THE CRISIS IS OVER
Landsraad refuses to approve sanctions to Arveyres as Raadspensionaris announces new bilateral partnership
Astana.
With an unsurprising move, the Landsraad today unanimously rejected the bill imposing sanctions against the Confederation of Arveyres, the same bill the Royal Diet had approved last month on the wake of mounting tensions with the Confederation. The Landsraad decision comes after the sudden confidential negotiations that took place in Astana between the Duke of Coevorden and President Lino Vergara, and after the same president announced a radical change in the Confederation political structure that would basically restore Arveyran monarchy.
While the full nature of those negotiations have not been disclosed to the public, the Raadspensionaris did nonetheless announce the result in front of the States General a few weeks ago. Citing the decision by President Vergara to personally come to New Tarajan as
"a remarkable show of diplomatic and political ability, but also of trust and confidence that I have, first as an individual man and then also as a statesman, deeply appreciated", the Duke of Coevorden explained that, after the President had shown to the Tarajani delegation the new reform he intended to enact in Arveyres
"our first thought has been how to support such a bold step into the right direction" and thus inviting the Landsraad
"to make our own first step by rejecting any plan of sanctions against the Confederation." A call the Landsraad promptly answered, particularly when the details of the new Arveyran political structure were disclosed, and when the Arveyrean government announced its intention to restore all properties to their Tarajani owners.
But this was only the beginning.
While Grand Duke Wilhelm V of Middensteden solemnly declared that
"it is the will of this assembly [i.e. the Landsraad]
to pursue any possible path toward full reconciliation, amity and friendship between our Kingdom and Arveyres", the Duke of Coevorden was already at work for that further step. In a press conference at his residence in Charbagh Palace, the Raadspensionaris announced this morning that New Tarajan and Arveyres
"will be bound once again by alliance and friendship", and that he will propose to the States General the ratification of a new treaty of political, military and economic alliance with the Confederation.
Such a sudden, almost precipitous, reversal would have not been possible if not for three, fundamental, factors: first, and quite obviously, President Vergara's decision; second, and directly linked to it and to the previous events, the astounding political leverage this same decision gave to the Duke of Coevorden against any possible political opposition inside the States General (as had concretized with the sanction bill in the Diet); last, but not least, the full support and confidence of Queen Beatrix. When dealing with the domestic frond that had coalesced around the figure of Duchess Heleine Van Haasen, the Duke of Coevorden made a dangerous bet, choosing to avoid an escalation and wait for positive developments in Arveyres instead of forcing anybody's hand. And the bet paid. Now he can enjoy such a powerful position inside the States General (but also the Rijksraad and even the Kroonraad) to make it possible for him to shape the future of Tarajani-Arveyran relations as he best sees fit. Thus the new alliance treaty.
There are other, immediate, consequences of this sudden turn of events, of course. First and foremost, writing the end word for a diplomatic crisis that put a strain not only between New Tarajan and Arveyres, but also between the Kingdom and his OMNI allies (except for Antanares and, less unproblematically, for New-Zealand) means sending a positive message also to those same allies and partners, that New Tarajan is and will keep itself committed also to the safeguard of their interests; second, if Duchess Heleine was waiting to see the Raadpensionaris' bet backlashing against him to use it as a way to leverage in the incoming trial, that hope has definitely disappeared: the Duke of Coevorden, and Queen Beatrix with him, has now the hands completely free to settle the score with the rebellious Duchess, and there is no reason why the Landsraad, that she put in a very uncomfortable position, should help her in any way.
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