The SAGAR Summit

[Serenierre]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

The helicopter hovered momentarily before landing on the helipad. The trip from Villesen to the isolated hillside retreat was a short one by air, clocking only forty minutes, and had become one of the preferred sites to conduct the most important matters of state for President Renaudière. But today, the man arriving was the Foreign Minister, arriving a day earlier than the other invited foreign ministers. Stepping out, Jean-Jacques Rogére took in a deep breath, the fresh mountain air was a change from the city air, nothing could compare.

After a short ride in one of the buggies of the estate, he arrived at the main lodge, built originally in the 1820s, by one of the Kings during the restoration period, had been taken over by the Second Republic's government and had been turned into a vacation retreat for the President, with several refurbishments occurring under their rule, destroying much of the original architecture of the lodge. With the coming of the communists in 1932, the estate was expanded and a much larger lodge was built, styled in the original design.

Rogére walked into the lodge, greeted by the director of the place, "All the arrangements are complete?"

"Yes, Minister Rogére."

"Security?"

"The BSI has sent in a team of commandos to back up the Police and Republican Rangers."

The situation in Aresura was ridiculous; the small coup which would have finished by now, had the Pasilla Accord not jumped in, had cost the lives of thousands and had begun a steady flow of refugees who were escaping the civil war that had broken out in the country. The matter had been further aggravated, at least in Villesen's eyes, due to the sudden self-assertion of Warre and its Celtic allies. The regional status quo was being disturbed and those invited all could agree that it was not in the interests of keeping their piece of the world peaceful.

Though the matter would not be discussed here, Rogére knew full well that the Pasilla Accord had begun arming the forces of the "Legitimist" faction a while ago and Villesen had responded in a similar fashion and had been offering support to the Reformists, through a series of intermediaries and through covert measures. It was not in anyone's interests to have a bastion of PA dominance blaring everyone in the face in Boreas. The coup had to be saved or a united policy formed to ensure that if, God forbid, the Pasilla backed clique took over, they would be isolated regionally.

Through a united SAGAR policy, it was hoped that the western brim of the world would be saved from the tentacles of the Pasilla imperialists, something which, it was presumed, would be of equal interest to the EDF.

 

[Anglyn]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

Arriving at the designated location for the SAGAR Summit, Sir Avery Whyte was very much surprised as the building that he was being driven to by buggy wasn't quite what he expected for a meeting in a communist state. Sir Avery has many times dealt with communist governments, and though they all tried to impress him the architecture and decor was either cold and sterile or a gawdy attempt to cover up the grandure of a previous, luxurious time. As he is let inside, Sir Avery muses that it seems that here the communists of Sereniérre aren't covering up their monarchist past and may, at least in this case, be embracing it, though his experience with communist regimes would prevent him from betting any money on it.

 

[Aquitania]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

Henri Mercier arrived at the Sant-Auêtte Retreat shortly after his Anglysh counterpart did. As Aquitania's Sectretary of Foreign Affairs, it is his duty to attend this summit, but as a Templar Knight, he feels as he has always feels, uneasy around communists. Though there are those that had turned their backs on the Mother Church, like the Anglysh and Guianese did so many centuries ago, they still remained Christians, but communists, by their very nature have turned their backs on God, and such Mercier has always needed to dig deep within himself to deal with them. So far has been successful, which is why the Grand Duke relies on him to represent the Grand Duchy in this land of non-believers.

 

[Guiana]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

Of those that had accepted the invitation to attend the summit, Robert Fox had been the first to do so, but to his embarrassment, he seems to be the last to arrive. Well, as the Montelimarians say, c'est la vie. He has arrived, and though not the first one to do so, he will keep up the Guianan end of things.

 

[Serenierre]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

Each minister, as they arrived, were greeted by a warm smile and a firm handshake from Jean-Jacques Rogére. It was hoped by Villesen that the meeting would yield a positive result for the region and would possibly spawn a greater level of regional cooperation in regards to security. Now, as they sat in the conference room, he clicked on his microphone and began speaking, "It is surely a pleasant occasion where we all can set aside our differences and meet to resolve our common problems... and it is this level of cooperation that has enabled our region to be largely peaceful." He cleared his throat and continued, "But recent endeavors by Pasilla member-states have caused grave alarm, both, here and in your respective capitals. It is as such that, we feel, a need exists for our region to meet on common grounds and ensure that imperialism sponsored by Pasilla does not become an issue."

"Additionally, the continued presence of several naval task forces within our region is a matter of grave concern to our own national securities... with special concern arising to the potential of blocking trade routes which may affect each of our countries. It is with these concerns in our mind that we seek to use this forum to formulate a joint policy in regards to Aresura and the presence of naval task forces belonging to adversarial ideological blocs. I yield the floor to my invited guests." Rogére clipped off the microphone and took a sip of water, his gaze passing over each of the invited ministers, looking to see who would speak next.


OOC: Sorry for not making this clear through RP, my country is not atheistic... I thought it to be too cliché and have gone sorta Christian Communist... so the "Mother Church" is very much respected and a part of people's lives, just that the Church has no political power. I hope this clears up some stuff. And should I assume that Radilo is not taking part?

 

[Guiana]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

Though Fox may have been the last one to arrive, he decided to make up for it by being the first to speak.

"Gentlemen. It does seem we have allowed things within own own backyard to get out of hand. We have forgotten that no longer can we count on things that we think can be worked out on its own to be done so without interference from outside sources, especially those forces see it as an opportunity to expand their influence into a new region as the Pasila Accord is undoubtably attempting to do. I know, the Northern Celts are also smack in the middle of this, but they are doing as they have always do, act first, then think. Both went straight to gunboat diplomacy and in doing so prolonged the situation in Aresura and created a situation that has the potential to make thing a great deal worse as what was an Aresuri internal matter has now become one of international concern."

"Though a military option might be something that will need to be considered, we are in a better position to directly deal with situation. An election has been held in Aresura, one in which a Constitution Creation Oligarcy was created, and at this point, in theory at least, the elected authority in Aresura, it is this body that, in my opinion, should be recognized and the one that should be negotiated with."

 

[Anglyn]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

Listening to Fox, Sir Avery Whyte could only nod in agreement with the assessment as well as the diplomatic route to take concerning the Aresuri, but the crown was was very much interested in establishing something more sunstantial that would counter the present Pasila operations, especially those already ongoing in the Axifloan Achipeligo.

"Diplomatically, yes, we will need to deal with the CCO, so as to at the least give it a semblance of legitimacy, for as Mr. Fox has pointed out, it is the most recent democratically elected body. But we must also give it something more, something more tangible, we, it its name, must begin providing aid, humanitarian at first, but we might give them the option of militry aid also. Maybe not in the form of actual boots on the ground, though I believe the Pasila Accord may be doing that at this very moment and we should consider it, but arms and munitions for the recognized governmet of Aresura."

 

[Guiana]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

"Sir Avery, I am not all that certain that offering military help at this time would be a good idea. Humanitarian aid....yes. Military aid....that may likely make matters worse, especially considering our other military obligations."

 

[Anglyn]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

"Mr. Fox, considering that Touzen, and in extention the Pasila Accord, has no compunction in turning what is happening in Aresuri into a true civil war, I think military aid is something we must seriously consider, otherwise it will be a Touzen puppet government that will be in the end what pretends to govern the Aresuri."

 

[Aquitania]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

"The Grand Duchy understands the Anglysh wish to limit Touzen's influence on the Borean continent as we too desire it. Though Mr. Fox's wish to avoid such is commendable, it would be naive to ignore the military option. It is best to be prepared and not use it than to be unprepared and needing it."

 

[Serenierre]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

"I have to agree with my esteemed colleagues from Aquitania and Anglyn that we must think about the military aid option as well," for now, he thought he wouldn't let it on that Villesen had already begun shipping arms to the Reformists, maybe a separate conversation with the Anglysh would suffice, "Though our option remains to actively counter Pasilla's initiatives. The danger of Aresura turning into a Touzen-backed puppet state is most probable and accordingly we must ensure that the region doesn't become a victim to the imperialistic policies of the PA."

"Secondly, I must address Mr. Fox's concern, I do not think that your involvement with the EDF should be of great concern... if we do arm the Reformists, we shall not do it openly, of-course it shall be done through intermediaries... and it is my personal guarantee that we ourselves will not be pulled into this, more than just supplying the Reformists. Additionally, I think it is highly important to circumvent the strategy of Pasilla and the Celts..."

"Thirdly, I fully agree with your earlier comments, we must extend full recognition to the Reformists as the legal government of Aresura. At this juncture, such a move has the possibility of at least pushing the morale of the Reformists up in these difficult times."

 

[Guiana]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

"What I am saying needs to be done is to maintain the diplomatic high ground. It must be the CCO that we must first secure the legitimacy for, otherwise anything we do will just look like we are supporting one faction over the other in a civil war."

 

[Anglyn]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

Sir Avery was beginning to loose his patience with Fox, as it is too late to just rely on diplomacy alone to settle the matter. It was bad enough to have an nation that had a government that was unstable and ineffectual almost spitting distance off the coast of Wessex, it would be a whole differt matter if that nation became a puppet state under the control of the Pasila Accord.

"Mr. Fox, I respect your determination to settle this in a purely diplomatic fashion, using words instead of bullets, but those words just might need to be backed up by bullets. The Pasila Accord, or specifially Touzen, is just as determined in this as you are, but unlike you seem to be, they are quite willing to back their diplomacy with as many bullets as they they will need and we need to do the same. We need to supply the CCO with whatever they need to hold onto the authority they have been granted by the Aresuri people, be it words or bullets."

 

[Aquitania]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

"Sir Avery is essentially right, we must give the CCO our backing and with that backing we also give them the option to accept as much military aid they might deem necessary."

 

[Guiana]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

Fox sees where this is going. He had hoped that they could follow the high gound on this but the others present were more than willing to lower themselves down to the level the Pasila Accord operates in.

"Well, it looks like I am out-voted on this as it looks like you are just as willing to see this turn into a civil war as much as they do. Very well, if we go your route, how shall we proceed?"

 

[Serenierre]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

"Well, since we have reached this decision, I think it is wise to announce to you all that nearly a month ago, Reformist forces through intermediaries contacted our embassy in their capital and urged us to support them in terms of military assistance and that was approved by us... last week, the first such delivery was made by our intelligence agencies and we all could use the connections made by the BSI to supply the forces... we have used the small corridor at the entrance of the bay between us and Aresura... we deem it to be the best and safest route... where our destroyers can adequately guard the shipments and it can be explained sufficiently due to the stream of refugees."

 

[Anglyn]

Sant-Auêtte Retreat

"If that is the case, we must recognize the CCO as soon as possible, declaring the 'Radical Legitimist' as the ones in insurrection for it is they who resumed the conflict and not the 'Reformists'."