Friends, Despite the History (Franerre-Lusatia Diplomacy)

[alxeu]

Following a hurried morning and exchange of information between various diplomats and staff at the Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Kaminski called the Franerri Embassy and requested the immediate presence of Ambassador Mattieu Janos to discuss Elenerre.

[callmedelta]

Mattieu received the call, and he knew the game was up. He calmly took out a cigarette, smoked a puff for good luck, then made his way to the Foreign Ministry’s office.

[alxeu]

Kaminski coldly let Janos innto his office, pausing once behind his desk to rub his face before turning around and addressing the Franneri Ambassador.

"Your government knew there was about to be a war over Elenerre when you reopened the treaty port negotiations, didn't they? Why dodge the issue?"

[callmedelta]

"We were scared you and the Gaelians would go gun-shy," Mattieu said, frankly. "Pareau can bluster all they want, but it's a clear fact that the only possible way Franerre could win this war is if every man age eighteen to sixty gave their life for it, and even then it's a dubious prospect. Kumosenkan is Franerre's military superior in every way possible. Telegrams from Pareau don't exactly come on the regular, but last I heard it's the worst case possible. Places expected to hold for weeks didn't last four hours." Tears welled up in Mattieu's eyes. "Four hours of constant artillery shelling. We have 400,000 men crossing the Taln but who knows if they'll actually be able to accomplish anything. Any attempts at breaking the Kumo blockade would be too pitiful to even call a joke." The tears began to flow. "Just - just give me something. Something more than guns or ammunition or food that won't make it past the blockade in time to do anything." He patted his pockets for a few seconds, retrieving a pen. "Name your fucking price Kaminski, I'll sign."

[alxeu]

"If the defenses you had are truly doing absolutely nothing to defend your nation, I'm not entirely sure what you expect Lusatia to be able to accomplish before it's far too late," Kaminski sighed.

"Ambassador Janos, there are a few different ways Lusatia can reasonably hope to help your nation, and if after hearing them, you're still willing to agree to what Franerre would have to pay for them, Lusatia will do all in its power to preserve as much of Franerre as possible."

"To begin with, Lusatia wants to be the arbitrator between your nation and Kumosenkan. Koi has no leverage over Kumosenkan, but Lusatia can reasonably call upon several nations across Reseria and Granuras to apply some kind of pressure, diplomatic or economic, to Kumosenkan if they refuse to even negotiate. They'd be unlikely to accept a ceasefire or armistice, especially if you want Lusatia to move forward with the other things it can offer Franerre, but we can probably get them to agree to limiting the theater of war or otherwise making concessions for the safety and well-being of civilians in the war zone while negotiations are underway."

Kaminski paused, before continuing, "I should warn you now, if the war situation is unfolding abysmally while negotiations are underway, territorial concessions by Franerre may be inevitable. If such an event is to pass, Lusatia will further open our treasuries to provide as much aid to refugees and the rebuilding of Franerre. Lusatia will not leave Franerre to rot after this conflict, even if the worst comes to pass. There's much to be done if your nation ever wants to hold its ground against a great power in the future."

Kaminski stood up straight after finishing this, having been leaning over his desk before. He continued, now on a new note, "As for what we can do for you while conflict is ongoing, it's fortunate you leased us two ports. There is no way on Ouhiri a single Lusatian ship will be able to get anywhere near Elenerre without starting a war, but Desterque is far from the war zone, and there is no reasonable way for Kumosenkan to contest Lusatian control and use of the naval base. They will let Lusatian ships in along with a garrison for the base, or they will be in a flagrant, uncontestable breach of Lusatian sovereignty that will escalate the war far more than they are likely to desire."

"Through this port, Lusatia can offer Franerre something no other overseas nation can: armaments, of all kinds. All the guns and artillery you can hope to equip your men with. They'd be stockpiled equipment, not the newest stuff we have, if only because we don't even have enough of that stuff for our entire army yet, but it'll be something. Let Kumosenkan dictate what Lusatia brings to its own naval base - it wouldn't go over well with any power, and doing so would only risk an international furor strong enough to force them to drop their blockade."

Kaminski slackened a bit, back to a more natural, comfortable standing position. He finished, "Beyond equipment, Lusatia can also offer to work through diplomatic channels with Ulster-Gaelia, Seleucidenia, and other northern powers to offer some kind of economic or diplomatic sanction against Kumosenkan, but such international efforts are unlikely to have any effect that would be noticeable enough or helpful enough to Franerre in the short term, which is what really matters."

"As for the price of our intervention? Equipment isn't cheap, as long as you can afford to keep paying Zloty at the agreed upon discounted rates, we'd expect you to do so, but after that, any debt you rack up can be repaid in the future. In the short term, opening your nation up more for Lusatian trade would be desirable - no import tariffs applied to our goods. In the middle term, if your nation's is recovering well from this war - make no mistake, even if there is victory, it will be bloody - we will want you to align your nation with the Entente fully in foreign policy, especially if war does break out between the Sovereign Union and the Entente, though any such conflict would've spilled over to Touli almost immediately, anyway."

"We won't bind you to any long-term commitments if Franerre loses this war. It'd be unreasonable and would likely be received in Pareau as as insult to injury; we won't ask that of you. If the war is lost, Lusatia will remain committed to economic and military aid to Franerre to enable it to rebuild, and will maintain whatever diplomatic ties your nation deems reasonable after the dust has settled."

[callmedelta]

“Where do I sign, Kamisky?” This deal could very well bankrupt Franerre in the long term, but Kumosenkan was the much greater short-term problem.

[alxeu]

"There'll be official documentation written up and sent to your office regarding everything Lusatia will be doing for your nation in the immediate future. Probably more treaties and documents to come afterwards. The most important one will be at your office by the end of the day, and this is what we'll be doing immediately for Franerre:"

"We will begin immediate efforts to ascertain Kumosenkan's terms for peace and will continuously work on Franerre's behalf to negotiate a treaty with minimum concessions, if concessions need to be made. We will keep your embassy up to date on negotiations and when they are arriving at terms Franerre finds agreeable, we will bring you in the have direct negotiations with whichever Kumosenkan representative we are negotiating with - whoever has the power to end the war. Franerre will be kept out of early negotiations if only because I want to minimize potential hostility during early proceedings when neither side is likely to be anywhere near an agreement. "

"Lusatia will empty the stockpiles of the Nowa Lusatia port garrisons to a minimum. Every gun and cannon we can fit in our transports will be added to the ships and their manifests as part of the garrison supplies we'd be sending to the port in Desterque. I don't have reliable numbers on how much equipment that will be at the moment, but Nowa Lusatia's stockpiles are currently topped off per Defense Ministry reports, so we ought to be able to arm 10,000-20,000 men with the first batch of supplies, less if you want us to bring artillery in over guns. Anything we move to that harbor will be transferred to your control. The only paper trail will be a document confirming that you approved Lusatia's storing of the equipment in the harbor. Since Kumosenkan has an embargo, we can't explicitly state anywhere these guns are destined for your army, they won't let them through."

"All future transfers will be similarly agreed upon beforehand, and all purchases will be on credit - I assume given everything, the last thing your government needs to be doing is scrambling for money - and payment will not be required until after the war ends."

"The officers and troops we were sending to Franerre can aid in some non-combat capacity per whatever reasonable request your government asks of them."

[callmedelta]

"I'll send a telegram to Pareau as soon as I'm out of this office," Mattieu said. "Anything else you have for them, before I go and transmit it? I'm sorry if I may come off as brash, Kaminski, but every second could count."

[alxeu]

Kaminski shook his head, "There's only so much that can be done without consulting the Minister of Defense and the rest of the Cabinet and getting specifics on what we have available to send you way. Once I have exact numbers on what we can send and how frequently we anticipate to be able to send it, your office will be the first to know."

[callmedelta]

A Friend of a Friend

---

Ambassador Mattieu Janos read the telegram again in his hand. 'Director Mesny must really want this Gaelian alliance,' he thought to himself. On the one hand, it didn't take a genius to see why. Galra and Kumo were the biggest threat to both nations, and Franerre had been invited to Gaelia's SATO alliance. On the other, Janos read the report that had been telegrammed along with the message, as well as news of a Gaelian boycott back in Franerre. Gaelia and Franerre seemed to be headed towards a true breakdown in their relations. 'Maybe he's just trying to prevent that,' Janos speculated. Mattieu laid the telegram on his desk, picking up a pen. Time was waiting, and that one-week deadline felt...ominous, for a lack of a better word. 

To the esteemed Minister Kaminski,

As I am doubtless you are aware, relations between Franerre and Ulster-Gaelia have been degrading as of late. Director Mesny believes that a compromise worked between myself and the Gaelian representatives here in Lusatia, with you or another member of Lusatia's foreign ministry acting as a mediator, and presented to both our governments would be the best way to prevent the potential for a complete collapse in the relations between our two states.
Janos put down his pen, contemplating, before adding an additional sentence to the end.

In addition, I fear that someone back in Franerre has given some sort of internal deadline to Director Mesny, as he requests that a compromise be presented to Franerre and Ulster-Gaelia within one week. As for what will happen after this deadline, I cannot say, though I believe it's for the best if the Gaelians remain in the dark about this fact.

Matthieu Janos, Ambassador to the United Kingdoms of Lusatia and Jzegrad.

[alxeu]

Kaminski sighed, reading the letter from the Franerri embassy. For better or for worse, he had avoided the post-war diplomatic discussions with Franerre, but now he had this problem to deal with. He sent an aide to go find out what the Gaelian problem with Franerre was, and if it was repairable, and then summoned Ambassador Janos to the foreign ministry to speak with him for a bit to hear Franerre's perspective and hash out what Franerre wanted from cooperation with Ulster-Gaelia.

[callmedelta]

Ambassador Janos arrived at the Foreign Ministry feeling…cautiously optimistic. There were plenty of reasons not to, of course — the one week deadline only being the most prominent. Despite that, if anyone could repair the quagmire Gaelian-Franerri relations had become, it was the Lusatians. They undoubtedly respected and cared for Franerre, despite what some at home may believe, but they were more than some ‘upstart colony’ in Gaelian minds. 

Mattiue arrived at Kaminski’s office, drawing a report from his briefcase and on placing it on Kaminski’s desk. “This is the bulk of the information I’m working with, in regards to the recent rough patch between Franerre and Gaelia, Minister. Word from Pareau is that the Taoiseach’s comments have sparked a boycott in Franerre of all Gaelian goods. I haven’t gotten anything about an official government responses from either Franerre or Gaelia, but unless we can work something out, I doubt it’s going to get any better.”

[alxeu]

Kaminski skimmed through the report, massaging his temples and sighing, "I see. I'll need to speak with the Gaelian Ambassador to get their side of the story, as I'm sure you understand, but it's clear there's going to be lingering frustration on both ends of any compromise we can try and forge. Right off the bat, I need to let you know now that whatever agreement we might be able to get Ulster-Gaelia to offer, there's no path in Ouhiri that takes it through as pleasant a road as the deals our nations have previously agreed to. There just aren't diplomatic ties nor historical agreements between Ulster-Gaelia and Franerre like there are between our nations. I fear they're likely to be especially reluctant to offer you anything beyond what was previously discussed at the Baile Glas Conference - something Lusatia was not invited to, as you know."

"This still circles back to one question in particular, Ambassador Janos, " Kaminski concluded, "What does Franerre want from Ulster-Gaelia? The initial conference was for a military partnership and alliance, the report makes no mention of what Director Mesny made as a counter-offer, and your own message simply asked for us to mediate relations back to their previous status quo."

[callmedelta]

"As far as what Franerre wants?" Janos asked rhetorically, "The way I see it, there are two paths forward the relationship between Franerre and Gaelia could go. The first is a restoration to the pre-conference status quo. An insult from the Taoiseach got us into this mess, so an apology from the Taoiseach would go a long way to get us out of it. Perhaps some deepening of trade ties between us to finish smoothing things over, but I'm not exactly an expert on what Gaelia needs to import or has on offer for export at this moment. Given Mensy's comment at the end of the report, though, he clearly wants Franerre in this alliance that the Gaelians are proposing. It's not exactly hard to see why. A war *is* coming. Galra, Kumo, and Gaelia are all too powerful, too opposed to each other for there to be peace. There's a good chance Franerre can have immense gain from being on the winning side of the war, or even worse, be caught in the crossfire. The hard part is getting the rest of Franerre to agree with Mesny, something that the Taoiseach's comments haven't exactly helped. Not many people in Franerre exactly had a high opinion of Gaelia before the Notch War, and their inaction combined with these comments have only dug that hole deeper. How to get that though?" Mesny thought about it for a moment. "I don't know if Gaelian bases on Franerri soil were a possibility before, but they certainly aren't now. Not without time for this to cool off, at least. Gaelian advisors to Franerre's military, however? And maybe Gaelian 'advisors,' who happen to take a few trips across Franerre's borders? That's probably the most Gaelian boots you could get on Franerre. *Maybe* a naval base if they can give us a hell of an offer. Mesny seemed to like Gaelia's planes, and I'm sure there are a few other things they could offer us. As for what Franerre gives up? We could probably buy a few destroyers, maybe a cruiser or two from Gaelia, but otherwise, I can't say I'm certain."

[alxeu]

"I... see." Kaminski bit his lip, a brief moment of unease, before responding further, "I'm afraid to disappoint, but you're unlikely to get an out-and-out apology from O'Donnell. I would ask you to forgive him, anyway; he treats presumptive allies with some contempt as well. You didn't hear this from me, but he had choice words for the Shah of Seleucidenia of all men at a conference of the Entente. He's a good ally to have when in his graces, but he will let you know if you aren't."

Kaminski sadly shook his head, "I truly believe an apology out of him to be impossible, especially as he wouldn't see what he said as anything wrong. If that isn't an immediate deal-breaker, however, I can offer my input on the rest of your terms, based on what I believe Ulster-Gaelia would accept."

"Ulster-Gaelia would probably seek to keep trade flowing, as I believe you were a net importer of their consumer goods, just like we are. We can probably mediate them into resuming at previous trade terms, with little to no additional terms. The most likely alteration, if there is one, would be requiring your government to purchase unsold goods if sales decline below previous metrics - that is, they wouldn't want trade to become one-sided due to a domestic boycott in Franerre. If you could offer alternative means to circumvent the boycott or end it, I would be glad to pass such notes on to the Gaelians."

"I'd need to figure out what buys Gaelian military assistance to Franerre, if that's even something they're still willing to offer, but, if they are willing, I do have a compromise position that might suit both nations: the Lusatian Naval Base in the east of your nation is still leased to us, even if we've indicated we're willing to leave it vacant as a sign of goodwill. We could, with your government's permission, take up administration and operation of the base as originally planned, but with the added plan to include a Gaelian detachment at the same base. The facilities would need significant expansion, but if there are Gaelian troops on Franerri soil, at least let it be on a Lusatian base on Franerri soil, eh? If people get too antsy, just claim the treaty we signed leasing the territory held a loophole that Lusatia is exploiting, but out of desire to reconstruct relations with the Lusatians, you won't press the issue; it's not like the base is a permanent fixture, at any rate."

"Obviously, whatever the Gaelians promised in exchange for a base on your soil would be the expected payment for letting this loophole slide. As for arms purchases from Ulster-Gaelia, it is with some embarrassment that we must yield that their newest plane, the Star Wolf, I believe, is better than anything we have currently. If you are interested and can convince them to sell it to you, be our guest. You'll just need to scrounge up funds again when our next generation of aircraft is complete in a couple years' time. It goes without saying that any ship you can commission from Ulster-Gaelia would be a masterpiece. While we domestically produce our capital ships, we've commissioned several escorts that have been solid pieces in our naval plans."

"If you want to try and reopen relations, offering to buy an escort fleet would be relatively affordable while providing you with a green water fleet for defensive purposes - namely, giving you something to keep attackers away from your coastline until they're dealt with. It's also something they'd be more willing to sell than their newest fighters, if I had to guess."