[PRIVATE] Embassy Row

[von Streusser]

Cuban Embassy

The Cuban ambassador folds his fingers together for a moment, then smiles.

"I am sure our Great Leader would, at the very least, like to keep tabs on our dear friend 'Rio'. Please provide us with anything you know, and I will see to it that it is passed on to the appropriate channels, who will do with it as they need."

 

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OKB Sukhoi, Russia

A letter arrives from President and MTIA Loic de Fourgéres of the United Provinces of Eutopia, which is cc'ed to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the MDIS in UPE.

Ivan Khomutov,

I received your letter stating the terms under which your firm would be willing to deliver 30 SU-37 "Super Flanker" aircraft, of which 6 would be two seat 'training' models. I wish to commend your professionalism and thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Although it is purely a formality, I have instructed our Minister of Defense to dispatch a small team from our Air Force to your facility. They should arrive the day after tomorrow. The team will be led by an Air Force General, and will include one of our best pilots, as well a someone from the engineering/maintenance side. I have authorized expenditure so that the pilot may take some of the training which your letter described, in order to rapidly complete this technical inspection, and thereby officially endorse this procurement. I would hope they could be prepared to do so in a week or two at most after their arrival, at which time we could finalize our order and provide a combination of cash and a letter of credit for the initial installment. Alternatively, we could pay the full installment at that time if your firm would provide a letter of credit, drawn on a AA or better rated bank, for two-thirds of the initial installment as a performance bond, to be reduced prorata upon deliveries.

I look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.

Respectfully,

 

[Josephus I]

The Cuban ambassador folds his fingers together for a moment, then smiles.

"I am sure our Great Leader would, at the very least, like to keep tabs on our dear friend 'Rio'. Please provide us with anything you know, and I will see to it that it is passed on to the appropriate channels, who will do with it as they need."

Thank you Mr. Ambassador. I will keep you informed.


Josephus

 

[Amric]

Embassy of Japan

Former President Amric Al'Aeshir has come to speak to Akiko Yamomuro, the Japanese Ambassador. He approaches the building and makes his way to reception after being searched thoroughly by the Japanese embassy guards. He submits cheerfully to the search and awaits word of whether he will have an opportunity to speak to the Ambassador about matters of business and trade.

 

[von Streusser]

Japanese Embassy

Amric is shown through to the ambassador with surprising speed, not so much made to wait as given an opportunity to sit and collect his thoughts before meeting the ambassador. Finally, he is shown through to the ambassador's office, where hot tea has been laid out in anticipation of his arrival.

"Ah, President Al'Aeshir, an honor to speak with you. Please, sit and join me for tea" Ambassador Yamomuro says with a smile. After tea has been poured, the ambassador continues. "What can Japan do for you today?"

 

[Amric]

Amric had bowed to the ambassador when he arrived in his presence and gratefully accepted the tea.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Mr. Ambassador," He responded in Japanese," I'd like to speak to you of business ventures, if I may? My company, AAH has various ventures that I believe might be mutually beneficial to Japanese companies as well as myself. I am hoping that you might have some direct ideas on which of your great nation's companies might be most interested in coal, hardwood flooring, recycled materials such as steel, plastic, and other sundries such as paper."

Amric stops speaking and joins the ambassador in a sip of the tea.

 

[von Streusser]

Japanese Embassy

"Business, business...of course. First, however, let me say how sorry I am to see your country put in such a hard spot by our neighbor the Chinese. I am watching this United Nations debate very closely, as well as reading your newspaper. May I offer you a little advice, even though you are not in power? Perhaps you could share it with someone who is."

The Japanese ambassador smiles and continues with a soft voice.

"The Chinese do not have a legal, diplomatic, or military leg to stand on. Their proposal to the Security Council will not pass...as it is. However, I do not feel anyone will use their veto power to come to Eutopia's aid, Mr. President. You see, even if the Chinese are in the wrong, whoever exercised their veto power on the Council would suffer a very real cost indeed. Unless someone in Eutopia can offer one or more of the permanent Council members something worth more than the political fallout that follows a veto, I think it more likely that the Council will simply pass a watered down version of China's bill of demands...it would placate the Chinese, without compromising other countries' interest in Eutopia. But that is just my opinion...expressed to you, it is but idle chit-chat." The ambassador smiles and bows slightly.

"Now then, business. Those are some fairly specific details you ask me for, Mr. President, and I do not feel wholly qualified to answer them. As you know, we must import many of our raw materials from overseas, and such products as coal and lumber are a top priority. I feel confident in the assessment that if your prices are competitive, we should be able to negotiate a contract to import coal for a few of your terms, subject to possible renewal at a later date. Steel, plastics, and paper we have less of a need for, I'm afraid, as we can manufacture a number of those products ourselves or have import contracts for any state-owned needs already. But there may be some independent enterprises in Japan that are looking for new suppliers.

As for those hardwood floors, I have heard they are growing quite popular in Europe and elsewhere...many suppliers in Japan would love to have such a sure bet. Shall I make some calls and get back in touch with you?"

 

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Foriegn Ministers of UN Security Council Members

Personallized communications arrive at the foreign ministries of UN Security Council Members. The organization of the letters share certain common items:

1. An appropriate greeting mentioning the historic ties and/or current trade between their country and the Eutopia, and thanking the citizens of their country for their donations to the victims of the ECB bombing.
2. A statement of the purpose of the letter, stopping or watering down the Chinese resolution before the UN Security Council.
3. Mention that the UPE had tried to discuss the matter with the Chinese, but they had not been willing to negotiate bilaterally
4. A detailed analysis of how the Chinese claims were either contrary to international law or were already being fulfilled (return of dead), based on the President's and MGA Olsen's statements and the editorial in Eutopia Today but without the anti-Chinese rhetoric of the editorial.
5. Plausible speculation that since the Hainan Star had had to come through St. Espritan waters to get to the point where it was intercepted, that there had been some arrangement made by the now largely eliminated revolutionary radical socialists to have the ship choose to try our coastline at a time when our military was high alert following the ECB bombing, and to ignore initial demands to stop. This was of course an element of the on-going criminal case against the captain of the Hainan Star, so this analysis had not yet been published to avoid jeopardizing the case.
6. Only for the Russians, a mention of the SU-37 order and the promise of more to come for other types of planes if relations remained good.
7. Asking whether there was something the UPE might do for them.
8. Requesting that, if voting against the Chinese was not practicable, for other reason, despite the inappropriateness of the resolution, that it be substantially amended, so as to respect international law.

Loic followed up the letters with calls to each of the foreign ministers.

 

[Amric]

Amric bows to the Ambassador deeply..

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador for the political information as well as the business related. I will most definitely pass on the political information to those in power here in Eutopia. It should prove most useful and I have to agree with you on the points you have brought up. I will also look forward to your call about the business aspects of our conversation.

It has been an honor to speak to you and I have enjoyed the tea."

 

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Russian Foreign Ministry

In his follow-up call to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Loic mentions that there are at least 40 additional aircraft to be purchased besides the 30 SU-37 fighters being ordered.
"However, those do not have the same high tech requirements as the fighters, so despite the arms embargos, we would have a choice of countries to buy them from. However, if given a reason, we could direct all of the purchasers to Russian manufacturers.

We understand, from backchannel communications that most Security Council members, both permanent and otherwise, consider the Chinese resolution on the Hainan Star incident to be excessive and not consistent with international law. Likewise, no one wants to be the only one to say it or vote that way, as China is a huge market and geopolitical force. Three possibilities come to mind:

1. Would Russia be willing to vote against if at least two other permanent members would be doing so as well?
2. Would Russia be willing to support amendments watering down the resolution?
3. Finally as a fall back measure, what would it take to get Russia to be willing to veto the resolution by itself?"

 

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Conference call with UK Ambassador and US Ambassador

President and MTIA Loic de Fourgéres arranges to get both the US and UK Ambassadors on line at the same time to discuss the Chinese proposed resolution concerning the Hainan Star incident.

"Ambassador Maun, Ambassador Restarick, thank you for arranging your schedules so as to be able to speak to me at the same time. You know each other already, so no introductions are necessary I trust."

Loic summarizes the discussion with the Russians for them.

"The Admiral can fry so far as I care, he has been ungrateful, uncooperative, paranoid, and untrustworthy, so he will never command anything more than rowboat again under my administration. However, some of the Chinese demands, particularly about returning the refugees are unpalatable. So, as I need to have the resolution stopped or gutted, but, as you can understand, I would rather not have to jump in bed with the Russians. I expect that your countries would not want us to do so that either. Is it possible that in these circumstances both of your nations would be willing to vote against the resolution as long a Russia did so as well? In any case please support amendments to bring the resolution in line with international law."

 

[von Streusser]

Conference Call with UK and US Ambassadors

Ambassador Restarick speaks first. "Well, as our Russian friend already told you, our representative is bringing a 'gutting' amendment to the floor shortly. I think our friends across the Pond are willing to support it, yes Ambassador Maun?"

"From what I've heard, yes, we are."

"Fantastic. And so are the Russians. So there you go, President de Fourgeres, one watered down resolution coming up." He chuckles, an almost smarmy little upper-class British laugh. "As for jumping in bed with the Russians, I'd say you almost already have, judging by that nice order you placed for those planes."

"Not that we're terribly surprised" says the American ambassador "while we'd prefer no one sell to your country until you've got those recurring terrorist problems under control, we've at least kept our conscience clear. If the Russians aren't worried about that, then that's their problem, not ours. We're not squared off against the Evil Empire anymore, Mr. President...the Russians can deal with who they wish, as long as it's just conventional arms."

"In fact" Restarick says "I'm not sure there's anything your country could offer either of us at the moment that would make us entirely comfortable exercising a veto or a vote against the resolution outright. Normally I'd say substantial troop commitments to the Coalition of the Willing, but frankly, the men would probably be very uncomfortable around Eutopian soldiers, especially after that Hanson incident."

"I agree" says Maun. "We wouldn't oppose a veto, but we won't be the ones to exercise it. If you want a clear and unequivocal victory here, Mr. President...I'd say Moscow is your best bet. Otherwise, we'll just run with the watered down version of the Chinese demands."

 

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Conference call with US and UK ambassadors

"I sincerely appreciate your seeing to it that it is a watered down resolution that passes, from what I understand, the Japanese think that is appropriate as well. I will check in with the non-permanent members to elicit their support as well. Depending on the exact wording, I will have to decide whether to promise the Russians even more or live with that version. Considering what I was willing to offer the Chinese when they called, I suspect it will be tolerable.

Before placing that order, I did offer to direct the aircraft orders to your countries, but with the arms embargos remaining in place, that was an order you decided it best not to fill, which I perfectly understand. Having an operational and not disrespected armed force should make the United Provinces of Eutopia less likely to be a breeding ground for terrorist, if it could cause a rogue state to think twice before they sent anyone to help them. We have made good progress against the violent radical socialists, an announcement should be out shortly. We captured about 85% of their effectives, with the rest having fled. Interpol should have their names. Plus, having seen the excesses of bombing and riot, the populace have had their fill, so the johnny-come-lately Franco-Eutopian separatists have not been able to do much more than distribute leaflets. I will keep you apprised of our progress, but it takes time, as we all know, so I didn't expect an instant shift in your viewpoint."

 

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Letter to Foreign Ministries of non-perma UN Security council members plus France

President and MTIA Loic de Fourgéres follows up on the personalized messages sent out previously to the Foreign Ministries of the current non-permanent members of the UN (OOC: which if the EU3 timeline is the same as RL would be Argentina, Benin, Brazil, Denmark, Greece, Japan, Philippines, Rumania, Tanzania, and Algeria) plus France, the permanent member not previously canvassed, encouraging them to vote for the amendment watering down the Chinese resolution on the Hainan Star incident.
"We would sincerely appreciate this."
Common themes invoked include being an island nation (Japan & Philippines), being a former colony (Argentina, Benin, Brazil, Philippines, Tanzania, & Algeria), welcoming displaced persons (Denmark & France), common heritage and traditions from their country (Denmark, France, & Algeria), being a small nation being pushed around by larger ones (Denmark, Rumania, & Greece), respect for Democracy and international law (all).

 

[Amric]

Japan

Amric turns back one more time to the ambassador....

"Oh, by the way......Any thoughts on a good location in Japan to build a new hotel? I'm looking for a good spot for a large and unique hotel."

 

[von Streusser]

Japanese Embassy

The Ambassador looks at Amric a moment, then replies. "As you know, basically all of the available land in Japan is already developed. You would probably need to purchase the land you wanted for your new hotel and knock down whatever buildings were already there. Depending on the size, this could be quite an expensive venture."

 

[Amric]

Amric sighed," I was afraid of that, to be honest. I'm looking for probably a 10 block by 10 block area for the hotel. It would be a brother to the hotel I recently opened in New Lancaster. Expensive, eh? Well I suppose it could be done...."

 

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President and MTIA Loic de Fourgéres send out letters written in Spanish to Defense Ministers of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Columbia and Venezuela containing a sales brochure for the Gorgon II tank and includes a DVD of it being tested. The letter invites them to send a team from their army to come and see one in person (they would be responsible for their own transportation to and from the UPE, but accomodations, meals, and local transportation would be provided here for a week). The price of the tanks is not mentioned.

English versions of the letters go out to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea. French versions go out to Morocco, Algeria, and Tunsia. Portuguese versions go out to Brazil and Portugal.

 

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President and MTIA Loic de Fourgéres reviews and sends the application for the United Provinces of Eutopia to join the Central American Free Trade Association (the other CAFTA).

 

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President and MTIA Loic de Fourgéres contacts the Isreali Embassy about purchasing 20 Spike anti-tank missiles for evaluation purposes, which if, found suitable, could lead to additional purchases. The request is for six each of the Spike-SR (short range), Spike-MR (medium range also called Gill) missiles and Spike-ER, as well as one Spike-NTD system with 2 Spike-ER missiles loaded.
"We would invite salesmen and/or inspectors to be present at the testing, if desired."