NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC Note: Dates are DD/MM/YY

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28/02/08

AMSTERDAM, Benelux - Today, His Royal Majestic Highness announced that New Pictavia and the Koninkrijk would be bringing forward the Treaty of Brussels establishing the Atlantican Union. All nations who are not members of the New Oslo Pact and wish not to ever gain membership were invited to sign the treaty. The invitations are being responded to and so far besides New Pictavia and the Benelux, Calzorinstan, our neighbour to the East, Binaria, Anselmus, Hectonia and Torvque have expressed the wish to sign it.

The formal signing ceremony shall take place on Saturday and Miamorga is also expected to sign the treaty. It establishes the Atlantican Union and several measures to restore what many proponents are saying the 'Atlantican Equilibrium'. Many critics, particularly those from member states of the New Oslo Pact are saying that the Union's sole purpose is to eliminate the New Oslo Pact. Pictavian Officials and Willem VI have denied this saying that they only want to, "restore the euilibrium which has been offset by the Pact."

Whether these two alliances will end up going to war or not is uncertain although it is certain that tensions will remain high. If war breaks out, it is certain that should Miamoria and Bithunia sign the Treaty that Benelux will be out of harms' way. Torvque and Hectonia are expected to be in quite the awkward position should the two alliances go to war; Torvque due to the only borders being with NOP members was actually expected to join the NOP. Many are saying the New Pictavia has pressured Torvque into joining.

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29/02/08

AMSTERDAM, Benelux - King Willem VI and the Beatusian ambassador held a meeting at Oranje Palace. No word yet on what this meeting means for the two countries or whether or not any treaties have been signed. Beatus recently withdrew from the NOP but many are saying an agreement along the lines of mutual protection is still in effect. If a similar treaty were signed with Benelux it is unknown as of yet what Beatus' course of action would be.

Another treaty is rumoured to have been signed, a Free Trade Agreement. While no official word from either party, it is up to debate what, if anything was signed and whether this will impact relations between the two countries in a positive or negative manner. There are other kinds of treaties rumoured to have been signed as well, ranging from non-aggression to single currency although the FTA and mutual defence pact are the most likely.

In other news, the official AU Treaty signing will be held tomorrow and it is still as of yet not known whether Miamoria or Bithunia will attend the ceremony. It also looks like Corbournne will not be signing as was originally hoped by the King. No Taxes also looks like they will be remaining a neutral state which leaves two buffer states separating the majourity of AU and NOP members.

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03/03/08

BRUSSELS, Benelux - On Saturday, the Treaty of Brussels Establishing the Atlantican Union was signed in south palace. The details of the treaty are available for anyone in the world to view. One clause which is gaining controversy is one which states that should a member state not be able to settle disputes diplomatically, the AU shall administer the country. What would happen should Benelux be administered by the AU instead of the king is completely unknown although in one artist's opinion this device shall be used (shows a drawn picture of a gullotine).

AMSTERDAM, Benelux - The details of what has been signed by the Benelux and the Beatus has been disclosed and it appears to be an FTA and MDP in one document. It is believed that it will ensure that should the AU attack neutral nations in respect to AU-NOP politics that Benelux will withdraw. It explicitly says that for the Beatus and establishes the foothold for Benelux to do it in other cases. Of course, it is believed that anything like that will most likely be able to be settled through diplomatic means.

In other news, Calzorinstan and Benelux have united to allow their currencies to be valued at a ratio of 1:1 in eachothers countries. This will greatly ease travel along the border although at what cost to the economies? Many economists are predicting a recession in Calizorinstan and if they are right - and most nearly always are correct - this could bring the Dutch economy down too. A lucky thing is that Calizorinstan, along with Bithunia and Miamoria, are the big trading partners of the Koninkrijk. This may actually save the Calizorinstani economy according to a minority of economists.

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04/03/08

AMSTERDAM, Benelux - Invitations to a pan-atlantican summit were sent out a few days ago. The King had no public response until today when he told us that he would be attending the meeting. Some controversy has been stirred over whether or not Orbath will be attending. Many are critiscizing the King for going to what is being called a 'meeting of the New Oslo Pact'. The King has announced that if Orbath is attending he shall not go.

The King also announced today that he wanted the Atlantican Union's policy on the New Oslo Pact to be co-operation and defense in case of a strike against an Atlantican Union member. The New Pictavians have announced a policy similar to the king's except the vote for isolation instead of co-operation. With the NOP members so far away it there is little to do in co-operation and the King wants to appear less isolationist. For what reason is unknown as the King is always right.

Niether has Miamoria nor Bithunia have made any statement regarding the Atlantican Union nor the New Oslo Pact since the announcement of the Treaty of Brussels establishing the Atlantican Union. Many hope that our neighbours to the south and across the straight will opt to participate in the alliances. Remaining neutral could increase tensions with our neighbours and spark a war against a neutral nation. Bad for the foreign image of the King but of course as always our King is always right.

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05/03/08

DEN HAAG, Benelux - This morning there was a car crash on one of South Holand's busiest highways. One person died and another two were injured by a driver who left a popular bar at around 3 in the morning. Being drunk he was quickly on the highway and military police had seen his bad driving. They attmepted to pull him over when the driver, startled by the sirens crashed into the car in front of him. He was not, however, intoxicated enough to be considered too drunk to drive.

The civillian and military police are looking into this case of reckless driving and many have come up with theories for why the driver wasn't driving like he was expected to at that level of intoxication. Many say that he didn't so much drink his alcoholic drinks as swallow them down, leading to a faulty breathalizer reading. A proper analysis couldn't be carried out before the driver was sober.

In other news, Pace, a popular chewing gum manufacturer has produced a new chewing gum with flavour which lasts even longer than the previously recorded Koninkrijk record of 46 minutes 38 seconds. Tests to determine how much longer the gum lasts are being carried out and we should have an official answer in a couple of days due to the Koninkrijk's Record Keeper's attitude towards the length of time a chewing gum's flavour lasts. It is categorised as, 'useless trivial knowledge'; right below 'only useful in Trivial Pursuit'.