Caradian Diplomatic Mission

[Caradian Ambassador]

From the Duchy of Caradia, I bring greetings and blessings.

I am Baron Pedro Coramen, Baron of Salòdica. Our King has seen fit for our nation to begin diplomatic contact with yours. Our nation believes yours to be an example of prosperity that we can follow, and that we have much to offer each other through the benefits of trade, and we believe it would be a boon to both our lands to open formal trade between our nations to facilitate the flow of resources.

We wish for you to consider our offer in good faith, and for a beneficial relationship between our nations.

In the name of Our Ancestor,
Baron Pedro Osè du Lumina Coramen
Baron of Salòdica, Caradia

[Seydlitz]

Greetings, Your Excellency!

I am pleased to greet you to our Republic on behalf of the Aldurian People!

Please do have a seat. Perhaps you could tell us a little bit more about Caradia, its history, and its people?

[Caradian Ambassador]

Thank you for your warm welcome, your Excellency.

To give a detailed description of Caradia would keep us here for days on end, so I will keep the summary brief. Geographically, we are located in the antarctic lands, on the island of Caplona. Though, part of what has brought me here is our recent expansion to our new colony Salòdica, which is the land I represent personally.

We are a rather young nation, internationally speaking, because, though our Duchy is old, we have remained isolated until two years ago, when our Duke Alecsi XIV officially opened our country. His intention, which we continue to work towards achieving, was to establish relations, through trade and military aid, with foreign nations so that they might open their doors to our missionaries.

We have, for most of our history, focused our production on industrial strategic resources, of which we now put aside our surplus for international trade, including coal, oil, steel, and uranium.

We also have decided that we will remain neutral on international affairs so that we might use our military more effectively as a mercenary force. Though, as, again, our nation is quite young, we have had no foreign nations take advantage of our offer, we do allow foreign powers to trade goods or services for the use of a specially-created division of our military.

We have now offered all of these up for the international community to make use of in trade. If you should desire any of our goods or services, we would be happy and open to a cordial trade relationship. In particular, we have heard that some nations in this area of the world have experienced problems with overseas shipping due to piracy issues. If you would wish military escort by some of our ships, we would be glad to negotiate a deal.

[Seydlitz]

We are grateful for your offers, and look forward to concluding a more formal treaty in accordance with our respective constitutional and legal processes. Please allow us a short period to consult with our government. If your government has a treaty draft to propose, we are open to its review.

[Caradian Ambassador]

My apologies for not providing a treaty draft immediately. In my home country, it is customary for the receiver of binding documents to write them.

If you wish us to draft a treaty I shall bring the matter before our Council.

[Caradian Ambassador]

I have returned with a treaty drafted by the government of the Duchy of Caradia. I now present this treaty for your Excellency's consideration:
 

Treaty of Friendship Between the Duchy of Caradia and the Republic of Alduria

WHEREAS the nation of the Duchy of Caradia and the Republic of Alduria shall find each other to be deserving of mutual respect and cooperation, this treaty shall bind these two States into a relationship based upon a desire for prosperity and peace.

 ARTICLE 1

A Perpetual State of Friendship and Mutual Recognition shall be established between the Republic of Alduria and the Duchy of Caradia. These nations shall be bound to first seek peaceful resolutions to conflict which may arise while this treaty is in force.

 ARTICLE 2

Neither nation, nor any officers, individuals or other agents acting under the authority of any government, organization or individual of or within either nation, shall commit any form of hostile, aggressive, subversive or destabilizing act against the other, nor against any individuals, organizations or property under either nation's sovereign jurisdiction or control, including damage or disruption to any goods, products or services that may be provided by third parties. Both Nations shall refrain from any aggressive, belligerent, or hostile act or policy, either overtly or covertly, directed against the other.

 ARTICLE 3

The signatory parties shall respect the diplomatic envoys of each other, their diplomatic correspondence and their offices, as well as all other government structures of each other.

 ARTICLE 4

The signatory Nations shall recognize any titles and other honors granted by their respective Leaders to their citizens and to other persons, and vice versa.

 ARTICLE 5

The signatory Nations may appoint an ambassador or envoy to the other in order to foster good relations. The host nation shall reserve the right to expel an ambassador or envoy found to have committed any activities that are in contravention of either any part of this Treaty or its own laws.

 ARTICLE 6

The citizens of the Republic of Alduria with a valid, current and official passport issued by the government of the Republic of Alduria may enter and stay without a visa in the territory of the Duchy of Caradia or any nation which shares its visa policy with the Duchy of Caradia for a period of 90 days during a yearlong period. The citizens of the Duchy of Caradia with a valid, current and official passport issued by the government of the Duchy of Caradia may enter and stay without a visa in the territory of the Republic of Alduria for a period of 90 days during a yearlong period.

 ARTICLE 7

The signatory Nations shall not restrict the freedom of trade of the other, nor shall they be found aiding or abetting any third parties which aim to restrict the freedom of trade of either signatory Nation.

 ARTICLE 8

This Treaty may only be amended, revised, enlarged and expanded upon the concurrence of both signatory Nations. Any contrary action or measure shall be null and void.

 ARTICLE 9

This Treaty shall enter into force upon ratification by both signatory Nations' governments by whatever constitutional method is used in said nations. 

 ARTICLE 10

Either party may withdraw from this Treaty provided that seven days' written notice is given.

[Alduria]

Your Excellency,
 
The Republic of Alduria presents its compliments to the Duchy of Caradia and has the honor welcome you in Punta Santiago.
 
It is we regret that the Government of Alduria must inform you that we cannot accept the current Treaty draft as it stands.
 
We are concerned that opening Alduria to visitors from Caradia would expose our country to the teachings of the Church of the Black Flame, its wholesale rejection of democracy, and the Caradian embrace of slavery. We would also not welcome the militant elements of the church in Alduria, as they serve as an espionage organization for Caradia.

The rapid buildup of Caradian naval forces, the establishment of the Southern Control Zone, and the proposed Project: Burning Skies, which would bring Caradia a major platform to project power in Eura against Alduria and its neighboring ally Constancia, are of extremely especial concern to Alduria.
 
We are also concerned with the meteorological activity that Caradia has engaged in off the coast of Alduria in our home continent of Eura. It is important to know that cloud seeding does involve the use of chemicals into the air, which means that it can potentially harm the environment. Though it is believed that cloud seeding can regulate the weather, cloud seeding can change climatic patterns that exist on Micras. Places that would normally receive moisture may start to experience drought due to the artificial process of adding compounds to the atmosphere. We believe that this is a serious national security threat and we call upon Caradia to stop engaging in cloud seeding and weather manipulation, especially in areas that could affect Alduria negatively. Aldurian research scientists have confirmed that cloud seeding success rates are usually very low, remaining between 15 and 30 percent, depending on whether the atmosphere is cloudy or clean. We believe that this would simply contaminate the environment, with no effects on Caradia – but all effects affecting Alduria.

The Republic of Alduria strongly believes that it would benefit from a meaningful trade and diplomatic relationship with Caradia. We do not see Caradia as an enemy.

However, the behaviors above described certainly give an impression that Caradia is aggressively expanding and playing God in our home continent. We are deeply concerned. Unless these concerns are meaningfully and convincingly addressed by Caradia, this Treaty will not see approval from Alduria.

[Caradian Ambassador]

I am deeply regretful that we were not able to reach immediate agreement, however I will now clarify several things which you believe to be prominent points.

Firstly, the Church of the Black Flame is the religion of our home, and of our citizenry. It is a large part of our national identity and of our culture, and it drives almost every single good Caradian worker, soldier, and leader. I can assure you that there will be no espionage elements to enter Alduria, as the Church itself does not consitute espionage. We do not wish any harm or even to exert any control upon the Aldurians, but we must inform you that if our religion would be a reason for disallowing communications, we must cease contact as we will not change our identity for the sake of diplomacy.

Secondly, our naval bases in Porto Vormouna and our military alliance with the Ciric Confederacy do not constitute a threat to Eura; the purposes of the navy of the Union Australis is the protection of our interests, and the interior land of Eura serves little interest to our nation. Caradia vows not to instigate war upon any nation of Eura. That being said, our navy is a strong tradition of our nation and, through a strong military industry, has become incidentally large. The purposes of our naval stations in Eura are merely for the protection of our shipping lanes, as is the Southern Control Zone. Every ship outside of our territorial waters only serves the purpose of guarding against the piracy we unfortunately find ourselves living in the same world as. In the same vein, Project: Burning Skies is a response to the prowess that foreign nations have held over Caradia in terms of long-range warfare, some products of this superiority being very concerning, and which have made aggressive maneuvers in the past. We must allow ourselves access to a defence network capable of competing with foreign entities or risk ourselves being left at their mercy.

Third, it should be noted that the dissipation of Hurricane Zyklos was undertaken entirely by Ciric personnel within the Southern Meteorological Service, but I will be sure to convey Alduria's concerns on the matter. I am not educated in the particulars of the confederates' technology, but I have been informed that they have developed weather modification methods that are roughly seventy-five percent accurate. We will attempt to refrain from weather modification in Eura, but we cannot unfortunately promise that we will never engage in the practice again, in case of disaser and extreme danger to our citizens. We can promise that the technology will only be used as a last resort, but again, it must be considered an option in case of a cataclysm.

As to the accusation that we are "playing god" with Eura, that we must completely disavow. The interior land of Eura holds no value to us, as we only constructed Porto Vormouna for the purposes of establishing a port city outside of the ice pack that our island is within, which prevents foreign nations from reciprocating trade due to the internation lack of icebreakers, in general. We have no intention to expand any more into Eura. The continent's purpose to us has been served, and as such the land outside our port is no longer a concern of ours.

We hope we can assuage Alduria's concerns. We do not consider Alduria an enemy, and we wish only to engage in positive relationships.

[Alduria]

Your Excellency,

Alduria appreciates your reply to our concerns. We do not presume or intend to tell Caradia or any of the nations belonging to the Ciric Confederacy to follow another religion, to restrain from defending itself, or to refrain from doing things that only affect them and their nation.

However, we must insist that further weather modification near Aldurian territories and ecosystems must end. We will not be satisfied with "attempting" to end weather modification efforts that directly affect Alduria. We expect a firm commitment to this before further cooperation between our nations can be realized. Aldurian scientists have routinely confirmed that weather modification is not always effective (particularly as claimed by Caradia) and more often results in the contamination of areas affected. It is often extremely difficult to show clearly that cloud seeding has a very large effect. 

We are relieved to understand that Caradia has no imperialist designs on our home continent.

Having noted our concerns, Alduria does note that it bears no ill will to any nation and that we are a nation of peace.

We would be amenable to having a Treaty with Caradia that reflects a commitment to friendship and cooperation. As relations between Alduria and Caradia grow and take root, we would be amenable to extending visa-free access to Caradian citizens. However, in the interests of caution, we must decline to include that in the Treaty at this time.

Please see the revised Treaty draft below:

Treaty of Friendship
Between the Duchy of Caradia
and the Republic of Alduria

WHEREAS the nation of the Duchy of Caradia and the Republic of Alduria shall find each other to be deserving of mutual respect and cooperation, this treaty shall bind these two States into a relationship based upon a desire for prosperity and peace.

 ARTICLE 1

A Perpetual State of Friendship and Mutual Recognition shall be established between the Republic of Alduria and the Duchy of Caradia. These nations shall be bound to first seek peaceful resolutions to conflict which may arise while this treaty is in force.

 ARTICLE 2

Neither nation, nor any officers, individuals or other agents acting under the authority of any government, organization or individual of or within either nation, shall commit any form of hostile, aggressive, subversive or destabilizing act against the other, nor against any individuals, organizations or property under either nation's sovereign jurisdiction or control, including damage or disruption to any goods, products or services that may be provided by third parties. Both Nations shall refrain from any aggressive, belligerent, or hostile act or policy, either overtly or covertly, directed against the other.

 ARTICLE 3

The signatory parties shall respect the diplomatic envoys of each other, their diplomatic correspondence and their offices, as well as all other government structures of each other.

 ARTICLE 4

The signatory Nations shall recognize any titles and other honors granted by their respective Leaders to their citizens and to other persons, and vice versa.

 ARTICLE 5

The signatory Nations may appoint an ambassador or envoy to the other in order to foster good relations. The host nation shall reserve the right to expel an ambassador or envoy found to have committed any activities that are in contravention of either any part of this Treaty or its own laws.

 ARTICLE 6

The signatory Nations shall not restrict the freedom of trade of the other, nor shall they be found aiding or abetting any third parties which aim to restrict the freedom of trade of either signatory Nation.

 ARTICLE 7

This Treaty may only be amended, revised, enlarged and expanded upon the concurrence of both signatory Nations. Any contrary action or measure shall be null and void.

 ARTICLE 8

This Treaty shall enter into force upon ratification by both signatory Nations' governments by whatever constitutional method is used in said nations. 

 ARTICLE 9

Either party may withdraw from this Treaty provided that seven days' written notice is given.
  

[Caradian Ambassador]

I have spoken to the leaders of the Ciric Confederacy and, while the confederacy wishes to convey that it does not believe the decision is best for Alduria or Eura, it has disclosed that it will acquiesce to Alduria's decisions and no longer participate in weather modification activities on Eura or in waters which are near to the continent.

That said, the government of Caradia has reviewed the revised treaty and determined it to be acceptable. I would be glad to sign this treaty, and am happy that we have come to a reasonable conclusion.