The Twin Himyari Lions

[Pelasgia]

Propontis, Pelasgia

Throughout Propontis, the near-ubiquitous motif of the double-headed eagle, which was the emblem of Propontine Statehood, seemed to have been joined by that of a roaring lion holding a tusk—the emblem of @Natal. Crowds of Propontines waving the flags of the two nations crowded the streets of the Imperial Capital, most of all Vasileon Avenue, that might thoroughfare that led straight down Old Propontis and to the Imperial Palace from the airport where the Natalian delegation had landed a couple of hours earlier. As soon as the motorcade carrying the Tiburian Grand Secretary and the Natalian President, as well their respective delegations, appeared, the crowd exploded with celebration, singing and shouting to welcome the Natalian leader. Almost apologetically, Grand Secretary Georgios Nomikos leaned toward President Demetria Unathi Vavi to explain: "You're a bit of a celebrity here, Your Excellency." As their car drove by a group of students holding a sign saying "Himyar for the Himyaris!" with the two leader's photos, that much became apparent.

The motorcade continued into the Great Palace of Propontis, right across from the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Hagia Pronoia, in the heart of the city. There, to the thunderous paeans of a brass band, the Natalian dignitaries were led into the centre of Propontine Imperialdom for over a millennium and a half, navigating the labyrinthine, column-lined red and white halls of the complex to reach the mighty Throne room, where the Natalian President was formally received. The Emperor made a point of rising from his Throne and greeting the President on an even floor (a rarity for foreign dignitaries), and then personally led both delegations to the Privy Council Chamber, where the meeting between the two delegations would take place (under his formal supervision for the Imperial side, though everyone knew that, these days, this was mostly a formality). Once the two delegations had sat down at their respective places, flanked by small flags from their respective country, name placards and some paper and writing utensils to take notes, the Grand Secretary stood to address the room.

"Your Excellency," he started, "Your Imperial Majesty, honourable Secretaries and Ministers, and distinguished delegates—It is my distinct honour, as Grand Secretary of the Tiburan Imperial Government, to welcome our friends from the Union of Natal to Propontis on this day for a historic meeting that I hope will set the foundations of Pan-Himyari friendship and freedom. Having made this arduous trip to our far end of the continent, I will not take up any more of your time with formalities—for which we shall have plenty of time after these talks—but instead present you with a basic outlines of the topics we wish to discuss today, and then open the floor to you to take us up on any of them or to add any of your own before we proceed to the substantive talks."

Pausing, Nomikos pointed to the large map of Himyar that was displayed on the side of the room, and spoke with eloquence that one would have normally not expected from the scion of a family of provincial notaries. "Himyar, watered by half the seas in the world and peopled or conquered at one time or another by as many peoples has been blessed to be both the cradle of mankind and the repository of its most important resources. As such, one would readily expect to find in Himyar's character those elements of humanity that define everything noble about our race: freedom, peace and prosperity, brought about by collaboration, sacrifice and ingenuity. Instead, in most of the Ebony Continent, one finds naught but slavery, foreign domination, conflict and misery. This, of course, is by design: for only in this state can Himyar be kept under the heel of outside powers. It is the position of the Imperial Government that this state of affairs can only be reversed if the continent's two large, independent countries—Tiburia and Natal—join their forces to expel foreign powers from anywhere that they might be in Himyar and then continue the work of aiding Himyar's nation in developing independently and peacefully.

"To this end, we propose that our two countries enter into economic, military, cultural and intelligence-sharing cooperation agreements, not merely on a bilateral basis, but as the foundation of what we hope can later become a Pan-Himyari Union, all of whose members will be entitled to the rights and privileges of equal membership, as well as the obligation to help their fellow Himyaris in times of need. We hope that Himyar can become a place with free travel, education, trade and dialogue for all its peoples, and one where countries will aid one another in terms of mutual defence and economic development. We equally hope that this Union that we propose can actively put pressure on colonial powers by supporting the independence movements of the colonised nations, in order to create sovereign states in their stead, who may be moved by the benefits offered by membership to join this new initiative of ours.

"I hope, Your Excellency, that this proposal will be appealing to the Natalian Government."​

 

[Arcadia]

Demetria Unathi Vavi did not really expect all this. She would have expected just a motorcade that would quickly move the delegations from the airport to the palace where the talks would take place, but she was pleasantly surprised by the Pelasgians all waving both the golden flag of their Empire and the green white flag of Natal. "I think you would be the same in Camp Hill, Mr Grand Secretary!" she said, trying to imagine if she could organise something like that if the Pelasgians would visit Natal, but in a few seconds she conceded that it might be impossible or cost too much, plus attract extreme criticism from the Hyenas and the rest.

She too was pleasantly surprised by the Emperor rising, as the protocol prepared had her stand in front of him and nod in a sign of respect and then at most be invited to a more private dinner with him, but the way she was greeted was clear to her that it will give her extremely good points back home as some form of conduit between Natal and Pelasgia: the sole Natalian politician greeted in such a way by the Pelasgian Emperor, the sole which can command both the friendship and the respect of the Pelasgians, something that the Hyenas could never achieve.

As the delegations were finally seated in the conference room where the talks will take place, the Natalians listened closely through the interpreter, translating from Pelasgian into Engwahlian, and then, the State President decided to speak:

"Honoured Representatives, your excellencies, Mr. Grand Secretary, I must say first and foremost that it is an honour to be here and to work with your in setting up the foundations of a free Himyar, by building up first and foremost the Natalo-Tiburian friendship, followed by the Pan-Himyari Union. It is true that our continent has suffered a lost in its history, with the perigee of its wellness clearly being the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Even so, not all is lost. We have already made great strides in ensuring that the people of Himyar are enjoying libery and the fruits of their labour, as Natal and Pelasgia have been rising, followed by the liberation of the Dune Sea and its association to the Union of Natal, and then, in time, slow but sure steps of devolved autonomies, such as Valletta or Rio de Oro, mandades such as Hajr and Al-Magrab and so on. All of those have shown that the path to freedom is set, but the change is extremely slow.

The problem is, in these days, that we are stagnating in this process and even going backwards. The so-called Himyari War has pushed back the chance of total freedom for the Uroduah as Hajr and Al-Magrab have been invaded and the tentacles of imperialism are stretching, as I myself have no problem with Hajr, which is bbeing developed as an associated state with the rest of the Post-Delegationist world, as is the Holy Land, but rather, with the most ossified of all colonies, namely the Noks Free State. This has been a territory that has been sucked dry of resources, or life itself by the Tarusans, and while the rest of the world that was colonialist have moved forward and put their territories on these paths of autonomies, which will result in time in independence, Noks is the only one completely caged in by the Tarusan colonials and since the war, the cage expanded and includes more than half of Al-Maghrab.

It is a sad, sad state. Yet, we know where we stand: Himyar must be free! At the same time, we sadly know ourselves too. Natal must continue its work into developing, so it can become a model nation to the rest of the world, showing that the racist naratives they created are false and for us, Himyaris, to show that we can build strong and rich nation. This is a burden you and me, us Natalians and you Pelasgians all share here. That is why, I believe that for the betterment of our nations and thus for the whole continent, aiding eachother in economical development and jumping for each other's defence is a must. Hence, I will approve of your proposal."​

 

[Pelasgia]

"I am glad to hear that, Your Excellency," answered Grand Secretary Nomikos. The acceptance of the proposed Union in principle meant that, at least on a symbolic level, he would be able to walk away from these talks with a victory and a concrete step toward Pan-Himyari solidarity, which would be seen as a major victory for his calculated, careful approach to foreign policy—which had earned him criticism for being too cautious from both the left and the right, for different reasons. "Allow me, then, to present to you a series of specific proposals that my colleagues and I have drafted for the fundamental pillars of the proposed Pan-Himyari Union."

"The first proposal, which was penned by Mr. Papalexiou, the Sakellarios of the Imperial Treasury, regarding economic cooperation. The proposal has two main pillars: relaxed trade restrictions and developmental aid. Regarding the first pillar, proposal would be to create a 'most favoured nation' (or 'MFN') regime for all member states, so that all members of the Pan-Himyari Union are given at least as preferential a treatment as each nation's most favoured trade partner. This would allow nations to choose their own level of protection while also ensuring equality of trade opportunities within the Union. It would also set the basis for more gradual relaxations of trade policies. To set an example, our Empire is prepared to enter into a Comprehensive Trade Agreement with the Union of @Natal to grant such MFN status, including by significantly relaxing tariffs between our nations, removing a host of non-tariff barriers to trade and giving each other preferential treatment for port access and maritime transport. Regarding the second pillar, we would propose the establishment of a Himyari Development Bank, funded by all members to the extent of their ability, to provide the poorer Himyari nations and sub-national regions with the means to develop themselves to the Union's common standard. We believe this measure would foster further economic integration through equalisation of living standards and industrial development, while also obviously strengthening Himyar's standing in Europe."

While giving his aides time to translate his speech and to distribute more detailed copies of drafts of the agreement mentioned, Georgios Nomikos turned the page of his notes to a second but connected point: "With this in mind, we also hope for the establishment of freedom of movement between member nations of the Himyari Union, through relaxed border controls, with a view to the gradual complete openness of the Union's internal borders, once all regions have reached a sufficient level of economic development. Right now, a cautious approach must be followed to avoid massive brain drain from the continent's less prosperous areas; however, in the long run, we believe that this, too, can be achieved, as has been seen with the Meridian Union's initiatives. Our proposals would be for lessened restrictions on the issuance of work permits and residence permits to nationals of other member states, as well as swifter visa issuance (or even a replacement with an Electronic Travel Authorisation system) for visitors. This would be accompanied by initiatives to promote student and youth exchanges, study-abroad programmes, cultural and museum exchanges and conferences throughout the Union by all members."​