European Press Association

[Polesia]

পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রক
Ministry of External Affairs

Reuters International News Agency has brought itself into disrepute through the publication of this misinformed article. We must question its journalistic practices and are currently reviewing its status in the People's Republic of Vangala.

 

[Batavië]

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Whether or not this Reuters report holds any truth we fully expect our Vangalan colleagues to cooperate in any federal investigation which take place. Former agents of the Staatsveiligheid, now Veiligheidspolitie, who may have fled abroad and with sensitive documents must be detained and interviewed so as to determine any disciplinary action that may be warranted. We do not take the matter of providing refuge for fugitives lightly.

 

[Polesia]

পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রক
Ministry of External Affairs

Vangala is not in possession of any stolen documents. We refuse to co-operate in an investigation based on fraudulent evidence. The report from Reuters International News Agency is a sensationalist fabrication typical of foreign media designed to discredit the People's Republic and increase profits.

 

[Batavië]

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Whether or not Vangala has stolen documents, there is evidence to suggest that there are former SV agents residing in Vangala, with or without state support and protection. If the Vangalan government is not willing to cooperate on simple matters, such as allowing Batavian embassy officials to visit these suspects, than other measures will have to be researched. The Veiligheidspolitie retains the abilities of the former SV despite the recent restructuring.

 

[Confederal Republics]

Ministry of External Affairs
Commonwealth of Cornavia

The Commonwealth continues to express its disapproval over the Vangalan regime's policy of sheltering former state terrorists of the De Graaf junta, and over the noncooperative attitude in regards to efforts to resolve issues affecting the recent histories of the Batavian and Cornavian peoples.

Instead of being a responsible member of the international community, Vangala appears to prefer the role of a safehaven of criminality: Torturers and a dictator's thugs today, mafiosi, war criminals and pedophiles tomorrow.

Regards,
Mr. William Fenner,
Minister of External Affairs

 

[Minhdao]

Ministero degli affari estri

Genoliari would emplore safe and reasonable measures to be taken in order to apprehend tnhis criminal. We also urge Vangala to cooperate with the other nations in play in order to make a swift arrest amd end it.

 

[Polesia]

President Chatterjee appoints son as Vice-President

KILKILA (Reuters): In an unexpected move, President Moheen Chatterjee has appointed his eldest son Anjan Chatterjee, who has previously occupied low-profile positions in government, as Vice-President. The office of the Vice-President is normally vacant and historically has only been filled during times of crisis. The Constitution of the People's Republic of Vangala defines the role of the Vice-President as advisory and grants only limited powers, although past Vice-President have wielded immense influence.

The response from state and party has been muted, with the Communist Party's daily newspaper The People's Voice offering only a brief article. Vangala has an uneasy relationship with political dynasticism, with the son and grandson of Vangala's first President Jyoti Basu both occupying the Presidency. Initially popular, they were both also deposed in coups.

However, most observers suspect President Chatterjee is consolidating his control before the forthcoming Party Congress, which he has already delayed for several months. The President has faced criticism from both reformists and hardliners in the Communist Party and under his rule, corruption has flourished, crime has risen and the gap between the industrialising South and rural North grown. They also argue, if President Chatterjee is planning his son's succession, he would have been given a more powerful position, such as Minister of National Defence or Chairman of the National Development and Prosperity Commission.

Yet even veteran Vangala-watchers will concede with Vangala's opaque political system and extensive censorship, major changes are hard to predict. President Chatterjee is the second longest serving President in Vangalan history, after Jyoti Basu, having been in power in 13 years. Ageing and reportedly suffering with health problems, his reign may soon be coming to an end. Transitions of power in Vangala have always been long and painful, and this recent appointment may mark the beginning of another.

 

[Telora]

Teloran State Department proposes creation of new International Law Institute

TELOR CITY (Reuters) - the Teloran State Department has floated the idea of an International Law Institute, or Institut de droit international, in order to provide a framework to promote a better understanding, and clearer codification, of international law in Europe. Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Teloran Secretary of State Karl Ekman said that his proposed idea would function as a "private body" composed of international legal scholars, who would have "no binding power over any state". In his words, they would "work together in a spirit of academic unity, to produce regular reports both on the state of international law and on key issues facing the discipline as it moves forwards."

The Teloran government has repeatedly shown an interest in promoting international law in the past. Given that the country has yet to gain entry to the Council of Nations, many analysts see this as a way of them trying to meet long-term objectives to improve and promote international law through other means. Full details have been published on the State Department's website, including an open invitation to prominent legal scholars to come to a seminal meeting - which will be paid for by the Teloran State Department. However, both State Department and Administration officials have firmly denied they have any intention of controlling the body, saying "it will be free to choose if it wishes to have a headquarters, and where it wishes to have that; when and where it wishes to meet, which scholars it includes." The Executive Mansion has backed the proposal, saying Telora would "nurture this seed [...] but not control it."

Conservatives in Congress have questioned whether, at a time when the President is attempting to reign in public spending and reduce the national debt, this is a wise use of government funds. Whilst the State Department has promised to publish all expenses other than security related to the event online, some are saying that the government should spend this money on domestic matters, such as dealing with the ongoing fallout from the collapse of the government-run Capitol Region Regeneration Fund, or CRRF, just before Christmas. Administration officials have responded by arguing that is in Telora's interest as well as that of Europe as a whole that international law be developed through academic discourse.

 

[Breotonia]

Foreign Office

His Majesty's Government is greatly excited and hopeful about this proposal announced by the Teloran State Department. We would like to tentatively make known our willingness to be involved in such a venture and would like to work closely with our Teloran colleagues to see this vision realized.

 

[Polesia]

পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রক
Ministry of External Affairs

The People's Republic of Vangala has concerns this proposed organisation will attempt to force a consensus on international law based on Western bourgeoise legal thought.

 

[Telora]

State Department

The State Department wishes to re-affirm that its open invitation to international legal scholars includes those who belong to the socialist school of law. We are hopeful that through co-operation with governments such as Breotonia and Vangala we will be able to create an institute that helps develop international law for the benefit of all states.

 

[Confederal Republics]

Ministry of the Exterior
Confederal Republics of the North

The Confederal Republics will monitor the Teloran-proposed international initiative closely. In addition, we do concur with the assessment that in the current state of international dealing the mechanisms of international law are grossly underdeveloped.

However, we feel inclined to point out that any mechanisms of international law must be in service of the sovereignity of states and their dispute resolution thereof, instead of imposing normative dispiclines upon matters that are entirely the purview of a single individual state.

Regards,
Mr. Joni Saukko,
Minister of the Exterior

 

[Rheinbund]

Aussenministerium
Trier, Eiffelland

We consider an international law institute an interesting initiative. We would like to cooperate in it.

Rudolph Kögler, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Vice-Chancellor

 

[Hesperia]

Hajri opposition groups announce intent to recommence political activities

SIDRA (Reuters) - Several banned opposition parties in the Near Himyarite nation of Hajr intend to rebuild their political organizations and reconstitute their political activities, sources tell Reuters. The Social-Democratic Toilers' Party (SDTP), the Social-Democratic Party—Left (SDP-L), the Liberal Party of Hajr, and the Islamic Development Party (IDP) have all indicated this desire to the press in recent days. They cite the forthcoming election to the lower house of the national legislature as the reason behind their move. This election will be the first to be fully democratic in the autocratically ruled monarchy, the Sultan decreed earlier this week.

Political parties are not allowed in the Uroduah nation, having been banned shortly after independence following a civil war. This did not stop organized political activity from occurring, though it now had to take place clandestinely. This changed, however, in the widespread military and political purges undertaken by the current Sultan, Huseyn, immediately after he took the throne in 1991. The communist SDP-L, as well as the ultra-conservative, Islamist IDP, ceased public political agitation following sustained campaigns of intimidation and arrest by the authorities, and the defeat of their armed wings in the late nineties. The left-wing SDTP, and the Liberals, who do not possess armed wings, ceased public activities soon after. The government continues to fight out low-level conflicts with the Communist Party of All-Uroduah and several splinter groups of the IDP.

Elections in Hajr, which have taken place regularly since 1997, focus on individual candidates, judged according to their own merits, according to the country's government. The recent royal decree, however, has brought the promise of political liberalization, and the opposition to the regime has reasoned that it is the right time to take action. This is despite the fact that the ban on political parties has not been lifted, or any sign of a change of course from the government's side. An SDTP spokesman confirms this, but adds that "our political organization has not lain dormant; the opposition is merely resuming its public activities after a dark age of secrecy."

Public support for the monarchy has mushroomed in the wake of the Sultan's decree; portraits of Huseyn are sold out in many a bazaar. Opinion polls are difficult, however, in a country with below average literacy, and widespread illiteracy and poverty in the countryside, so it is not known how much support opposition groups command in the Uroduah country. There has been no response from the royal government, so it is unknown what its response to a re-energized and reorganized opposition movement will be.

 

[Khemia]

The Eastern Empire: Painted Into A Corner?

SIRAAMA (Reuters) - The vigor of demonstrations has grown exponentially as the hours have passed in Imperial Square. What had originally begun as a government-encouraged demonstration has quickly become a popular movement which has gripped the capital city of the Empire, with sister demonstrations being held in most of the major cities throughout the Empire. Sinese media outlets have increased domestic concerns over Vangalan nuclear ambitions past the boiling point.

Demonstrators in Imperial Square, within the capital, number well over twenty thousand, and have resisted efforts by government security forces to return to their homes and their jobs. Though the government has resisted from the use of force, riot police are maintaining a watch on the crowd to ensure demonstrations do not become violent.

However, the demonstrators are preventing the Imperial government from appearing weak in the face of Vangalan aggression, forcing the regime to take a hardline stance on issues that would best be approached cautiously. Such is likely the reasoning behind the deployment of a carrier battle group outside the national waters of the People's Republic of Vangala. And the demonstrations are not about to stop, while local security forces are intent to prevent the crowds from growing larger, Imperial newsmedia continues to incite concerns about Vangalan nuclear ambitions, and public hysteria has reduced already begun reducing economic output in some sectors.

However, this situation is threatening to destabilize regional economics, as stock markets in both Vangala and Sinhai have begun to falter, Western businesses may begin to be effected as significant sources of the worlds cheap labor are impacted.

 

[Hesperia]

Hajr bans Solaris Church as “illegal cult”

AL A'RAF (Reuters) – The Solaris Church, a Christian denomination closely tied to the theocratic regime in the nation of Solaren, has been banned as an organization in Hajr, which is a regional neighbor of Solaren. Authorities in the most populous Muslim nation in the world declared that the Solaris Church was an “illegal cult” that is “dangerous to the public good.”

A spokesman for the Hajri Interior Ministry cited the “violent and depraved nature” of the Solaris creed as one of the reasons behind the move, and also said that “this vile cult does not operate according to the values of our nation.” The Ministry, in a written statement, also expressed its concerns over the “exceedingly close links” between the church and the Solaris government in Torrence, with which Hajr has long been on unfriendly footing. Recently, a spate of bloody terrorist attacks and bombings struck the nearby nation of Nicosia, north of Hajr, after a call to violent action by the theocratic ruler of Solaren, Pope Urban IV. The authorities in the Sultanate apparently fear that a similar fate may befall them.

Hajr, which is the original homeland of Islam, has long been a target of invectives and threats from the theocracy in Torrence. Recently, the fundamentalist Solaris creed seems to have gained converts in the overwhelmingly Islamic country: the Sultanate's Interior Ministry mentioned its “grave concern” over the expansion of the Solaris religion among Hajri Christians, which number over nine million. Christians in Hajr often face adverse economic and social situations owing to discrimination by the Islamic majority. Under these circumstances, the Solaris faith, with its extremist tenets and religious zeal, may become attractive to some.

Under Hajri law, which is composed of both civic and Islamic components, the government is allowed to act against organizations which act “contrary to public safety, morality, or good.” Political parties as well as several rebel and terrorist groups have been banned under the provisions of this law. Additionally, new religions, under which the Solaris Church is grouped, must be recognized and accredited before they can operate legally in Hajr. Unrecognized religions, dubbed “cults,” are not allowed. The Solaris Church has now simultaneously been declared an illegal organization, as well as an illegal cult.

Human rights organizations, which have long criticized the Hajri government for not living up to the provisions for religious freedom included in the country's Basic Law, immediately attacked the Interior Ministry's decision upon publication. “This move unfairly targets Christians in Hajr for the actions of a foreign government,” the Franken-based Human Rights Council of Hajr (MRRH) stated. The Interior Ministry rejected the criticism, saying “this is not a case of Hajr against Christians, or Islam against Christians, but a case of civil government against violent, vicious cults.”

 

[Touzen]

Ministry of Revolutionary Defense and Foreign Affairs

The Constitutional State finds itself in opposition to the latest measures announced by Hajr authorities and reminds the Sultanate of the inherent human right of freedom of religion. The free world should be very careful not to confuse the sentiments expressed by the Solaren leadership with the views of common adherents of a particular religious tradition. To do so would only fuel the uncontrollable spiral of hatred, extremism and lust for vengeance.

 

[Josepania]

City of Axiflos Preparing For Siege In Midst Of Aresurai Coup

AXIFLOS (Reuters) – As fighting continues to rage throughout Aresura, with the result becoming easier to predict with each passing hour, loyalists in the city of Axiflos, the provincial capital of Aresura's eastern-most island that also happens to possess one of the nation's largest military bases, are preparing for a hard fight once revolutionary forces turn their full attention on the island.

After local rebels failed in their efforts to establish a foothold in Axiflos, loyalist military forces quickly prepared themselves for a second attempt which has not yet materialized, as rebel forces are focused on securing the second remaining loyalist stronghold on the mainland: the old Imperial-era capital of Daeva. Capturing such a city will be a symbolic victory, as well as a crucial one, with the current Aresurai government trapped there. Should Daeva fall, there's little doubt Axiflos will be next, the last loyalist fortress in Aresura.

But it certainly is a fortress, and with the limited capabilities of the rebels, who have thus far relied on local support and the element of surprise as well as momentum, not to mention the recent reports of large portions of military equipment being sabotaged by surrendering loyalist forces, it will not be an easy fortress to capture. Loyalist military commanders are also hoping that, regardless of the outcome of the battle in Daeva, the Aresurai government can escape to Axiflos, where they can safely regroup and, theoretically, shore up international support.

Such a scenario becomes less likely with each passing hour, though, as rebel forces, limited as they are, tighten the noose around Daeva to prevent any easy escape. Should Daeva fall with the Aresurai government, Axiflos' position becomes all the more isolated and desperate. Nonetheless, military commanders have stressed that, no matter what, Axiflos would not fall to the rebels without a fight, a fight that, conventionally, would be quite costly to the rebels. And at this stage, the revolutionaries cannot afford a major defeat, or what support they have, strong yet fragile, will fall apart, and Aresura will be worse off for it.

 

[Josepania]

Majority of Aresurai Government Captured During Fall of Daeva

SMYRNA (Reuters) – After hours of silence on the issue, news stations broadcasting from rebel-controlled Smyrna announced that most of the officials from the Aresurai government, including the Prime Minister, have been captured by rebel forces, and are being held "for trial in the near future." It was explained that, while most of the officials had been found shortly after Daeva's surrender, time was spent confirming their identities before their capture was announced. As for their trial, news stations like Aresurai National News explained it was on the order of Captain Joseph Constantine, de facto leader of the rebels, for "their crimes of corruption against the people of our great nation."

Combined with the symbolic victory of the capture of Daeva, rebel supremacy in this coup is all but guaranteed. Only Axiflos remains staunchly loyalist, and considering the military presence on the island, it is unlikely the under-equipped rebels, with no element of surprise or notable local support, will be able to crack this tough nut. In a broadcasted speech, Captain Constantine called upon Axiflos to surrender, pointing out, "You stand alone. All other loyalist resistance has been broken, or is too insignificant to do any further damage. The corrupt government you blindly serve has been captured, the mainland belongs to the people, as well as the archipelagos. Your resistance will only lead to unnecessary bloodshed that benefits no one, you least of all. Accept reality, embrace change, and none shall be harmed."

Currently, however, the possibility of surrender is far from the minds of the military leaders in Axiflos. According to a spokesperson there, the people in Axiflos "Are loyal to the true government of Aresura. The legitimate government of Aresura. We will not roll over and sacrifice our ideals, our very principles, like simple sheep. We are human beings, and we have a free will. The free will to reject the honey-soaked poisonous words of a tyrant-to-be." Clearly, the leaders in Axiflos are banking on international support, as well as a weak rebel grip on the rest of the country, but as things stand now, a stalemate has been reached.

 

[Josepania]

Loyalists on Axiflos Accept Ceasefire and Offer Of Negotiations

AXIFLOS (Reuters) – In a 180˚ shift mirroring that of the rebels, loyalist military leaders on the island of Axiflos, the last remaining stronghold of Aresurai loyalists, have announced their willingness to adhere to the declared ceasefire by the rebels, along with their readiness to begin negotiations, on the condition that they be held in Axiflos, not Smyrna.

This sudden shift of posture, like that of the rebels, comes in the wake of announcements by PASILA Accord alliance members Touzen and Serbovia sending two carrier battle groups in the area. There is little doubt that the loyalists feel emboldened by the show of force from the pro-democracy alliance, which has enjoyed good, if limited, relations with the isolationist democratic republic of Aresura. They may also feel that the rebels, having shifted their rhetoric from aggression to passive negotiation, shows their bargaining power is not as strong as previously thought.

The mood in Axiflos, despite their supposedly desperate position, is now one of confidence in a favorable solution to this coup, contrasting the grim determination present only one day ago. There are also reports that some of the loyalists had advocated rejecting the rebel offer, and establishing contact with PASILA members to organize a counter-attack on the rebel mainland. A spokesman, however, responded by saying that "We don't see the need for any future loss of life, and with the international community on our side, we need only convince these rebels that theirs is a lost cause, and while some of their grievances must and will be addressed, they must understand we are the legitimate government, not they."