Hidey-ho neighbor

[Holy Frankish Empire]

Presidential Villa
Barkai, Judean Republic

President Levy hung up the receiver. The mission from neighboring Cakistan would be arriving from the airport in a few short minutes. Levy rubbed his temples and sighed. Today had been an especially long day, especially when it came to being briefed on Belmontien and Palestinian new reports and intelligence on both countries. It had been some time since a Judean leader met with a representative of Cakistan, so it was long overdue. Levy left his desk and pulled a file from the filing cabinet. He flipped through it for a moment before looking at his watch and closing the folder. With the folder securely tucked under his arm, Levy headed to the main conference room.

 

[Cakistan]

Deputy Minister of External Affairs H.R.H. Crown Prince Samuel of the Emirate of Danisor's journey to Judea had been basically a pleasant one. With the Minister for External Affairs away on a different trip the discussion on who to send on this one had been extensive. The First Minister had been considered, but with the situation in Abruzicstan it had been decided his presence in the capital was essential. Instead they had decided to send the newly vested Deputy Minister of External Affairs, with the belief that his Royal status would help ease any snub from only sending a Deputy.

Samuel was led into the Presidential Villa and to a conference room. Entering, he walked over to the President of the Republic. "Mr. President I am Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Samuel of Danisor. Here are my credentials," he said handing over the heavily embossed and sealed documents.

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

"Welcome your highness. Please, sit. Tea? Coffee?"

Levy glanced down to look at the credentials handed to him out of respect and looked at them for only seconds before passing them to an aid who would read them in depth later. Levy had a reputation through the diplomatic world of being blunt, crass, and occasionally infuriated. However, he was also known as a man who went right to the point and 'got things done'. Levy took a sip of his lemon-water and flipped to a page in his legal pad before him.

"Your highness, I welcome you to Judea and I am pleased your trip so far has been enjoyable. Now, I think we have mutual interests when it comes to the region. If we are ever going to be truly prosperous as a region, we have to have some level of unity. My nation is a Jewish nation, but it is a Jewish nation of Muslims, Christians and of course Jews. The problem is that religion breeds extremism. I know your nation contends with this issue as well. I think our two nations need to address extremism in our region, not only at home. If we don't, we will always be second fiddle to our northern counterparts. If we don't confront nations like Greater Palestine....well, I do not need to tell you what can happen" said Levy before popping a black olive into his mouth from a bowl at the center of the table.

 

[Cakistan]

"Tea please, with a bit of honey if possible." President Levy had a reputation as a direct man, and even more rare in halls of power a mostly honest one. The Prince tended to be more of an urbane sophisticate. The President was a man however much in the mold of Minister for External Affairs, and former Peshmerga Colonel, Minister Nasir. He too tended to be rather direct. However, while it wasn't his preferred style his time under Minister Nasir had taught Prince Samuel something about goat trading.

"Indeed, Mr. President." said Prince Samuel. "The United Emirates has long recognized the struggle against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The United Emirates too is a nation of more than one religion, indeed, I myself am a Christian not a Muslim as is the majority of my nation. So I do agree with your sentiments President Levy. To turn directly to the nation of Greater Palestine, the United Emirates feels the creation of any form of concentration camp in Himyar today is a crime against all humanity, and to be frank the Emirates rarely smile on nations who ignore our diplomatic correspondence."

"As far as playing second fiddle to our northern counterparts, I must confess that the Emirates is quite concerned about the actions of Belmont in Abruzicstan. With there recent diplomatic disputes and there recent expansion of there nuclear weapons program... well the Emirates sees the whole situation as massively destabilizing to the status quo in Himyar." The Prince waited a beat here to let his words sink in and to allow the implicit trade of support sink in.

"Please understand me Mr. President, as much as Belmont's meddling foreign policy annoys us, we have no desire for the situation to turn to active conflict. But we do believe that all of us in the region must stand against the creation of a neo-imperial government in Abruzicstan whose true orders come from Paris."

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

The President laughed, more from lack of any other reaction than actual humor. "Please do not mistake me your highness, I am laughing at the prospect of Belmont's foreign policy" said Levy, finishing his lemon-water.

"I have met people in the insane asylum that make more sense than that fucking government. The monumental changes in allegiance and strategy they make......and in such a short time. It makes me believe their citizens are responsible but at the same time I find it hard to believe that a population can be that mentally handicapped to allow such things but what is happening speaks for itself. I can assure you the Judean Republic and the EDF are watching things closely. Either will take appropriate actions if necessary" said Levy visibly agitated by the subject of Belmont.

 

[Cakistan]

"Indeed Mr. President. I was not aware the situation was being watched so closely. However I am quite glad to hear it. I can assure you Taze Jiyan is paying similar attention to Greater Palestine." Minister Nasir took a long sip of what was left of his juice.

"The United Emirates would also like to cooperate with the F20 project and buy several squadrons of them once they are in production. We are very much in need of a new air superiority fighter."

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

"I am glad to hear it, as for the fighters..." Levy paused turning to his defense aid who quickly piped in-

"The F20 Project is currently in final stages, but this will still take many years. While we appreciate the offer of production assistance, we must decline as we are at a point where the 'die is cast' if you will. Now, we can arrange a sale no problem. However, I must alert you that at this time, we have several years before a delivery will be made" said the aid politely. "If you have a number in mind, we can draft a proposal and send it to Parliament for approval. Or, if you do not wish to wait, we have other options".

 

[Cakistan]

"The United Emirates would in that case be interested in the direct purchase of the F20 projects. We were considering a buy in the 120 range, given the timeline you've stated though perhaps we will reduce that and consider another option for the immediate future."

"The UEC Airforce has in recent years spent most of there money maintaining their attack and support forces. That is after all there primary role, to support the work of the Peshmerga. However, sadly, our air superiority has suffered for it."

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

"Perhaps we can offer you some of our F19's we are preparing to sell. They are the B models. I am afraid our C models are currently in short supply. We can sell say 20? Or we can offer around 35 F17's but we warn you that these are not for air superiority. Otherwise we would be willing to build you up to 65 F19 C's. It is truly the best we can do until our F20 program is completed" said the aid sheepishly.

 

[Cakistan]

"Very good. I know the Defense Ministry will want to look at these offers most seriously as they decide what procurement they want to do. I will take your offer back to them." The Prince smiled genuinely. He took another sip of his tea, savoring the slight bitterness, even through the golden honey that had been added. It was a very good blend brewed strong and hot as he preferred his teas. Whoever ran the Republics protocol office had done their homework well he thought.

The Prince shook himself as he realized he had been woolgathering a bit, in truth he was actually a bit nervous. True he was a Prince and used to dealing with other powerful figures, however he was not used to doing so as the official representative of the Emirates as a whole, at least not in such an important negotiation rather than a purely ceremonial event. It added a degree of pressure that he had not entirely anticipated. "Excuse me Mr. President, I'm afraid I was lost in my own thoughts for a second." The Prince stopped here for a second, but continued again after President Levy's nod of acknowledgment. "The Emirates would also be interested in increasing economic ties between our two states. Either through direct exchange, or the gradual reduction of tariff and fees between our nations."

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

Levy nodded, jotting down a few lines on his legal pad. "Well, I believe a free trade agreement of some type should be arranged. It will of course take some time to build an agreement. We will send a draft as soon as possible for review. Is there any specific points your government had in mind?"