Balder - State Opening of 19th Storting

[Old Hope]

This reads like a DPRK news broadcast.

It's all part of my plan to make Balder into a Communist Region, called "The Communist Balder" or TCB for short > : )

the Bugle is clearly a propaganda mouthpiece. Don't forget that this region is practically run by the The Land of Kings and Emperors, unfortunately.

Unfortunately sends you back to twitter with the rest of the Russian propagandists.

Onder Kelkia is a long-time member of the LKE, and was, for a long time, the head of LKE. They are the head of your own government.
And that the Bugle is a propaganda mouthpiece, well... it's obvious.
Just read it!

[Big Bad Badger]

Onder Kelkia is a long-time member of the LKE, and was, for a long time, the head of LKE. They are the head of your own government.
And that the Bugle is a propaganda mouthpiece, well... it's obvious.
Just read it!

As so many people have pointed out recently in gameplay there is nothing wrong with people in UCR's wanting to get a game experience in a GCR. Many, many of the people involved in gameplay do it and they are not mocked. Why is Balder treated different?

[Old Hope]

Onder Kelkia is a long-time member of the LKE, and was, for a long time, the head of LKE. They are the head of your own government.
And that the Bugle is a propaganda mouthpiece, well... it's obvious.
Just read it!

As so many people have pointed out recently in gameplay there is nothing wrong with people in UCR's wanting to get a game experience in a GCR. Many, many of the people involved in gameplay do it and they are not mocked. Why is Balder treated different?

There is a problem with people who are in multiple regions at the same time. Split loyalities and effort; higher chance of leaks, chance of complete subversion...
It is a problem for GCR's and for UCR's but feeders and sinkers are more important than every other region(due to nations spawning/resurrecting in them... or being sent to them... automatically).
Granted, it's less a problem if the two regions belong to different spheres(Roleplay region with executive founder/non-roleplay region, for example); but that's not the case for Balder and LKE.

[Big Bad Badger]

As so many people have pointed out recently in gameplay there is nothing wrong with people in UCR's wanting to get a game experience in a GCR. Many, many of the people involved in gameplay do it and they are not mocked. Why is Balder treated different?

There is a problem with people who are in multiple regions at the same time. Split loyalities and effort; higher chance of leaks, chance of complete subversion...

I generally agree with you here. It is really tough to choose and to give your effort to your region's that need the effort.

In fact I just heard about a WA minister in a GCR who's own ministry wrote a SC proposal, but they were campaigning vehemently against it in other regions they work in because of their raider affiliations. Seems like a real conflict of interest.

[Lord Dominator]

There is a problem with people who are in multiple regions at the same time. Split loyalities and effort; higher chance of leaks, chance of complete subversion...

I generally agree with you here. It is really tough to choose and to give your effort to your region's that need the effort.

In fact I just heard about a WA minister in a GCR who's own ministry wrote a SC proposal, but they were campaigning vehemently against it in other regions they work in because of their raider affiliations. Seems like a real conflict of interest.

I suppose my citizenship in Balder makes me a vaguely relevant topic here

[Solorni]

It really sucks for Balder that we have acquired some of the best talent from other regions. Perhaps it would have been better if we had taken the NPO approach and relied on only the talent and ideas we had.... but I think our system has worked well.

[Onder Kelkia]

Onder Kelkia is a long-time member of the LKE, and was, for a long time, the head of LKE. They are the head of your own government.
And that the Bugle is a propaganda mouthpiece, well... it's obvious.
Just read it!

I always find it interesting, relative to the present situation with Balder where I am the Emperor Emeritus of the LKE, that for the period of over three years when I was the ruling Emperor of the LKE and Crown Prince of TNI, there was no significant line of attack that this meant that the LKE controlled TNI. In fact, it was more often suggested that the LKE was but a TNI satellite state. As Crown Prince of TNI, I was far more unaccountable and unrestrained than I am today as Statsminister of Balder. In Balder, I have to obtain the agreement to my decisions and policies of other ministers, the Storting and ultimately the voting public. In TNI, the Monarchy was above the government and the only person who could overrule me on any matter falling within my purview was Gryfynn (who was herself affiliated to the LKE as a former Prime Minister and a member of the royalty). There is nothing new to my holding senior roles in regions other than the LKE; it is just that Balder is a GCR. I see that as immaterial to the questions of regional loyalty. Players in GCRs and UCRs alike - all regions - alike should be loyal to the interests, ideology and perspectives of their regions when performing roles or duties on behalf of that region.

When I was in LKE and TNI, I served each region loyally when acting for that region. I do the same with the LKE and Balder today. There is no distinction in my approach to my duties to reflect the fact that Balder is a GCR, because that doesn't matter in this context. Duty is duty. Balder and the LKE are obviously close allies, perhaps not as close as TNI and the LKE were, but there is nothing untoward in the relationship. In fact, whereas I was actively involved in running the LKE's day-to-day affairs during my time in TNI, I expend far greater effort on a day-to-day basis on government matters in Balder than the LKE, where I abdicated as Emperor precisely to allow others to take on powers that they had earned through their service to the region. In Balder, there are 7 other cabinet members who work with me, only 1 with any LKE affiliation, whereas other TN had greater overlap with the LKE.

The idea that "Userites" should be blanket banned from holding positions in GCRs or even intrinsically viewed with suspicion is Francoist nonsense. Balder does not ban dual citizenship or restrict the democratic or governmental opportunities of dual citizens in our region. It is almost inherent in being a sinker that a large proportion of the population will also have citizenship in other regions. What we instead insist upon is that all persons consider the interests of Balder exclusively when making decisions in and for Balder. That is our citizenship oath and I have always upheld the commitment to serve Balder.

The Bugle is an official Balder publication with news about Balder told from the Government of Balder's perspective. Call that propaganda if you want. We think we have a very strong and enthusiastic cabinet who are indeed destined for success. We make no apology for boasting about them.

[Solorni]

I wonder if Balder or TNP regret that players such as myself and r3n joined and dedicated ourselves to region building.

[Cormactopia Prime]

It's all part of my plan to make Balder into a Communist Region, called "The Communist Balder" or TCB for short > : )
Unfortunately sends you back to twitter with the rest of the Russian propagandists.

Onder Kelkia is a long-time member of the LKE, and was, for a long time, the head of LKE. They are the head of your own government.
And that the Bugle is a propaganda mouthpiece, well... it's obvious.
Just read it!

The Bugle is no more "a propaganda mouthpiece" than any other regional update.

But speaking of mindless propaganda, don't you have some hailing the Emperor to do, or have you already moved on from that?

[Old Hope]

Onder Kelkia is a long-time member of the LKE, and was, for a long time, the head of LKE. They are the head of your own government.
And that the Bugle is a propaganda mouthpiece, well... it's obvious.
Just read it!

The Bugle is no more "a propaganda mouthpiece" than any other regional update.

But speaking of mindless propaganda, don't you have some hailing the Emperor to do, or have you already moved on from that?

I am never the person for mindless hailing. If I support something, I'll say why.
And that every regional update is a propaganda mouthpiece - well, some updates(not all) are perhaps biased, but the Bugle... that's making a mountain out of a molehill.

[Consular]

I wonder if Balder has any comment on recent developments in Europeia?

[Drop Your Pants]

I wonder if Balder or TNP regret that players such as myself and r3n joined and dedicated ourselves to region building.

Wonder how that would be answered now, just 4 days later.

[Indo-Malaysia]

How come Solorni resigned?

[Drop Your Pants]

How come Solorni resigned?

Check either the Balder or Euro forum for the relevant topics. Someone on discord can link them to you if you ask.

[Anarchic Turkish States]

Who can shed light on this? I'm confused by this Balder saga.

[Onder Kelkia]

I wonder if Balder has any comment on recent developments in Europeia?

We are appalled and gravely disappointed in Solorni's actions. Balder is consequently administratively banning Solorni on all platforms to protect the community going forwards.

Dealing with this kind of out-of-character situation is not why Balderans play NationStates, but this is an extremely serious matter. Steps have been taken, and are being taken, in light of all relevant information. We have created and are setting up a new forum, which we will launch in a few days.

---

From an in-character perspective, Crown Prince North East Somerset declared a State of Emergency and succeeded to the Crown under the Instrument of State and Government Act (September 2015). Balder will move forward under the rule of the new King and the entire government is committed to re-vitalising the region with a series of Nordic cultural reforms, plans for which have been in the making since the end of the last term. However, given the gravity of the circumstances, it is not the right time to set out our plans.

Shortly, we will also create a new Gameplay embassy thread and we would then ask that this one be closed.

[The Seeker of Power]

This whole affair is sad, enraging, depressing, etc.

I wish NES the best as new king. Good luck Balder. And good luck Rach as well, out there.

[Libetarian Republics]

All the best to those involved.

[Armaros]

The best of luck to Balder.

[Cormactopia Prime]

Any past IC differences aside, all the best to Balder during this difficult time.

[Alvalero]

Thank you for the best wishes in moving forward. It's indeed a shock to everyone involved with Balder. A huge part of, and influence in, Balder has been lost. But we must move forward.

[Queen Yuno]

I am sorry to hear that that happened. There are too many incredulous+insane scandals this year. Many people retire because of toxicity; it must be hard. Best of luck to Onder+NES+Balder.


*looks at date*
And Merry Xmas!

*returns to sleep*

[Yokiria]

Best of luck to Balder moving forward. If any two individuals are capable of leading a region through a mess such as this, it would be NES and Onder.

[Ryccia]

I wish Balder the best of luck in this difficult time. Such an affair is tragic and shocking, to say the least.