Relations with Romania

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After receiving notice from the Romanian government of their recognition of the Hetmanate, Hetman Malinovsky charged Captain Antonin Goncharov with traveling to Bucharest on a diplomatic mission. The captain, a gruff looking man of thirty-five rode down with a contingent of ten cossacks in his entourage. Arriving at Bucharest and the Foreign Ministry, Goncharov asked to see Mihaela Constante, the Foreign Minister.

 

He spoke boldly for an audience, "I come here to begin negotiations with Romania and look forward to serving as the first ambassador of the Hetmanate to this beautiful country to Ukraine's south." His ceremonial pistols still on his belt.

 

The other cossacks waited outside of the Foreign Ministry taking in the beauty of the Romanian capital. This would be home, until they were called back to Kiev.

 

 

[Evangeline Anovilis]

Once the group entered Romania, their presence would be reported to the authorities in Bucharest and as they arrived in the capital, a small detachment of Roşiori would ride out to greet the Cossacks.

 

 

Their commander would raise his hand to greet Goncharov and his companions, before starting. "Salut, we have been sent by Her Most Orthodox Majesty, Maria I de România, Queen of the Romanians, Protector of Constantinopol and the Straits, to escort you to your meeting with Madame Constante. Please follow us." Upon closer inspection, he'd add. "Are those pistols loaded? We would ask you to please leave them behind, before entering the ministry. Security concerns, you know."

 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be preparing for the guests and once the group arrived, they would be let in to meet Constante, provided they'd leave behind their weaponry.

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"These pistols, friend," started Goncharov, "Are carried by every Cossack in Ukraine. Madame Constante has nothing to fear from us, but if there are security reasons." Goncharov reached down and handed his pistol to the captain of the guards sent to meet him. "I trust you will take care of it for me. A cossack's weapon is his soul. I count you as my brother for holding it."

 

After leaving behind their weapons, in what became a fairly long ceremony. Goncharov was excited to meet the Foreign Minister and begin negotiations. There was much on the agenda in his mind.

[Evangeline Anovilis]

"We shall watch and care for them, as if they are our own, as long as you are in the Ministry. We'll wait over there, till you return.", the commander of the group would point at a nearby group of trees, where the others already guarded the horses in the shade.

 

Goncharov would be led by a secretary to Constante's office. Mihaela Constante was a young and aspiring politician. Despite having received the appointment due to connections to other politicians, most importantly the Prime Minister, and due to being seemingly inexperienced, given she was not even yet thirty. However, behind the facade, there was a person with enormous ambitions, bordering those of Her Majesty the Queen. Constante wasn't really the pushover the Queen had wanted and increasingly took diplomacy in her own hands again.

 

The office would be quite simple, apart from a picture of the minister and her parents, an obligatory picture of Her Majesty Maria I and a flower pot, it was pretty spartan. What was around was mostly work relared, with dozens of files neatly rowed up in the shelfs along the walls, documents neatly piled up on the desk and the minister preferred to keep her office, which she did not visit for half the time, due to other affairs abroad taking up her time, in a presentable, orderly shape.

 

"Greetings. I guess you are Monsieur Goncharov. Welcome to my office. Please take a seat." She'd point at a chair opposite of her, in front of the desk.

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"I am Goncharov, I guess you are Constante. But lets not be so formal about this. I am Antonin and you, if I heard correctly are Mihaela. It is much easier to conduct business that way. Without all the pesky formalities." Antonin said and took the said, he filled out the chair nicely and the furniture groaned as he sat down.

 

"My Hetman said that I should come to Bucharest to facilitate proper relations between our country and Romania. Let me begin by first saying that Ukraine is forever in the debt of Romania for protecting the state and our people in a time of great need. While in the future we may sign formal paper agreements of friendship, let me be the first to assure you, Mihaela, that you can always count on Ukraine for friendship and military aid. Whatever little we can spare, given the state of our military and economy at birth. Beyond that I would be curious to hear your perspective on Ukrainian-Romanian relations, Eastern Europe and Europe in general. It is always nice to catch up on current events with a friendly face.

 

And perhaps tell me about yourself and your queen. There are so many questions to be asked!" He laughed and stroked his mustache. "Do you drink, Mihaela?"

[Evangeline Anovilis]

Constante would lean back, pondering for a moment, before unleashing her response.

 

"Romania is very glad to see a new regime take up this soon after the old crushed, as it is reassuring to see your people are able to administer yourself without problems. Romania's protection we saw as a necessity, especially given recent spats with Russia, as most other neighbours of yours should be friendly and respectful. However, Ukraine can rest assured, that should your country need help, you can always contact us.

 

Now, in regards to Eastern Europe, it is quite a calm area these days. The nations of Belarus, Hungary-Slovakia and Romania are part of a three-way alliance, which tries to secure the regional stability. Kind of associated with this is Prussia, which cooperates with our three nations. To the South is the Balkans, made up by two rather peaceful nations to which we have somewhat reasonable relations. Across the Baltic is Sweden, which is aligned with France, a quite interesting axis with some potential, though it still is to be seen where this one goes. Central Europe is otherwise dominated by the Northlands, an old peaceful caretaker of the German region, Saxony, a quite new state and the Alvonians, a quite... well... fascist group of people. Their expansionism into Poland has caused a war with our Bloc, in which the combined forces of the Bloc and Prussia prevailed. Alvonia is better avoided, given we don't see much good in dealing with them. On the Isles, there also is Britain, which is quite assertive, but seems to have little interest in intervening with our region.

 

I myself... well, I'm Mihaela Constante, twenty-eight years old and native in Sibiu, though I now live here in Bucharest... if you can say that, given frequen travels. Her Majesty the Queen is far more interesting, as she is the absolute sovereign of the country and Queen of the Romanians. While we deal with some liberal unrest, most Romanians are very proud of her, as she has put great work into reuniting the nation and making Romania a powerful country that is known. While she does not appear in public often, you can see Her Majesty up there in this picture." Mihaela pointed at the picture that was centrally located on an otherwise white plain wall. It depicted a woman of quite young age, hardly much older than Constante, with long blonde hair, hazel eyes, a calm, but cold smile and a dress held in scarlet red, white and black, sitting on a chair in front of an aquila eagle, that had been painted in the background, symbolising the nation.

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"You have given me a lot to comprehend, Mihaela," said Antonin taking in the massive amount of information thrown at his feet.  "All in all, Europe seems to be a continent at peace or at least to the extent that the powers-that-be, haven't made moves to upset the balance. This is good. Ukraine has work to do in making lasting friendships around Europe, but we shall always hold Romania in high regard as our once caretakers and our closest confidants."

 

The Cossack looked up at the wall taking in the picture of the queen. "I would much like to meet your sovereign, and more so, I would much like to introduce Hetman Malinovsky to her." He grinned, "Is she married?" Then his booming laughter echoed through the room. "That would be one way to cement relations forever!"

 

After recovering from his own jokes, Antonin Goronchov stroked his mustache again and sighed. "So, Mihaela, where does Romania see our relations in the future. After your soldiers are completely withdrawn from our lands and the Hetmanate is strong and stable, where do we go then? The Hetman has grandiose plans for Kiev and the construction of a strong Ukraine that represents all Slavic people culturally, to make our presence, and the presence of the Slavs known. What are your plans in Romania?"

[Evangeline Anovilis]

"Thanks. While we are working on peace, to say it is a continent at peace might be wrong, considering the few ongoing crises. However, as long as they can be handled, all's fine.", Mihaela responded calmly. "Your plans for Ukraine sound quite grand. I would hope you manage to get somewhere with them. Greater Romania currently is working mostly on a secure neighbourhood and that the Romanian people are taken serious even outside our borders. Her Majesty wishes for the Romanian people to be proud and prosperous, which we are working hard on to achieve."

 

After a short pause, Mihaela would ask. "And what does the Hetmanate plan for relations with us? And its position in Eastern Europe?"

Edited August 29, 2014 by Evangeline Anovilis

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"The Hetmanate plans on surviving, on stabilizing, and like you, becoming known outside of our borders again. We do not have the military arms of any country around us, nor the economic power, but we will make our footprint in other ways. Cultural pursuits, scientific pursuits, opening our doors to the world and seeing what the world can teach Ukraine, and what Ukraine can teach the world." Goncharov laughed as he thought about his statement. "This is of course, rather uncharacteristic of me, to sound so serious, but it is true, we are coming from a long line of regimes co-opted by Russia, by Poland, and other countries. Independence is most important to us."

 

He leaned forward, looking into Mihaela's eyes, "We want to be friends, Michaela, and by the looks of it, of our promises to each other, Ukraine and Romania will be friends. Perhaps, strong Ukrainian-Romanian relations will help us achieve our goals. A Romania respected in Europe and the world and a Ukraine recognized as a legitimate country and an up and coming power. How our friendship grows will determine much of Ukraine's position in Eastern Europe."

[Evangeline Anovilis]

"True, Ukraine has not had too much freedom in its long history, inbetween the Kievan Rus and the breakup of the Soviet State.", Mihaela would remark. "Your objectives to strengthen your country's cultural repudation and prosperity are commendable and I am sure, we will have a good relationship. Is there anything else we might help with?"

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"Yes, there is one more thing that my government would like clarification one, Mihaela," began Goncharov, "When the referendum was passed, giving Ukraine independence from the protection of yourselves, Hungary-Slovakia, and Belarus, the elections did not concern the Crimea and Odessa. The Hetman is under the assumption that these areas are being held until Ukraine can properly administer itself and show to the world that the Hetmanate will not be a failed government. Then that a referendum would be passed in those areas." He smiled, "Could you enlighten me on what is to become of the Crimea and Odessa?"

[Evangeline Anovilis]

The minister nodded. "The Crimea once was independent as the Crimean Khanate, which has however perished some time ago. It currently is held as a joint protectorate of Romania and Russia. The Odessa region, we have no clue why it stayed a protectorate, however, we respect the way things went and will continue protecting these people. Her Majesty indeed has contemplated ideas of restoring these regions to Ukraine, though, as you pointed out, there is still to be seen how stable the Hetman's regime is, and, Her Majesty is very wary about the fate of Crimea, as it is an important region in the Black Sea and thus, we are worried, it might at some point be taken by the Russians, whom her Majesty sees as hostile towards our country. There is a reason that over a hundred thousand Romanians are stationed on the peninsula right now."

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Goronchov nodded, he bit his thumb for a moment going over the minister's words in his head before speaking. "Ukraine would of course be extremely interested in acquiring both Odessa and the Crimea to administer, most likely at a later date, when the Eastern European community is convinced that the Hetmanate will not be a pariah like our former past governments. Given the precarious state of the Crimea in European politics, something more tangible is perhaps needed to show Ukrainian support for Romanian efforts abroad so as to give a greater guarantee for eventual Ukrainian ascendency on the peninsula. Given that the Crimea is important to Romania that it stays out of Russian hands, we would be interested in pursuing a formal alliance with Romania, one of mutual defense against aggressors? This way Ukraine can make good our boasts not only in Eastern Europe, but anywhere that Romania comes under fire."

[Evangeline Anovilis]

For a moment, Mihaela seemed surprised. "While we would not object to a defensive alliance, I would wonder whether it is in the best interest of Ukraine to be allying its neighbours, lest it risks entanglement in Russo-Romanian rivalry. Russia might not think well of an alliance between Romania and Ukraine."

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Goncharov laughed at the surprised look on the Romanian's face and leaned back. "What I mean, Minister, is that Ukraine will be involved in the complexities of Russo-Romanian relations whether the Hetmanate wants it or not. Our sea trade is based solely on the Black Sea, our country lays nestled between Russia and Romania and we could easily become a battlefield in the fight between your two great powers. What Ukraine desires, given that both Russia and Romania are our friends, is to bring your countries together and solve the crisis that is happening. When I say that Ukraine is tied to Romanian movements, war is detrimental to us as well."

 

He placed both his hands on the arm rests of his chair and leaned forward. "If Ukraine sits completely neutral in Eastern European affairs we will not grow as a nation. We will sit in utter backwardness. Either way, you have one hundred thousand soldiers on our border, that is daunting to begin with. We would like to do our part to lessen hostilities to alleviate tensions. If that doesn't work then an alliance with Romania will most likely do more to secure our interests, given the force of your strength."

[Evangeline Anovilis]

"Well, we can conclude an alliance then. Romania desires no war with Russia either, but if the Tsardom continues projecting its feeble power into our neighbourhood with its anti-Romanian interests, our Kingdom will need to take action.", Mihaela would state. "But we would hope to deter further Russian offenses and have peaceful relations."