Batavian Scotch

[Batavië]

With the new leader of the Scotlands having arrived at the Vlaanderen airport earlier, Prime Minister Alex de Jonghe and his entourage greeted the foreigners. For years, interaction with their eastern neighbour was limited. With democracy and an opening economy, that was about to change.

Travelling by armoured caravan, they arrived at a hotel in downtown Vlaanderen and rode the lifts to the top floor, which gave an excellent view of the city and the countryside beyond it.

De Jonghe crossed his legs and offered his Scottish counterpart a drink. They spoke in French as De Jonghe knew no English. They were left alone, with their aides and other delegation members left outside to chat and snack.

 

[Barazi]

President O'Hara looked at his northwestern counterpart as he smiled and sipped a glass of red ale. At first it felt a little awkward talking to a translator as the Scottish leader did not know how to speak french. But with the short tour and the friendly atmosphere, O'Hara felt at ease and comfortable. It reminded him of home, only with Dutch-speakers among him instead.

"I have no negative comments to make on your country. It's a very cultural and the population seems to be embracing democracy quite well. Kudos, Mr. De Jonghe." He sipped his drink again. "I do not regret coming to Vlaanderen for my first foreign visit."

The President paused.

 

[Batavië]

Surely the man must know German, then, if he cannot speak French, thought De Jonghe. The two most important diplomatic languages in the world. He tried German, hoping a translator wouldn't be necessary.

'I am glad you are enjoying your visit. My apologies for not being able to meet you sooner, but I understand you had a nice day in the city to relax and sightsee a bit.'

De Jonghe set down his glass of scotch.

'It appears, then, that economic ties can flourish between our countries. But in order for that to be possible, my dear colleague, our countries need to be more connected, literally. I speak of train and road links. If the Northern Council is ever founded, I want a priority to be transportation links, and modern ones at that. They are the lifeblood of any economy. I want a high-speed rail link between all Scandinavian capitals. Imagine being able to travel from Vlaanderen to Edney in under 10 or even 9 hours. A comfortable overnight ride, I think, all from the ease and comfort of a train. More regional trains, as well, and separate freight lines. Then think of roads. Motorways linking our cities, designated with Scandinavian road markers. Then our people will be able to share culture and language and business at their own pace and spur growth and interconnectedness.'

'It will bring jobs to build these links, and to maintain and operate them. I hope you share my enthusiasm.'

 

[Barazi]

German was more farmiliar for O'Hara. Never bothered with french.

"I couldn't agree with you more on that. We certainly need to connect our nations and repair the old roads and railways that were, let's face it, not kept up to code by the previous leftist government in these parts." O'Hara approached Prime Minister De Jonghe - sitting only on the edge of his seat. "This is where we might be able to help. The Scottish government understands Batavia's situation, politically and economically. In the hopes of aiding in the development of this nation, as you are now free, ScotsRails Co. has shown some significant interest in purchasing the contract to connect the northmost cities. The ones nearest to the border that is. With time, money and effort, we could quickly and efficiently push onward."

The President sat comfortably nestled in his chair once more. "With your permission of course, and the OK of the Batavian public, we would like to sell ScotsRails Co. the contract with the condition of only hiring Batavian citizens as the main workforce. The location would be at your government's total discretion and we will abide by the rules of treating all employees fairly with a good salary. After all, they will be responsible for connecting our nations."

 

[Batavië]

'That sounds excellent, excellent.' the more jobs for Batavians, the better.

'As far as high speed rail goes, I want our capitals connected. There is a Frankish company that might be able to provide the train technology, but we might have to look elsewhere. In terms of funding, I want my government to pay its share of the project, but that might involve taking out large loans...' he hinted at the fact that he hoped the Scotlands would offer to pay for more than half...as a gesture of goodwill.

'I also plan to approach Arendaal with the idea. The Scotlands, I hope, will be able to connect to Arendaal by land with rail and motorway networks as part of a regional approach, with full governmental cooperation. Integration is key, no?'

 

[Barazi]

"Integration certainly is key. We hope to someday be connected with the entire Scania region. As for the extra funds, The Scotlands has in its budget extra funds for foreign investment. Most of the time the money goes towards neighbouring or allied nations that need it for national development. we see no better investment, so we certainly will dip into the funds and pay a little over half of the expenses. The ending result will be all worth it. As for this Frankish company, we would all have to sit down and talk finance on how this project will progress.

I would be in full support of the highspeed railway connecting our capitals, but our finance minister would also have to meet with the comapny's top officials to make sure everythign is in order. I am firmly against backroom deals. I am confident you think the same way Mr. De Jonghe." The President smiled and finished his ale.

 

[Batavië]

'Oh, of course.' De Jonghe responded to the backroom deals comment. 'Yes, I want this to be public, go through our parliaments and so forth. Now, tell me more about your opinion on the Batavian idea of a Northern Council? I have been having some trouble getting the other Scandinavian countries to be active on it, but I see it as a great step forward for us all using a gradual and sloped process.'

 

[Barazi]

"To be quite honest with you, I have yet to be briefed on what would come of a Northern Council or even what the fundamentals of this Northern Council are. If it were to be created, I would move for ministers and officials of all Scanian nations to join together and draft some sort of charte." the President paused again and stopped to see what Prime Minister De Jonghe had in mind.

 

[Batavië]

'Yes, a charter. That would be natural. I have been told by my advisers that a second meeting is scheduled to be held soon in Suionia. There, on the agenda, will be the drafting on a charter and the discussion of various ideas in more detail. I personally believe that this Council would further help integrate our countries and economies. A customs union, police cooperation and, most important in my mind, a consensus on travel. Reduction and eventual eliminations on visas...perhaps one day even a passport union and open borders.'

He sipped more from his scotch.

'Ah, borders. Another thing that I want to discuss. In Batavië, as I am sure you have noticed by now, we drive on the left-hand side of the road. I plan to propose a reduction in the number of border guards and an ease on crossings. Simplify things, if you understand. From my understandings, there are 7 border crossings between our two countries, none of which are motorways. Two are old rail links rarely ever used and the remaining five are local roads. Until we have the high-speed rail and motorway links, these local crossings on regional roads are the only link. I suggest that we jointly operate these crossings. Passport checks would be jointly conducted by our officers and they would also be responsible for ensuring that the drivers are aware of the road change and at the border is where it would take place. What do you think?'

 

[Barazi]

"In due time once the road construction is over we will certainly enforce this. Especially the road change, that's a matter of security. But you know, this talk of borders and visas does bring up the matter national security." O'Hara buttoned his blazer and looked at his Batavian counterpart. "Obviously we have a large population of Scottish-Batavians - mostly to the north of The Scotlands. This mostly occured when Batavië was going through a tough time politically and we embraced your people with open arms. However, we have arrested many for crossing into The Scotlands illegally. Not to worry, they were cared for and treated like respectable human beings, but it's become an increasing problem for the Scottish Guard who are responsible for aprehending the illegal aliens. The pending question that most Scots want to hear about is what your government has in mind to help us rectify this problem."

 

[Batavië]

'Well, they could return to Batavië, naturally.' Yet De Jonghe knew that with the transition from a planned economy to a free one, jobs would be more difficult to come by.

'Or, if they don't want to do that immediately, well it might be best for an amnesty programme to be discussed in your government. If they are law-abiding people who seek work and a home, maybe they could stay in you country until they decide to return home?'

 

[Barazi]

"If Batavians want to remain in The Scotlands they are more than welcome to apply for citizenship. We also have many organisations dedicated to helping immigrants intergrate themselves in Scottish society, even if that means giving them a home and financial aid until they become citizens." With that said, President O'Hara was quite pleased at the outcome of this conversation so far. "We have boosted border security, but that's only natural when one area has seen such activity. I am just curious however, do you have people stationed at the border presently?"

 

[Batavië]

'Yes, we do.' began De Jonghe. 'I plan to reduce their numbers and, once the Northern Council is established and a Council-wide system on borders is created, eventually remove all military forces and just have a light contingent of border forces to deal with civilian traffic and road direction oversight.'

 

[Barazi]

'Well my good sir, I believe we've gotten a few things accomplished today.' The President smiled once more. 'Upon my arrival back to The Scotlands I will give the OK to ScotsRails and the work force to move north in order to commence our project - after going through the House of Commons no doubt. Once again, it's been a pleasure visiting, you have a tremendous amount of patriotism for your people and I admire that in a leader.'