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Polesia

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Analysis: Polesia descends into dictatorship
AP Midweis

Over six months since the end of the Seven Day War, the mood in Amstov is unrecognisable.

The city, which was rapidly emerging as a tourist hotspot and commercial hub, had been a beacon of optimism and hope in a region marked mostly by stagnation and authoritarianism. Amstov was far more socially liberal than its peers in heavily Catholic Elben and Gunnland, while a surge of investment from Eiffelland, Retalia and Burgundy had created thousands of higher paying jobs.

Yet now Amstov feels like a fortress under siege, despite the conflict ending half a year ago. Kadikistani soldiers man street corners, red flags fly from every building while public announcements are never ending.

According to sources in the ex-Trivodnian government, it wasn't meant to be this way. President Meier Lauterpacht, who continues to serve as head of state in the new Polesian People's Republic, reportedly negotiated a relatively soft peace settlement with Kadikistan. "Of course there would be territorial losses and total disarmament but the understanding was Trivodnia would have a bit of wiggle room," says a former presidential aide.

But the truth is Ivar is not driving the Polesian revolution. The radical transformation taking place is the creation of one man: the hitherto unknown Yaakov Zilberfarb, premier of the Polesian People's Republic.

Believed to be a junior officer in the Trivodnian Free State Intelligence Bureau before defecting in his twenties, Zilberfarb is said to have resided in Kadikistan until the Seven Day War. Little personal information is available publicly on the Premier and and official biographies are vague, with small references to a military career and political activism.

Through his attacks on Jewish religious attire, the Zionist movement and support for population transfers with Crotobaltislavonia and Kadikistan, described as ethnic cleansing by some, Zilberfarb has achieved international notoreity.

At home he has secured near total power, with President Lauterpacht rarely seen. The head of a nominal national unity government, Zilberfarb is the face of an increasingly authoritarian regime backed up by aggressive propaganda.

Scores of people are declared Zionist terrorists or agents of the government-in-exile monthly, with many executed. News is heavily censored, huge swathes of the economy have been nationalised while ethnic Slavians are being forced out as Jews are imported in. Access to foreigners is near impossible, with only aid workers and diplomats allowed in and even then with travel restrictions.

"[Polesia] is a giant open air prison camp," a Bergenheimer official says.
 
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Elben

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Many questions but few answers on new viral video
AP Trier

A video on the web ( ) has recently gone viral and people are wondering what it means. The video, of a man in a plague doctor costume, on the surface makes no discernible sense, but online communities have sprung up that have dedicated themselves to trying to decipher any hidden message. Using audio and visual deconstruction technology, members of the community have been able to detect various symbols and audio footprints embedded in the video.

One question that remains outstanding is where the video came from. Franz Linquist of the Institut "Web" is listed as the owner of the account where the video was uploaded most recently. Mr. Linquist, reached by phone, indicated he had received the video on a CD-DVD by mail, no return address given. Mr. Linquist thinks that he received a copy due to the prominence of the institut's online journal, which he edits. "We track all kinds of things floating around out there and report on them. It's no wonder that if someone wanted to get his message, whatever it may be, he'd send it to us first.
 

Ostmark

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OSTMARK CRACKS DOWN ON DISSIDENTS
AP Wien

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By Angelika Klein

VIENNA (People's Republic of Ostmark) - Ostmark's People's Police has cracked down on dissidents, arresting dozens, keeping others from marching in Vienna, and detaining a human rights lawyer affiliated to the World Zionist Congress, activists said Thursday morning. In the first such anti-dissident operation of 2019, People's Chancellor Horst Paul Grasser seemed to indicate that Gallia-Germania's National-Syndicalist state was in no mood for dissent.

A roundup in the country snared dozens and derailed street protests planned to demand that political prisoners be freed. "There was a joint operation at 4:00 am in Vienna and Wilhelmstadt. They searched six flats, and so far we have 78 reported arrests," activist Rupert Rosenbaum told AP. The 37-year-old, who heads Ostmark's Movement for Civil Rights and Freedom of Expression, had called the demonstrations to demand that political prisoners be set free. Sources of the People's Ministry for State Security insist there are no political prisoners, just lawbreakers.

Rosenbaum said he was detained in Wien by agents of the infamous Staatssicherheitsdienst, Ostmark's State Security Service "They threatened me, and said by calling the demonstration I was facilitating public disorder.... disobedience and espionage," Rosenbaum said. Most arrests of dissidents in roundups are brief. Sometimes, the authorities prevent them from leaving their homes to attend a protest or march.

Rusenbaum also claimed that least 20 of his activists were "under siege," in Wilhelmstadt, in the western part of the country "At least one hundred officers of the People's Police were involved in a raid in the residential neighborhood of the town and are preventing our activists from joining the march," said Rosenbaum.
 
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Serenierre

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Commissariat for External Relations

We welcome the efforts by the Volksrepublik to ensure a stable political environment in the country. While we view this matter as a purely internal matter, we believe that Ostmark's efforts to stabilize politics in the country will bode well for the economy, particularly as the star for the country is expected to rise in recent times.
 

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The World Zionist Congress protests the illegitimate arrest and brutalization of individuals for their Jewish identity and fears that antisemitic tendencies across Gallo-Germania are encouraged by the ongoing displacement of Jewish individuals in occupied Trivodnia and the regimes aligned to the military authorities in charge of Eastern Germania.

We call upon Wien to provide access to independent legal counsel to all those that have been arrested and to facilitate their expedited release from unjust captivity. We will also raise this issue with the World Permanent Conference.

Samuel Goldbaum
President of the World Zionist Congress
 

Polesia

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פּאָלעסיאַן פאָלקרעפּובליק
Polesyan Folkrepublik

The Polesian People's Republic thanks the People's Republic of Ostmark for its support in tackling the Zionist menace, a movement that seeks to divide international Jewry and make us subservient to the foreign policy of the so called Anti State, reaction disguised as progress.
 

Furlanìe

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Shaeoiumlan parliament elects opposition leader
AP Thêrebe

After a prolonged discussion the opposition parties elected Shâitash Sâhlji'li iki Kôkrûr as the new Pursuer; the leader of the opposition was supported by the left-wing Workers Party and Progressive Socialist Union, but was also voted by a large majority of the extreme right party "Patriots".
The lack of support from the Eclipse Movement was expected, as the man never tried to hide his distrust towards the blue party and the Thâribah, the Oshâlashîaras religious leader. However, the lack of support for the Pursuer will corner the Movement even more, being now out of government, and essentially out of the opposition group.

The newly elected Pursuer has announced his intention to fight the government coalition at every deal with a foreign country "we will do all in our power to stop this government from donating money to foreigners, we have the power and the resources to survive and thrive without selling our honour" he said in his inaugural address to parliament, where no leading government figure showed up "less money into the sea, and more to our citizens and entrepreneurs"
 

Serenierre

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Serenien legislature condemns Trier's occupation of Retalian Islands
AP Villesen

In a move bound to ratchet up tensions in the newly pacific Gallia, senior opposition members in the Commissariat for People's Deputies have issued a resolution against the unification of the Kingdom of Eiffelland and the Grand Duchy of Retalia, especially the Eiffellander takeover of the islands in the Retalian sea. Charles Millerand and Alexandre Renaudierre, leaders of the two main opposition blocs, condemned the, as they put it, "Germanian incursion into Gallian territories." The two commissars made passionate speeches about the right of self-determination of the Gallian peoples of the Retalian Islands and called on Premier Elisabeth Martinique to mount a vociferous campaign to restrain the imperialistic ambitions of Trier in the wider region.

The Government, in turn, called on the legislature to provide full backing to its stance against the Eiffellander claims to the entirety of the Retalian Sea, endangering the economic health of Peninsular Serenierre. Premier Martinique also called on the legislature to finalise plans to boost defense spending of the Serenien military. In the wake of the war, there have been rumors circulating that Eiffellander efforts to recover from their defeat has resulted in covert efforts to establish an offensive military presence all through the Retalian Islands to offset the interests of the Serenien state in the region.

While the rumors have yet to be corroborated, the Government in Villesen seems to be taking the threat of a militaristic Eiffelland seriously.
 

Touzen

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Left-Wing students take to the streets of Walstadt in solidarity with Sylvanian protests
AP Siyang

After the death of a rally attendant in Charleroi, Sylvania, in what was described as as case of "police brutality" by outraged sympathizers on Twatter, a crowd of around 2500 people took to the streets to the northern city of Walstadt in the Anti-State today in what was labeled a "show of international solidarity with our friends in Sylvania."

Chanting slogans such as "Federalist Party equals Criminal Party" and "Trample the rich", referencing the death of the protester during a mounted charge of the Charleroi Police, students associated with the League of Progressive Youth from the local University of Walstadt occupied the main Walstraße (Wale Street) boulevard late into the night hours, causing significant delays for commuters across the city.

However, the slogans did not simply focus on the events in Sylvania: Vocal criticisms of recent events in the Anti-State were also heard, with some of the speakers at the event criticizing what they called "the sham that is the silent coup against democracy by the Hayabusa Clique" and others condemning recent indications by the Hayabusa administration that certain welfare projects would be allowed to run out in the next months due to a renewed geopolitical landscape requiring "redoubled defense spending efforts."

"It's a (expletive deleted) joke that these crooks are talking about defending democracy and wanting to build more bombs, tanks and guns when it's them that illegally disbanded the All Citizens' Congress by threats of violence and the Anti-State already has one of the highest defense spending commitments in the world. But it's better to have a starving child than one big guy without a gun I suppose. "Anti"-State my (expletive deleted)", one visibly upset young woman said before disappearing into a side street at the sight of a water canon at the far end of the boulevard.

It appears that the situation in Walstadt will remain turbulent for the time being as the Sylvanian protests seem to have encouraged youths abroad to take to the streets with their political demands.
 

Ostmark

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OSTMARK BANS MOVEMENT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
AP Wien


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By Angelika Klein

WIEN (People's Republic of Ostmark) - The Movement for Civil Rights and Freedom of Expression was officially banned by the Ministry for State Security of the People's Republic of Ostmark on Sunday on national security grounds, with a spokesperson of the Ministry for State Security stating that its links with the World Zionist Congress not be regarded as mere "political rhetoric". Instead, the Movement for Civil Rights and Freedom of Expression statements could potentially motivate followers to "cause violence and public disorder", and this was a "compelling" reason to take preventive action against them, said the Ministry's spokesperson.

The ban, which took effect immediately when the government published a gazette notice this morning, came three weeks after the World Zionist Congress called upon Wien to provide access to independent legal counsil to all those who had been arrested in the latest People's Police crackdown on dissent in the small south-eastern german nation. Under the ban, anyone who associates with the Movement by serving the group, participating in gatherings or providing financial assistance could be liable on conviction to a fine and jail sentence of six to nine years "The National-Syndicalist People's Party will never give in to the demands, or tolerate interferences, by certain globalist and international forces who seek to destabilize the People's Republic of Ostmark and overthrow its legitimate government." said Vice Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer in a brief statement during a press conference.
 

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Office of Revolutionary Defense and State Relations
Forever Free
As the Corridor of Tyranny produces the next wave of lamentable news and the antisemitic pogroms of the last months continue, the Anti-State in strong terms condemns the Wien regime's actions and expects the release of all those held prisoner for exercising their democratic right to freedom of speech and association. We will personally hold Mr. Grasser responsible for any misconduct on behalf of the organs of the Ostmarker state.

The Anti-State will continue to be a guardian of Jewish life in Gallo-Germania and assist those with democratic aspirations in unfree societies in realizing their noble intentions. We will continue to use robust and measured means of implementing this agenda across the globe against the opposition of regressive regimes and autocrats and responding to their transgressions against the principles of universal human rights.
 

Serenierre

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Recent events in the People's Republic of Ostmark are generally unhelpful to the cause of the proletarian struggle. The measures as reported seem disproportionate to the threat and we call on the Government in Wien to reconsider its stance.

BERNARD LAVOSNIER || Commissar for External Relations
 

Great Engellex

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NORTHERN CONSTITUENT REPUBLICS
ENGELLEXIAN REPUBLIC

The actions of the National-Syndicalist People's Party do speak plainly enough.

A challenge for the restoration of the natural-born rights of the man and woman of Ostmark, through objection and in contest, against the violence and illegitimacy of a disorderly governance by the National-Syndicalist People's Party.

The public intervention into political society, the prohibited Movement for Civil Rights and Freedom of Expression, is but a humble and immediate desire to enter into peaceful negotiations with the National-Syndicalist People's Party; for the accommodation of their disputes truly frustrated and without happiness; to agree measures for a national reconciliation.

The Northern Constituent Republics of the Engellexian Republic are humbly moved to consider a plan to convince the National-Syndicalist People's Party to agree to terms with the violated man and woman of Ostmark.

I petition for the opening of dialogue between us; to facilitate the recognition of grievances, and the understanding of the redress.

Lady MINERVA THREADNEEDLES
SECRETARY of the REPUBLIC NoCRER
 

Oneida

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21 Ventumes CXCIX | 4 February 2019
The Honorable Horst Grasser
People's Chancellor
Wien, Ostmark
The People's Republic of Ostmark

Dear Chancellor Grasser,

I write to you today to implore you to reconsider the actions taken by the Ministry of State Security in banning the Movement for Civil Rights and Freedom of Expression.

The right of peoples to engage in their political system is given to them by nature and the explicit denial of that right is an attack on the very dignity of human beings. The National-Syndicalist People's Party must be strong enough to be self-critical and respond to the changing demands of its people. It is impossible for the Party to maintain any sense of legitimacy or sovereignty over Ostmark if they continue to silence any form of political expression that is contrary to the dogma of the party.

It is the hope of the Republic that Ostmark reconsiders its actions and decides to strengthen its standing amongst its people by heeding their concerns and advancing the goodwill of the nation. The Republic stands ready to assist in this process in whatever feasible way outlined by the People's Republic.

Signed,
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Manuel Sanabria
President
 

Pelasgia

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Ministry of External Affairs
Public Communiqué

Propontis, 22 December 2018.
ΑΣ 298/15/2019 (Δημόσιον)

To whom it may concern,

The Pelasgian Empire respects Ostmark's inalienable right to State Sovereignty, as well as its legal right to restore peace and order within its borders, against the wishes of foreign and internal subversives.

The World Zionist Congress proves itself, yet again, to be a terroristic organisation of international proportions, which perpetually exports unrest and sedition in the name of made-up and baseless concepts such as "human rights" and "civil rights", and then cries "antisemitism" when the States and Peoples it seeks to harm defend themselves.

We will not interfere in the internal affairs of a Sovereign State, such as Ostmark. What they choose to do with those that break their laws is none of the Empire's concern.

Signed and sealed,

Emmanouīl Avgīros
Minister of External Affairs
Senator by right of office
 

Ostmark

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KANZLERAMT DER VOLKSREPUBLIK OSTMARK
The People's Republic of Ostmark officially protests foreign interferences in its internal affairs and reaffirms its commitment to protect the working classes against globalist and international lobbies. Said lobbies eagerly and relentlessly seek to destabilize the leadership of the National-Syndicalist People's Party to replace Ostmark's legitimate government with yet another clique of servants and collaborationists.

As emerged from the outcome of October 7th 2018 elections which clearly highlighted the people's desire to bring timely changes to the social, political and economic system previously in place, the citizens of the People's Republic of Ostmark have entrusted People's Chancellor Horst Grasser with the task of guiding the fatherland on the path of prosperity, progress, social justice and proletarian solidarity. We have not forced the people to support us, but we merely asked them to give us a chance to redeem and protect the sovereignty and the dignity of our nation.

For the first time in history, a true Workers' and Farmers' state is established on Ostmark's national soil. A state which provides its citizens the right to universal healthcare, insurance in case of illness and employment, large provisions for families lacking the means to sustain their and their children's well being, free education, vocational training and support for the disabled, equal pay and rights for women, so long discriminated and oppressed, houses for the homeless and jobs for the unemployed. Never in the history of Ostmark a political party has served the people and the working classes as the National-Syndicalist People's Party.

Ostmark's Workers' and Farmers' State is a Sovereign State and it shall stay sovereign, independent and free for years to come. For too long our sovereignty laid in the hands of financial and capitalist lobbies, international elements who easily enforced their political and economic agenda due to the to the submissive liberal and social democratic forces which in no case answered to the sovereign people, but their donors and sponsors, at the expenses of the working classes and the proletariat.

For decades the corrupt and treacherous Social Democratic Party, in alliance with the liberals and the conservatives, governed our fatherland on the premises that "there were no possible alternatives". Their recipes have brought this nation on the brink of a societal collapse. Those days, the Days of Sorrow, are vivid memories in the hearts and souls of each Ostmarkian man, woman and child.

We humbly asked the people to give us a chance to turn the tide, to revert the seemingly uninterrupted downspiral of poverty, malnourishment and unemployment, and allow us to implement radical reforms that span from economic to social and political matters.

The National-Syndicalist People's Party of the Working Classes will not betray them.

People of Ostmark, the days of sorrow are over!

Signed,
Office of the Chancellorship
People's Republic of Ostmark
 
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Polesia

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פּאָלעסיאַן פאָלקרעפּובליק
Polesyan Folkrepublik
Polesian People's Republic

The Polesian People's Republic urges our friends in the People's Republic of Ostmark to ignore the outside powers who are trying to manipulate the internal security situation to sow discord and disunity. These governments have no genuine interest in civil rights, only furthering their own ideological agendas at the expense of the Free East.
 

Imimoya

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[/div]​

Dear People's Republic of Ostmark,


the Grand Duchy of Lar joins the countries that have publicly condemned the People's Republic of Ostmark which has decided to ban civil rights movements and freedom of expression. It is in the interest of the working class and all the citizens of ostmark to protect freedom of expression and their civil rights. A society that is not able to recognize the importance of civil rights and freedom of expression is a society destined to clash with its own people. The working class of Ostmark is again deprived of its rights by a government that controls every aspect of their lives. Ostmark proves to be a deaf government to the demands of its own people, which calls for rights and freedom. We urge the People's Republic of Ostmark to retrace their steps and consider the possibility of initiating reforms that improve the conditions of their citizens. Systematic repression can never help the suffering people.

The Grand Duchy of Lars
Primo Ministro Xeno Marino di Lars
 

Rheinbund

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Eiffelloretalian economy still in recession
AP Trier; AP Altburg

According to today’s report of the Eiffelloretalian Unionsamt für Datensammlung und Datenauswertung (acronym: UDAT), the Eiffelloretalian economy is still in recession, although the economic shrinking is becoming smaller. The governmental austerity policy has positive effects on the relative debt of the county, which reduced to 90% of the GDP, despite financial support for Eastern Occitania and the establishment of what the government calls an “emergency fund”.
The effects of the austerity policy become visible, however. The tax increases led to a reduction of the amount of money the Eiffelloretalians are able to spend. As a result, the purchases of cars, furniture, electronics and so on are postponed.
Furthermore, the government is economizing on lots of things. This can be seen in many things. The roads for instance. The motorways and other main roads are still maintained well, and it is government policy to keep it that way. However, the maintenance of secondary roads in city quarters and villages as well as in the countryside is postponed, already leading to deterioration of those roads. Also the parks are maintained less intensively than before.
The austerity policy also has consequences to social security. The duration of unemployment allowances was reduced, so that people fall back to social security sooner. Additionally, the access to occupation disability allowances was made more difficult, and the occupation disability allowance payments were reduced.
Luckily, the export of Eiffelloretalian products is still going well. “Made in Eiffelland” and “Made in Retalia” both had a positive connotation of quality, and “Made in Eiffelland-Retalia” has that connotation as well.
Another factor that keeps the consequences of the crisis limited is the convenant closed by the government, the companies and the labour unions. A result of that convenant is that the burden is carried by the whole society instead of only the lower and middle classes. Another result of the convenant is that Eiffelloretalian companies try to avoid massive lay-offs as much as possible, either by reducing jobs by not replacing people who retire, or by only reducing working hours of employees, who receive unemployment allowances for the number of working hours they lost. Chancellor a.D. Dr. Röpke could reach that convenant based on the prestige he has as prominent economist and as the son of the godfather of the Social Market Economy. The influence of the King and the Eiffellandian Rathenau family will have helped in that as well, and the Retalian general Aliswiller and some other prominent Retalians will also have used their influence.
The fact that the Unionsbank Eiffellands und Retaliens (acronym: UBANK) keeps the banks in Eiffelland-Retalia on a short leash has an advantage, but also a disadvantage. The advantage is, that the banks are more stable, because of which the Unionsmark is more trustworthy as well. The disadvantage is, that the banks have less possibilities to earn money (“but also less possibilities to lose money,” like an employee of the UBANK phrased it). Especially the Retalian banks are not happy with this situation, because they were used to relatively loose regulations compared with the Eiffellandian ones.
The government has kept the consequences of the austerity policy for education, health care and child care service to a minimum. That was not really difficult in the case of health care, because quite some economies had already been realised there by means of the introduction of new techniques. Apendectomies are currently conducted by means of a laparoscopic operation after which a patient can go home after two days; twenty years ago, a laparotomy was needed for that, after which the patient had to stay in hospital for a week. Also gall bladders are removed laparoscopically. Kidney stones are removed by inserting a ureteroscope into the ureter, lasering the stone away and sending the patient home on the same day; in earlier days, a patient was cut open from the navel to the vertebral column during a six-hour operation and the patient had to stay in hospital for two weeks. Pacemaker leads are attached to the heart by inserting them through the subclavian vein to the inside of the heart, and the patient is home again after three days; thirty years ago, a patient had to undergo a sternotomy so that the leads were attached to the outside of the heart, after which he or she had to stay in hospital for ten days. Small brain tumors are treated by means of a “gamma-knife”, a very concentrated gamma-ray beam; in earlier days, a craniotomy was needed, apart from the fact that only superficial tumors can be operated. Most arterial occlusions can be treated with dottering and stents instead of complex bypass operations. Even aortic valves are currently replaced through the inguinal artery instead of a sternotomy and cutting the heart open. All these, but also many other, biotechnological developments reduced the number of days patients had to stay in hospital and the number of days patients had to recover after operations. And that led to another economy: The patients went back to work earlier. But most importantly, these biotechnological developments made many complex surgical treatments unnecessary and greatly reduced the amount of serious complications after operations (which used to cost a lot of money as well).
Despite all efforts to keep the consequences of the crisis to a minimum, not all Eiffelloretalians are happy with the situation. This can be seen in the increase of the popularity of far-right forces; they reached 11% in Continental Eiffelland and 8% in Retalia at the last elections, but the polls currently show 15% for the Volksunion in Continental Eiffelland and 13% for the Retalische Volkspartei in Retalia. The Volksunion even has a chance on a seat or two in the parliaments of Helgoland and Rügen, islands known for their religious conservatism but also for their rejection of ethnic nationalism.
Of course the recent strivings of the Serenien government for independence of the Retalian islands has led to some discussions. The official stance of the Eiffelloretalian government is that each independence movement can come to the Eiffellandian government to discuss matters, but that the wishes of the people living on the Retalian islands have to be decisive: “We cannot make the Retalian islands independent against the will of the inhabitants.”
Meanwhile, the irritations about Serenien accusations that the Eiffelloretalians would hamper the access of Eastern Serenierre to the Retalian Sea and with that to the Long sea are rising. This because Retalia has never limited any sea traffic in the Retalian Sea, not even military sea traffic. The only thing the Retalians pointed at, was the fact that there are quite a lot of Retalian islands in the Retalian Sea, and that the Retalians have a special interest in the security of their islands. This policy is continued by the Union State of Eiffelland-Retalia. Sources from the Eiffelloretalian Ministry of Foreign Affairs mention that “Villesen must stop spreading lies about us limiting Serenierre’s access to the Retalian Sea” and that “Eiffelland-Retalia has and will take all the rights to defend the Retalian islands against hostile invasion”. It was also mentioned that Minister Leverkühn even offered to formalise the already existing unlimited access of Serenien ships to the Retalian Sea by means of a treaty, so basically to formalise what is already happening on the Retalian Sea, but that “Villesen prefers to whinge about a problem that does not exist instead of trying to discuss things out”. AP has indeed to mention in the favour of Eiffelland-Retalia that there is no official policy to block or limit the maritime access to Serenierre over the Retalian Sea, and that the Eiffelloretalian Navy has official orders to only monitor and not hamper sea traffic on the Retalian Sea.
Currently the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Retalian islands want to stay part of Eiffelland-Retalia. A sociologist of one of the universities in Vallese-Wallis phrased it as follows: “Retalians are very pragmatic; they realise that they are better off as part of a country with 130 million inhabitants than as an independent island with 5 to 10 million inhabitants. Therefore, independence is not attractive enough to the vast majority of the Retalians, apart from the fact that most Retalians realise that independence of the islands will at best lead to a struggle for influence on the islands between Serenierre and Eiffelland and at worst lead to Serenien dominance over the islands, even when they are officially independent. And given the fact that Serenierre is not really seen as the pinnacle of democracy and social freedoms to put it mildly, Serenien dominance over Retalia is the ultimate nightmare for most Retalians. Each Serenien insult to Eiffelland-Retalia, each Serenien condemnation of the unification of Eiffelland and Retalia, and each Serenien plea for independence of the Retalian Islands will chase the Retalians only farther into the arms of the Eiffellandians, making the Union only stronger and stronger.”
 

Serenierre

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Serenien admiral sends warning signs to Trier, Govt. remains silent, tremors in markets
AP Ardeche

In a rare public speech, the commander of the eastern fleet of the Serenien Navy, Vice-Admiral Claude Pompadour stated that in the aftermath of the Seven Day War, the tactical capacity of the fleet in the Retalian Sea had assumed a greater importance as the Trier-based superstate of Eiffello-Retalia was strategically attempting to stifle the economic viability of the entire wider region due to the excessive maritime claims over the strategic Retalian Sea.

Vice Admiral Pompadour went on to state, "after the war, the Trier Government has aggressively mobilized its military efforts to fortify the islands which it annexed and according to concrete intelligence, we believe that the Trier regime has installed a heavy battery of missile systems all across the region." The announcement, which is a first of its kind, regarding Serenien allegations against the former leader of the now disbanded Trier Concord, are serious and expected to cause an intensification of diplomatic tensions. He went on to state: "if these island fortresses attempt to block any Serenien maritime vessel, this should be clear that the [Eastern Fleet] retains every capacity to blow through any blockade."

The Government in Villesen has not addressed the comments but issued a general statement which reiterated the long held public position that the issue of Retalian maritime claims needed an international resolution. It is worth noting that a few years ago, the Elisabeth Martinique led government of Serenierre managed to strong-arm the then Government of Retalia into holding an international conference on the issue. However, that conference failed to provide any solutions and both sides remained dug into their positions.

While the Seven Days War redefined continental politics in Gallia, the maritime dispute has remained unresolved to an increasingly worrying degree. Across the region, as economies recover from the shock of the Occitanian War, the simmering tensions in respect of the maritime issue can only spell trouble for the recession hit economy of Eiffelland and for the burdened economy of Serenierre.
 
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