Once more, a Meeting

[Evangeline Anovilis]

 

The strength of chains is determined by their weakest member. And as the diplomatic conflict with Alvonia went on, it seemed to Maria, that not all was well with the way things were developing. Indeed, there were quite a few concerns. However as with all diplomacy, such needed to be handled wisely and with certain prudence. Still, that the Queen lately felt quite disgruntled by certain matters was clearly visible at court and it would shape in a way policy.
 
A letter would be sent to the government in Budapest. The note would be delivered by hand by the Romanian ambassador to the head of state.
 

To the Magyar government,
 
As of late, we do feel that there are a few issues, which are developing, and which have raised concerns within our country about the future. It seems to me, that it is absolutely necessary for us, to call upon you to meet with us in Hunedoara Castle, so as to discuss these concerns, and to clear matters, in order to find workable solutions for the future.
 
Signed,
Maria I de România R.R.

 

[Euphaia]

Ambassador Damasa would arrive at the meeting*

[Evangeline Anovilis]

Ambassador Damasa would be led through the medieval hallways of the castle, which served as one of the main residences of the Queen. And while it was quite a strange choice for a royal residence in modern times, most of the servants found it quite befitting for Maria. The Queen would meet the ambassador in one of the castle's halls. The room had not too much furniture in it, however, at the far end of the hall, the Queen already awaited him on her throne, in front of her, a chair had been prepared, for the Ambassador to rest on. On both sides of the room, royal guards had been lined up, which however quickly withdrew in an orderly fashion, once Damasa entered. Solely one servant would remain at Maria's side, in case anything was needed.

 

"Greetings, Mr Damasa. I am glad you could make it to this meeting. I think, there are a few matters that will need to be discussed."

[Euphaia]

Greetings, Your Majesty. I appreciate your invitation and your hospitality.

I hope everything is going well with you and Romania.

How can Hungary-Slovakia be of assistance to our friends and allies in Romania?

[Evangeline Anovilis]

"Mostly, I would like to discuss recent events with Alvonia. As far as I see it, there has been attempts by the Hungarian government to make it 'permissible' for Alvonia to just withdraw their military to Vienna. In general, the terms of the ultimatum are a bit strange, however, what causes most trouble to us, is that in effect, Alvonia has received two seperate ultimata, which are not identical in their terms and which do kind of look as if there's a bit of disunity in our great Eastern Bloc. Not to mention that the Wilding government is hardly taking us seriously, unlike the times when they were told to withdraw from Snowhaven. Overall, it seems, that thanks to an idea of 100 kilometres, which has entered the debate for no real reason that makes any sense, we are now stuck with the prospect of attacking Alvonia, when the idea of the Bloc should have been to have them stand down. Because honestly, the issue is not the proximity, it is the mobilisation.", Maria sighed for a moment, waving the servant to bring her a cup of tea, so she could calm herself with something.

 

"Now, Romania has no intention of leaving you out to dry, nor does it please me in any way to appease the Alvonians. More so than you, most likely, I'd be very happy to have them gone. However, in this world, there are certain matters that need to be considered apart from our personal desires and I'm thus quite displeased with this situation. Now, for the moment, your government can expect, that if war with alvonia happens, we will be there to back you up. However, I would hope that Budapest in the future does consult us, before throwing out terms like these irresponsible 100 kilometres. In the spirit of cooperation and a strong bloc, such seems more than necessary. Now, if I may ask, what would Hungary think would be best in this situation? As it stands, the Bloc has two options. To crack down on Alvonia, or to negotiate an actually mutually acceptable compromise. The latter, by all means, cannot take any form that would undermine our reputation, and it seems to me, that in this regard, it might be better that any future terms, be discussed in detail, prior to being submitted to Alvonia. Which partly is, what this meeting is for. The other reason I have asked you to come, would be that I'd like to inquire into the future political plans of Hungary-Slovakia, as well as possible cooperation in this area between our countries."

 

Once the Queen ended, the servant would present her her tea, which Maria would sip with visible joy. It was quite a bliss to drink such exquisite tea, after being unnerved by events. It made one forget about all the pesky enemies of one's person and nation that still populated this globe, about all the incompetent servants and about all the horrid family members who regarded one as a pariah.

[Euphaia]

Y'sI am sorry to hear of Romania's displeasure, as that was never our intent.

It was our government's understanding that the Eastern Bloc was in complete consensus and agreement that Alvonia should completely demobilize and withdrawal a reasonable distance from the border, excepting a minimal amount of border guards.

With that understanding in mind, and with it being Hungary's border being threatened, we decided to take the initiative and call on Alvonia to demobilize and withdraw. It soon became apparent to us that Alvonia is too fearful to withdraw any further than Vienna, so in one last attempt to bring aeaceful solution to the border crisis, we offered a one-time and one-time-only compromise of having Alvonia do a complete withdrawal to Vienna, again exempting a minimal amount of border guards.

As a show of good faith, we also withdrew a token amount of 2000 of our own soldiers from the border. There remains 58000 of our soldiers and all 200 of our artillery just feet from the Alvonian border, which will not move from the border until Alvonia has completely withdrawn back to Vienna.

Should Alvonia choose not to withdraw at least to Vienna, Hungary-Slovakia is prepared to remove Alvonia's equipment and vehicles from our border by force.

Now, if Romania believes we should stick to the original 100 km Alvonian withdrawal, Hungary-Slovakia is open to enforcing such an ultimatum, as well, though it is very likely that force would be needed to persuade Alvonia to withdraw any further than Vienna.

Our future plans is mainly improving relations around Europe, expanding trade and trade oppurtumities, acquiring a port somewhere up north, keeping Alvonia's aggression, imperialism, and witch hunts in check, removing all threats from our border, and otherwise keeping the status quo.

Edited September 5, 2014 by Euphaia

[Evangeline Anovilis]

"We don't intent to enforce a demilitarised zone really. What we should really ask for is just a demobilisation, with a sternly worded warning, that next time Alvonia moves aggressively against their neighbours, Bloc soldiers will parade through Vienna and Munich. There is no point in moving them back 100 kilometres, but we ought to stand with what we actually agreed on. The standing down of Alvonian forces. Now, naturally, this could raise the threat to Hungary-Slovakia, but, we would think that the overwhelming military advantage we enjoy currently over alvonia allows for it. And should they cause damage to Hungary at some point, we can feel free to take apart the Alvonian economy post-war for reparations and pay the repairs from that. We don't want Hungary to suffer, but we need to consider the diplomatic consequences of our actions. Naturally, should it be required, Alvonia is going to be dealt with, once and for all, but we need to be considerate of the circumstances, to a degree. In this case, our ultimatum to Alvonia should reflect such a position. Our own demands to Alvonia already cover this part, but if you'd wish a new ultimatum to be sent, such could also be discussed, of course."

 

Once more Maria would take a sip, noting that the tea was actually quite bitter. She would thus wave the servant to get some sugar.

 

"Well, with the prospect of an economic bloc and political bloc, our countries are kind of growing closer, thus we are interested in your plans for the future. Hungary also has reclaimed some of its ancestral lands, which is quite nice. With Alvonia as greatest remaining threat in the West and while Russia may be unruly, but still is rather reasonable in its policies, it seems to us that consolidation is the best way to proceed. In this sense, we are seeking areas of cooperation between our countries and ways to further our ties. To a degree, it is regretable that Hungary is an isle of democracy in a sea of orderly autocracies, but goodness, I'd guess it'd be better than a new Kingdom of Hungary..."

 

The servant would bring a small sugar bowl, from which Maria took eight sugar cubes and dropped them carefully into her tea.

[Euphaia]

I suppose it would have been proper to stick with the original ultimatum, or at the least to bring up the compromise within the Bloc first, and for that, I do apologize.

 

As my government had saw it at the time, Alvonia was never going to agree to pull back 100 km, as such a pull back would have brought them farther back than Vienna, and Alvonia was too fearful that pulling back past Vienna would have left Vienna too vulnerable to a Bloc invasion.  My government had decided that a pull back to Vienna was preferable to no withdrawal at all.  It is our regret that in all the commotion that was going on at the time, we had neglected to consult with Romania and Belarus properly.

 

As for Hungary-Slovakia's own withdrawal, we were quite simply keeping to our own end of the compromise that we had offered Alvonia.  We had promised that once we had seen that Alvonia had performed a complete withdrawal to Vienna, that we would do a complete withdrawal from the border as well, which we did.  We regret any confusion that such a withdrawal may have caused Romania.

 

As for Hungary-Slovakia's future plans, we will mainly be interested in enforcing the status quo, guarding against Alvonia aggression and imperialism, defending our allies, and enforcing our Anti-Imperialism Monroe Doctrine where we are able to.  

[Evangeline Anovilis]

"Well, it is to be hoped that Hungary-Slovakia consults with its allies prior to acting, so as to avoid unnecessary confusion and strain in relations. For the moment, this has sadly caused us trouble in that the Wilding administration continues. I will say this much - The Romanian Army will be demobilised for the time being, but should it get mobilised again due to Alvonia, Wilding will have to go. It cannot be that every few months the Bloc calls upon its troops again due to some idiot in Vienna. For this, I would hope Hungary keeps eyes on the developments west of its border.", Maria was filled with quite some visible disgust for Alvonia, as she spoke about their seemingly eternal foe.

 

"I see. I hope you will be doing well with Hungary then. Should there be anything needed, feel free to contact us."