NationStates Jolt Archive


"A Coastal Wind" - Dalmatia Declares Independence (Intro MT Open)

Independent Dalmatia
01-01-2008, 14:15
A Coastal Wind - Dalmatia Declares Independence

~~~~~

"We are three countries that emerged from the former Yugoslavia - countries that are now in transition and must cooperate with each other, because our economies depend on each other."
Stjepan Mesic.

"My appeal, and I say this as a German chancellor on the basis of our experience during the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall, is 'Don't fire on your own people.' That would be a disaster."
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder appeals to the Yugoslav Security Forces.

~~~~~

The historic city of Dubrovnik sits on the Adriatic coast. Termed "the pearl of the Adriatic", Dubrovnik had for years been a place of cultural enlightenment, it was a central point for the development of Croatian language, literature and sciences. A beautiful tourist spot, Dubrovnik was in normal circumstances and quiet and tranquil place.

These were not normal circumstances.

As the black limousine rolled through the streets of the city, negotiating shell holes and burnt out vehicles, Danilo Franko stared grimly from the rear window at the destruction left by the brief firefight. As the car took a left turn at the next intersection, he leant back in the seat and sighed, looking across at the man sitting opposite him. "Did it really have to go this way?" he asked quietly.

The Brigadni general (Brigadier General) sitting opposite him was smoking a cigar quietly, the fumes wafting lazily into the air. He removed the object from his mouth and licked his lips for a moment. "You know it did," he said gently but pointedly. "They didn't wish to negotiate at all."

Franko nodded reluctantly. "Even so," he said, turning back to the window. "The senseless waste of life..." The car turned down Stradun, the main street in Dubrovnik, passing a burnt-out T-72 at the intersection surrounded by children. They scattered as the car went past, running back into their own homes.

The temporary headquarters was the St Vlaho Church, which the car pulled up outside of. Soldiers, still wearing the uniforms of the Croatian Ground Army, were dug in with Heavy Machine Guns at the edges of the road, only recently seeing peace after the Croat's last attempt to hold the city before surrendering.

It was the same scene all over the region. As far north as Gospic, the months of increasing tension had exploded into rebellion against the Croatian Army, directed in its anger by the hands of the Dalmatian Independence Army. And now, with the Croat Ground Army pulling back into the north, the DIA, comprising defected soldiers of Dalmatian heritage and armed volunteers, were digging in to protect their new gains.

Franko stepped out of the vehicle as it stopped, directly into a swarm of press photographers and video cameras. He was momentarily taken aback at the attention, but forced himself to remain composed and climbed the steps to the podium. Taking his place, he turned to the press and cleared his throat. The scene went quiet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Franko began, and then paused. Cameras whirred and clicked as the civilian leader of the DIA considered his words.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Franko repeated, placing both hands on the podium. "Ever since the first century AD, the people of Dalmatia have held a history of development different from the rest of the region. We have held ourselves against invaders on all sides for centuries, and we have constantly been passed from country to country with no respect for our own identity. Our unification with Croatia, with our cultural and historical ties, was the closest we came to recovering out cultural heritage. But we have forgotten about our own independent, sovereign heritage."

The cameras clicked again. Franko continued. "The Dalmation forces for independence were elected in local, representative, democratic bodies, and petitioned Croatia for greater autonomy. Our cousins to the north refused our request. They refused us our sovereignty, as Serbia refused theirs. With peaceful means exhausted, we were forced to resort to physical means to establish our sovereignty."

"As of today, the Republic of Independent Dalmatia declares its sovereignty and independence from the Republic of Croatia, with all the authority and rights allowed to any legitimate state. We appeal to the international community to recognise this claim."

There was a significantly greater click of cameras as the press attempted to catch this moment in the speech. Franko smiled, relaxing more into his role. "The Dalmatian Independence Army will become the temporary governing body of the Republic as the establishment of secure borders is ensured. Following this, the Republic will elect a unicarmal legislature and an elected Head of State and Head of Government to represent the will of the Dalmatian people."

"This is a great day in the history of Dalmatia. We hope it will be the start of a successful period of advancement for our people and our country."

With a sudden flair for drama, Franko clenched his fist and raised himself tall. "Long live Dalmatia!" he declared, to cheers from local press representatives.
Van Luxemburg
01-01-2008, 15:19
Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, Van Luxemburg

The two police officers guarding the gate relaxed as a VLT L8 slowly drove off the secured parking of the VLT headquarters in Esch-sur-Alzette. It was escorted by a pair of police motorbikes, and followed by a single black Monteluci, covering the rear of the armoured limousine. Inside the VLT limousine was the Grand Duke of Van Luxemburg, returning from a meeting with the VLT Automotive Management. He sat in his vehicle, calm and relaxed, as it quickly passed onto the A1 in the direction of Luxembourg, accelerating up to speeds which would be illegal in most nations. The speeds blurred away a lot of the somewhat hilly landscape one would see if he travelled from 'Esch', as many Van Luxemburgers called it, to the capital city of Luxembourg. It was indeed a beautiful place, if one ignored the outskirts of Esch-sur-Alzette for the first part of the journey. After that, forests, small lakes and sleepy villages passed by on the 2x5-lane Autobahn inbetween two of Van Luxemburg's most important cities.

The buzz of the mobile phone disturbed the silence inside the vehicle somewhat, but Koen could get a hold of the object fairly quickly, before answering the call.

'Yes?' he spoke, waiting for the other side of the line to reply.

'Sir, Jens here. I'm accompanied by Philippe now, and I would like to speak to you. Fairly quickly, if not now.'
It was the voice of Jens Blom, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Grand Duchy of Van Luxemburg. The 'Philippe' he spoke of, was Minister of Defence for the same nation. Koen was somewhat surprised by this, as they rarely contacted him whilst he was away from the Palace in Luxembourg.

'What's the problem, Jens? Maybe I can help you from down here.' The Grand Duke answered, while he looked up his laptop to assist him with some information he might need.

'Well, we have received reports of a Declaration of Independence from Dalmatia, a former province of Croatia. Mister Dermont here is advising us, and you, to send peacekeeping troops there, in order to enforce the newly created borders there. And keep the peace inside Dalmatia. He's got a list of which troops he wants to send. I'll let him tell his story.'

There was some background noise, probably because the two men switched positions.

'Yes, Sir, it's Dermont. It might sound strange, but I'm advising you to send out a peacekeeping operation there. We have no idea of what might happen, but it seems to be a wise decision. Our troops haven't been overseas long since.' He said, maybe with a slightly nervous accent included.

'I see. Well, I see your point, and I would like to agree with you, but for eery action there is an equal reaction. What will we gain from this?'

'There are several things. It is ofcourse beneficial for our troops, as they can have some experience at peacekeeping tasks once again. And, we can gain both political, as in friendship with the newborn state, and economic, as in Van Luxemburger companies can invest in the relatively cheap economic climate in Dalmatia. Think of your own VLT Automotive, possibly. Anyways, we will probably be sending a mechanised infantry brigade and an engineering brigade. They will be accompanied by a flotilla of ships from the Marine and one ALD wing, aswell as one MLD wing. We will also send some troops from the Marechaussee. It will be the largest troop formation we have sent in a while.' Dermont seemed to be completely calm saying this.

'Very well then. I hereby authorise you to send peacekeeping forces. I'll make an official document as soon as I get back in the Palace. Please keep me posted.' Koen said, and pushed disconnect on the touchscreen mobile phone. Meanwhile, the small automobile convoy moved on at high speed, on it's way to Luxembourg.

-------

Official Letter to Independent Dalmatia
Groussherzogtum Vun Lëtzebuerg, Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Ministry of Defence

LUXEMBOURG, Den 1. Januar 2008 - By decree of the Grand Duke of Van Luxemburg, the Grand Duchy officially recognises the state of Dalmatia. As advised by the Ministry of Defence and the High Military Council, the Grand Duchy states it's intentions to form a peacekeeping taskforce that will offer security to Dalmatia and it's people, while also protecting it's sovereign borders. The taskforce (named Taskforce Dalmatië internally) will be a cooperation between Van Luxemburg's three Military Branches, the Arméi (Army, includes the ALD or Arméi Loft Divisioun, Army Air Arm), Marine (Navy, includes the MLD or Marine Loft Divisioun, Naval Air Arm) and Marechaussee (Military Constabulary). A combined force of around 20,000 troops will be sent overseas if Dalmatia accepts this offer. Taskforce Dalmatië includes:

23rd Mechanised Infantry Brigade (4070 men)
6th Engineers' Brigade (4070 men)
65th ALD Wing (24 Aircraft, 2400 men)
32nd MLD Wing (24 aircraft, 2400 men)
Marine Taskforce Dalmatië (8000 men), consisting of:
1 Giselbert Class AOE (ZMS 'Campolongo')
1 Robert-class CLG (ZMS 'Robert')
2 Lodovico-class FFG (ZMS 'Eschweiler', ZMS 'Rosport')
2 Godefried-class LCS (ZMS 'Monteforte', ZMS 'Kleindurham')
1 Visconti Class FS (ZMS 'Itzehoe')
1 Ruprecht-class FS (ZMS 'Junglinster')


We hope that this assistance will make Dalmatia a better and safer place for everyone.


Signed,

Koen van Luxemburg
Grand Duke of Van Luxemburg
Independent Dalmatia
01-01-2008, 23:43
Official Government Communique

The Dalmatian Provisional Government welcomes both the Van Luxemburg recognition of sovereignty and their offer of peacekeepers to assist in securing our newly liberated borders from possible Croat counter-attack.

Dalmatian Independence Army Spokesperson
Pan-Arab Barronia
01-01-2008, 23:51
http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc61/LordBelacqua/MIAUpload.png

We wholeheartedly welcome Dalmatia into the world, and offer any and all assistance they may require.

Barronian Anbaric (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=546164), the state-owned utilities company, is offering a limited-time discount to your nation, for any and all power generation supplies. We look forward to any questions from you.
Van Luxemburg
02-01-2008, 11:37
Levallois, Levallois-Perret, Van Luxemburg

In the early morning, the port of Levallois was bustling with unusual activity. Military vehicles were loaded aboard large transport vessels, and troops assisted in getting their gear aboard the ships. The soldiers themselves would be leaving by aircraft some week later, to arrive at the same time as their weaponry. Their destination would be Split, where they would set up their headquarters aswell. From there, they would coordinate the Van Luxemburger troops in Dalmatia, and also embark on border security patrols.

On the quays of Levallois, however, hundreds of vehicles awaited different tasks. They were part of the 6th Engineers' Brigade, and would assist in building infrastructure. Bulldozers, Cranes, earth movers and all sorts of other construction equipment stood ready to be lifted aboard one of the transport ships that was being loaded up. Next to the construction equipment, a pair of VLT automobiles awaited for their turn to be loaded aboard. Heavily armoured limousines that would be used to ferry VIP's around Dalmatia, if required.

A few hours later, all vehicles had been loaded aboard and the ships left off, escorted by the naval detachment of the taskforce. Only a week later, the troops themselves would leave Van Luxemburg by airplane and arrive in Split simultaneously with the ships.
Talentay
02-01-2008, 11:50
Official Letter Form The Desk of The Dictator of Talentay:

I would hereby like to offer five military helicopters and also 500 troops to Van Luxemburg to assist in their peace keeping efforts!

Sincerely,
The Dictator of Talentay
Lord Ragan II