Ministry of Information

[Serenierre]

"Good morning" said the Information Secretary. The Ministry of Information's press room was full of journalists from all mediums. "Today, I can proudly confirm that the government's education policy in southern Belmont has entered its final phase. The Ministry of Education has spent $245,000,000 on the program and 750 schools have been made in rural areas."

"Moving onto security issues, the armed forces' budget will be increased by 5%. Majority of said budget increase will be spent on improving coastal defenses and on the intelligence agencies, mainly due to the continued agression posed by the communist states in the north. The Government of Belmont, and the armed forces, are determined to prevent communist insurgents from entering Belmontien territory.

Questions?"

 

[Guiana]

"Thomas Thorne, Georgetown Herald. According to your press releases, you have been making it sound as if Belmont communists are poised to cross your border at any time, but since Belmont borders the Kingdoms of Montelimar to the north, Lorraine to the east and Marquette to the south, I, as well as my readers, are curious, does your government expect such communist insurgents to come from those directions?

 

[Serenierre]

"Mr. Thorne, I would like to clarify that the main threat posed to Belmont, from communists, comes from two sources. Number one, Scania and then from southern Lusitania.

We trust our Francophone allies... fully and completely. Although the possibility of terrorists from southern Lusitania coming into Belmont and we will be in contact with officials in Montelimar to prevent that from happening. Additionally, we also fear for the security of Montelimar and its people and we hope that they are taking measures to keep the communists on their northern borders out of their territory.

The threat posed to the world by communism is very real and very dangerous."

 

[Serenierre]

"Today, as we welcome a new Prime Minister at the helm of affairs in Paris, I announce that Belmont will be dropping majority of the Plantard government's foreign policy directives. The last days of the Plantard government have been very damaging to Belmont's reputation across the world and Premier Millerand realizes that a new direction must be found. In an effort to do so, The Prime Minister has decided to scrap all of the Plantard government's plans to infiltrate communist nations and supply anti-communist insurgents with funds and weaponry and has also decided to lift the seven year long embargo Belmont has maintained on all members of the IRB. We hope that this shall be well received by my counterparts in the various capitals across the communist world.

The invitation by Mr. Van Vliet of Batavie has been received by the Foreign Office and we realize that this is an opportunity not to be wasted. Although Premier Millerand will not be traveling out of Belmont in these sensitive times he has, however, appointed Jean-Jacques Marcelieu, who is our new foreign minister, to visit the capital of the Scanian state.

On the issue of Belmontien membership into the AGE, Premier Millerand has thought it best to withdraw Belmont's nomination for membership, on account it has been so closely associated with the Plantard government. Belmont wishes to work with all nations committed to freedom and democracy and would like to, in the future, stay on good terms with all alliances... but at present Premier Millerand has thought it best to keep the Kingdom of Belmont unaligned.

On the issue of the Kingdom of Montelimar's increased surveillance on their northern borders, we have said it before and we will say it again. Protection of the borders is a right of any sovereign state. If the Kingdom of Montelimar has reason to believe that the People's Republic of Lusitania is a threat to their national security... that is a decision we respect... and we will continue to support our ally for well over a thousand years.

Questions?"

 

[Batavië]

'Jan Molder, De Volkskrant. Will Belmont reconsider AGE membership at all in the future and if so, is it willing to take part in the long-term joining process that AGE requires?'

 

[Serenierre]

"Mr. Molder... uh... no... we will not be reconsidering the membership into the alliance... Belmont remains committed to remaining unaligned at the moment but we will cooperate with AGE members, and the alliance as a collective, nonetheless."

 

[Serenierre]

Ministry of Information
Palais de Avillion
Paris
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Looking out at the cameras in his face, Interior Minister Jean-François Chossy took a deep breath. Although he had been in politics for decades, he hated meeting the press, he just didn’t like the lot of them. All journalists, anywhere in the world, were nothing but predators, hunting for the most sensational news piece, regardless of what that meant for the targets. He just didn’t like them and they didn’t like him. That hate was mutual.

His tone clear, his voice rising above the noise of the chattering men and women, exchanging contact information, Chossy began, firmly, “Good evening, Mesdames et Messieurs. As you all know, that there are allegations going around that the attacker of King Francesco is Belmontien… at this time, I can neither confirm it nor deny it. As you all know, the Royal Constable of Oltremare, in a statement issued yesterday, denied my ministry a comprehensive dossier to examine the allegations and to trace out any extremist links present in Belmont. Without access to even the most basic of documents found on the person of the attacker, I can not say if this would be assassin was even a Belmontien national.”

“Our task-force, now back from Oltremare, also was not given proper access to the documents and the Oltremaren government, the Royal Chancellor and Constable in particular, have hindered our ability to investigate the matter fully. It leads me to believe that the Oltremaren government, or extremist elements within the government, conspired to offset Her Majesty’s most gracious apology to that Kingdom and its people. I urge the international community to stop referring to the attacker as a Belmontien. There is so far, no evidence proving it, apart from the documents found in his person, which could easily have been counterfeited anywhere in the world.”

“Now, I ask members of the international press to begin the questions. I only have twenty minutes but I’ll try to get as many as I can. Yes, please, you over there,” he said pointing to a female journalist in the back.
​