How The Tables Turn

[Saracia-Polamar]

The Prime Minister's Study
Karasicena

Times of great sadness, of national mourning, were not a rare occurrence in his nation's history. The parallels to his own life, sometimes seemed similar - moments of unjustifiable madness and rage followed by the tranquillity of peace - and yet, for a man who had seen such sorrow, a gentle tear rolled down the eye of the Foreign Minister as he gladly reached out his hand towards the Prime Minister,

"Thank you Prime Minister. I won't let you down."

A stern, but reassuring voice replied, "I know you won't, Ludvig."


Belev Air Force Base
Kresnovic State, Polasciana

The weather was calm, and from his position on the southern coast of the country, the Foreign Minister had a clear view into the Long Sea. The home of the Polascianan naval fleet was one of the nation's newest military installations, but had also become a symbol of Modern Polasciana. Belev, the gateway to the mainland had become an outpost for the military, it had in essence become the centre of the military operation. Housed on a largely redundant island, the setting seemed almost perfect - and with cranes marking the horizon, the reforming nature of the country he was close to leading was all around him as a gazed out into the distance.

Ludvig Fedorov was a proud man. Not just proud of his own story, but of his country's story too. He was a strong supporter of national identity, and he wore his ministerial pin badge with the greatest respect for the office he held. A minister for most of his government career, this was certainly the peak. Becoming foreign minister was not just a dream, it was his life ambition. Ludvig had observed Doletskaya and Mulakski over his time in the lower-house, two former Foreign Ministers who he greatly admired. But a crisis of government, he believed, had placed him on the wrong side of the Prime Minister. Dimochka Yakushkin was a close friend of Prime Minister Gruaman's, even at a time when the Prime Minister seemed to be alone - unable to get the machine of government moving. As a man who was opposed to Gruaman's plans to half the defence budget, Ludvig never expected the promotion to come at that moment. He didn't understand why the Prime Minister would push a close ally aside and replace him with someone who had respect for the office, but little for the personality of the former president. All in all, Ludvig Fedorov himself thought he was a risk, an odd-ball, but this was his chance - the closest he would ever get.

Awaiting the arrival of his Eiffellandian counterpart, Fedorov was ready to talk. This was a dangerous time for Gallia, and a momentous moment for Polasciana. Eiffelland was on the back-foot, internal fears dominated Polasciana's mindset during the last few decades, and yet now the fear was of instability not within itself - but within its neighbours borders.

The water looked unsteady, thought Fedorov as he gazed out towards the vast sea presented before him.

 

[Rheinbund]

The Airbus of the Eiffellandian government approached Belev Airforce Base, on board Rudolph Kögler, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vice-Chancellor and the political leader of the smaller coalition partner in the Government. He knew the reason of this meeting very well. The most recent successes against the terrorists, actually the capture of almost the complete NRBA, had been kept out of the news. Exactly because it was almost the complete NRBA that had been captured. But Kögler's most important task was to convince Fedorov of the fact that everything was under control.

After the plane had landed and the stairs had been rolled to the door, Kögler came out of the plane. He walked down the stairs in an energetic way and approached Fedorov.

"Good afternoon, Minister Fedorov," Kögler said while shaking hands with him.

 

[Saracia-Polamar]

Belev Air Force Base
Kresnovic

"Mr Vice Chancellor.." responded Fedorov as he noticed the Eiffellandian's firm handshake. "Welcome to Polasciana, it is unfortunate that we meet at such a difficult time for our region, but I am glad we have this chance to talk."

The Foreign Minister had insisted that while no journalists would be allowed onto air force property, the press would be given a chance to ask questions to the Eiffellandian representative later in the day in an organised digital press conference. Fedorov's special advisers were keen to show off a sense of modernisation within the Polascianan government, Fedorov himself found it all quite frustrating, but he knew they were doing it for the right reasons, he assured himself.

"I hope the flight wasn't too bad, it may be a stormy time for our country's, but the weather seems suitable today." Fedorov chuckled to himself lightly while an aide close to his side turned to the Vice Chancellor and insisted that he was 'a funny man, really.' As the party's walked towards the modern command centre the flags of the two nations were raised above their eventual meeting a place - the newest emergency room built for the joint coordination of the Air Force and the Navy, operated out of Belev itself, but also Rusa and Reval on the Polascianan coast with the Long Sea.

The Foreign Minister ushered his counterpart into the room, which was surrounded by screens depicting the Polascianan borders along with the location of the Navy fleet, and the President.

"The Government felt it was time that we got to the bottom of these issues, it's a worrying time for our region of course, but our President grows nervous when he flicks through the news channels. Myself and the Prime Minister have been assured by your government that everything is under control, but we remain hesitant for some arrests.."

 

[Rheinbund]

"The flight could not have been better, thank you," Kögler said. "Indeed, the weather is great, but isn't it almost always in this time of the year?"

When they were in the emergency room, Kögler said to Fedorov: "It is indeed needed that we talk, especially in the current situation with Polasciana and apparently also the NRBA."

At that moment, Kögler's smartphone gave a beep. "Oh, sorry, that is the Chancellor," he said. He took his smartphone and read the message.

We got the complete group around Von Weizenburg. You can tell Fedorov that we arrested the complete NRBA. Good luck. Matthias.

"Minister Fedorov, I can start with a positive message. We arrested all members of the NRBA. Given the situation in Solaren, we cannot give a 100% guarantee that there will be no terrorist attacks any more, but the NRBA is out of the game. And for the possibility of Solaris terrorism, we expelled all followers of the Solaris cult already months ago. If there are still any followers of the Solaris cult in Eiffelland, then very few."

 

[Saracia-Polamar]

Belev Air Force Base
Kresnovic

Fedorov was a man who took most things at face value. The capture of an entire terrorist network seemed to spark many questions in his head, but it wasn't the group he was entirely focused on. The issue at heart, was the safety of the Eiffellandian people and protecting the border between them and their Polascianan brothers and sisters;

"A brave statement Vice Chancellor, we remain however concerned that the causes of such terrorism remain unanswered. We remain cautious to revert to the former open nature between our borders after such a catastrophic series of attacks. We regard the Eiffellandian security forces very highly, and it's a testament to them that so many of these attacks were foiled before their devastating consequences could take hold... but we remain, cautious that this crisis has not been, fully, explained."

The Foreign Minister had come to a difficult job, at a difficult time. Heading back from this meeting, or any like it, without clear answers for the Government about how it should proceed with security on a border that was regarded as secure was a path he was not likely to take. It was in his mind that the western border must remain the country's safest, but the turn of events in the Long Sea threatened such stability.

"With the situation unfolding between your allies and Solaren, we remain of the thought that our western border was not as, stable as it once was.

Fedorov leant forward in his chair, taking a sip of water, placing the glass firmly back onto the table, "We need to work with you Vice Chancellor, our people have a long history of terrorism and we grow wary with it so close to our borders."

 

[Rheinbund]

"By far the most fertile soil for extremism is poverty, especially if the highest social class doesn't know what to do with its wealth while the majority or a large minority of the people is starving. Eiffelland is a well-organised and wealthy country. Poverty is hardly a problem. There will always be some people that fall between two stools, but that is inevitable even in a country like Carentania. Poverty as soil for extremism is not a problem in Eiffelland," Kögler said. He took a sip of his glass and continued.

"On the other hand, no matter how well-organised and wealty a country is, there will always be some people that completely disagree with the goverment. And some of them develop distorted ideologic ideas. It is almost impossible to prevent this. Eiffelland is an open economy. This is essential with regards to trade, but also gives an opportunity to get unwanted things into the country. That is what happened: A relatively smalll group stayed below the radar and managed to get certain goods into the country that would turn out to be sources of bombs. The search for this group was aggravated by the fact that their motives as made public were different from their real motives. The chance on this is small, but not zero. The vast majority of the Eiffellandians rejects these assaults. A revolution would never have succeeded. Eiffelland is too wealthy for that," Kögler continued.

"For the situation in Solaren, indeed, your western neighbour is at war now. I realise very well that you don't like to see that. On the other hand, Solaren in itself is a larger threat to stability in the Long Sea. We had to act," Kögler continued.

"But what exactly do you want to hear from me?" he asked.