The Council Listens to Danmark

[Batavië]

Northern Council Tower
Bloemhof neighbourhood
Hilversum, Gauteng Province, Batavië

Even for early August it was unusual for there to be a cloudless sky in Gauteng Province, or any of Batavië for that matter. Was it perhaps a good omen for the Danish delegation arriving in town? None of the 'norocrats', or Northern Council bureaucrats, seemed to pay the unusual weather any heed. The native Batavians heading to work this morning may be toting a smile as they enjoyed the dry walk to their offices, but the newcomers...they didn't know that this was out of the ordinary yet.

The glass façade of the NC Tower shimmered in the sunlight. The Danish diplomats, being driven from the central train station in downtown Hilversum, could not doubt see the structure even though it lay a good fifteen minutes outside the city centre. Bloemhof was slightly elevated atop a hill, giving it wonderful views of the city.

Upon their arrival to the gates of the NC Tower's compound the guards waived them through after checking the driver's papers and running the diplomatic license plates of the cars through their computers. Their luggage was dispatched off to the new 'Diplomat Hotel' around the corner in central Bloemhof while an aide met the Danes in the Delegates Lounge of the NC Tower.

'Right this way and welcome to Hilversum.' piped the cheery young aide in German.

The group passed by rushed secretaries chatting on mobiles and a pair of construction men installing a chrome panel onto the wall by the lift. It was bilingual, Vlaams (Dutch) and German, the two main 'working' languages of the NC Tower's community.

The aide held up a card to a sensor by the lift and with a dull beep, it acknowledged his card number and knew exactly which floor he was seeking, the 19th. Another dull chime sounded and the glass surface of the kiosk from where he placed the card displayed in glowing blue characters the number 7 instructing the group to locate lift number 7.

Lift number seven arrived at the ground level. With a more pleasant three-tone descending chime, the doors slid open, a few people exited, and the Danish delegation stepped in. The soft recorded voice of a woman addressed the occupants first in Dutch then in German: Lift number 7 serving odd numbered floors. Express to 19. Watch your step!

The glass walls of the lift provided an excellent view out the glass façade of the tower down to the park below and the construction sites of residential Bloemhof nearby and the quaint city of Hilversum a bit farther off. The aide waited for everyone to exit.

'My apologies for the continued work, but as you may know everyone is still settling in.' another group of construction men walked pushing a cart of desktop computers, destined for an office somewhere else within the confines of the tower.

The aide walked down the hall, which hugged the glass windows, to conference room number 19d. Again, holding his card up to a pad near the door, a dull dong sounded and the light flashed green. He opened the door to a conference room where a long oak table stretched out across the floor. Five panelists sat in front of the windows facing the door. One norocrat of higher clearance, from each current member state. The Danes were beckoned to sit across from them facing the view. Water was provided and coffee, tea and other refreshments were placed on a table nearby. The aide who had guided the group through the maze of corridors and lifts nodded his farewell and departed.

The Batavian diplomat smiled and started off.

'Welcome, welcome, welcome to Hilversum and the Northern Council. My name is Daniel Zee. We are here today, and probably tomorrow as well, to discuss Danmark's application to join the Northern Council. The agenda is quite simple, we will begin today with reasons for applying, some background information, expectations on both sides etcetera, etcetera. We will then explain how things work here, what we hope to see happen if Danmark joins and how we go about doing so if everything fits. So, without further confusion, I readily give you the floor.'

Daniel had addressed the group in Vlaams, which he knew they probably didn't understand. In the back corner of the room was a small closet-sized room, sound-proofed and sealed off with a glass windows allowing the interpreters to view the conversation. Each seat at the conference table had headphones, which the Danes easily figured out how to use. A nob on the table allowed them to choose different channels. Each channel had the translation from Vlaams to German to Aren Norsk and so on for each official NC language. The Danes had brought with them an interpreter that spoke Vlaams, but Daniel noticed that a few had switched to the German channel. It was really so common of a language, especially in Germania and Gallia.


OOC: Sorry for the long introduction. I am trying to set the ambience and provide a window into how things operate and look for the future.

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

Lena Mykjåland was from Noregerike. Her party bargained with the Social Democrats and Greens to gain support in hopes of achieving at least a place in the run off election. The fact she won the election outright was a shocker. That initial shock disappeared once she was one a plane to Batavië. She had never learned Dutch and never planned to. She already spoke German and Tysknorsk which was very similar to Arennorsk anyway. She didn't enjoy Hilversum and found it to be like wandering in a time machine. It felt like Tyskreich, circa 1980s and it wasn't something she liked. Aside from her intense dislike of her environment, she was entirely stoked for her new job.

She sat in her seat patiently while the other delegates shuffled papers and got their opening dialogues ready. It was going to be a long day and she unplugged her headset for translation purposes and stood up, "Entschuldigung, Ich will Kaffee." which was nicely translated; however, she didn't hear it. Walking over to the table where the beverages were located, she poured herself some coffee. She took a sip and wasn't entirely satisfied. It tasted like coffee from 1980's Tyskreich too. She'd have to lodge a request to the chef or catering services to improve their coffee. At least import fresh ground coffee from Tysk Karolinen.

She paused as she set her cup down and looked out the window. At least the view was nice. She poured some milk and honey into her coffee cup and stirred. Taking another sip and smirking at the sugary coffee taste she walked back to her seat blowing on the top of the cup softly. The room was fairly diverse at least. Sitting down she opened up her folder which she kept her notes in Tysknorsk to reduce to risk of wandering eyes noticing what she was thinking and writing down. The admission of Danmark wasn't high on her priority list. No doubt she wanted them to join but she wanted to seek concessions on the language. While her Chancellor had been harsh with thriftiness, she wasn't entirely of the same mold. In fact, she wanted make sure that the addition of Danish wouldn't produce negative effects on energy and waste. Other than that, the Danes could do as they pleased so long as they didn't step on Tyskreich. She was waiting more patiently for the Cornavian delegation which was supposed to be after the Danish delegation. Their admission was more important in her eyes, but sadly second on the order of affairs.

She closed her notebook and folded her hands. Waiting patiently for the Danes to speak she watched the steam float upwards from her coffee cup. It was mesmerizing. Hopefully this would be quick.

OOC {
Compare Tysknorsk and Arennorsk to Nynorsk and Bokmål.
}

 

[Danmark]

The Danish delegates were a little flustered after the long trip across to Batavië and they were looking to a little rest, but business was business, so they got settled into what was seen by some as a needless and tortuous round of talks.

The 6 delegates were headed by Prince Anders, the third brother of the King of Danmark. This was because many placed great importance on the cultural and historical ties between Danmark and its fellow Nordic cousins and so the Danish government wanted to communicate a strong signal to all those present in the Nordic Council that Danmark took this application seriously, so what better than a senior member of the Danish royal family.

Top of the agenda, as far as the Danes were concerned, was the full acceptance of the Danish language as a full and equal tongue alongside the others already recognised by the Council. It had become a major concern and major sticking point as far as the Danes were concerned. Their language was something of great pride, the southernmost of all Nordic tongues and related to others like Tysknorsk and Arennorsk, and for it to have formal equal standing would be concrete recognition of their identity especially as they were surrounded by Germanophones and there was much historical baggage and recent conflict over language within Danmark.

The prince, who dispensed with interpreters as he was fully conversant in many languages (it was his role to be), accompanied by representatives of the Danish government, awaited to be shown to the appropriate place for the discussions to begin. The representative of the government second to the prince, Lars Trost, could not help but look at Lena Mykjåland, the Tysk delegate, and feel offended. She didn't even seem to be taking this seriously, he thought. Did she have a habit of looking down from on high and down her nose?

 

[Batavië]

Daniel noticed Lena's face as she sipped the coffee. He made a mental note to replace the standard Vangalan brew with something more exotic. Perhaps a Frescanian bean. With that out of the way he was pleasantly surprised to see the Prince of Danmark present. Excellent, he thought, they cared.

'Welcome, welcome.' he continued in Vlaams.

'As you gentlemen and ladies know, the Northern Council is a body with a few ambitious but clear goals in mind. Top of the list is economic integration. That is going to involve the gradual reduction of trade barriers and the bringing of free trade and customs unions. Obviously this cannot and should not be done all at once. Slow and steady wins the race, I believe the term is. On the path towards these steps is transportation and general movement reform. We have to make it easier for people and goods to move within the Northern Council. A visa union could be first, then perhaps a passport union and then, ideally, maybe open borders could be established. These are just some of the things we hope to achieve, all via democratic means. Now, before we discuss the much anticipated official language issue, which I know is very important for Danmark, I would like to know, perhaps from you, your Majesty, whether or not Danmark believes that it can see itself participating in any of these types of agreements.'

He waited for the interpreters to catch up and when he saw the other delegates and guests set down their ear pieces, he knew that his words were now completed.

 

[Danmark]

Lars Trost, a stickler for formality and correctness, looked and shuddered.

"Do they not know Prince Anders is to be addressed as His Royal Highness, not His Majesty?! The Prince and the King are two separate people! My god!"

Prince Anders, ever the benign diplomat, had a look of mirth plastered across his face. He knew what Trost was like and was acquainted with his bouts of apoplectic rage, but the prince was well aware his hosts meant no offence.

"Well, indeed", responded the prince whilst examining his hand and fiddling with his wedding ring, "As you may well be aware, my country has emerged from several decades of isolation and it is imperative that we are well placed not only to strengthen our ties to the past, but to look into the future. Much thought and planning has already taken place. But, as you say, "slow and steady".

He leaned forward and chuckled hoping to elicit a similar response.

"I do not believe my country has any intrinsic objections to many of the things you have mentioned. I doubt I would be sitting here today if we believed otherwise. Perhaps there might be differences on details, but it is early days yet, but I doubt there will be any significant hurdles."

The prince drew breath.

"Of course, though, that all being said, perhaps the major hurdle is that of language. I come here in a dual capacity - both as a senior representative of the government of Danmark, and also as a Prince of the Realm, representing the people of my country perhaps more directly than, it might be argued, any government might do. It is often said that even if some people don't trust or even dislike a government, they retain faith in the monarchy who, it is often said, they trust and rally around as a symbol for all the peoples in Danmark whether they speak Danish, French or German. All this said, I can vouch to you that the issue of Danish is taken with utmost seriousness and has the liability to cause problems for the Danish application if it is not resolved at this early stage"

 

[Éireann]

Unlike those that had been elected to represent Éireann in the Northern Parliament, Lorcán Ó Donnabháin was one of six candidates placed on the ballot to represent Éireann in the Great Council, a representaive of the nation, not the various parties and ideologies that make up the political landscape, but the hÉireannaigh as a whole. He even has the distiction of being selected differently than the other candidates, for while they were selected by ballot in the Dáil Éireann of the Oireachtas, Lorcán Ó Donnabháin was selected by Clann Chieftains of the Buanchomhairle Thaoisigh Éireann. So, it was not surprising that, even though the politics is very much alive and well in Éireann, the average Éireannach will identify his or herself with the Clann before that of the party and why Lorcán Ó Donnabháin had won hands down with a three-to-one majority of the votes.

Lorcán too has not been in Hilversum long, having only arrived the day before. Due to the many delays because of meetings with MPs elected to the Northern Parliament as well as long briefings from officials of the government back in Átha Cliath, he had arrived days later than he had hoped, and then with more briefings from the staff here at the Northern Council once he did arrived to prepare him for the arrival of the Danish Prince, he is not as well rested as he would have liked.

His fight against fatigue is why upon his arrival in the chamber he made a beeline for the coffee pot, pouring himself a cup, which in his opinion was entirely too small for his needs and quickly takes a sip. Though the coffee is not unbearable, Lorcán finds himself disappointed in the taste. He doesn't mind his tea from the far east but his coffee, that he perfers with a more western flavor. Well, beggars can't be choosers, at least he has something in his briefcase that can improove the taste of anything considerably.

Lorcán sits down at his assigned place, and taking a silver flask from his briefcase and pouring a little of the amber coloured liquid it contained into his coffee cup, then taking another sip, he sits back satisfied and hopes the flask lasts as long as the coffee does. Now, though he would like nothing better than to relax and drink his coffee, but the sound of Zee's voice beginning signaled him that relaxing was not in the agenda. Lorcán puts his earphones on.

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

You must be registered for see links

nodded while slowly sipping her coffee. The Danes clearly came knowing what they wanted. It seemed all pretty straight forward. They wanted Danish to be added. She opened her folder and set her coffee cup down as she began to speak.

"I believe it's quite clear then that the only road block to progress in this meeting is that your delegation, Your Highness, desires Danish to be added to the list of languages. What makes this a touchy subject and the only reason why this is difficult at all is that we've just concluded from a lengthy debate upon languages when we formed this organization. I assume that you've looked at the charter and noticed that the compromise we've come to is that languages to be added are to be financed privately. Therefore as requested with the French language, its translation is to be accommodated and is currently financed by the Scanians. I might ask why this same solution is not acceptable to the Danish delegation. Should say the Danish Crown not be willing to privately finance their own language and provide translation via a Danish Crown Translations Service? Otherwise, I feel the only suitable and agreeable situation is to let the people decide and have the Parliament vote upon the issue and therefore not tie your admission to language formalities but rather the notion that yes, the language will be debated upon and put to a vote in Parliament.

I say this because this body here is only one half of the equation. You're asking us to amend the Treaty of Götköping. That requires two-thirds of the representatives here, and two-thirds of Parliament. If you agree to the private option, we can skip the entire process and have your translations provided privately. If not, then I'm going to have to ask your delegation more questions on this subject if that is alright with yourself, Your Highness."​

 

[Batavië]

Zee waited a few short moments for Mykjåland's words to be repeated in Vlaams.

'I have to agree in principle with Mevrouw Mykjåland.' Began Zee as he addressed the entire Danish delegation. Unlike his Gaelic and Tysk colleagues, Daniel Zee was not Batavië's High Representative on the Great Council, but rather an expert bureaucrat who had helped design the legal framework of the NC with mountains of paperwork not usually seen by the public. His lower profile did not, however, mean that he didn't have the same status on the panel.

'The Tysk proposal is fair. We can either fund the language privately or have Northern Parliament and the Great Council vote on amending the Treaty of Götköping. Now, I have been informed by the office of Batavië's High Representative, Karl Oosthuizen, that Batavië would be willing to vote in favour of adding Danish. The reason why is because this particular case is sensitive and after investigating the issue further, it would be damaging to not include Danish in terms of the domestic politics of Danmark. It could, even, become a destabilising factor in the near term. None of us would want that in a new member.'

Zee stole a glance at Mykjåland to see her reaction and tried not to linger observing her features.

'As far as the political parties go, it could end up both ways. I believe that most parties will support the addition of Danish given the facts. There will be some parties and MNPs, specifically those of more fiscally conservative parties, that will be more reluctant. If they can be convinced of the broader benefits of having Danmark as a Northern Council member you will have a better chance. And, of course, there are always compromises that can be made to get Danish into the charter.'

Zee was referring, of course, to having Danmark offer to fund all or most of the interpretation and translation costs of Danish as part of their annual budgetary contributions.

An aide brought over a cup of coffee and a biscuit for Zee. He sipped the liquid while he waited for the next person to speak. Daniel didn't understand what was so wrong with Vangalan coffee beans. It's fine, you rich-ass twits, he thought to himself. Then again, he had grown up on the stuff all his life.

 

[Danmark]

Prince Anders turned towards the Tysk delegate and smiled.

"Of course, we understand the points you raise and have already discussed this ourselves. The general principle is that we would be prepared to assist to some extent, perhaps initially, to facilitate the acceptance of our language. We wouldn't be expecting it to be all one-sided!"

The Prince beamed and heaved as he took in a deep breath. He was a big man, not fat, but solid and hefty with muscle.

"However, we believe it is important that Danish is accepted fully and officially. A Danish translation service, funded entirely off our own back, without our tongue receiving parity with the other languages within the Council and being recognised as such, would only be a half-way house and be rightly perceived as a non-acceptance of Danish. To us, it is fundamental that the Charter formally recognises this."

The Prince now sought to expand the issue a little further.

"Also, as we have already indicated, Danmark is fully committed on all other areas of development with other colleagues and nations in the Council and has demonstrated good intentions and goodwill. We intend to contribute fully and punch above our weight, make no mistake on that. Bearing this into consideration, it is believed that in the grand scheme of things, that official acceptance of Danish is a concession well worth it and that it could pay dividends for the Council. Remember also, that Danmark is a significant power in terms of growing political influence, economic growth, and in size of population.

"A last point is the political situation within Danmark. As you may be aware, we have been experiencing a deal of trouble in recent times which has been exploited by German-speaking militants who favour breaking away from the kingdom. As things currently stand, the Northern Council accepts German as an official tongue, but not Danish. I can readily imagine the joy that would be expressed by many of these militants when they see the majority language of Danmark snubbed but their own language fully accepted. I should imagine they would milk it no end and exploit it as a sort of validation of their aims as they try to paint ethnic Danes as imperialist oppressors which, incidentally, couldn't be further from the truth. I doubt this will play well with Danes and is likely to exacerbate an already sensitive domestic situation. I doubt it would be worth our while to proceed with membership unless a guarantee can be agreed with this sort of politic backdrop to consider".

 

[Batavië]

Two long days had since passed and the panel had heard hours and hours of detailed information from the Danish delegation. The coffee had been switched to a Frescanian bean, half eaten sandwiches littered paper plates across the conference table and pads full of notes in half a dozen languages lay strewn about the room. Daniel Zee believed that the panel had heard everything it required to begin deliberations.

'Ladies and gentlemen, your patience has been most appreciated. I believe that the best thing that we can now do is have Northern Parliament and the Great Council vote on whether or not to add Danish as an official NC language as part of Danmark's bid to join this organisation. If there are no objections to this plan I will submit the request for a vote to the clerical offices of both Northern Parliament and the Great Council.'

 

[Danmark]

Prince Anders looked but seemed a little distracted and ashen-faced. An aide had just informed him that Danmark had been plunged into turmoil with a massive strike imminent, and that members of his family had had to be evacuated as a precaution.

He bit his lip and looked pensive. He was carrying a great weight on his shoulders, and he knew it.

"Then we leave it to democracy. However, your decision may have significant consequences for my country. I believe it should reflect the reality of the current state of affairs in Danmark and should not be made on technicalities or in haste"