The Vanguards of Liberty and Honor - The 2011 Karelingrad Summit of the PASILA Accord

[Serbovia]

The Palace of Sun
Municipality of Imperatorskoje Zelo
Prefecture of Greater Karelingrad
Grand Duchy of Serbovia Proper
United States of Greater Serbovia

A visible vestige of Serbovia's Imperial legacy was the abundance of palaces and residential castles that had been erected first under the various kings and fiefs of the Divided Kingdoms, and then by the Dragovic Emperors of the 19th century. While many of the former remained under the ownership of their lawful heirs, the latter had been taken over by the Directory in the aftermath of the Serbovian Civil War. Though some had been repurposed as museums open to the public, the majority of these remained in government use as ministries, offices and official residences.

One such example was the Palace of Sun. Erected to the small town of Imperatorskoje Zelo forty kilometers northeast of Karelingrad as a summer retreat of the Imperial family by Emperor Alexander III Dragovic, it was one of the most well-known examples of the Renaissance Revival in Serbovia. The Palace alone spanned eight thousand square meters, and was accompanied by newer service buildings and an estate and hunting grounds of 50 square kilometers in total. Those multitudes today served as the holiday residence and summer retreat of His Excellency the Imperial Regent.

Today, however, it wasn't the Regent who had inspired the busy arrangements in progress at the Palace of Sun and its surroundings. Early in the morning, the Karelingrad Air Force Base begun receiving diplomatic aircraft from Touzen, Engellex and Cantigny - the memberstates of the Pasila Accord - with heavily guarded motorcades of Gendarmerie outriders and black limousines and SUVs ready to take their passengers from the base to the Palace of the Sun.

The Chancellery of the Regent had been kind enough to provide the palace for the purposes of a meeting of the PA Permanent Council, especially seeing that the Regent himself stayed at the Anichkov Palace for most of the winter. And having a huge estate all for one man wouldn't have been fairly budget-effective anyway. Indeed, the Palace would provide the visiting dignitaries and their staff members with comfortable accommodation but also room for the forthcoming meeting of the Permanent Council. After all, the organ in spite of its name had no permanent assembly base, instead convening on an ad hoc basis whenever necessary.

Based on an SRK threat assessment highlighting usual domestic terrorist threats and international tensions, Karelingrad had decided not to take any chances. A massive security operation had been mounted, with three security zones progressing from patrolmen of the Gendarmerie and the Grand Ducal Police donned in body armor and carrying automatic weapons pulling perimeter security along motorcade routes and roads leading to the estate to Life Hussars patrolling the entire estate and finally to Army Shock Reconnaissance and Gendarmerie Special Security Group special forces responsible for protection of the Palace of Sun itself.

As if that wasn't enough, the Union Army had seconded a flight of Yu-29 fighters and YuH-109 helicopter gunships to patrol the standing Imperatorskoje Zelo Air Exclusion Zone, and well out of sight of visiting dignitaries an air defense missile battery had been placed as a last line of defense against aerial threats.

 

[Serbovia]

With the members of the delegations shepherded into the Mirror Hall - the 500-seat ballroom of the Palace named as such for the decorated mirrors that covered its walls having been outfitted with a large meeting table, seating, alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments and conference equipment - Deputy Director of the State Nikolai Kovalev took the podium to the front of the participants, briefly looking at a memo paper laid on it by an aide before commencing.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the allied nations, representatives of the memberstates of the Pasila Accord", Kovalev begun, then cursed his aides for not turning the microphone on. He did so myself, then repeated his words, with them this time carrying well across the room.

"It is my pride and joy on behalf of His Excellency the Imperial Regent and the Chairman-Director of the Union, Alexei Vladimirovich Nikitin, to welcome you all to the Serbovia and to the Palace of the Sun for this Karelingrad Summit of the Pasila Accord", Kovalev continued, noting to himself that it should have in fact been called the Imperatorskoje Zelo Summit but no one outside of Serbovia knew where the place was anyway, "And, of course, on behalf of the Serbovian people itself."

"Decade upon decade, our Accord and its nations have stood as a defender of democracy and freedom in a region and world still plagued by the autocratic ideologies of Communism and Fascism. Sacrifices made by countless men and women in defense of democracy and the values represented by our alliances live on each day as we struggle to make sure that they did not in fact die for nothing, and to make sure that our children and grandchildren will be able to live on without needing to make such drastic sacrifices, and that one day the children and grandchildren of those in the oppressed nations of the world will be able to enjoy the same kinds of liberties as we do today."

"To that effect, I would like to open this summit by proposing a toast", Kovalev said, raising a shot glass of kroja, traditional Serbovian liquor, with similar glasses having been laid out for the other participants too aside from known teetotalers who got non-alcoholic equivalents, "A toast in the memory of those who have sacrificed themselves for democracy, and a toast in the honor of this Accord. May it never falter as long as the free nations of the world are on the watch."

 

[Thaumantica]

Like the scarlet sash holding together her warm cream colored dress, Alice Rydell's pale face flushed a tender red as her entire body braced from this evenings first shot of kroja. Beside her sat Samuel Varieur, who had yet to pay her a second look or compliment since they had met earlier in the day to appear as a formal couple for this summit. Her suspicions led her to the conclusion that Samuel resented her, perhaps for being a women, or likely for her role as Surrogate Monarch of Cantigny.

Such as could be compared with other young nation states in the nineteen-fifties, Cantigny had become positively overcome with the implications of a Global Democracy. But demand for social clemency persevered only so far as to usher in racial and gender equality in the formal sense, Cantigny had not and had not yet renounced the Crown of Engellex, even as droves of Colonial brothers and sisters broke the faith. All that was nonsensical, innocent, and above all faithful about Cantigny could be summed up in the 1956 Proclamation of Cantigian Surrogacy. In the most abominable event that the Crown in Engellex were resigned or otherwise dissolved, Cantigny would carry on the neo-classical tradition of Engellexic Monarchy, all the way across the world in Cantigny.

In the sense of yesterday, today, and presumably tomorrow: Surrogate Queen Alice was nothing more then an international celebrity; her title meant only so much as was proportioned by the legitimate Queen Charlotte, as well as the constituents of Alice, Alice Island who had really no choice in electing and bankrolling her image as the Diva of Democracy in Cantigny.

"Much as a mouse who stumbles across a band of much larger beasts, I find myself in riveting flutters as to how out of our league Cantigny is amongst Great Engellex, Greater Serbovia, and the literal beacon of democracy: Touzen" Alice Rydell tartly divulged as far as her voice would carry. "With heart, mind, and body I second Deputy Director Kovalev's heartfelt thanks to those who have sacrificed in the defense of democratic civilizations everywhere".

Awakening from his inactive repose, Samuel Varieur suddenly beamed with stage quality jubilation, nodding his long white neck energetically as if it were attached by a spring. In this moment, like many before it, Alice imagined herself as Charlotte, receiving unyielding praise for merely breathing. "Our toast, that which hails from an appreciative Cantigny, goes to those of us who will continue to promote righteous causes with sweat, blood, and dare I say ink if need be".

Even as her ego swelled over what she had felt in these last few moments, she was painfully cognizant of how little Cantigny meant to PASILA and Europe. What blood was shed and bodies stacked in Wars of Great Proportion in decades past went only so far for Cantigny today, the last war had stunted the distant continental island nations growth, from which only vague signs of recovery were acknowledged by economists.

"Cantigny proposes a toast to those who have" Alice exclaimed, sharply jabbing a shot glass towards the ceiling, "And to those who will endure the forces of doubt and uncertainty through perseverance of force and freedom!".

 

[Serbovia]

"Hear, hear!", Deputy Director Kovalev shouted in response, grabbing a second shot glass of kroja that an aide had brought to him. Doing a couple nearly in a row was no problem to a person accustomed with the intricacies of Serbovian negotiation skill and policymaking, which more often than not included copious amonts of alcohol.

Heh, Nikolai Kovalev surmised. The woman in Cantigny was certainly not much in the field of hubris, though it was true that the nation occupied a relatively minor position in the alliance in spite of all the public pep talk about the equal amount of contributions all memberstates of the Accord made. Though the significance of her country lay not so much in contributions of hard power to the alliance, but in the addition of another flag under the democratic cause of Europe.

"Now", Nikolai Kovalev spoke again at the podium, "Before this will conclude in a bottle of Serbovia's finest drying out and the rest of us ordering a taxi to the White Square..."

There were some chuckles primarily from Serbovians in the room. Karelingrad's White Square and the adjacent area was known as the unofficial center of nightlife in the city, through its many nightclubs and bars.

"I would like to present the meeting's agenda."

After a nod, an aide on a lap-top computer pulled up a presentation which was reflected to a large screen that had been placed behind the round meeting table.

MAIN ADMINISTRATION FOR ALLIED NATIONS
DIRECTORATE OF THE STATE

PASILA ACCORD KARELINGRAD SUMMIT 2011 LIST OF ITEMS

1) Security environment & threats and challenges
1.1) Solaren
1.2) Trans-Nineveh
1.3) RDTO/Denisovan membership/Vangalan nuclear program
1.4) Keida/Sinhai/other items of interest

2) Foreign policy and democratic nations
2.1) Cooperation with Karlskrona Accord
2.2) European Defense Federation
2.3) Expansionary possibilities

3) Military cooperation
3.1) Possibilities for joint R&D and acquisiton programs
3.2) Joint military exercises
3.3) Basing, officer exchange, other items

4) Other items
4.1) Review of academic cooperation
4.2) Review of economic cooperation
4.3) Review of cultural cooperation
4.4) Review of judicial cooperation

"Submissions to the agenda are accepted", Kovalev added as the delegates turned to face the projection.

 

[Great Engellex]

The Count and his family were direct descendants of the Royalty of the Grand Dukes of Wantage.

Slim and graceful as a Siamese cat, he was absurdly handsome, with dark, wavy hair and a silky moustache beneath a proud Tiburian (Roman?) nose which Alexander Wallis-Jules, in his gleefully acid articles for the Sunday Despatch, likens to the beak of a bird of prey nurtured on vanity. The Count must have been in an unusually conservative frame of mind, to have attended in a three-piece lounge suit of mouse-grey colour. He might have likened more, against probable pressure from the Court, to have attended in sky-blue or in his famous almond-green outfit with a white velvet waistcoat, or in yet more startling examples of his extraordinary coloured and perfectly tailored wardrobe. He selected his costume to tone in with his moods and his moods were as varied as the iridescent silk which lined some of his jackets.

This sartorial eccentric was the Count Charles of Pelbourne, staunch royalist, social snob, a romantic poet and classic painter of sorts. There are little rumours and gossip that circulate the backrooms of the fashionable assembly halls of Engellex as to how his appointment was truly achieved against much finer selections for this great role. With ease and contemptuous elegance, he assumed an exalted position in both fashionable and political circles, leaving few to question whether he can employ his gentlemanly theatrics tactfully.

Listening to Nikolai Kovalev, the Count burst into the shrill laughter of an hysterical woman, then suddenly, as though seized with remorse, or perhaps the realisation of possible repercussions in Court back home,, he clapped his hand over his mouth and rear bark until his inexplicable glee was controlled as though he were coming out of laughing gas. Edward of Harcourt, the considered and aristocratic old guard, was his partner in this representation. Such mannerisms might be acceptable in fashionable houses, but not in the halls of diplomacy, Edward was irritated by the Count, shifting a steely glance at the colourful gentleman.

The Queen had addressed the Engellexic delegation prior to the meeting on the Friday before. She detailed how that one of the subjects to which she should like them to call the attention of the other representatives to, as which it was particularly important to the Queen and Government, was the question of security and how our foreign policy toward particular nations would be affected by this topic. It relieved them both to see the consideration give to security, as though all in Pasila was admitting to this importance as well.

 

[Thaumantica]

After warmly bowing to an imposing representative from Touzen, Samuel Varieur beckoned attention back to Cantigny sheepishly. "Consulting the agenda, if I may, if we may" Samuel coughed "Cantigny feels the need to emphasize section two, subsection two point one, pertaining to cooperation with Karlskrona." He shrugged the shoulders of his suit calmly, yet the fidget was distinct enough to be immediately noticed by Alice as nervous jitters.

Suionia and Cantigny were in fact countless miles apart, colonially however, the Island combined Island chains of Cantigny (as presided over by Great Engellex) and Suionia floated in alarming proximity of one another. Norse, primarily Suionian, ethnicity was second only to the dominant Engellexic; a controversial racial divide now persisted well into the 21st century.

"Financially, this nation is quite intimate with Suionia, willing to broaden this relationship diplomatically, and specifically intrigued by the positive implications of a new worldwide maritime matrix" Varieur, the State Secretary said. It was his impression that if the nation truly desired sustained growth, it would require both merchant and military expansion across Europe on a scale even Alice might find issue with imagining. "That is to say, we must first set a new precedent, reach a new standard of cohesion between ports currently aligned with the Pasila Accord".

Overstepping his nations role once again perhaps, "Cantigny would be so bold as to promote the concept of an Open Port Policy to Naval assets of this Alliance, and a firm commitment to free trade policies amongst our globally revered trade networks" he said, coughing abruptly near the end, "And I do believe Miss Alice, ahem, Council Woman Rydell has something to interject . ."

Alice smiled glowingly at her counterpart, easily resisting the urge to purse her lips and glare at the rude little man from mainland Cantigny, "Quite right Mister Secretary, quite right". To name only one, patronage to the Church of Latter-day Saints was amongst the more idiosyncratic aspects of homeland surrogacy. For now at least, the Church recognized Alice Rydell as incumbent to the Lord's Dominion in Europe, and permitted her access to the attention of over twenty million Mormons in Cantigny. This was to be one of the many reimbursements.

"In the virtuous interest of religious freedom in a proud Pasila, I humbly request on behalf of the Church of Latter-day Saints, that your nations each permit the legal entrance of missionaries" she said with a long sigh, "and mark my words, our mission as a Church is not to convert or condemn; only to volunteer and attend to the sick or distraught. Know also that my request was made to respect the sensitivity afforded to 'alternative' Christian Movements at this time", referring quite obviously to the Solaris affair.

 

[Serbovia]

Kroja is not for everyone, Nikolai Kovalev mused as he watched the reaction on behalf of Count Charles. The man reminded him of an old studying friend of his from the University of Karelingrad, the son of a hereditary count who during one particularly notorious party and one particularly notorious shot contest had ended up vomiting on the inside of a 2000-Mark tuxedo. Kovalev made a mental note not to throw such challenges in the direction of the Engellexic nobleman.

After that, Rydell's Latter Day Saints speech caused him to raise his eyebrows. Having grown up in a heavily Orthodox Christian household, contrary to adopting that tradition as a part of his own identity Nikolai Kovalev had gone to the very different direction in despising any and all things related to the instruments of religion. Not that he would ever be able to admit to such a thing. A declared atheist or even an agnostic more or less shut himself out of the political life in the Union, with the exception of the Red fringe. Besides, his wife had wanted a Church wedding, and a grand one it had been.

"Mrs. Rydell, that's obviously a matter between the persons involved and the Main Administration of Alien Control", Kovalev replied calmly, "Though the Union Constitution obviously guarantees freedom of self-expression."

"Of course", he added with a sly look, catching on to Rydell''s undertone, "This does not apply to movements with a clearly seditious and criminal aspect, such as a certain unmentioned religious organization in Germania. What with the admirable suggestion of a greater maritime concert, I propose their inclusion into discussion during the review of the relevant civil and military sections of the already presented agenda."

 

[Thaumantica]

Varieur had already checked out for the evening, striking others again as that tired semi-functioning old man, as his Serbovian counterparts mistaking for Alice fell on two selectively deaf ears. Alice Rydell on the contrary, followed every syllable, and was hardly offended. Suffrage until recent years had been unthinkable, many in her own semi-legitimate constituency reserved serious doubt over whether a woman possessed the capacity to serve publicly. The Church, to her, was more the burden then she could ever admit; countless expectations silently, in most cases, imposed through the repetition of a two century year old text.

International relations, not Mormonism, were still worth her kroja sharpened breath. "We posit then that this affair must be dictated by rapport and respect" Alice Rydell rose for the third time to say, "which as all of us here know from decades of cooperation, is a kindness that must be reciprocated." By this point she was practically hoisting her patriotism as the honor guard does a terrific banner, "Pasila must be entirely cognizant of what it has achieved together, with respect to Karlskrona, it was to our Soldiers fallen that we toasted to only minutes earlier".

It was not entirely clear to date, at least to the Cannies, whether Karlskrona would live in the House that Pasila built, or if an entirely new program would be erected in its place.

"That said, we feel that this is the time to begin forming exploratory committees intended to assess the potential of academic, economic, and judicial cooperation with both Suionia and Frescania" she smiled, promising herself to refrain from referring to them as Karlskrona ever again.

 

[Great Engellex]

With perhaps his position at Court in great jeopardy, the Count of Pelbourne addressed the subject of Karlskrona, with the intent on limiting any further embarrassment that may be relayed to the Crown :- “Persuaded, as we are, that the best interests not only of Pasila, but of Europe at large, are deeply concerned in the maintenance of a good understanding and firm alliance between Pasila and Karlskrona, it is not without a feeling of the greatest regret and pain that it has been noticed the Windhoek circumstance which would seem to weaken or impair the kindly and cordial relationship between Great Engellex and Suionia, which for several years past has so happily subsisted to the welfare of the north-west.

Of all the triumphs that democracy and civilised nations have gained, none would be comparable to the achievement of cooperation between Pasila, Suionia and Frescania. The success of sowing of the seeds of distrust and aggravation between the two noble powers in the north-west which, in this present day, are capable of upholding the rights of civilisation, and of protecting the weak against the open or covert assaults of the unscrupulous and the strong, will be suspect, absolutely, of Batavia.”

Engellex has a historically rooted distrust and dislike of Batavia, and naturally, despite the proclaimed neutrality, endorsed any and all actions that can be afforded by Warre to reclaim relinquished territory, that the Batavians achieved through its imperialist agenda of the past. The Count continued ;- “Attempts to shake the stability of the north-west so obstructive to the designs and aims of the democratic order of Saamiskavia (Skania) and Preuti-Borussia (Gallia-Germania), should they be so eagerly and perseveringly made, can excite no wonder in Great Engellex, and will be condemned. It was easy to forsee that at the first opportunity that should present itself, every artifice that Batavian ingenuity could invent would be freely employed to disunite the democratic front, and, if possible, to place us in direct antagonism.

The only astonishment and mortification would be if Batavia should in any degree succeed.

I am instructed to convey, on behalf of the Queen, the wishes of Great Engellex to induce our allies of Pasila to assist us in a restoration of understanding and acquaintance with the Court of Suionia. The aspirations of Batavia to seduce the government of Suionia must not be allowed to reach fruition, we fear the regions powers will be compelled to indulge in a show of angry feeling for the absolute benefit of Batavian interests.

Dulwich continues to be committed in its endeavour to bring resolve to the Windhoek circumstance, it is not within our national interest for the situation to remain unsettled, Suionia must acknowledge this, and, assist us where they can - not undermine the efforts, that are supposed invited by Batavia.”