Empire has already failed, and like all failed policies, it should be abandoned. How many Augousto-Septemvriana and Justinian Crises, how many Justosian fleets and Southern Himyari Emergencies must the Pelasgian citizenry and tax base endure before His Imperial Majesty's Government finally accept this?

Earlier this week, the Chamber of Deputies rejected the Government's new bill of emergency fiscal measures. That bill would have levied new taxes and authorised other fiscal policy measures which would place and additional burden on Pelasgians for the increasing debt spiral that Empire has brought to Pelasgia. The legal committee of the Chamber has consulted sixteen preeminent Constitutional Law specialists, all of whom agreed that His Imperial Majesty is bound by convention to dissolve the Chamber and call for new elections. In violation of the Constitution, the Governing Senate has advised His Imperial Majesty not to do so; the Procurator General must know very well, as His Imperial Majesty's chief legal counsel, that the rejection of tax levies by the Chamber constitutes a vote of no confidence. Though His Imperial Majesty's Decisions on matters of prerogative cannot be challenged without authorisation from the Senate Court, an authorisation I doubt will be given due to the court's overtly political nature, I ask that His Imperial Majesty uphold the Constitution by doing His duty and dissolving the Chamber. The Absolutists do not want this because they already know the outcome of the coming elections: a sweeping victory by the Liberal Constitutionalist Party, followed by calls for parliamentary reform. Once responsible government returns to Pelasgia after fourty years, the policy of Empire is as good as dead. No elected Pelasgian politician will be able to tell their constituents, no matter how limited their suffrage, that Pelasgians should be taxed and should die halfway across the world, and that their economy should suffer, so that some New Peer can plant a flag in some desolate rocks and proudly proclaim Pelasgia's leading status among Himyari nations.

For far too long have the powers that be in this great country, the aristocrats, the clergy, the security and military officers, pointed to lines on maps and desolate rocks to grow those lines, on soulless military hardware and massive parades, as measures of importance and progress. Why do they not point to teenage pregnancy rates? To average years of education? To the percentage of the populace qualified to vote? To healthcare and retirement statistics? To quality and duration of life? To income inequality and unemployment? To working conditions, to living conditions, to family conditions? To the lack of police oversight and to increasingly disempowered and partial courts of law? The New Peers might disavow and prosecute nationalism, but they are the worst nationalists of all: the tribal militarists, the kind who base all pride and achievement on meaningless bloodshed and military domination. We, who are supposed to be the world-shattering evil nationalist liberals for noticing that Pelasgians speak a common tongue, have a common faith, and generally form a people, as do many others, are vilified for wanting to focus on the welfare of that people and on its right to choose its own government. I ask the Pelasgian working man and the Pelasgian housewife: in what country do you want your children to grow up in, and yourself to grow old in? Is it a country that treats you as cannon fodder or a baby dispenser to grow some imaginary line on a map? Or is it a country whose leaders are chosen by you and whose success is measured by the extent to which it makes your life better? Is it a country that is feared because of its aircraft carriers or one that is loved because of its fairness, its openness, its love for peace, its willingness to help, its innovation and dynamic trade? I opt for the latter. If you do so too, join me this Friday outside the Grand Palace of Propontis and come ask for elections, for responsible government, and, most of all, for an end to Empire.

Ioannes Kravatas-Apostolakis is the Deputy for Therisus in the Chamber of Deputies of the Pelasgian Empire and the vice president of the new Liberal Constitutionalist Party, as the former leader of the Liberal Union which merged with the Constitutionalist Party to form the LCP.

Note: The views of the authors of letters to the editor are merely their own and do not reflect the views or policies of Propontios Logothetis S.A., Antoniades Media S.A. or any other company of the Antoniades Group.

In other news
☞ (Far South) – Delegates at the Propontis Convention for South Himyari Home Rule present preliminary plan for Far Southern constitution. The new state, to be called the Federation of South Himyar, would be composed of Eight Colonies and Four Kingdoms. Each federal subject would retain great autonomy and self-government, while the Federal Government would be organised based on a bicameral model and would have powers limited to defence, foreign policy, currency and other such overarching matters. The lower house would be composed of several functional constituencies, to give interests such as the PSHC a lawful channel to exercise their influence subject to public scrutiny, while the upper house would be composed of one delegate for each colony and two delegates for each kingdom, with the Prime Minister having the tie-breaking vote. The Prime Minister would be elected by the lower house. Citizenship would be granted equally to all citizens, including the Kintu and Kéké, and non-Pelasgian and non-registered settlers residing in the colonies at the time of Home Rule. The new state would retain the same monarch as Pelasgia, but would otherwise be an independent Dominion.
☞ (National) – Metropolitan Archbishop Neophytus VI of Iolcus has reportedly excommunicated Prime Minister Baron Platanias due to the latter's friendly policy towards the Rurikgrad Pact and his failure to defend Gallo-Germania from communism. The Metropolitan of Baron Platanias' home city read the excommunication out following the vespers on Tuesday. The Baron was not in attendance, but his wife and family were, leading to a major embarrassment for the Prime Minister's household. The Platanias Family's counsel has indicated that the family may challenge the decision before an ecclesiastical court, though the Archbishopric of Iolcus is one of the most influential in Old Pelasgia and may very well enjoy the support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. A defeat before the court could entail an anathema by the Patriarch, leading to even greater shame for the House of Platanias.
☞ (National) – Perama Command of the Imperial Pelasgian Gendarmerie public admits that squad of twelve gendarmes was killed in an ambush by ethnic insurgents near Mount Masis in southern Pelasgia. Remours regarding the event had been circulating for over a week, before a video of improvised graves being dug up on Mount Masis leaked on Tuesday. The Gendarmerie has scheduled a state funeral for the men, who are the latest to fall in the decades-long low-level insurgent clashes between Pelasgian security forces and ethnic and other radical militants in the faraway inland Himyari highlands of the Empire's south. According to international NGO sources, largely based on Gendarmerie funeral reports and leaks, Pelasgian security forces have suffered around 3,000 dead since the 1980s, for around double the casualties of the insurgents, while several hundred civilians have lost their lives. The Imperial Interior Ministry (YPES) confirmed the casualties and offered its condolences, but refused further comment on the incident.
 
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ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗ! Ἡ ἱστοσελὶς τὴν ὁποὶαν ἀναζητεῖτε οὐ δύνασθαι κυκλοφορεῖν εἰς τὴν περιοχὴν ὑμῶν βάσει τῆς παρακάτω ἀποφάσεως τοῦ Κρατικοῦ Συμβουλίου Τηλεπικοινονιῶν καὶ Πληροφοριακῶν Συστημάτων τῆς Βασιλείας τῶν Πελασγῶν.

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ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΠΕΛΑΣΓΩΝ
ΥΠΟΥΡΓΕΙΟΝ ΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΩΝ
ΚΡΑΤΙΚΟΝ ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΙΟΝ ΤΗΛΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΛΗΡΟΦΟΡΙΑΚΩΝ ΣΥΣΤΗΜΑΤΩΝ
Ἐν Προποντίδι τῇ 4 Ἰουλίου 2020

Βάσει τοῦ Ν. 97/2020 «Περὶ τῆς δημοσίας ἐπιβλέψεως τῶν μαζικῶν ἐπικοινιῶν, τοῦ διαδικτύου καὶ τῆς τεχνολογίας πληροφοριῶν» τῆς Βασιλείας τῶν Πελασγῶν καὶ τῆς Γενικῆς Ὀδηγίας 432/2020 τοῦ Ὑπουργείου τῶν Ἐπικοινονιῶν, τὸ Κρατικὸν Συμβούλιον, βάσει τοῦ νομικοῦ καθήκοντος αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν ἐξασφάλισιν τῆς δημοσίας τάξεως καὶ εἰρήνης καθῶς καὶ τῆς προστασίας τοῦ Ἐθνικοῦ Συμφέροντος ἀποφασίζει καὶ διατάσσει:

1. Τὴν ἄμεσον ἀπαγόρευσιν τῆς κυκλοφορίας τῆς διαδικτυακῆς ἐκδόσεως τῆς ἐφημερίδος «Ὁ Προπόντιος Λογοθέτης» τῆς ὁμωνύμου Ἀνωνύμου Ἑταιρίας τοῦ Ὁμίλου Ἑταιριῶν Ἀντωνιάδου καθ' ὅλον τὸ Κράτος,
2. Τὴν ἄμεσον ἀπαγόρευσιν τῆς κυκλοφορίας τῆς διαδικτυακῆς ἐκδόσεως τῆς ἐφημερίδος «Ὁ Προπόντιος Λογοθέτης» τῆς ὁμωνύμου Ἀνωνύμου Ἑταιρίας τοῦ Ὁμίλου Ἑταιριῶν Ἀντωνιάδου εἰς τὸ ἐξωτερικὸν τοῦ Κράτους,
3. Τὴν ἐπιβολὴν χρηματικῆς ποινῆς ὕψους τριάντα ἐκατομμυρίων (30.000.000) ὑπερπύρων εἰς τὴν Ἀνώνυμον Ἑταιρίαν «Ὁ Προπόντιος Λογοθέτης»,
4. Τὴν περαιτέρω ἐπιβολὴν χρηματικῆς ποινῆς ὕψους τριάντα ἐκατομμυρίων (30.000.000) εἰς τὸν Ὁμίλον Ἑταιριῶν Ἀντωνιάδου,
5. Τὴν ἄμεσον ἀνάκλησιν τῆς ἀδείας διαδικτυακῆς κυκλοφορίας τῆς Ἀνωνύμου Ἑταιρίας «Ὁ Προπόντιος Λογοθέτης» καὶ
6. Τὴν ἄμεσον ἀνάκλησιν τῆς ἀδείας διαδικτυακῆς κυκλοφορίας τοῦ Ὁμίλου Ἑταιριῶν Ἀντωνιάδου.

Τὰ πειθαρχικὰ μέτρα αὐτὰ ἐλήφθησαν μετὰ ἀπὸ ἔρευναν καὶ ἐξέτασιν βάσει καταγγελίας τοῦ Γενικοῦ Εἰσαγγελέως τῆς Γερουσίας κατὰ τῆς Ἀνωνύμου Ἑταιρίας «Ὁ Προπόντιος Λογοθέτης» καὶ τοῦ Ὁμίλου Ἑταιριῶν Ἀντωνιάδου διὰ παραβάσεις τῶν ἄρθρων (...) τοῦ Ν. 97/2020, τῶν ἄρθρων 134, 189, 190, 191 καὶ 192 τοῦ Ποινικοῦ Κώδικος καὶ τῶν ἄρθρων 3 καὶ 4 τοῦ Α.Ν. 509/1947 «Περὶ μέτρων ἀσφαλείας τοῦ Κράτους, τοῦ πολιτεύματος, τοῦ κοινωνικοῦ καθεστῶτος καὶ προστασίας τῶν ἐλευθεριῶν τῶν πολιτῶν».

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ATTENTION! The page that you are looking for is unavailable in your region pursuant to the following decision of the State Council for Communications and Information Systems of the Pelasgian Empire.

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PELASGIAN EMPIRE

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
STATE COUNCIL FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Propontis, 4 July 2020

As per Law 97/2020 "An Act Respecting Public Oversight over Mass Communications, Internet and Information Technology" of the Pelasgian Empire and General Directive 432/2020 of the Ministry of Communications, the State Council, based on its legal duty to ensure public order and peace and to protect the National Interest hereby decides and orders:

1. The immediate prohibition of the circulation of the online version of the newspaper "Propontios Logothetis" of the S.A. of that same name belonging to the Antoniades Group of Companies throughout the State;
2. The immediate prohibition of the circulation of the online version of the newspaper "Propontios Logothetis" of the S.A. of that same name belonging to the Antoniades Group of Companies abroad;
3. The imposition of a monetary penalty of thirty million (30.000.000) hyperpyra against Propontios Logothetis S.A.;
4. The further imposition of a monetary penalty of thirty million (30.000.000) hyperpyra against the Antoniades Group of Companies;
5. The immediate rescission of the online circulation permit of Propontios Logothetis S.A.; and
6. The immediate rescission of the online circulation permit of the Antoniades Group of Companies.

These disciplinary measures were taken following an investigation and inquiry based on a denunciation by the Procurator General of the Senate against Propontios Logothetis S.A. and the Antoniades Group of Companies for violations of articles [...] of Law 97/2020, of Articles 134, 189, 190, 191 and 192 of the Penal Code, and of Articles 3 and 4 of Compulsory Law 509/1947 "An Act Respecting Certain Measures for the Security of the State, the Regime, the Social Regime, and the Protection of the Freedoms of the Citizenry".
 
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Thaumantica

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Ambrosian Department of State

Owners, editors, and writers of the great Propontios Logothetis are hereby offered sanctuary from press silence. Ambrosia remains neutral in the Long Sea, and commends ongoing efforts to find peace and order between the two long stretching continents. We will be in constant contact with our Pelasgian partners in the days and weeks ahead to ensure radical authors and speakers are offered a safe egress from dangerous grounds.
 

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Emperor Calls Snap Election, Refuses to Sign Treaty of Spasse
Propontis, 6 July 2020 | Markos Nikolaou

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A protestor drums celebratory songs in front of a line of riot police officers outside the Senate House; note the Gendarmerie officers wearing green in the background.

A week of protests and the resignation of Baron Thrasivoulos Platanias from the position of Prime Minister seem to have finally pushed the Propontine Throne to take a side in the brewing conflict between reformists and regime hardliners in Propontis. Earlier today, Emperor Theodore III Laskaris announced that he would refuse to sign the highly controversial Treaty of Spesse without the support of the Chamber of Deputies. As the Chamber has already expressed its opposition to the Treaty, the Emperor then dissolved the Chamber and called a snap election, which is set to take place on July 13. The Emperor has thus met the two principal demands of the protestors who had flocked outside the Grand Palace of Propontis asking for his intervention. In Propontis, overall active protestors surpassed a million on Monday morning, according to sources from the General Directorate of Imperial Police. The Imperial Corps of Gendarmerie also noted that protests across the country have been growing, reaching 600,000 in Thermi, the Empire's second largest city. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Platanias, the Emperor has decided to appoint Finance Minister Konstantinos Alexiades as Prime Minister. As Mr. Alexiades is the head of the moderate or reformist faction within the Governing Senate, his appointment sends a strong signal to the hardliner Absolutists that the Throne has begun to move away from their policies. The Procurator General, Marquis Alexios Stergiades, who leads the hardliner faction after the departure of Baron Platanias has not yet reacted in any formal way. Following the Emperor's announcement, he rescinded the arrest warrants for several notable opposition and protests leaders, including Deputies Ioannes Kravatas-Apostolakis and Philippos Merkoures of the Liberal Constitutionalist Party.

The Emperor's decision has likely put the final nail in the coffin of the Absolutists' foreign policy, as, without the Emperor's signature, no treaty or international agreement can be ratified under Pelasgian law. Given that the Emperor has made his signature contingent on the approval of the Treaty of Spasse of the Chamber of Deputies, and given that the Liberal Constitutionalists, who are almost certain to win a broad majority in the Chamber following this snap election, are opposed to the Treaty, the Treaty of Spasse might as well be considered dead in the water. Being the cornerstone of a decade of rapprochement with Kadikistan and of attempts to assert definitive control over the Long Sea, the Treaty of Spasse was the crown jewel of Absolutist foreign policy designs. Without it, Pelasgia's policy of Empire might well be coming to an end. The Emperor also made waves among Constitutional Law scholars and political analysts due to his decision to subject a power of the Imperial Prerogative to the approval of the elected Chamber of Deputies. Up until now, the Throne has staunchly resisted any attempts to assert Chamber control over the exercise of Prerogative Powers and executive actions in general, relegating the Chamber to a largely symbolic body in anything outside of taxes. The decision of Emperor Theodore III to request the approval of the Chamber of Deputies to sign a treaty strikes at the core of the unchecked Imperial Prerogative over foreign policy. This overture might signal the final return of responsible government in Pelasgia, almost five decades after the end of the Attalid Constitutionalist Period of parliamentary government.

With the two-week election period coming ahead, political forces and factions across Pelasgia are preparing for what is likely to be the Empire's most important general election in half a century. The Liberal Constitutionalist Party, currently the largest party in the Chamber and created out of the merger of the Constitutionalist Party and the Liberal Union, is expected to win an absolute majority in the Chamber. The Liberal Constitutionalists can count on wide public support due to calls for reform and economic concern, while most of the major private media is favourable to the Party due to a pro-ODS foreign and trade policy that aligns with the goals of the powerful Association of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists of the Pelasgian Empire (SEVVP). The governing Absolutist Party is, likewise, expected to use every means in its control to try and remain in power, though its increasing alienation from the powerful Pelasgian Orthodox Church due to its rapprochement with Kadikistan and its current minority in the Chamber seem to have doomed it to fail. If anything, the Absolutists would be struggling to maintain their sizeable minority of seats. Finally, the Kadikistan-aligned Communist DKKP is expected to suffer among voters due to increasing public dissatisfaction with the economic effects of the Treaty of Spasse and of Kadikistan's actions in CBS.

Voice of Pelasgia is published with the help of the Ambrossian Press Agency , with the purpose of granting Pelasgians and non-Pelasgians alike accurate information about Pelasgian news, society, politics, economy and culture, without the censorship of the Imperial regime. Sign our petition here to ask the Government of Pelasgia to ease restrictions on freedom of the press and stop region-locking Pelasgia's internet.

In other news
☞ (Far South) – The Delegations of the Colonies of Antipeia, Neolcis, Nea Makri, Ostria, Antiperama, Theodoris, Ankystrion, and Aristarcheia, and the Delegations of the Northern Kintu Kingdom, Southern Kintu Kingdom, Kingdom of the Islands Kéké, and Kingdom of the Highlands Kéké have all approved the proposed Constitution of South Himyar. The proposed Constitution, which is to grant Pelasgian Southern Himyar home rule as the Federation of South Himyar, is to be put to a referendum on July 16. All residents of South Himyar, including unregistered settlers and the local indigenous population, shall be allowed to vote, while the Organisation for Himyari Cooperation, of which Pelasgia is an observer, has been authorised to supervise the vote with international observers. @Natal ; @Azraq
☞ (International) – The interim government of Pelasgia, headed by former Finance Minister Konstantinos Alexiades, has decided to rescind the threatened sanctions against the Organisation of Democratic States, following the decision of the impugned Pelasgian companies to voluntarily comply with ODS trade restrictions against the Rurikgrad Pact and a call by the powerful Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs to do so. The interim administration has equally decided to recall all Pelasgians in CBS, given that the upcoming Pelasgian government will likely choose to rescind recognition of the new People's Republic, thus wanting to avoid leaving Pelasgian citizens stranded abroad. @Johnston Isle ; @Sylvania ; @Eiffelland
☞ (National) – Conflict between Christian and Communist Unions nearly turns violent in Edessa, as Imperial Gendarmerie intervene to separate conflicting demonstrations. Christian labour syndicates, which are largely aligned with the Pelasgian Orthodox Church, have joined nationwide protests for political reform, elections, and an end to imperialist foreign policy, and have even threatened a general strike if elections are sabotaged. By contrast, the DKKP-aligned unions, which favour an alliance with Kadikistan and Furlanie, have denounced the protests as "dividing the working class for the benefit of the bourgeoisie." This conflict of opinions has led to growing tensions within the Pelasgian labour movement, the Christian labour syndicates increasingly gain in membership at the expense of the DKKP-aligned unions.
 
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Pelasgia

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Imperial Broadcasting Company (VER)


Decree 255/2020 (Th. III) - St. C. / G.S. | Pub: FEK 72/2020
THEODORE
EMPEROR AND AUTOCRAT OF THE PELASGIANS

Imperial Decree no. 255 of 2020, "A Decree Respecting the State of Siege"

Article 1.​
At the advice of the State Council, We designate the organisation known as the "Internationalist Communist Party of Pelasgia (DKKP)" as a terror group as per article 5 of Law 395/1990 "An Act Respecting the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism".​

Article 1.​
At the advice of the State Council, We put into effect throughout the territory of the State the Law 4234/1977 "An Act Respecting the State of Siege".​

Article 2.​
Effective from the publication of the present document, We suspend throughout the territory under the territory of the State the effect of articles 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 20, 95 and 97 of the current Constitution of the Pelasgian Empire.​

Article 3.​
1. - We hereby authorise the establishment of Extraordinary Courts Martial by the Military Judicial Authority under article 10 of the Law 4234/1977, subject to validation the relevant Orders by Us within a period of 10 (ten) days.​
2. - We hereby authorise the exercise of all criminal law powers by the Courts Martial, both Extraordinary and Standing, of the Military Judicial Authority until further notice. Cases currently before the civilian courts will not be transferred to the Courts Martial, unless the Military Judicial Authority deems it to be necessary.​

Article 4.​
The present document is effective from the moment of its publication in the Government Gazette.​

Article 5.​
[...]​

Propontis, 8 July 2020

Theodore
I.


The State Council
The Chairman
General Por. Theosophides

The Vice-Chairman
Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril VIII

The Members
[...]
 
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Rheinbund

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Aussenministerium — Ministero degli Esteri — Ministère des Affaires Étrangères
Trier, Eiffelland-Retalien — Treviri, Eiffellandia-Retalia — Trèves, Eiffellande-Rétalie


We are following the developments in Pelasgia with very much interest. It is of utmost importance that the Pelasgians choose for the well-being of the country. Eiffelland-Retalia is fully prepared to pave the way to prosperity for the Pelasgians, with respect for what Pelasgia is in present day, the rich history of the country and the fact that the current civilisations are largely based on Pelasgian fundaments. We fully support the agenda of His Imperial Majesty Theodore III and the Liberal Constitutionalists, and will do everything we can to stimulate Pelasgia's position as an equal and respected member of the community of nations around the Long Sea. We also support Pelasgia's transition to membership of the ODS.

Gianluigi di Gravesano-Carone, Demissionary Minister of Foreign Affairs and Extraordinary Ambassador of the Italophone minority in Eiffelland-Retalia
 

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Imperial Troops Retake Propontis, Pelasgia Veering Towards Civil War
Propontis, 9 July 2020 | Markos Nikolaou

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Soldiers of the Pelasgian First Army man a checkpoint on Motorway 1 (Propontis-Hagios Demetrios-Iolcus Motorway), near the border between the Metropolitan Deme of Propontis and the Deme of Selymbria. Motorway 1 is the main link of Propontis with the rest of continental Old Pelasgia.

The Military Situation
An announcement by the General Staff of Defence of the Pelasgian Empire claims that the Pelasgian First Army has restored complete control of the Government of Pelasgia over the capital city of Propontis. According to local reports, fighting has died down, with insurgents either arrested or killed, and the last few struggles in hiding being chased out by Imperial patrols while they try to flee the city. The situation in Propontis appears to be stabilising, as Imperial Police and Gendarmerie patrol the streets and seem to have generally restored order. According to estimates released by the Interior Ministry, an estimated 42,000 DKKP insurgents and sympathisers operated in the capital. Of those, nearly 7,000 were killed in clashes with Imperial forces, with another 30,000 incapacitated and/or arrested during the three days and four nights of combat that rocked the capital. A whopping 1,200 insurgents are unaccounted for, most likely having died in clashes with loyalist civilians and paramilitaries, or having suffered extrajudicial executions by pro-government militias. A remainder of 3,800 insurgents appear to have fled the capital, further inland into the highlands of central Old Pelasgia, or to have otherwise evaded capture. Government forces have suffered 4,230 casualties, 3,000 wounded, and 600 missing.

The mobilisation of the Pelasgian Civil Guard, a volunteer paramilitary reserve force used for internal insurgency prevention since the 1950s, appears to have played a crucial role in the quick suppression of the revolt, as did the intervention of the First Army and the I Imperial Marine Division, both of which were stationed in Propontis Province. And yet, the most important factor of the outcome appears to be the lack of popular support for the DKKP, which reached the point of open hostility in many cases. Propontine civilians directed Imperial troops to the location and identities of DKKP supporters, while there were even incidents of Government troops having to prevent lynchings of DKKP supporters from local civilians, especially those affiliated with Christian Labour Syndicates. This was far from coincidental; before the intervention of Imperial troops, the DKKP attempted to carry out purges of its opponents, including hundreds of Christian Syndicalists. The retaliatory lynchings before Imperial police restored order only added to the death toll, which seems to have reached 6,000 civilians across the city. Among the dead were many prominent citizens on DKKP hitlists, including journalists, artists, and politicians critical of Ivar. Many leaders who were not even critical of Ivar but who were popular among the DKKP electorate and thus threatened its power base, such as Liberal Union Deputy Christos Theodorides and former Foreign Minister Count Nikolaos Chrysopoulos, were reportedly assassinated by the DKKP.

Across Pelasgia, the situation appears to be critical. Insurgencies also broke out in other urban centres, including Thermi, Sindos, Neapolis, Evosmos, Priene, Nikaia, Akra, Diabata, Nestani, Orestias, Ptolemais, Cassandris, Antigoneia, Ioannoupolis, Khalkaiotis, Nestani, Kerasond, and Hierosolyma. However, most of these uprisings in major cities have been put down by Imperial troops, law enforcement and the Civil Guard. Nevertheless, a significant presence of DKKP insurgents persists near Sindos, Akra, Nikaia, and Neapolis, and in the corridor between Nestani Province and the northern half of Euxenoi Prefecture, in the mountainous border of Old Pelasgia. The lands of the Melingoi in the central Elimeioton Prefecture also have a significant DKKP insurgent presence. Smaller holdouts persist in the mountains of three Archipelago islands and the small mountains near Thermi and Antigoneia. While most holdouts in northern Pelasgia are expected to be eliminated halfway through July, with most holdouts outside of mountainous areas already being evacuated by retreating DKKP forces, southern Pelasgia, especially Alexandrinon and Voukellarion Prefectures, are practically overrun with DKKP insurgents. One the one hand, Alexandrinon might be retaken in early August, given a more significant Imperial presence. Voukellarion, on the other hand, has a history of insurgent activity and a chronic problem of a weak Imperial presence, meaning it will likely form the stronghold of the DKKP insurgent activity for months to come. Only through a persistent campaign could the Propontis Government retake the Prefecture, though, as the next section will show, political realities might complicate this.

The Political Situation
In Propontis, the military has, for all intents and purposes, taken over the Pelasgian Government. A number of Cabinet ministers were killed during infighting in Propontis, and those who were not have largely been arrested due to suspicions of sympathies with the pro-Treaty of Spesse faction. The Chief of the Imperial Pelasgian Army's General Staff, General of the Army Porphyrios Theosophides, has been appointed Prime Minister, and Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril VIII has been made Vice-Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Pelasgia's Cabinet. A series of interim career bureaucrats, military and security officers, and diplomats, all staunchly loyal to the Constitutionalist Faction, have been appointed to fill the new cabinet. The Emperor, who was flown to Prinkeponesos Island near Propontis for his safety on Monday night, has now been flown back to Propontis but remains closely guarded in the Grand Palace for his own safety. General Theosophides, by all accounts a committed Constitutionalist, met Deputies Ioannes Kravatas-Apostolakis (of the Liberal Constitutionalists' Liberal Faction) and Philippos Merkoures (of the Liberal Constitutionalists' Constitutionalist Faction) and reassured them that elections for the Constituent Assembly would take place, albeit with a slight delay, on July 17th. The same, he said, would occur for the South Himyar Home Rule Referendum.

Military and political leaders in Memphis, however, do not seem to agree with this proposal. Though staunchly anti-Communist (and having the fewest DKKP hotspots of any region of the Empire), the easternmost part of continental Pelasgia has also always been staunchly reactionary and anti-democratic. The powers that be in Cassandris view parliamentary and constitutional reform suspiciously, and were clearly hoping the current conflict would at least put the matter off for a while. General Cassandros Stolites, the chief of Pelasgia's Eastern Military District, clearly indicated that Memphis has no intention of allowing voting for a Constituent Assembly on July 17th for "public security reasons." This statement was echoed by the Absolutist Party hardliner Governors of Souchoton and Rhakotaion Prefectures, the two Prefectures that make up Memphis. Increasingly, it appears that Pelasgia's formal government and military are splitting between an Absolutist Party-controlled parallel state in Memphis, and the Liberal Constitutionalist and military-dominated rest of the country. The Pelasgian Chamber of Deputies passed a motion condemning this move by Memphis officials, as did the Throne, though the now opposition Absolutist Deputies were notably absent from the Chamber (as were, obviously, the DKKP deputies).

To further complicate matters, Philistaea, Pelasgia's most volatile region, appears to have had a much more virulent reaction to the DKKP revolt than the rest of Pelasgia. Though the DKKP revolt was quickly suppressed on the first day of its occurrence in that region, a rebellion by militant Urudoah Nationalist and Separatist groups quickly followed and spiralled out of control, supported by many local Urudoah officials and troops, as well as much of the local populace. The self-proclaimed Philistaean National Liberation Front has been engaged in wide-scale fighting with Pelasgian security forces and loyalist troops in the region, with units of the Pelasgian Fourth Army seemingly fighting one another. Jewish organisations and armed groups have generally sided with the Empire, seeing the Empire as a shield against potential abuse by the Urudoah majority, as was the case following the 1957 Septemvriana. Though Pelasgian troops and Jewish loyalist militias retain control of Hierosolyma, Philistaean separatists have seized control of several major Philistaean cities, including Sidon, Azotos, Tyrus, and Hagioi Apostoloi. Unless Pelasgia is able to quickly contain the situation in Philistaea, Propontis might finally lose control over the region, which could likely be reduced to ethnic infighting between Christian Urudoah and local Jewish groups. The Empire's focus of most military resources in the fight against the DKKP might very well mean that Pelasgia will be forced to arm the Jewish groups and let them fight the Philistaeans themselves, in exchange for formal independence and control over Hierosolyma.

Voice of Pelasgia is published with the help of the Ambrossian Press Agency , with the purpose of granting Pelasgians and non-Pelasgians alike accurate information about Pelasgian news, society, politics, economy and culture, without the censorship of the Imperial regime. Sign our petition here to ask the Government of Pelasgia to ease restrictions on freedom of the press and stop region-locking Pelasgia's internet.

In other news
☞ (International) – Ecumenical Patriarchate of Propontis excommunicates Prime Minister and several Ministers of Furlanie who signed Treaty of Spesse for supporting communism, and threatens to excommunicate local Archbishop if he does not actively fight against Furnalie's move towards Kadikistan. The Patriarchate has taken an openly Anti-Kadikistan stance after Ivar banned Pelasgian Orthodoxy in Kadikistan and persecuted thousands of Orthodox Christians in that country, in apparent retaliation for Pelasgia's repudiation of the Treaty of Spesse. The Orthodox Church has begun coordinating with Orthodox and secular authorities across Europe to try and move Kadikistani Orthodox refugees out of Kadikistan.
☞ (International) – Pelasgia issues embargo against @Kadikistani Union in retaliation for Ivar's cutting trade links between the two countries and violating the religious liberty of thousands of Orthodox Christians. Pelasgian Foreign Minister Nikolaos Margarites openly accuses Kadikistan of fermenting the DKKP insurgency and states that Kadikistan has "buried communism in Pelasgia for good" as Pelasgian Government moves to outlaw both the DKKP and its ideology across the Empire. "Kadikistan has violated the Status Quo Treaty unilaterally, using the choices of private companies and the decision of the Emperor not to sign a treaty that has anything to do with the original SQT as an excuse," Mr. Margarites said in a press statement.
☞ (International) – Pelasgian Foreign Ministry, General Directorate of Imperial Police to coordinate with authorities of @Remuria and other foreign countries wishing to evacuate their citizens from Pelasgia. Several designated safe points for the extraction of foreign nationals have been set up in areas firmly under Government control, according to Interior Ministry sources. Foreign nationals unable to reach such a point have been advised to remain in a safe location or in hiding until order is restored in their area by Imperial forces.
 
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Azraq

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الخارجية‎ وزارة
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The Empire of Azraq deplores the descent into ethnic, religious and political violence in the Pelasgian Empire and hopes law and order, and the authority of the rightful Imperial regime, is restored soon. We stand ready to help our neighbours achieve peace and security in any way possible.

Communism is an ideology fundamentally alien to the cultures and traditions of Himyari peoples and we will not allow its violent, revolutionary ways to gain a foothold on this blessed continent.
 

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NOTE TO OUR READERS: THANK YOU! With your support, the Government of Pelasgia has overturned the publication ban on Propontios Logothetis S.A. and reversed the decision of July 3, 2020 against our paper by the Ministry of Communications.

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As DKKP Insurgency Fizzles Out, Pelasgia and Memphis Increasingly Polarised over Constitution
Propontis, 11 July 2020 | Ioannes Kravatas-Apostolakis, Deputy for Therisus


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Soldiers of the Pelasgian 6th Airmobile Brigade and contractors of the Green Legion boarding a Type 47 helicopter after completing anti-insurgency operations against DKKP rebels in central Pelasgia

The much-acclaimed and much-afeared DKKP insurgency has, in the end, proven to be nothing but a short whimper. The DKKP, outmanned and outgunned by the Imperial forces, hated by much of the Pelasgian populace, and basing its strategy on outdated popular revolt plans from the 1950s, managed to inflict terror across Pelasgia for almost a week, but was promptly suppressed across most of the Empire's metropolitan territories within a few days after the Pelasgian military intervened. In the end, Propontis was completely pacified after three days, without there ever being a real danger of a full-scale revolution or civil war. The DKKP, numbering somewhat short of 28,000 insurgents across Pelasgia, is faced up against a modern Imperial military of 294,096 active personnel, with many more another 56,000 in reserve. Added to that are 307,149 personnel of the Imperial Gendarmerie and Coast Guard, both of which have "Mobile" detachments essentially resembling light military units specifically designed for internal regime stabilisation, as well as around 65,000 Civil Guard volunteers. As the Imperial war machine awakes from its slumber, the DKKP finds itself isolated and surrounded; the Empire controls all major ports, airports, and urban and industrial regions, which are largely returning to pre-crisis production and trade capacities. The DKKP is relegated to some holdouts in the Agraian and Leontian Mountains, the Haydian Highlands, and the Lycaonian Mountain Range. Spread out over an area of 1.973 million km², the DKKP's 28,000 irregulars can do little, especially when reduced to areas with little industrial, economic, or demographic importance, all the while being constantly hunted down by the Empire's modern anti-guerilla equipment, much of which originates from Pelasgia's economic partners across the Long Sea.

The Imperial Regime has taken every chance possible to loudly bang the drum of its success: in around a week's time, it has beaten back the grand DKKP insurgency that Pelasgia was supposed to avoid with the SQT. "Pelasgia," said Interior Minister Michalis Tiveriades, "is, apart from a few mountainous regions and some unrest in the chronically unstable region of Philistaea, as safe for visit and business as it ever was. And it will only get safer, as the new Constitution stabilizes the country in months to come." Though Mr. Tiveriades's statement is obviously over-ambitious (it is his job to reassure the citizenry after all), some calm has started returning to most of urban Pelasgia. The Government, now staffed by hardliner Constitutionalists, has taken the opportunity to go ahead with Constitutional reform: elections for Pelasgia's Constituent Assembly will go ahead with a slight delay, on July 17. The South Himyar Home Rule Referendum will proceed as planned, on that same day. All adult Pelasgians will be allowed and able to vote, and the Imperial Gendarmerie and Army will ensure the safety of polling stations in regions near remaining DKKP hotspots. As Pelasgia heads in its first truly universal election in nearly 50 years, two major obstacles stand in its way. Firstly, Philistaea remains a hotbed of unrest; though the Imperial military and security forces have restored peace to much of the region, authorities in several cities of the region have proclaimed their open wish for independence. Those separatists plan to run in the local elections for the Constituent Assembly, to make their demands heard in Propontis. Their almost assured victory thanks to the ethnic Urudoah majority has led to great concern among Philistaea's ethnic Pelasgian and Jewish communities, which have begun to form militia groups of their own, for protection. Secondly and most importantly, the region of Memphis (represented by Rhakotaion and Souchoton Prefectures) remains under firm Absolutist control. The local elite, consisting of a large minority of Pelasgians and Pelasgised Kyphts, has no desire to give the masses below constitutional parliamentary government. The powerful local Patriarchate of Cassandris, acting as a state within a state in the Orthodox Church, has mobilised the local populace against Constitutional rule.

As Memphis, unlike Philistaea, has proclaimed its desire to block the election, concerns have started to arise in Propontis. Despite being smaller than Pelasgia and only containing but slightly over 20 million out of Pelasgia's population of 125 million, Memphis is a rich region with two relatively large and modern Army formations, the headquarters of significant Second Fleet units, and Air Force units forming a significant core of Pelasgia's eastern air defence region. All these are staunchly loyal to the Absolutists as, truth be told, is a large segment of the populace. If Memphis decides to block the vote and refuse to recognise the Constituent Assembly, Pelasgia would be faced with the open revolt of not one but two of its major provinces. Propontis does control most of Pelasgia's industry and population. The vast majority of Pelasgian heavy industry and population growth comes from northern coastal regions of Old Pelasgia, and Propontis's new ideology of Nationalism would allow it a measure not seen in Pelasgia in decades: a mass levy. Current figures place conscription of just the latest batch of Pelasgians entering military age at over 2,154,809. Recruit just half of those, and the Propontis Government would add a million recruits to its troops. Within a month or two, they could be basically trained enough to be sent to the front-lines. Within another, Pelasgia's industrial capacity could equip most of them on line with most current Pelasgian troops, replacing their storage equipment with modern standard-issue. Of course, that would require a full-on mobilisation. Propontis could easily win a civil war, if it wanted it to. But that would mean going to war against its own countrymen in Philistaea and Memphis. The question arises, as Propontis tries to reform itself and rebrand as a Constitutional Parliamentary Monarchy, does it want to forcefully keep millions of inhabitants who clearly do not desire to be part of the Empire in it, all the while scorching its own earth? Memphis, for its part, remains largely agricultural out of a few rich mercantile port cities, which could easily be blockaded by the Pelasgians. Its materiel, though significant, could not be replaced in time to match that of the Imperial forces. Its soldiers could scarcely be equipped in case of a levy. Memphis could win every battle but would still lose the war.

In the end, Propontis might be forced to let Philistaea go and focus on Memphis. The outcome of a Memphis war is clear. Realistically, both sides should come to a compromise to coexist, and allow history to proceed. Whether that will happen remains to be seen.

In other news
☞ (Himyar) – State funeral to be held for Pelasgian Ambassador and staff assassinated by terrorists in @Central Himyar according to Government sources. Pelasgia offers to cooperate with Camp Hill in tracking down the terrorists, as Himyar is increasingly engulfed in flames, shattering the "safe haven" illusion many in the continent have sought to cultivate. As peace returns to South Himyar, many Pelasgians are increasingly looking to the now peaceful and soon-to-be independent statelet of the Far South as an enticing destination to resettle.
☞ (Long Sea) – Imperial Pelasgian Navy and Coast Guard resume anti-piracy and security patrols in the Long Sea, with added focus of intercepting rebel shipments headed for Pelasgia. Navy General Staff confirms that Pelasgia intends to cooperate with international forces already in the Long Sea in policing the area against piracy and keeping it open for commerce and free navigation. "Pelasgia's northern port cities and its large shipping sector depend on an open and safe Long Sea, even more so now that they are funding and arming the Government's war effort," stated Marine Minister Ioannes Galanos.
☞ (National) – Interior Ministry unveils plan to unify paramilitary Civil Guard and other militia and irregular units fighting alongside Imperial troops in recent weeks under the Pelasgian National Guard. The Guard would be subsumed under the Ministry as a unified but independent paramilitary law enforcement and internal security agency, and would be organised in more regular formations to ensure its discipline, oversight and effectiveness. Interior Minister also air police reform plan, though such a design would likely have to be contemplated by new government following the general election.
 
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