Propontis News Agency | News from Pelasgia

Pelasgia · Oct 30, 2023

The Propontis News Agency (Πρακτορεῖον Εἰδήσεων Προποντίδος) is the primary news agency of Pelasgia. It supplies news to both state-owned and private media, most notably including:

O Propontios Logothetis (Ὁ Προπόντιος Λογοθέτης) - Pelasgia's newspaper of record, published in Propontis since 1925 following the merger of the newspapers "Propontion Vima" and "O Logothetis", and seen as an objective, centrist newspaper;
O Tachydromos (Ὁ Ταχυδρόμος) - The traditional newspaper of record of Pelasgia's second largest city, Thermi, which tows a more populist and nationalistic line;
Isonomia (Ἰσονομία) - The semi-official mouthpiece of the Pelasgian left, published in the Propontine port of Pyrgos, though more rarely read outside of Pelasgia;
ARD (ΑΡΔ) - Officially the Public Broadcasting Authority (Ἀρχὴ Ῥαδιοφωνίας Δημοσίου), the public broadcaster of Pelasgia, established in 1938; and
The Propontis Tribune - The oldest foreign-language daily news source in Pelasgia, published by foreign expats living in Propontis since 1951 in Enghwalian.

All Pelasgian media are regulated by the National Council for Mass Media (Ἐθνικὸν Συμβούλιον Μέσων Μαζικῆς Ἐπικοινωνίας), a constitutionally enshrined independent administrative agency the appointment of whose members requires approval by two thirds (2/3) of the Boule.

Pelasgia · Nov 4, 2023

Pelasgia · Nov 7, 2023

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Ἔτος ϞΗʹ ·Ἀρ. Φύλλου 32.770 ·Ἰδρυταί: Κ. Καντακουζηνός, Δ. Ἀνδρέου | ΠΡΟΠΟΝΤΙΣ, ΤΡΙΤΗ 7 ΝΟΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ 2023 |
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Regional, municipal elections inconclusive mere months after legislative landslide
Tuesday, 7.11.2023 | Anastasios Politis & Eleni Nikolaou

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The Gubernatorial Palace in Thermi, the Empire's second largest city and traditional "co-capital"

A mere five months after June's legislative election, which saw the governing National Progressive Centrist Union (EPEK) win an unprecedented landslide with 41% of the popular vote nationwide, last week's regional and municipal elections paint a picture of an electorate that is neither particularly enamoured with EPEK's third consecutive government, nor particularly impressed by with the disparate forces of the opposition. The vote displayed strong regional and class characteristics, with the traditional electoral blocs and constituencies that form the core base of each major political party sticking to their guns and choosing the devil they know. In Propontis, Krini and the other major cities of the Imperial Core, which roughly correspond to the territory in northern Himyar's Meridian Coast, all the way to Scutari and the Thracesian Peninsula, EPEK, the centre-liberal party of incumbent Grand Secretary Georgios Nomikos, scored major victories, managing to consolidate its holdings. One notable upset was the loss of the working-class Propontine harbour of Hagios Simeon, which Mr. Nomikos' predecessor had worked hard to win over, to left-wing Socialist Labour Party of Tiburia (SEKT). SEKT also made gains in the increasingly industrialised and traditionally neglected region of Eastern Pelasgia, on the Basilisk Sea coast, only narrowly losing the mayorship of Attaleia (the regional capital) to EPEK and taking nearly half the seats in the regional council.

On the opposite side of the Meridian, the Empire's territories in the Haemus Peninsula remained largely unchanged. Thracesia voted for EPEK by a wide margin, while Pierrheia (including the regional capital, Thermi) and Pelagonia were firmly in the hands of the right-wing National Rally (ES), which considers them to be its traditional electoral stronghold. Aspropol easily elected an ES mayor, while Thermi, the Empire's second largest city, which is often considered its traditional "co-capital," remained in ES hands, fighting back a combined EPEK-SEKT effort to unseat its longtime mayor, Tiverios Dimitroudis. Still, EPEK managed to make a few gains on the Pierrheian coastline, while SEKT consolidated its holdings in the industrial, working-class suburbs of Aspropol and Thermi, handily defeating an ES attempt to court its voters through populist right-wing rhetoric. The Archipelago was the apparent exception to all this regional consolidation, with individual islands either choosing ES (in the case of Kyparissos and Eleoussa) or SEKT (in the case of Ophioussa and Pityoussa). Chandax alone was an exception to this, choosing EPEK for the most part. The region as a whole did end up going narrowly to an EPEK governor, if only because the right and left-wing voters saw him as the least-bad option during the second round of voting.

In Propontis, the burning question has been how to interpret this result. While Mr. Nomikos' government has made good on some its promises already a few months into its term, skepticism remains following what many consider to be mismanagement of last summer's widespread wildfires, as well as some infighting between the centre-left and centre-right wings of EPEK. Despite being a seasoned politician, Mr. Nomikos is generally considered to be a pragmatic technocratic administrator, and not a person with the charisma or force of personality to easily breach such gaps, if they are allowed to persist. Conversely, infighting has plagued SEKT to a much more significant degree, as disagreement persists between its social democratic wing (which supports collaboration with EPEK) and its hardline socialist factions (who reject all compromise with establishment parties). ES, for its part, has been significantly weakened by a series of scandals involving mismanagement of funds by its former leader and the resignation of ten members of the Boule (who now sit as independents), over ideological disputes. For now, it appears that EPEK will continue to govern for lack of a better option.

Government bans short-term rental platforms for tourists
Tuesday, 7.11.2023 | Stavros Makrinos

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The Imperial Government has formally published a law banning short-term rental platforms aimed at tourists visiting the country from abroad, following its approval by the Boule and the Senate, and its receipt of Imperial Assent. The law was first introduced in early September, in response to growing popular pressure regarding the effects of such platforms on the housing market. The Mayor of Propontis, Mr. Alexandros Merkouris, who was recently re-elected on a ticket backed by EPEK, had joined sixteen other mayors of major cities throughout the country in petitioning the Government to ban or restrict such rentals, complaining that "they have an outsized effect on rental prices in the country, raising them to an unaffordable level for most everyday and young Tiburians while also removing housing from the rental or resale markets that is used as travel lodgings without having the requisite certifications, licensing and business status." The matter even escalated into protests late in the spring, when residents of Krini, the Empire's third largest city, blocked a foreign-funded housing project in the working-class neighbourhood of Hagios Vukolos for several weeks until the local authorities finally took over the land using eminent domain and promised to repurpose it for affordable housing and a public park. The investment was instead redirected to the wealthier suburb of Prinovaris, which houses many foreign consulates and international schools. [...]

The law's enactment comes on top of the removal of a clause in the currently proposed golden visa programme that the Government aired in its previous term, which included investments in housing. The programme has now been repurposed to only cover investments in businesses involved in the production of goods and the sale of advanced services (not including any services related to housing or tourism), as well as investments in infrastructure and training of workers. [...]

Capital Markets Commission rules against Ploumides family heir
Tuesday, 7.11.2023 | Markos Mylonas

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The Capital Markets Commission of the Tiburan Empire (EKA) has ruled that their heir to the disgraced Ploumides clan of business and shipping magnates, Ioannes A. Ploumides, cannot have the "bad actor" characterisation removed from his record with the Commission and is therefore restricted in engaging in certain financial activities and business under applicable securities laws. [...] The decision came as a blow to Mr. Ploumides, who had gone to great lengths to reorient his family toward financial products and services, using their extensive business network, nearly five years after most of their landmark businesses were seized and their business conglomerate, the Pegasus Group, was broken up into smaller entities due to anti-trust and other serious legal violations. The old family patriarch, Mr. Ploumides' father, Anastasios Ploumides, is still in prison due to these violations, having had to pay a significant amount of his fortune to fines and penalties. [...] Mr. Ploumides, who was only twenty-two at the time, was on the board of directors of the Group's controlling entity, Pegasus Holdings, and was thus tainted as a bad actor under applicable securities laws. Despite a long legal battle to overturn this black mark that hangs over his name, it appears that Mr. Ploumides is not regarded as reliable by the Commission. [...] In light of this result, Mr. Ploumides has indicated that he is considering business ventures in imports and exports instead.

Pelasgia · Nov 30, 2023

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Ἔτος ϞΗʹ ·Ἀρ. Φύλλου 32.793 ·Ἰδρυταί: Κ. Καντακουζηνός, Δ. Ἀνδρέου | ΠΡΟΠΟΝΤΙΣ, ΠΕΜΠΤΗ 29 ΝΟΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ 2023 |
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Amid global uncertainty, investments in Himyar pick up
Thursday, 30.11.2023 | Antonios Sgouros

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A worker at a newly built silk and fabric production plant in the Metaxadon Theme

After years of protracted warfare, civil instability and shifting boundaries and alliances in Gallo-Germania, many investors from more peaceful regions of the world have turned their sights away from Europe's traditional industrial heartland and toward greener pastures elsewhere. Apart from Toyou and Occidentia, which have always been easy targets for foreign investment, Himyar has also risen to prominence as an advantageous alternative in recent years. A combination of welcoming tax policies and labour laws, combined with a large and young population base and relatively navigable bureaucracy have drawn funds that would have otherwise been targeted at more traditional markets. Moreover, the increasingly independent Himyari states have demonstrated their ability to competently conduct their affairs and to guarantee basic rule of law, property rights and speedy resolution of judicial disputes, earning the trust of investors who would have been previously turned away from Himyar due to the risks of losing their investments in bureaucratic red tape or corruption, or getting stuck in long legal disputes.

At the forefront of this economic dynamism is Tiburia, Himyar's traditional economic powerhouse and its longest-standing sovereign state. Tiburia's relatively advanced economy and state apparatus have made it the easiest conduit for foreign funds to flow into Himyar. The Tiburian banking sector, which is renowned for its secrecy laws and its political neutrality have encouraged investors from increasingly polarised factions of international affairs that their investments can be safely kept or channeled through Tiburia, without fear of their funds or assets being frozen or seized. The Empire's own long-standing policy of neutrality, combined with its strong legal tradition offer further assurances to this effect, as do efforts by Imperial authorities to break up trusts within the country, opening the field to foreign investors to compete more fairly. Indeed, Tiburia's own position as the dominant shipping power in Europe and the large trade, merchant, productive banking and legal networks that connect it to the rest of Europe due to its merchant navy have accustomed both the public and private sectors in the Empire to working with foreign partners in multiple jurisdictions, facilitating the flow of foreign funds in and out of the country. Institutions such as the Propontis Far Southern Company (PSFC), the Imperial Himyari Bank of Commerce and the major business conglomerates of Tiburia have subsidiaries throughout Himyar and in many Meridian and other foreign jurisdictions, something which minimizes the duplication needed for an investor to diversify their portfolio and funnel funds from across the globe.

Some have voiced concerns that Tiburian banks could essentially be used as a conduit for sanctions evasion and high-level money laundering, or even that it is facilitating foreign exploitation of Himyari natural resources and labour. For their part, Tiburian business leaders and public officials insist that their due diligence procedures are no less stringent than those of other major international markets, and that they reinvest most funds in Himyar and other markets. One official in the Department of Justice pointed us to the high-profile rejection of funds from Gutarike ( @Jydsken-Østveg ), which were suspected of being linked to piratic activities. Another contact in the Imperial Himyari Bank of Commerce brought up the example of the large-scale investment in port infrastructure in @Ostmark , which was completed earlier this month, and the recent opening of a Pegasus plant for certain electric vehicle parts in the Central Himyar Republic. Whatever the case may be, the professionals of Galatopyrgos, Propontis' main business district, are to set continue working around the clock for the foreseeable future.

Grand Secretary invites Arcadian counterpart to Propontis for talks
Thursday, 30.11.2023 | Demetrios Xanthopoulos

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Grand Secretary Georgios Nomikos has formally invited Archon Crysanthos Fotios Samaras of the Arcadian League ( @Natal ) to Propontis for large-scale talks regarding the formalisation of improved relations between the two parties. Sharing common language, religion and ancestry in their respective majority populations, the two countries have long been seen as brotherly nations, in spite of, at times, strained relations. Arcadia is the land from where Pelasgians first migrated to and settled in Himyar, and it is still considered the cradle of all Arcado-Pelasgian-speaking peoples, even if Pelasgia is where the largest concentration of such speakers exists today. In spite of centuries of divergence in political cultural and even in dialect between the two nations, as well as wars that led to the loss of most of the Empire's Arcadian holdings in the 19th and 20th centuries, modern Pelasgo-Arcadian relations can be generally characterised as peaceful, even if occasionally cold. Trade and tourism at the now-stabilised borders that have stood for around a century have made co-existence not just a reality but simply the only acceptable reality for many people in both countries, while aid given by one party to the other during the regular wildfires and earthquakes that plague the Eastern Meridian and the Haemus Peninsula have created a sort of necessary cooperation between the Tiburian and Arcadian militaries, which typically contain the most hard-line anti-reconciliation elements of both governments. While the sort of unification envisaged by Communists and other Pan-Pelasgianists on both sides seems like a distant dream, a war between Megalopolis and Propontis would be equally unthinkable in the modern day. [...]

Reportedly, the talks are to take place at the Megaron Logotheton, the palatial building near the Imperial Gardens in the government quarter that serves as the seat of the Grand Secretary and the rest of the Cabinet Council. Apart from the Grand Secretary, several other important ministers and officials, such as Mr. Theophrastos Phokas, the Secretary of the Exterior, and Gen. Gregorios Phassianos, the Commander of the Krypteia, are also reportedly set to attend. [...] Based on the communications publicised so far and on sources in both capitals, it appears that Mr. Nomikos intends for the talks to be much more than merely symbolic, and to lead to a series of long-standing pacts and partnerships, and perhaps even an alliance between the two countries. Such a partnership would be strictly defensive and cooperative in nature, allowing the two nations that control Europe's most important seaway to safeguard themselves from external aggression. At the same time, increasingly liberalised trade and open borders would allow Arcadia and Pelasgia to further integrate their economies and societies, solidifying bonds between the two nations permanently. [...] Other sticking points, such as policing cooperation, recognition of legal decisions and documents, extradition and resolving any minor disputes about maritime borders could also be brought up at the talks. [...]

Despot Alexios to become monastic in Euxenia amid succession rumours
Thursday, 30.11.2023 | Marina Papanikolaou

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The Imperial Chancellery, the private treasury and secretariat of the Emperor and (by extent) the Imperial Household, has released a short statement according to which Despot Alexios Komnenopoulos, the eldest son of reigning Emperor Theodore IV Komnenopoulos, has decided to renounce his worldly possessions and titles in order to join a monastic community in Euxenia. Given imperial tradition, the most likely candidate for which monastery the Despot wishes to join is likely the Monastery of Our Lady the Kastaniotissa, in the mountainous slopes of Euxenia. The site has a long history of imperial patronage, particularly by the current Imperial Dynasty, which at least partially draws its descent from the Grand Komnenos line, a cadet branch of the Komnenian Dynasty that ruled Euxenia as a semi-autonomous Despotate for several centuries.

Following the announcement of Despot Alexios' retirement from public life, there is discussion over whether Despotess Anastasia Komnenopoulaina, the Emperor's second eldest child, or her brother, Despot Ioannes (or John) Komnenopoulos, will be named Grand Despot/Despotess and thus presumptive heir to the Sublime Throne. The youngest child of the Imperial Household, Despotess Eudoxia Komnenopoulaina, is not in contention for the Throne, having left for @Radilo following her marriage with a nobleman there, and having generally shied away from publicity since the passing of her mother, late Empress Helen Asenina (from the House of Asen of Thrakia) by cancer several years prior. Emperor Theodore's brother, Sebastokrator Nikolaos Komnenopoulos, is also seen as a contender due to his strong political connections, in spite of his relative unpopularity in the deeper Himyari parts of the Empire due to his avowed focus on Tibuaria's Meridian-adjacent regions.

Pelasgia · Dec 22, 2023

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Increased activity at Mavri Petra in light of Federation, Tianlong ICBM tests

Editorial Board | 22/12, 16:05 | Upd: 15 minutes ago
Tags: [Featured] [News] [Defence] [International]

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A military cargo plane taking off from Mavri Petra Airbase in Bucellaria

Observers have noted heightened activity at Mavri Petra Airbase following recent ICBM tests by @The Federation and @Tianlong. Originally built in the 1950s, Mavri Petra is one of the main sights housing the Empire's strategic arsenal and coordinating its use. Located in Theme of Bucellaria, in the very centre of Pelasgia, Mavri Petra is one of the primary installations of the Imperial military, lying under the joint jurisdiction of the Imperial Air Force and the Imperial Secret Service or "Krypteia". Its name is frequently used in the notorious "TITAN" broadcasts, which are shortwave transmissions made as part of the highly classified Akritas Programme, which controls Tiburia's weapons of mass destructions and coordinates is strategic offence, defence and counter-offensive capabilities. Though the Imperial Government has long refused to comment on the Akritas Programme, only formally acknowledging its existence in 1995, analysts throughout the world have observed that, during periods of heightened geopolitical tension, the number, length and nominal severity level of the "TITAN" broadcasts (called so because they started with the codeword "TITAN" followed by a number believed to correspond to the state of strategic readiness associated with the message) seems to increase.

Since the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) by both the Federation of Westernesse and the Republic of Tianlong in recent weeks, as both competing superpowers seek to demonstrate their strategic capabilities and deterrence, a "TITAN-2" message was heard for the first time since the Archipelago Crisis of 2007, when the Meridian nearly devolved into all-out regional war, while the overall level of the broadcasts has not fallen below "TITAN-3," a level generally associated with heightened military readiness. At the same time, assets of the Imperial Air Force and Land Army have been seen flocking to the base, with frequent flights by strategic assets and interception squadrons all the way to the maritime borders of the Empire. Submariners of the Imperial War Navy have reportedly been refused holiday leave as the Empire seeks to test its ballistic missile submarines. While it is generally expected that the Empire's strict neutrality will keep it out of any war, Propontis nevertheless wishes to ensure that its strategic deterrent, which has not been used in the near-seventy years since it was formally inaugurated in 1956, has not atrophied and is capable of offering effective protection in the twenty-first century.

When pressed for comment by reporters, the Defence Secretary, Megas Doux Nikephoros Andrianopoulos refused to give any details, instead saying that the Imperial military is conducting scheduled readiness drills and seeking additional data to update defence protocols as may be required.

| ΔΕΙΤΕ ΕΠΙΣΗΣ
- Interior Secretary suspends football Nat'l Division I league after ref injured; both clubs under investigation for public order offences
- Air Force to provide tracking of Saint Basil as he gives out New Year's gifts starting from native town of Eusebia, Bucellaria
- Severe snowstorm in Metaxadon Theme requires intervention of Thematic Guard, Army as local fire service overwhelmed
- P.F.S.C. refuses to comment on presence of troops in Rio de Oro, after contractors seen fighting alongside @Ebria soldiers

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Pelasgia · Dec 24, 2023

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Ἔτος ϞΗʹ ·Ἀρ. Φύλλου 32.794 ·Ἰδρυταί: Κ. Καντακουζηνός, Δ. Ἀνδρέου | ΠΡΟΠΟΝΤΙΣ, ΤΡΙΤΗ 26 ΔΕΚΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ 2023 |
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Grammatikos, Samaras sign major Friendship Treaty in Propontis
Tuesday, 24.12.2023 | Antonios Sgouros

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Megaron Logotheton, the seat of the Imperial cabinet in Propontis, where the two leaders met

A historic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation has been signed by the leaders of Tiburia and @Arcadia, following a meeting at the Megaron Logotheton or "Palace of the Secretaries," the official seat of the Grand Secretary in Propontis. The two leaders, Messrs. Georgios Nomikos of the Tiburan Empire and Chrysanthos Fotios Samaras of the Arcadian League, penned an agreement that would serve as the basis for cordial relations between the two countries, effectively creating similar ties between them to those linking the members of the Meridian Union. In order to signify the two countries' intent to put their troubled past behind them, the two leaders jointly placed wreaths at the Cenotaph of the Scutari War Memorial, where the last major battle of the Great Archipelago War took place in the early 20th century. Mr. Grammatikos promised to visit Megalopoli soon to return the gesture in Arcadia's own Cenotaph, signifying the end of relations characterised by revanchism on both sides following the end of the war and the resulting Wien Convention of 1936.

According to the Treaty, the two sides jointly agree to formally recognise their current borders and to end all territorial claims on any territory controlled by the other, based on the principle of uti possidetis. Maritime disputes between Tiburia and Arcadia have long caused trouble in the region, including during the short but bloody 2006 Archipelago Crisis, when the two countries almost went to war, bringing neighbouring nations into the fray, over the status of small islets near the Propontine Straits. Since then, overflights and naval confrontations have been a recurring theme, and both parties have vowed to end them and to establish permanent channels of communication between their armed forces as a result of this Treaty. Apart from these military and diplomatic provisions, the two sides have also vowed to establish freedom of movement for their nationals, as well as policing and judicial cooperation that must naturally accompany such expanded cross-border travel.

Perhaps the most crucial provisions of the new agreement concern trade. As a result of the 2023 Propontis Agreement, the two sides have mutually agreed to ease trade across the Archipelago and the Straits by reducing non-tariff barriers to trade and by gradually reducing all tariffs to zero. Provisions of the Treaty have been formulated to accompany increasingly liberalised trade with expanded cultural and academic cooperation, including a programme for student and museum exchanges, and incentives for cross-border travel, work and living arrangements. Through these unprecedented measures, the Tiburian and Arcadian leaders hope that, by this time next century, the two coasts of the Archipelago will be fully integrated, and the distinctions between the two brotherly nations will be merely political and historical.

Exterior Secretary reaffirms neutrality, sanctity of Straits
Tuesday , 24.12.2023 | Demetrios Xanthopoulos

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Imperial Secretary of the Exterior Theophrastos Phokas has publicly reaffirmed the Empire's neutrality in a speech that he gave to the graduating class of the Imperial Diplomatic Service Academy, in light of ongoing tensions between nations lying on opposite ends of the crucial waterway. [...] Mr. Phokas made reference to the attack by civilian ships from @Angliarique, which had been modified to bear concealed weaponry, against a carrier flotilla of @Tianlong in Boneventura Bay, an important international seaway, explaining that Propontis has no intention of politicising the Propontine Straits or closing them off to shipping, whether civilian or military, from any country. At the same time, Mr. Phokas explained that he expects all parties to respect the "sanctity" of the Propontine Straits as a major chokepoint of global commerce, and to avoid any hostile acts toward the ships of any party, which could compromise the flow of goods and people throughout Europe. [...]

Addressing his own studies at the Academy several decades prior, the Exterior Secretary noted that, since the end of the Great Archipelago War and the signature of the resulting Wien Convention regarding the Status of the Propontine Straits in 1936, the Empire has maintained a policy of neutrality, having avoided joining any alliance and having never gotten involved in the affairs of foreign states, outside of its occasionally strained relations with neighbouring Arcadia regarding the two states' maritime frontier. [...] Explaining Imperial policy to the new cohort of Tiburian diplomats, Mr. Phokas stated that Propontis has no intention of abandoning its policy, especially in light of "the great benefits that have come to our country as a result of keeping our doors open to all of Europe."

Fiscal police summon Sebastokrator over alleged violations
Thursday, 24.12.2023 | Alexia Artopoiopoulaina

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The Imperial Chancellery Police, Tiburia's primary fiscal law enforcement agency, is investigating the activities of Sebastokrator Nikolaos Komnenopoulos, brother to reigning Emperor Theodore IV Komnenopoulos, Senator and acting Metropolitan Prefect of Propontis. The investigation has been reportedly ongoing for several months, but was kept in the highest secrecy to avoid reputational damage to the senior nobleman and the reigning dynasty. As a result, the public only became aware of the seriousness of the alleged wrongdoing earlier this week, when reporters from Amaltheia, Krini's newspaper of record, claimed to have laid eyes on case documents, including a subpoena requiring that the Sebastokrator appear before the Court of Audit, in Propontis. Though hotly disputed at the time, the allegations seemed to have been confirmed when the Sebastokrator did indeed appear before the Court's investigating magistrate on December 23, just before the Christmas holiday, when most people's eyes were focused elsewhere. [...]

Mr. Komnenopoulos is one of the Empire's most influential political figures and an influential member of the more hawkish Neo-Imperialist and Pelasgian nationalist factions of the Empire's politics. [...] Since the withdrawal of former Grand Despot Alexios Komnenopoulos to a monastery in Euxenia, Mr. Komnenopoulos' son in law, Brig. Gen. Andronikos Angelopoulos, the current governor of the Pera Theme, has been seen as a frontrunner to succeed the current Emperor. This is in no small part due to Mr. Angelopoulos' marriage to Mr. Komnenopoulos' daughter, which lends him both the legitimacy of being related to the reigning Dynasty (even if only by marriage) as well as the support of Mr. Komnenopoulos and his faction within the Senate and the Empire's politics. [...] The indictment thus casts a serious doubt on the candidacy of Mr. Angelopoulos for the Imperial Purple. [...]

Pelasgia · Dec 30, 2023

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Propontis summons Vrijpoort ambassador over bank raids

Editorial Board | 30/12, 09:05 | Upd: 5 minutes ago
Tags: [Featured] [News] [Finance] [International]

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The historic building of the Bank of Propontis in the heart of Galatopyrgos District

The Imperial Government has summoned the Ambassador of @Vrijpoort following the illegal seizure of Tiburan bank records and the temporary detention of several Tiburan bank personnel in the small Germanian country. The Emperor, speaking at the advice of the Cabinet Council, demanded explanations from the foreign diplomat and made it clear that unless the Principality ceased its unlawful and hostile activities, retribution in kind would be forthcoming. According to an official readout of the meeting, His Imperial Majesty stressed that Vrijpoort has no jurisdiction to "investigate" the banking laws of a foreign nation, much less enforce criminal sanctions thereover, mirroring Propontis' long-standing policy of ignoring Vrijpoort regulators' attempts at pretending that they have some kind of say on the banking laws of foreign nations. Moreover, the Emperor stressed that the new law makes no changes to existing legal practice, codifying what is standard law throughout Europe for decades into a single piece of law for convenience. "International monetary crimes, which are seriously prosecuted in Tiburia, are still illegal under Tiburan law, and their status has not changed one bit," said a spokesman for the Imperial Government, while answering reporters' questions about the meeting.

"It appears to us that Vrijpoort has merely taken this chance to attack competition under the guise of countering money laundering," said Exterior Secretary Theophrastos Phokas during another press conference later in the day. "We have had these exact same laws on the books for decades, and Vrijpoort has not lifted a finger in all that time. Yet, the moment we simply codify all these laws into one piece of legislation, the Principality's authorities somehow immediately obtain a warrant to conduct excruciating searches of major Tiburan banks in their country. As a lawyer, I am both horrified and offended at this parody of due process," he concluded. When asked precisely what would have drawn Vrijpoort's ire at this time, Mr. Phokas alluded to Propontis' rising role as a global financial hub, especially in light of the growing instability of Gallo-Germania in recent years, which has scared investors away and led them to more peaceful, stable markets, like Himyar, Occidentia and Toyou. "In the span of a few weeks, we have concluded a series of major investments in @Ostmark and signed a major free trade agreement with @Arcadia , all while press coverage about the growing strength of our financial sector continues to fill the pages of financial media."

When asked what "retribution" Propontis was considering, Mr. Phokas refused to give a direct answer. Nevertheless, while the Empire does not have as preeminent a role in global financial markets as Vrijpoort, it still holds access to Himyari financial and commodities markets, including the Ebony Continent's rich resource deposits, in a close stranglehold, in addition to controlling vital sea lanes, especially the Propontine Straits. It thus appears likely that, should Propontis' concerns not be addressed, it could deny access to these important resources as a form of retaliation. In the meantime, Propontis has stated that it stands firmly behind its financial institutions, and that it will support them in any court battle.

| ΔΕΙΤΕ ΕΠΙΣΗΣ
- Financial Police formally arrest Sebastokrator over alleged fiscal violations, confirming reports of serious investigation into senior Senators
- International markets in turmoil following Vrijpoort raids into Tiburan banks, added on top of stress from collapse of CETO
- Travel across Arcadian border reaches all-time high as holiday vacationers from both sides seek to take advantage of new visa waiver
- Propontis prepares for new year's celebration with public concerts, festivals and fireworks display, along with an army of St. Basils

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Pelasgia · Jan 10, 2024

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Emperor Theodore IV Komnenopoulos passes away

Editorial Board | 11/1, 00:31 | Upd: 5 minutes ago
Tags: [Featured] [News] [Politics] [National]

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The official portrait of His Imperial Majesty, framed in black as a sign of grief

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Theodore IV Komnenopoulos has passed away at Propontis Central Military Hospital, according to a statement released by the Great Palace. The Emperor was in the intensive care unit of the Hospital since Saturday, when he suffered a severe stroke while enjoying drinks with His Majesty Il Imperatore of @Oltremare in the Palace of Despotia, on the Imperial Family's private island of Despotikon, near Propontis. His Majesty had been unresponsive since, forcing the Senate to appoint His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Demogeron of Propontis as Regent (Antibasileus) in the interim. The Emperor's passing comes at a most inopportune time, as Tiburian politics had been consumed by the yet-unresolved question of the succession to the Sublime Throne of Propontis, especially since the former Grand Despot, Alexios Komnenopoulos, gave up his titles to join a monastery in Euxenia late last year. The Emperor's eldest daughter, Despotess Anastasia Komnenopoulaina, remains unmarried, precluding her from succession per the traditional rules, while his other daughter, Despotess Eudoxia, is married to a Catholic Radilan nobleman and has left Tiburia, making her

ineligible. While most had expected the Emperor's youngest son, Despot Ioannes Komnenopoulos, to succeed him, the Despot's implication in a major financial scandal involving the Emperor's brother, disgraced former Sebastokrator Nikolaos Komnenopoulos, has turned public opinion decidedly against the youngest of the porphyrogennitoi, the Emperor's children.

As such, the Senate will be forced to choose a successor for the Imperial Purple from other candidates. One previously strong contender is Brigadier Andronikos Angelopoulos, who was married to the erstwhile Sebastokrator's daughter until requesting a divorce due to non-consummation of the marriage early this year. The Brigadier's association with the Sebastokrator previously earned him the support of the Senate's right-wing plurality faction, but this link has since come to haunt him—something that he has not been able to shake off even after his quick divorce. Conversely, the Emperor's favoured candidate, Rear Admiral Alexios Notaras (recently promoted by the Emperor from Commodore) seems to have the opposite problem: while having a clean record and a popular reputation as a respected naval officer due to his heroic acts in the 2006 Archipelago Crisis and the more recent Meridian Piracy War, he is nevertheless politically unconnected and a planned marriage to Despotess Anastasia has apparently yet to materialise. Thus, with the passing of his only major backer apart from the Megas Doux, it appears unlikely that he will be able to gather any significant Senatorial support. The last of the candidates appears to be a late arrival explicitly supported by the Government as a compromise solution: Colonel Ioannes Tzamantouros, a war hero and noted commander of the Imperial Army's armoured corps, who distinguished himself both during the Shuprian Rebellion in southern Euxenia and the Imperial Intervention in the Central Himyari Civil War. Col. Tzamantouros is descended from a cadet branch of the medieval Laskarid Dynasty (making him technically a patrician) and is married to a niece of the deceased Emperor's from His Majesty's late sister, Sebaste Anna Komnenopoulaina.

Regardless of whether the centrist-liberal Government of Grand Secretary Georgios Nomikos gets its way and manages to install its compromise candidate on the Sublime Throne, or whether one of the other factions (namely the Senatorial Populist Right or the Progressive Loyalists) win out instead, the reign of Emperor Theodore will surely be remembered as one of the most eventful in New Tibur's history. Succeeding his unpopular and extremely elder father, Alexios IX, following the latter's abdication in 2014, Emperor Theodore IV managed to restore public confidence in the institution of the Emperorship by working closely with the elected Government and using his traditional authority to push forward daring but necessary reforms to the Empire's society, economy and culture. By retaining close and public relationships with religious and community leaders of both the Pelasgian Orthodox majority and various ethno-religious minorities, the Basileus was able to lend credence and even popular support to the idea of a civic nation united around respect for existing institutions and the rule of law, rather than on ethnic dominance and majoritarianism, putting him at odds with the Nationalist Right. At the same time, he cultivated traditional sentiments and reverence for the Orthodox Church and Emperorship, something which prevented him from fully allying himself with the Progressive Liberals. The strong public image of the Imperial Family cultivated by the Government was shaken by scandals near the end of the Emperor's reign, but, as of his passing, popular support for the Komnenopoulos Dynasty remains quite strong.

As per tradition, the Emperor's funeral procession will take place at the Church of the Unmercenary Saints (Hagioi Anargyroi) in the Cathedral District of Propontis, following which his body will be buried in the New Imperial Crypt underneath the church. By Decree of the Regent, all flags in the Empire and its foreign missions abroad must fly at half a mast, and those on public buildings must be accompanied by a black mourning pennant for the traditional forty-day morning period. No public shows or celebrations will be allowed for that entire period, nor any political demonstrations concerning the Imperial House. Public officials, uniformed personnel and public servants will be required to wear a black mourning armband for the duration of the mourning period. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has ordained that prayers be said for the Emperor in every Pelasgian Orthodox Church across Europe, as, by Pelasgian Orthodox doctrine, he is considered to be the Viceroy of God on earth.

| ΔΕΙΤΕ ΕΠΙΣΗΣ
- National Mourning: Capital Navy Squadron fires twenty-one gun salute and Varangians hold mournful procession down Vasileon Avenue, as capital mourns deceased Emperor; Hagia Pronoia's bells to toll throughout day
- Financial Crimes Prosecutor and Investigating Magistrate of Chamber of Accounts transmit sealed indictment to Senate, asking it to waive the legal immunity certain important political figures
- Tiburan Imperial Central Bank (TICB) launches joint official inquiry with Capital Markets Commission (CMC) into IHBC and TAK Financial Group, sending both banks' stocks into renewed downward spiral
- Pelagonia hit by severe snowstorm for third day, forcing regional governor to ask for help from national government

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© 2024 Tiburian Broadcasting Authority (ART), S.A. | Ἀρχὴ Ῥαδιοτηλεοράσεως Τιβυρίας (Α.Ρ.Τ.) Α.Ε.

Pelasgia · Jan 12, 2024

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Ἔτος ϞΘʹ ·Ἀρ. Φύλλου 32.811 ·Ἰδρυταί: Κ. Καντακουζηνός, Δ. Ἀνδρέου | ΠΡΟΠΟΝΤΙΣ, ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΗ 12 ΙΑΝΟΥΑΡΙΟΥ 2024 |
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LONG LIVE IOANNES XI LASKARIS-TZAMANTOUROS, PELASGIAN EMPEROR
Grammatikos resigns; Photiades, Phokas to form government; constitutional referendum announced
Friday, 12.1.2024 | Editorial Board

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Fireworks over the Propontine Straits as the City celebrates its new Emperor

In a historic move, the Senate, People and Military of the Empire have unanimously acclaimed Ioannes XI Laskaris-Tzamantouros as Emperor and Autocrat of the Pelasgians, rather than the Tiburans. His Majesty set this as a precondition to accepting the Imperial Purple, saying that he would only rule over a Nation-State, rather than the dominions of an ancient, foreign city. Moreover, in order to accept the Emperorship, His Majesty required that a constitutional referendum be held to allow Pelasgians to express their opinion on whether the Tiburan Empire should be transformed into a new, Pelasgian Empire. Both these conditions were accepted by the Regency Council, which was headed by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Demogeron of Propontis. Once an agreement was reached, the new Emperor was acclaimed by both Megas Doux Nikephoros Andrianopoulos (representing the Armed Forces), the President of the Senate, Theophylaktos Dalassenos and the President of the Boule, Kornelios Ralles. His Majesty was then led to the balcony of the Great Palace, where an exhuberant crowd welcomed the news of the new Pelasgian Emperor, thus also acclaiming the new Basileus in fact. Today morning, a formal ceremony at the Bouleteurium, the seat of Senate and the Boule was also held, while the Emperor also inspected troops at the Propontis Army Garisson. As per tradition, the Emperor will be crowned on Sunday at the Patriarchal Cathedral of Divine Providence (Hagia Pronoia), in the heart of Propontis. His Imperial Majesty has taken on the dynastic name of Laskaris, as the Tzamantouros family is a cadet branch of the Laskarid Dynasty, while the Empress will retain her family name of Komnenopoulaian, signifying the new dynasty's link to the old, as she is a niece of the late Emperor Theodore.

Recognising popular displeasure with the multitude of scandals that seemed to have propped up near the end of the reign of the late Emperor Theodore IV Komnenopoulos, longtime Grand Secretary Georgios Nomikos tendered his resignation to the new Emperor, who accepted it. "I take full responsibility for the domestic and international embarrassment that the improper supervision of state officials and public affairs under my tenure has caused to the Senate and the People of Pelasgia," Mr. Nomikos letter, which he later made public, said. "I thus wish to leave the administration of the State in Your Majesty's capable hands, while hoping that you will be advised by more competent ministers." Almost immediately after, His Imperial Majesty appointed the leader of the opposition, Mr. Chrysanthos Photiades of the right-wing Constitutional Democratic Party (KSD), as Grand Secretary. Mr. Photiades, who has long acted as a leader of the nationalist right in Pelasgia received the necessary support to form a government from the right-wing faction of the governing National Liberal Union (EPE), which broke off from Mr. Nomikos' party under the leadership of Exterior Secretary Theophrastos Phokas at this morning's vote. In return for his support, Mr. Photiades allowed Mr. Phokas and some of his close associates within the erstwhile Cabinet Council to retain their positions and portfolios.

In addition to the nominal transition to Pelasgia from Tiburia, the new constitutional amendments poised to be approved by referendum also include daring reforms. Firstly, the Constitution will enshrine Pelasgia as a nation-state of the Pelasgian people, who hold ultimate sovereignty in the Name of God, in addition to making Pelasgian the Empire's sole official language. Moreover, a new position of Diadocohos or "Successor" will be created, allowing and requiring the Emperor to explicitly name a successor at all times, to minimise the instability caused by the lack of a clear succession to the Emperorship (which is not a hereditary office). This designated successor will be automatically made Emperor unless a qualified majority (2/3 of the Senate) votes to overturn his nomination twice. Additionally, greater delegations of power will be made to the Themes, and their Governors will administer them directly, being nominated by the Emperor and approved by the local Thematic Assembly. Furthermore, hereditary membership in the Senate will be abolished over a system of lifetime appointments for merit; the Patricianate, along with all its privileges, will be abolished as a legal concept, establishing complete legal equality of all citizens. Finally, stronger privacy rights are to be constitutionally enshrined, along with greater judicial independence and a right of citizens to be adequately informed of governmental affairs.

These reforms are to be put to a vote before all Pelasgians later this month, [...].

IHBC, TAK Financial Group placed under receivership
Friday, 12.1.2024 | Themistokles Paraskevopoulos

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The Imperial Central Bank has availed itself of its supervisory powers over the banking sector under its enabling statute to place the Imperial Himyari Bank of Commerce (IHBC) and TAK Financial Group (officially, Bank of the Archipelago and Cyparissus S.A.) under a receivership, following a joint investigation with the Capital Markets Commission into grave alleged violations of Imperial and foreign securities, banking and commercial law. [...] The Financial Crimes Prosecutor and Chamber of Accounts also unveiled an indictment against the two banks for various financial crimes earlier this week, which, though heavily redacted, apparently concerns allegations of money laundering and tax evasions schemes involving high-ranking government officials and foreign branches of the two banks. [...] If successful, the prosecution would result in significant fines and other penalties for the two financial institutions, as well as imprisonment and other penalties for key executives and personnel involved in the violations.

At the same time, the penalties already imposed by the Central Bank and Capital Markets Commission include significant financial penalties, as well as sanctions against key executives of both banks. [...] These penalties are particularly grave in the case of IHBC, which is still on parole and a heightened reporting regime due to its previous participation in the Koressios Conglomerate, which was broken up by court order a few years prior as part of the Central Himyar Scandal implicating both it and the Pegasus Conglomerate, as well as due to anti-trust violations. By reason of these pre-existing penalties, IHBC will lose its banking and financial licenses, which would result in its liquidation. [...] Likewise, due to its precarious financial position over the last three years and the precipitous decline in its stock in the last month, TAK Financial Group is expected to become insolvent following the imposition of the financial and other penalties, meaning that it will also have to undergo liquidation. [...] The two regulatory bodies have thus acted to protect the rights of depositors, while soliciting bids for a purchase of the two banks' remaining assets by financially sound and legally compliant institutions. [...] The Central Bank has reassured depositors that there are adequate funds to cover all their deposits. [...]

Despot Ioannes Komnenopoulos leaves Pelasgia in disgrace
Friday, 12.1.2024 | Adamantia Nesiotissa

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Despot Ioannes Komnenopoulos, formerly seen as one of the most likely successors to the Sublime Throne of Propontis, has renounced his titles and announced his intent to permanently leave Pelasgia and move abroad, to the Himyari city-state of Dahab. This move comes as a shock, as only a few weeks prior, Mr. Komnenopoulos was expected to succeed his late father as Emperor, prior to his implication in a major financial scandal involving his uncle, disgraced former Sebastokrator Nikolaos Komnenopoulos. [...] The timing of Mr. Komnenopoulos' departure is likely connected to the advent of the reign of the new Emperor, who is not likely to shield the former Despot from prosecution in the IHBC-TAK Financial Group Scandal, according to financial crimes expert and banking law professor at the Imperial and Patriarchal University of Propontis, Mr. Markos Limberis. Per Professor Limberis, the Government likely offered the ex-Despot the opportunity to leave the country forever and abandon his possessions and position within the Empire in exchange for avoiding a prosecution that would likely prove extremely embarassing to both him and the Government. [...] Reportedly, the ex-Despot entered into an agreement with the Government which resulted in him handing over an amount equal to that obtained illegally through his alleged activities, in addition to the estimate extent of the massive fines he would have incurred, in return for being allowed to leave the country. [...]

As Pelasgia enjoys traditionally strong relations with Dahab, it is expected that the city-state will serve as an ideal exile location for the former aristocrat, since it will be a safe country where he will not be at the disposal of any potentially hostile government, while also being outside the Empire and its politics. Indeed, Dahab is often considered to be the " @Vrijpoort of Himyar," making it an ideal location for many VIPs who wish to leave their native countries behind. [...] It is unclear whether the Government intends to extend a similar amnesty to any other figures of the former dynasty and their associates who are implicated in the financial crimes in question; indeed, the mastermind of the scandal, ex-Sebastokrator Nikolaos Komnenopoulos, is still set to face trial later this month on a docket including severe charges. [...]

Rheinbund · Jan 13, 2024

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Bund der rheinischen Fürstentümer und Bürgerschaften
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Korrespondenznummer / Correspondence number: RR/AA/2024-01-10/008356 ; 10. Jan 2024
Steht in Bezug zu den Korrespondenzen / Related to the correspondences: ———
Öffentlich / Public: ■ │ Vertraulich / Restricted: □ │ Streng geheim / Top Secret: □
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Auswärtiges Amt
Fehrbellin, Rheinbund

His Majesty Emperor Theodore IV Komnenopoulos was a great man who did a lot for his country. Our condolences to his family and friends, and to the people of the Tiburan Empire. Our embassy and consulates in Pelasgia will take part in the mourning period and follow the flag instructions applicable during the mourning period. King Philipp, the Sovereigns or Regents of the Sovereignties and Demissionary Chancellor Lauritzen will attend the funeral of the Rheinian ambassador in the Tiburan Empire, together with their spouses.

Gustav Kohlschreiber, Demissionary Minister of Foreign Affairs

Rheinbund · Jan 13, 2024

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Bund der rheinischen Fürstentümer und Bürgerschaften
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Joint statement by the Rheinian King, the Sovereign-Bishop of Heilbach, the Sovereigns of the Rheinian sovereignties and the Citizenry Legates of the Rheinian citizenries

It is with great sadness that we heard about the death of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Theodore IV Komnenopoulos. We remember him as a great man who helped modernising his country. We will fly the flags on our palaces and residencies at half-mast with black banners until the funeral. We will also attend the funeral.

Philipp von Homburg-Gosta, König des Rheinbundes
Gustav von Badenau-Rotenburg, Fürst von Badenau
Wulf Bingen, Bürgerschaftslegat von Bramsfeld
Caspar von Homburg-Gosta, Fürst von Casparringen
Leonore von Detmold-Liepen, Regent von Detmold im Namen des Fürstes Ferdinand von Detmold-Liepen
Rainmund Behrendt, Bürgerschaftslegat von Emsland
Rudolph Strelecki, Fürstbischof von Heilbach
Albrecht von Heidemar-Loorburg, Fürst von Lotharingen
Hildetraud Stocker, Bürgerschaftslegat von Ripuarien
Gregor von Koblenz-Lahnstein, Fürst von Ruppertswald
Karl-Friedrich von der Lausitz, Fürst von Sauerland
Anke Sonnenfeld, Bürgerschaftslegat des Scharmbeckerlandes
Sigmar von Schallenberg, Fürst von Sigmaringen
Luitpold von Weidenbach, Regent von Spessart im Namen des Fürstes Ludwig von Weidenbach
Clovis von Steinfurt-Rüdershausen, Fürst von Thorsringen
Karl von Görisburg, Regent von Tirolstein im Namen des Fürstes Karl von Görisburg und des Erbprinzes Pippin von Görisburg
Amalia von Matzenfeld, Fürstin von Wetterau

Rheinbund · Jan 13, 2024

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Bund der rheinischen Fürstentümer und Bürgerschaften
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Korrespondenznummer / Correspondence number: RR/AA/2024-01-12/001156 ; 12. Jan 2024
Steht in Bezug zu den Korrespondenzen / Related to the correspondences: ———
Öffentlich / Public: ■ │ Vertraulich / Restricted: □ │ Streng geheim / Top Secret: □
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Auswärtiges Amt
Fehrbellin, Rheinbund

Our congratulations to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Iohannes XI Laskaris-Tzamantouros, and to Grand Secretary Photiades. The Rheinbund and Pelasgia have enjoyed very cordial relationships; relationships that we wish to continue to invest in. We look forward to cooperating with the new Government in Pelasgia.

Gustav Kohlschreiber, Demissionary Minister of Foreign Affairs

Rheinbund · Jan 13, 2024

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Bund der rheinischen Fürstentümer und Bürgerschaften
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Joint statement by the Rheinian King, the Sovereign-Bishop of Heilbach, the Sovereigns of the Rheinian sovereignties and the Citizenry Legates of the Rheinian citizenries

Our congratulations to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Iohannes XI Laskaris-Tzamantouros. May he reign with wisdom and may Pelasgia's future be prosperous.

Philipp von Homburg-Gosta, König des Rheinbundes
Gustav von Badenau-Rotenburg, Fürst von Badenau
Wulf Bingen, Bürgerschaftslegat von Bramsfeld
Caspar von Homburg-Gosta, Fürst von Casparringen
Leonore von Detmold-Liepen, Regent von Detmold im Namen des Fürstes Ferdinand von Detmold-Liepen
Rainmund Behrendt, Bürgerschaftslegat von Emsland
Rudolph Strelecki, Fürstbischof von Heilbach
Albrecht von Heidemar-Loorburg, Fürst von Lotharingen
Hildetraud Stocker, Bürgerschaftslegat von Ripuarien
Gregor von Koblenz-Lahnstein, Fürst von Ruppertswald
Karl-Friedrich von der Lausitz, Fürst von Sauerland
Anke Sonnenfeld, Bürgerschaftslegat des Scharmbeckerlandes
Sigmar von Schallenberg, Fürst von Sigmaringen
Luitpold von Weidenbach, Regent von Spessart im Namen des Fürstes Ludwig von Weidenbach
Clovis von Steinfurt-Rüdershausen, Fürst von Thorsringen
Karl von Görisburg, Regent von Tirolstein im Namen des Fürstes Karl von Görisburg und des Erbprinzes Pippin von Görisburg
Amalia von Matzenfeld, Fürstin von Wetterau

Pelasgia · Jan 15, 2024

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Ἔτος ϞΘʹ ·Ἀρ. Φύλλου 32.814 ·Ἰδρυταί: Κ. Καντακουζηνός, Δ. Ἀνδρέου | ΠΡΟΠΟΝΤΙΣ, ΔΕΥΤΕΡΑ 15 ΙΑΝΟΥΑΡΙΟΥ 2024 |
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Government proposes landmark reforms to civil, criminal law
Monday, 15.1.2024 | Editorial Board

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A restricted road connecting two buildings in the Government Quarter of old Propontis

Within its first week after being sworn in, the coalition government of the Popular Christian Movement (LXK) of Grand Secretary Chrysanthos Photiades and the National Reform Rally (ESM) of Exterior Secretary Theophrastos Phokas has apparently decided to make good on agenda of legislative reforms by announcing a suite of amendments to various laws as well as the introduction of landmark new bills. The Christian Democratic LXK and the national conservative ESM have joined forces on points where their platforms find common ground to propose the most comprehensive reform to the Civil and Penal Codes since the Restoration of 1971. Specifically, the provisions aired by the new government would, for the first time, establish the institution of civil marriage in Pelasgia, including a provision specifically allowing couples of different faiths to marry in a civil ceremony without the need for permission from their respective religious bodies. Until now, such couples (as well as any secular Pelasgians who simply did not wish to partake in religious ceremonies) had to travel to a nearby foreign country to effect such a marriage, and then obtain legal recognition thereof from Pelasgian authorities. "It is the belief of the Government that in a modern nation-state, citizens of the same nationality should be able to marry regardless of religious differences," explained Mr. Apostolos Koressios, Interior Secretary, while addressing the Boule. "We can no longer tolerate outdated communitarianism, which divides Pelasgians into smaller groups based on ethnicity or creed."

The introduction of civil marriage is accompanied by the introduction of civil divorce. Until now, Pelasgians had to obtain a religious divorce from their respective religious authorities, which divorce would then be recognised by the civil authorities. Now, all Pelasgians will be able to obtain a civil divorce, which will be effective regardless of religious approval, in one of the five following cases: (i) non-consummation of the marriage; (ii) adultery; (iii) marital abuse; (iv) abandonment; or (v) conviction of either spouse for a felony. Where both parties agree that any of these grounds has been met, divorce can be effected through a simple joint application at the civil registry, rather than through a court judgment. [...] Accompanying this reform to family law is another: the removal on all legal disabilities placed upon illegitimate children. Heretofore, such children bore no family name and had to wait until legal majority to adopt one. Now, a mother can give a child born out of wedlock her own family name. Τhough the entry "unknown" will still be automatically applied in place of a patronymic, the local mayor or civil registry will now be empowered to enter a patronymic based on a sworn statement from the biological father without his having to wed the mother. [...]

Apart from these monumental reforms to the civil law, the law also touches upon the Penal Code and Code of Penal Procedure to bring them up to speed with modern practices and scholarship. Accordingly, the use of penal labour camps will be reduced to felonies only, and the overall time spent there will be reduced for most crimes, with the exception of severe felonies. Provisions will be made to improve the conditions of inmates and to allow them the option of additional or alternative paid labour, as well as in-camp education and cultural activities. [...] Internal exile will likewise be limited to severe political offences, and the use of courts martial during peacetime will be permanently abolished for both political and other offences, except where those are committed within a military facility or by military personnel. [...] Moreover, provisions to ensure that detainees and inmates are able to report abuse effectively have been proposed. [...] Coversely, in accordance with recommendations by the Central Bank of Pelasgia, harsher and more detailed provisions regarding financial crimes, particularly as they relate to official corruption, have been enacted, including direct penal liability for executives and automatic waivers of immunity for public officials involved in such crimes. [...]

Amnesty for political offenders followed by talk of reform to security services
Monday, 15.1.2024 | Georgios Akritas

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A day after the enthronement of Emperor John XI Laskaris, hundreds of Pelasgians convicted of political offences awoke to an unexpected gift: an amnesty had been declared by Imperial Decree, at the advice of the Government. [...] According to the decree, nearly four hundred individuals imprisoned or internally exiled for lesser offences against the State have had their sentences commuted and will be immediately released with a clean record and their political rights fully restored. Speaking to reporters, a spokesman for the Interior Department explained that the Government hopes that the measure will "help to usher in a new period of trust and civil politics, in keeping with the spirit of open dialogue and self-government that befits the Nation-State that we are working hard to build in place of the old empire." [...] The opposition, particularly the left-wing Socialist Labour Party, applauded the measure, though the National Liberal Union (the primary successor to the formerly governing National Progressive Union) refused to comment on the matter.

Along with the surprise amnesty, the Interior Secretary has submitted to the Standing Senate Committee on National Security a proposal to reform the structure of the Imperial Secret Service, commonly known as the Krypteia. The Krypteia, which is one of Europe's largest intelligence agencies, is the catch-all civilian spy agency of Pelasgia, dealing with anything from internal security to foreign espionage. As a result of this wide jurisdictional ambit, the agency has long been accused of institutional overreach and of acting as a "state within a state." [...] The proposal to be discussed by the Committee will consider breaking up the agency into three separate agencies: the State Security Service (Y.K.A., a domestic intelligence agency), the Foreign Intelligence Service (Y.E.P., an external intelligence agency) and Imperial Secret Protective Service (B.P.K., tasked with protecting key government personnel). Additionally, the bill intends to submit each agency to oversight of a different department (the Interior Department for the YKA and the Exterior Department for the YEP), leaving only the BPK under the Emperorship. Previously, the Krypteia was entirely under the Throne's direct jurisdiction, allowing the Government to operate it without external oversight. [...]

Additionally, the Interior Department has allegedly aired the idea of merging the Imperial Police and the civilian policing arm of the Imperial Gendarmerie Corps into a new, nationwide policing agency, while separating the Gendarmerie's internal security arm into a separate agency, akin to a National Guard. [...]

Law professors submit judicial reform recommendations
Monday, 15.1.2024 | Photios Polites

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A nationwide committee of distinguished academic jurists has submitted a detailed memorandum of recommendations to the Department of Justice following a national consultation on judicial reform. The jurists, who were drawn by faculties from across the country and also included Pelasgian law professors teaching abroad proposed changes to both various procedural matters as well as the structure of the Pelasgian judiciary. [...] Specifically, the memorandum includes proposals to break up the Judicial Senate, the nation's single supreme court, into a series of specialised supreme courts, and to elevate the Chamber of Accounts to the status of a supreme court by expanding its role and membership. Currently, the Judicial Senate (or Gerousia, to distinguish it from the Legislative Senate or Synkletos) consists of five specialised chambers operating as five courts in one, a situation that leads to strained resources and administrative difficulties. [...] Per the proposed approach, the Gerousia would be broken up into a Court of Cassation (for civil and criminal matters), a Council of State (for administrative matters) and a Constitutional Court (for constitutional review), in addition to the aforementioned elevation for the Chamber of Accounts to an equal footing with these courts. The Procuratorate General of the State would be subsumed to the Court of Cassation, while the State would be represented before the other courts by the Legal Council of the State, as is currently the case. [...]

With regard to procedural reforms, the professors made a series of suggestions to reduce the backlog of cases and punish vexatious litigation. Among these are mergers of lower courts, the enhanced use of online filings as well as technology to monitor and publish decisions, the expanded use of "bill" proceedings (which do not require a hearing but only rely upon submissions), the transfer of certain administrative responsibilities of courts to lawyers and other bodies, and the encouragement of alternative dispute resolution methods, such as arbitration and judicial conciliation (including their being made mandatory in some contexts). [...] The provisions regarding vexatious litigants in particular are of note, as they would punish parties that bring repeated and baseless actions by fining them and/or preventing them from filing actions without prior leave of the judiciary. [...]

Pelasgia · Jan 31, 2024

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Ἔτος ϞΘʹ ·Ἀρ. Φύλλου 32.830 ·Ἰδρυταί: Κ. Καντακουζηνός, Δ. Ἀνδρέου | ΠΡΟΠΟΝΤΙΣ, ΤΕΤΑΡΤΗ 31 ΙΑΝΟΥΑΡΙΟΥ 2024 |
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Reforms to security forces and judiciary signed into law
Wednesday, 31.1.2024 | Editorial Board

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Imperial Police officers inside a courtroom in Propontis

Following their approval by the Boule and the Senate, a series of bills governing the country's security forces and judiciary have been signed into law by Emperor John XI Laskaris and printed into the official gazette. The proposals reflect the recommendations made by the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and a nationwide committee of renowned jurists to the Government earlier this month. [...] According to the new law, the Imperial Police and Imperial Gendarmerie Corps are to be merged into a new entity with authority for nationwide civilian policing. The new agency will bear the name of "Politarchy" (or "Constabulary"), after the original Pelasgian policing force of the 19th century, and it will be largely follow the organisational structure of the Gendarmerie while integrating personnel from both agencies. From this merger, certain bodies will be excluded: first, the Propontis Metropolitan Police Directorate (MADIP) will be reconstituted as an independent civilian policing agency, retaining its jurisdiction over the Capital Metropolis; second, the internal security arm of the Gendarmerie Corps (known as the "Mobile" or "Security" Gendarmerie) will be broken off from the Politarchy into a separate paramilitary force, the National Guard; and third, municipal or "demotic" police forces will continue to be permitted, except in Propontis, where the local demotic police duties will still fall to MADIP. [...] MADIP and the Politarchy will continue to fall under the jurisdiction of the Interior Department, whereas the National Guard will be subsumed to the Interior Department in times of peace and the Military Department in times of war, being considered part of the Pelasgian Imperial Armed Forces. Alongside the internal security duties of the Gendarmerie Corps, the National Guard will also take over its border security functions, in addition to being co-responsible with other agencies and primarily responsible for gun control, combatting terrorism and organised crime, protecting public order and guarding important state facilities. [...] The Chancellery Guard, the country's fiscal police, will also be absorbed into the National Guard, as a special directorate with joint supervision by the Chancellery (Finance Ministry), due to overlap between customs and border control responsibilities. Conversely, the Coast Guard (or "Port Corps") will not see any alteration, and it will continue to operate under the jurisdiction of the Maritime Department (and the Military Department in wartime). [...]

The Government estimates that these changes will significantly enhance the efficiency of law enforcement by avoiding duplication, while also building more trust between the citizenry and the new bodies. [...] At the same time, the judicial reform is much less daring, essentially putting into effect changes that have been recommended for a long time (in some cases, for over a century). The first and most hotly debated item is the abolition of the Courts of the Peace and the Courts of Magistracy, the lowest courts of the judicial hierarchy, which were constituted at the local level and judged minor disputes or offences. Considering them to be unnecessary due to technological progress rendering courts more accessible, the Government has instead merged them and their competencies into regional divisions of the corresponding Prefectural Court, where the local population is large enough to justify such a presence. The facilitate this transition, the new laws transfer many of the minor clerical responsibilities of these local judges to lawyers or they enable the use of online submissions to the appropriate court. [...] A more significant change is made to the country's highest court, the Judicial Senate, which is to be broken up into three specialised supreme courts: the Supreme Court of Cassation (for civil and criminal matters), the Administrative Council of State (for administrative matters) and the Constitutional Court (for matters of constitutional review). The Court of Audit (or Chamber of Accounts), the highest fiscal court, will remain an independent supreme court, as previously. [...] Apart from these reforms, the new law also puts in place measures to combat and punish vexatious litigants, and to reduce needless litigation by placing the real costs of the litigation on the losing party. [...]

Boule, Government in dispute over use of Imperial Decrees
Wednesday, 31.1.2024 | Photios Palatianos

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With elections to the Boule only a few months away, certain sections of that legislative body find themselves embroiled in a dispute with the Government regarding the latter's repeated use of Imperial Decrees to force through legislation at a rapid pace, often undercutting parliamentary debate. According to art. 43 of the Constitution, the Emperor is empowered to issue legislative decrees, at the advice of the Cabinet Council, which the Boule then has thirty days to reject, failing which they are approved automatically. Though there is no clarification in the Constitution as to when this power may be exercised other than the words "when necessary" (ποὺ ἀναγκαῖα εἶναι), there has long been a belief in some political and legal circles that this power may only be used in urgent cases or to enact international treaties that have been thoroughly debated beforehand. [...] Instead, the governing coalition has taken the (minority) view that the Emperor may use this power at his leisure, with the Grand Secretary advising the Sublime Throne to do so repeatedly in order to quickly enact many of the reforms that it had envisioned when forming a new coalition. "Though we had grown used to the occasional instrumentalisation of this practice from the previous administration when they wished to force through an unpopular law, Mr. Photiades' government has practically turned it into its standard, preferred method of legislating," said Ioannes Vogiantzis, a lawmaker affiliated with the Socialist Workers' Party of Pelasgia (SEKP), while addressing the legislature. "At this point, we might as well dissolve the Boule and let Messrs. Photiades and Phokas rule by decree through the Throne," he added, causing a mix of applause from his colleagues and uproar from the government's seats. [...]

The Government has refused to back down from its interpretation of the law, with incumbent Justice Secretary Tiverios Sypropoulos explaining that "the use of Imperial Decrees is a long standing practice, which must be interpreted in the context of our nation's millennia-long history. At no previous period in our constitutional history was there a constraint of 'urgency' upon the Throne's right to issue ordinances, even if the previous government or the opposition may have long sought to harbor such pretensions." [...] If the matter is not resolved politically, there is a possibility that the Constitutional Court might find itself before one of its first landmark decisions soon, according to Ieronymos Roussos, Professor of Constitutional Law at the Imperial and Patriarchal University of Propontis. [...]

PFSC inaugurates Silk Seas strategy
Wednesday, 31.1.2024 | Alexandros Psaltides

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The Pelasgian Far Southern Company (PFSC or PEAN) has publicly inaugurated its new strategy for the Silk Seas, in conjunction with the opening of several facilities in Tephanon and Sebasteia, along Pelasgia's eastern coastline. Speaking at an event at a large liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal constructed in Episkopi, the second largest city in the coastal exclave of Tephanon, the head of the PFSC's maritime transportation and shipping division, Mr. Christophoros Neolkeus, outlined the company's vision for the region, stating that "as global trade shifts away from Gallo-Germania and the Gothic Sea, Pelasgia must be ready to adapt and to take a lead in shipping through the Silk Sea, all the way to Occidentia, to ensure the continued significance of its maritime routes, firms, crews and fleet, and the protection of its know-how and dominant market position." Mr. Neolkeus explained that, by constructing such facilities, the PFSC hopes the reinforce the Pelasgian merchant marine's already strong presence in the region and to direct it to new goals. "Instead of merely aiming to transport goods from Toyou or Occidentia to Gallo-Germania, we must start to see those regions, especially Westernesse, as hubs for our own direct commerce, as well as that of Himyar," he explained, before adding, "The PFSC must set an example for the rest of our country's maritime sector to follow." [...]

Among the facilities unveiled are new repair drydocks, LNG and petroleum terminals and refineries, storage facilities and expanded harbour docks, all of which would allow the PFSC and other Pelasgian and foreign firms (at different rates) to operate more freely and independently in Pelasgia's eastern maritime region. At the same time, the PFSC seeks to allocate more newbuilds, personnel and resources to its operation in such trade routes, diversifying away from the geopolitical instability plaguing Gallo-Germania. [...]

Pelasgia · Feb 12, 2024

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Government targets cost of living ahead of election
Monday, 2024/02/12 | Jonathan Nicholson

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The incumbent right-wing coalition government of the Christian-democratic LXK and national-conservative ESM has unveiled several policies seeking to combat rising cost of living ahead of the coming election. [...] First and foremost, the State monopoly on natural gas (PEFA) has announced that all gas used for heating and cooking will be provided for free to households in need. PEFA announced this as a joint venture with the Imperial Chancellery (which holds legal ownership of its majority stake) and the Department of Energy, using natural gas from a recently-tapped natural gas field in the coastal region off Sebasteia Theme. To avoid waste, a cap will be instituted on free gas, above which a minimum price will be imposed. All but the most affluent households will also see their fees reduced to near-free, effectively being sold gas from the field at cost, again up to a certain consumption, above which a slightly higher (but still relatively cheap) price will be imposed. [...] Another policy instituted by the Government concerns grocery prices, which have slightly risen due to heightened import costs resulting from the disruption in global trade flow caused by the conflicts taking place throughout Europe in recent years. To combat this issue, the Government aims to eliminate VAT on certain basic foodstuffs, a list of which will be published, in addition to reducing VAT on other commonly consumed but not essential products. This programme will only apply to domestically produced foodstuffs, to encourage the preservation of domestic supply in light of heightened global instability. [...] To make up the costs of these measures, the Government aims to raise taxes on certain higher income brackets, in addition to making use of the funds drawn from foreign investments. [...]

These policies represent a shift from the neoliberal, austerity-focused approach of the previous liberal administration, and a return to the more populist right-wing approach that characterised its nationalist predecessor. Nevertheless, with cost of living being named as the first concern among Pelasgians in a number of recent polls, it is also unclear to what extent these policies are the result of ideological shifts as opposed to electoral pragmatism. [...]

Pelasgian Socialists divided over International Workers' Federation membership
Monday, 2024/02/12 | Jenny Bradford

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The Socialist Workers' Party of Pelasgia (SEKP), the country's main left-wing big tent party, finds itself divided once again, this time over the question of its membership in the International Workers' Federation (IWF), which is headquartered in the @Socialist Commonwealth. Specifically, the dispute is between the three main factions that are represented in the party, including the social democrats, the democratic socialists and the communists. [...] The social democrats, being the least radical and traditionally more bourgeois of the three factions, oppose membership as they consider the IWF's platform, including its support for a global federation, to be too radical, even if they support more global collaboration between democratic, left-wing governments. This is the exact opposite of the approach endorsed by the democratic socialists, who actively support membership, considering a global socialist confederacy to be the ultimate aim of any honest socialist. Notably, this position has drawn scrutiny from other parties, who consider such statements to be borderline illegal, due to seeking to undermine or even abolish the sovereignty and the existing constitutional structure of the Pelasgian State. Given the social democrats' wish to work for reform within the system, certain long-time left-wing commentators have cited this as the "real" reason for their opposition to IWF membership. [...]

A diametrically opposed approach is taken by the hardline communists, who consider the IWF to be "organ of the so-called 'Socialist' Commonwealth," which would reduce the power of the national government and thus its ability to institute reforms within Pelasgia. This ironically mirrors an earlier debate within the SEKP in the 1950s, when the internationalist faction of the communists departed from the party to form the now-outlawed Internationalist Communist Party of Pelasgia (DKKP), advocating terroristic action and violent revolution in pursuit of a global workers' state. The remaining communists of the SEKP, who are sometimes called the National Communists, are staunchly nationalistic and thus opposed to internationalist movements like the IWF. Ironically, though opposed to the social democrats on most issues, their collaboration with them on this point is necessary to maintain a majority of votes against joining the IWF. [...]

PFSC establishes base in Far Southern Islands
Monday, 2024/02/12 | Christopher Nbango

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The Pelasgian Far Southern Company (PFSC) has established its first permanent outpost in the Far South since the abandonment in its local bases in the late 19th century. The PFSC, a conglomerate jointly formed by Pelasgia's largest corporate groups and the Pelasgian State to promote commerce and advance Pelasgian shipping and mercantile interests globally, with a particular focus on Himyar, has long been active in the region to which it owes its name, especially through its whaling, fishing and line shipping arms. [...] Nevertheless, the decline in the safety of global shipping and the closure of certain routes in the Far North, combined with concern over the potential for further disruptions due to the ongoing war between Tianlong and Angliarique, have led the company's management to fear precisely for the safety of its world-leading but also high-cost line shipping operations. [...]

Whereas Pelasgia is a world leader in maritime transportation, the vast majority of its firms specialise in tramp shipping (i.e., short-notice service that do not follow any strict schedule or routes). This line of business has lower costs and higher returns (but also higher risk), making it suited to the multitude of family-owned firms that traditionally dominate Pelasgian shipping. Instead, in recent decades, Pelasgia has also made inroads into the line shipping market (i.e., regular service on scheduled routes, often with many ports of call), which has more steady returns and lower risk but smaller margins of profit. Because of the higher initial investments required for such operations, individual firms have chosen to form joint ventures and to share profits (which are distinct from pooling in that the resulting company has its own, wholly owned fleet). The largest of these by far is the PFSC, whose shipping arm is among the leading line shipping firms globally. [...]

In order to support these operations, which might need to be rerouted through the Horn of Himyar in case of various conflicts, and to also enable better service for its target markets, the PFSC has established certain permanent outposts in the sparsely inhabited islands off the southern tip of Himyar, known in Pelasgia as the Far Southern Islands. [...] According to its statements, the PFSC hopes to use these permanent harbors to deter piracy in the region, provide service stops from ships of all nationalities, and to assist in the humanitarian development of the local tribes, who number in a the few thousands. [...]

© 2024 Ἐφημερίς «Βῆμα Προποντίδος» Ε.Π.Ε. | "Propontis Tribune" Newspaper Ltd.
Ἄδεια ξενόγλωσσου ἐκδόσεως ὑπ. ἀρ. 1/1951 | Foreign language publication licence No. 1/1951

Pelasgia · Feb 26, 2024

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Ἔτος ϞΘʹ ·Ἀρ. Φύλλου 32.856 ·Ἰδρυταί: Κ. Καντακουζηνός, Δ. Ἀνδρέου | ΠΡΟΠΟΝΤΙΣ, ΔΕΥΤΕΡΑ 26 ΦΕΒΡΟΥΑΡΙΟΥ 2024 |
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·Μετὰ προσφορῶν 12Ø

Senior politicians, businessmen arrested on seditious conspiracy charges
Monday, 26.2.2024 | Antonios Sgouros

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Ioannes A. Ploumides, of the disgraced Ploumides business clan, being led to a courthouse in Propontis

In the early morning hours of February 24, law enforcement and securities forces carried out a series of lightning arrests of high-profile political and business figures. The arrested individuals were placed under the custody of the State Security Service (YKA) of the Pelasgian Empire, and they are facing a slew of charges related to a seditious conspiracy that authorities allege they had been planning. According to press release by the YKA, the individuals in question were arrested due to a plot to undermine the constitutional monarchic foundation of the State, to overturn the emperor and to replace the current constitutional regime with a parliamentary oligarchy controlled by themselves, as is often the case in many liberal states. The alleged conspirators were traced to a protest movement that had been organised throughout Pelasgia and its near abroad against various projects of national importance. The connecting link was the daughter of long-time liberal Senator Manolis Despotakis, Alexandra Despotakaina, who had a leading role in coordinating such activities domestically and internationally, according to information allegedly obtained by the YKA following its investigation into the arrested foreign national from the @Socialist Commonwealth last month. [...]

The Senator was tied to other important politicians through links connecting them to a variety of groups, which were funded by a series of businessmen using shady private loans and foreign bank accounts that tittered on the brink of illegality. Pelasgian law is particularly strict about foreign funding for political activities and private funding of domestic political activities, both in order to avoid foreign influence and to publicly expose the influence of money in politics, so that the public can better control it. [...] One of the leading businessmen implicated in the plot was Mr. Ioannes A. Ploumides, the heir to the disgraced Ploumides clan that previously administered the Pegasus Conglomerate prior to its being broken up in 2022 for various violations of financial law, anti-trust law and threats to national security. [...] Despite his being deprived of much of his father's corporate empire, Mr. Ploumides retained significant overseas funds and connections in the grande bourgeoisie of Pelasgia, which he reportedly leveraged to fund the operation to overturn the current constitutional monarchic regime. The decision of the Capital Markets Commission to block him from starting a financial services firm last year reportedly lead him to accelerate his efforts. [...]

The political repercussions of this scandal are pretty significant, as they implicate many key figures in the liberal parliamentary establishment and the previous administration. Pro-government legislators within the Boule have proposed the formation of a cross-partisan coalition to facilitate the work of the Government in these trying times, given general international instability and growing domestic challenges, both of which pose a risk to national security and the hard-earned achievements of the Nation in recent years. Interestingly, many have voiced concern about how equipped the newly elected Grand Secretary, Mr. Chrysanthos Photiades, is at dealing with such a crisis, citing long-time Exterior Secretary Mr. Theophrastos Phokas as someone who should play a greater role in government, in light of his experience over several administrations and his irreproachable commitment to the current constitutional regime. [...] Strong accusations of foreign ties of many of the defendants, including the contacts of Messrs. Despotakis and Ploumides to @Radilo, have also raised alarm about long-feared regime change efforts from abroad. [...] On the flip side, the All-Pelasgian Confederation of Labour Unions (PASES) is reportedly considering a strike against what it considers to be growing authoritarianism on the part of the governing coalition. [...]

PFSC establishes administration over Far Southern Islands
Monday, 26.2.2024 | Demetrios Xanthopoulos

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The Pelasgian Far Southern Company has established an "administration" over the Far Southern Islands, a small chain of islands off the southern tip of Himyar, according to a statement released by the Company. The PFSC noted that this administration is in conjunction with local authorities, acting as a protectorate of sorts to keep peace between the two major ethnic groups of the island chain who have been engulfed in civil warfare since the previous year. The PFSC, though partly owned by the Pelasgian State, is independent of the Government, which will have no direct role on this administration, at least so far. [...] The PFSC has long docked in the Far Southern Islands when transiting around southern Himyar for various trade activities, and it has used its private fleet to protect local trade routes and ports from piratic activities in the past. Earlier this year, the Company established permanent bases in the area to facilitate both international trade and anti-piracy efforts in the region. PFSC ships in the area rescued a commercial vessel from @Natal earlier this year, showcasing the importance of the new bases for maritime trade. [...]

It is unclear what reaction the locals have had to this news, though the PFSC itself claims that it is actively working with indigenous authorities with the help of a local Orthodox priest, who acts as a mediator. The Company's extensive contact with the locals has led to a conversion of a minority of the local population to Orthodox Christianity, though the PFSC is generally more interested in trade and docking rights than ideological power projection. [...] For its part, the Government has yet to comment on the issue, though given its partial ownership stake, it is most likely at least partly appraised of the PFSC's activities in the region, if not actively supporting them. [...]

Sup't General praises economic progress, stresses need for open sea lanes
Monday, 26.2.2024 | Alexia Artopoiopoulaina

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The Superintendency General of the State, the agency that is responsible for economic verification, accounting and planning throughout the national bureaucracy, has released a report praising the progress that the current Government has made on long-term economic plans to encourage economic growth and investment, and to raise the living standard and economic productivity of citizen through various initiatives. Among the items mentioned were the continuation and completion of major infrastructure projects (such as new harbours on the country's east coast, the announcement of new nuclear power stations and the expansion of the high-speed rail network), improved professional training and education for the general public, broader accessibility of housing in urban centres for the increasingly urbanised workforce, as well as the maintenance of red-tape-reducing policies, pro-trade initiatives and an advantageous labour law regime inherited from the previous administration. These policies all encourage outside investment, while giving Pelasgia a comparative edge in target industries and ensuring the availability of necessary imports for the productive economy. [...] At the same time, the agency's report stressed the vital need that Pelasgia has for sea lanes to remain open, given its economy's dependence on global trade for many of the key inputs fulling its growing industrial power. While Pelasgia has reserves of natural gas, coal, iron and other precious natural resources, all of which are useful in its growing industrial metropolitan areas, it lacks various rare earths that must be imported through the Basilisk Sea and from Germania. Additionally, while Pelasgia has access to the oil fields of Peraica and Antiperaica, the majority of that oil lies in Radilan-administered Aresura, meaning that, if that access to that resource were to be cut off, it would become difficult for the country to fuel many of its fuel needs. On a more strategic level, such an event would also complicate fueling the Imperial Armed Forces, something that has long worried Pelasgian planners and caused them to seek alternative sources of petroleum, with mixed results following the instability of other major petroleum producers in recent years. [...]

Pelasgia · Feb 29, 2024

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ΠΕΡΤ 1 | Ζωντανή Μετάδοσις ⦿

*** We are interrupting our regular programming. Please stand by for an urgent message. ***

*** Please stand for His Imperial Majesty. ***

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[A man in his early forties, with piercing blue eyes and a thick but well and closely-trimmed beard appeared on the screen. He stands inside the ornate halls of the Great Palace of Propontis, with their red and white marble, their mosaic tiles and their Corinthian pillars, well known to any Pelasgian eye. His ribbons, medals and elegant uniform with unique insignia identify him easily: Emperor Ioannes XI Laskaris, Basileus and Autocrat of the Pelasgians and Viceroy of God in Europe—at least in so far as Pelasgia is concerned. Behind him is the Pelasgian flag and, above him, an icon of Christ Pantokrator.

With a calm voice, the Emperor addresses his people, speaking words that are not his own but have been put together for him by the Grand Secretary and the Megas Doux, who are the true rulers of Pelasgia.]

“Women and men of Pelasgia,

"Yesterday, as you all well know, the thousands upon thousands of our unliberated, unredeemed compatriots who reside under perpetual Radilan occupation in so-called ‘Aresura,’ in the Themes of Peraica and the Thelassinoi, gathered in the heart of Cibyrrha, the so-called ‘Antiochia,’ to demand freedom, Enosis and respect for their God-given rights as Pelasgians. This they did in spite of the intimidation of the Radilan colonial authorities and with remarkable unity regardless of faith or creed. Their bravery and unity is an example to us all.

“Alas, the Radilan State made good on its threats: an esteemed leader of the pro-Enosis groups, Mr. Markos Samaras, was shot and killed by a sniper. The snipers kept firing into the crowd, causing a panic, and in the ensuing carnage, twenty-four others were killed either by bullet or by stampede. Reports by the Foreign Intelligence Service and by the families of those affected through trusted intermediaries leave no doubt as to the culprit of the killings: the sniper was a member of the Radilan security forces. All those killed, and Mr. Samaras in particular, have been posthumously been granted the Military and Imperial Order of Saint Tiberius the Great—the highest award Pelasgia can give to any man. Unfortunately, due to Radilo’s machinations, Pelasgia has been forced to withdraw its diplomats from Aresura, meaning that there is no diplomat of ours there to give the award to the families of the slain.

“The machinations in question, too, are well known. @Radilo through its spy chief, the infamous ‘M,’ attempted to direct a conspiracy of would-be oligarchs and plutocrats to slay Our Imperial Person and to replace the Government and the Constitution supported by the Pelasgian People through a referendum and elections with an oligarchic republic, much like those that abound in the liberal West. Not content with trying to overturn one God-given Monarchy, Radilo has mobilized its military near our borders and sent carrier groups to savagely force an unlawful and illegitimate ‘republic’ upon the proud Ebrian Kingdom. Pelasgia cannot and will not abide this, anymore that it will abide the murder of its co-ethnics, who, though they may not be Pelasgian Citizens, are members of the great Pelasgian Nation, something that they have demonstrated in life and in martyrdom.

“Thus, at the advice of the Cabinet Council and the Privy Council, and pursuant to approval by a special session of the Senate, We have decreed the start of a Special Military Operation by the entire Pelasgian Imperial Armed Forces to secure Aresura and to liberate it from Radilan colonial occupation. At the successful conclusion of this operation, our Nation will celebrate the liberation of its sixteen million unfree compatriots by decorating the families of the Twenty-Five National Martyrs in Cibyrrha. Fear not, women and men of Pelasgia: if God is with us, the no one stands against us. And God is with us!

"Please join me in singing our national anthem.”

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[The footage cuts to a picture of the Pelasgian flag, while the

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plays.]

Pelasgia · Mar 1, 2024

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ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ ΠΕΛΑΣΓΩΝ
ΛΟΓΟΘΕΣΙΟΝ ΠΟΛΕΜΙΚΩΝ
ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΑ ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΕΩΣ ΕΝΟΠΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΑΜΕΩΝ (Υ.ΕΝ.Ε.Δ.)
Pelasgian Empire | Military Dept. | Armed Forces Info. Service (Y.EN.E.D.)

02/03/2024 - Daily Bulletin (For immediate general release)

Status of the Special Military Operation in Aresura and the Eastern Meridian

Imperial Army pours across Aresuran border, reaching outskirts of Cibyrrha (Actiochia), Petronium (Santi Apostoli) and Perama (Porto-di-Radilo). Pelasgian troops welcomed as liberators in Aresura, as locals flock to join volunteer forces.
Reports of Radilan forces using child soldiers as young as 16, including teenage girls, drafting non-uniformed civilians into militias in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
Imperial Air Force scores massive victory against Radilan opponent, securing effective air superiority and sinking enemy ships. General Staff expects "swift and decisive victory" says General Poulopoulos.
After suffering grievous losses at the hands of the Imperial Navy, Radilan fleet forced to retreat to port of Valetta.
Senate authorises wartime measures. May 2024 series of conscripts (Β΄/ΕΣΣΟ 2024) enters service, while May 2023 series (Β΄/ΕΣΣΟ 2023) to be retained due to mobilisation.

Pelasgia · Mar 13, 2024

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ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ ΠΕΛΑΣΓΩΝ
ΛΟΓΟΘΕΣΙΟΝ ΠΟΛΕΜΙΚΩΝ
ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΑ ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΕΩΣ ΕΝΟΠΛΩΝ ΔΥΝΑΜΕΩΝ (Υ.ΕΝ.Ε.Δ.)
Pelasgian Empire | Military Dept. | Armed Forces Info. Service (Y.EN.E.D.)

14/03/2024 - Daily Bulletin (For immediate general release)

Status of the Special Military Operation in Aresura and the Eastern Meridian

Imperial Army liberates Cibyrrha (Actiochia) and Hagioi Apostoloi (Santi Apostoli) and strategic oil fields of Peraica. Perama (Porto-di-Radilo) under siege as remnants of retreating Radilan forces flee there.
Pelasgian troops greeted as liberators in freed territories, set up provisional administration in preparation for full Enosis. Orthodox Churches across the region chime bells in welcome of our brave troops.
Imperial Air Force annihilates remnants of Radilan air force over Aresura and Valetta, securing permanent air superiority over the Eastern Meridian. Airborne troops establish foothold on Hagios Georgios (Morea) and surrounding isles in daring operation.
Radilan Navy suffers heavy losses and fails to pierce Pelasgian blockade of Aresura, including almost all its submarines and frigates. Megas Doux "certain" of coming decisive victory at sea.
PFSC lands in @Ebria in spite of @Radilo naval presence, providing valuable aid to legitimate government forces.

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