Official Embassy of The South Pacific

[Cerian Quilor]

No, not nice. Just funny af. But like I said, 'tempted' and I did say it would be counterproductive. Forgive me for liking snark.

Ya, no...I can promise I would be fighting against you if you proposed that

Damnit Cal! You're my son, you're supposed to be on my side!

[Escade]

Cerian, you and me should write some anonymous NS fan fic We can have all the snark

[Tim-Opolis]

Cerian, you and me should write some anonymous NS fan fic We can have all the snark

Can you not

[Cerian Quilor]

Cerian, you and me should write some anonymous NS fan fic We can have all the snark

I would be 100% onboard with this plan. TG me.

[Deladara]

Cerian, you and me should write some anonymous NS fan fic We can have all the snark

I would be 100% onboard with this plan. TG me.

I am firmly against this proposal. Pls no

[Cerian Quilor]

Fanfic is amazing. I'm not talking about writing erotica featuring real people. Fanfic =/= porn automatically.

[Reploid Productions]

*poke* Fanfic belongs over in Arts & Fiction, not in a regional embassy thread.

[Cerian Quilor]

Discussion about Fanfic about Gameplay is a little different than what goes on in Arts & Fiction.

[Escade]

*poke* Fanfic belongs over in Arts & Fiction, not in a regional embassy thread.

While in the midst of a cute discussion, Escade was interrupted by "Reploid Productions" with a seriously Red looking message that implied cruelty and\or unnecessary Gothness.

Turning to C., she sighed. "I guess we could add Overzealousness to the list of qualities that appear at random in the wilderness that is GP."

I'm sure Lazarus will have more to say once their elections are over. In the meantime.....

[Escade]

Statement from the Cabinet of the Coalition of The South Pacific

Dissolution of Treaty with Balder

The Assembly of the Coalition of the South Pacific has, through extended discussion and a clear supermajority vote, elected to dissolve the TSP-Balder Treaty. The treaty is no longer in effect as of yesterday.

The treaty has been dissolved in light of an increasing distance between the regions that led to a breakdown in communications and a strained relationship between TSP and Balder. We cannot ally with regions that do not support the sovereignty of the Coalition or the terms of a treaty. We are open to discussions in the future, should our values and ideals realign.

[Kitzerland]

So, did you just not realize this was still on the books, or...

[Consular]

Why is that logo not centered

[Belschaft]

So, did you just not realize this was still on the books, or...

Everyone in TSP knew it was on the books, it's just taken this long to get to the point where no-one in TSP could find a reason to argue for keeping the treaty.

[Revall]

better late than never I suppose.

[Onder Kelkia]

Balder Response to the Statement of the Cabinet of The South Pacific concerning the Balder-TSP Treaty

On 18 July 2016, The South Pacific released a Gameplay forum statement purporting to terminate the treaty between TSP and Balder. Above, The South Pacific has now released a second Gameplay forum statement terminating the same treaty between our regions, without making reference to their previous effort. Despite the passage of time, TSP cannot be faulted for their persistence, even if their understanding of diplomatic protocol is severely lacking.

Once again, TSP has sought to end their treaty with Balder in a manner which contravenes the treaty’s provisions. Section 7 of the Balder-TSP Treaty provides that it shall cease to be in effect only five days after a post declaring it void has been made by signatory in their embassy on the other signatory’s forum. Yet in their statement above terminating the treaty, TSP stated that: ‘The treaty is no longer in effect as of yesterday.’ This is contrary to the terms of the treaty, which requires them to give five days' notice in their Balder embassy. TSP is aware of this provision, for it was drawn to their attention following the 18 July statement, but has still failed to deliver the required notice. For a second time, TSP has announced that they are ceasing to honour the provisions of the treaty before the dissolution process has been completed (or indeed started). As such, they are in wilful violation of its terms.

The latest statement issued by TSP also includes the following sentence: ‘We cannot ally with regions that do not support the sovereignty of the Coalition or the terms of a treaty.’ This carries the implication that Balder is such a region. Yet they do not advance any justification for this claim. Perhaps avoiding specifics is a deliberate strategy after the weakness of their original case was exposed following the 18 July statement. Balder has neither opposed the sovereignty of the Coalition nor broken the terms of our treaty with TSP. The suggestion that we have done so is unfounded and offensive. The only party which has broken the treaty is TSP, by seeking to terminate it on two occasions without complying with the proper process specified in the text of the treaty.

TSP refers to a breakdown in communications and a strained relationship in their above statement. We agree, but the party responsible for this situation is TSP. It is they who decided to issue their earlier 18 July statement to the Gameplay forum, making aggressive and unsupported allegations against Balder, as opposed to seeking private and civil dialogue regarding their concerns. Having created this mess, it was then up to them to remedy it and apologise if they wanted to keep the prospect of future relations open. Instead, they have chosen to issue a second statement making baseless slurs against Balder. One need not wonder why relations have broken down when posturing in the Gameplay forum appears to be the only form of diplomacy which TSP practises.

In announcing their fresh decision to dissolve the treaty above, TSP added that they ‘are open to discussions in the future, should our values and ideals realign.’ They neglected to specify in what way that the ideals and values of Balder and TSP are presently unaligned. Balder is a liberal democracy and is committed to upholding the sovereignty of its treaty allies. Perhaps they mean that Balder does not accept the tenets of defender moralism. Indeed, a faction within The South Pacific has been committed to undermining its relationships with a number of its non-defender allies for several years. In any case, although TSP says that they are open to further discussions, Balder is not. They had an opportunity to rectify their actions from July of last year. Instead, they have continued towards the same destination, albeit going through political and legal turmoil to get there. In light of this, we see no realistic prospect for positive relations. Forces within TSP have been doggedly determined to deprive TSP of Balder's support as an ally. They shall now have their wish.

There must be consequences for TSP wilfully violating our treaty and launching unsubstantiated attacks against Balder. There could have been legitimate dispute about TSP’s collective intentions in July 2016, when they may have overlooked Section 7 of our treaty before acting and they were riven by internal political disagreement, but there can be no question over their collective intent now. While we appreciate that treaties sometimes come to an end for benign reasons, and we have have enjoyed fruitful relations with other parties following the end of bilateral treaties in the past, in this case it is evident that TSP has not acted in good faith. Ignoring such unprofessional behaviour would be a mistake. As such, Balder will be closing our in-game embassy with TSP and ending all diplomatic relations. The in-game and off-site embassy closures will take effect from five days after a notice we have now posted in our embassy in The South Pacific terminating our treaty. Closing them immediately would be a breach of the treaty and Balder diligently upholds its treaty obligations. With TSP seemingly incapable of adhering to our treaty's termination clause, as the final act of a good ally we have done this for them.

[Belschaft]

What an entirely reasonable and proportional reaction. It's not at all like Balder was notified by TSP's Minister of Foreign Affairs about this last month or anything....

[Cormactopia Prime]

The in-game and off-site embassy closures will take effect from five days after a notice we have now posted in our embassy in The South Pacific terminating our treaty. Closing them immediately would be a breach of the treaty and Balder diligently upholds its treaty obligations.

Except of course when there's a coup on.

The collapse of the alliance between Balder and the South Pacific was entirely Balder's fault, and your refusal to take any responsibility is laughable, but typical. I hope your other allies are taking note of what they can expect from an alliance with Balder.

[Onderkelkia]

What an entirely reasonable and proportional reaction.

Indeed, it is an entirely appropriate response to repeated wilful treaty violations and unspecific general attacks directed against Balder.

It's not at all like Balder was notified by TSP's Minister of Foreign Affairs about this last month or anything....

We were indeed notified a week ago that a vote was underway in the Assembly and that a majority was in favour of repealing the treaty.

I fail to see how that has any bearing on any of the issues raised in our statement.

The in-game and off-site embassy closures will take effect from five days after a notice we have now posted in our embassy in The South Pacific terminating our treaty. Closing them immediately would be a breach of the treaty and Balder diligently upholds its treaty obligations.

Except of course when there's a coup on.

On the contrary, Balder has always upheld its obligations, including when our allies have suffered a coup. If you are maintaining to the contrary, please specify how we fall short of our treaty obligations so we can discuss that. The last time we had this discussion, you demurred from answering my post.

The collapse of the alliance between Balder and the South Pacific was entirely Balder's fault, and your refusal to take any responsibility is laughable, but typical. I hope your other allies are taking note of what they can expect from an alliance with Balder.

When TSP originally tried to rescind the treaty in July 2016, you attributed the alliance's failure to Glen-Rhodes and argued that TSP's foreign affairs agenda amounted only to antagonism. Now, your position is that the situation is "entirely Balder's fault". Your new view simply reflects your change of affiliation.

[Glen-Rhodes]

why do you all insist on using 400px logos

[Funkadelia]

why do you all insist on using 400px logos

Honestly that was my biggest issue with the post too.

[Onderkelkia]

Except of course when there's a coup on.

The collapse of the alliance between Balder and the South Pacific was entirely Balder's fault, and your refusal to take any responsibility is laughable, but typical. I hope your other allies are taking note of what they can expect from an alliance with Balder.

For this statement to be true, one would have to assume that Balder actually controls it's own destiny. It does not. Balder is merely a puppet state jointly controlled by Europeia, and The New Inquisition. It really makes one wonder why both Lazarus and The Rejected Realms continue to maintain relations with such a hostile, imperialistic regime.

This is a remarkably out-of-date anonymous puppet. The New Inquisition has not been a functional gameplay entity since mid-2015. Balder has even repealed our alliance with them. As for the Europeian Government, we enjoy strong relations with them, but they exercise no control over Balder's foreign affairs and anyone familiar with either region would understand that. Balder is an Independent region with its own autonomous decision-making structures.

[Drop Your Pants]

It really makes one wonder why both Lazarus and The Rejected Realms continue to maintain relations with such a hostile, imperialistic regime.

Easier to keep the embassy than get a wall of text from Onder

[Trumps Regular Sized Hands]

The South Pacific is a disaster. Once great when headed by Fudge; it's now in total free fall. It's true! The South Pacific is a disaster for accepting all those West Pacific migrants. New Years Eve was a disaster. Do you all remember how beautiful and safe a place The South Pacific was. Not anymore, it is from a different world!

[Consular]

Not a particularly classy statement. The author apparently couldn't resist being overtly snarky.

[Unibot III]

It's also a hilariously petty statement. Here is the contested clause, Article 7:

7) This treaty shall be considered void if a signatory region makes a post to that effect in their embassy on the other signatories forums. If this is done, the treaty shall cease to be in effect 5 days after a signatory has declared their intent to leave the treaty. This shall not be considered an act of hostility.

Note, this clause does not require prior notification before an announcement is made for TSP's intentions to leave the alliance. Rather, it's saying that five days after the treaty is announced to be voided, the void shall take effect. So quite literally the only thing Balder is complaining about in this statement is that Balder was cut out of five more days of the treaty-in-effect.

In theory, TSP could just clarify that the treaty will remain in effect till March 06 as per Article 7 - and condemn Balder for once again using every available opportunity for catty politics. This behaviour, along with its complete lack of following through on the terms of this alliance, is precisely why TSP is leaving TSP-Balder alliance.