The International Tribune - [Superique goes to Brussels]

[Lumine]

Special Envoy Lumine:
Update I: Turchinov, NATO and the EU

Good day, Atlasia:

The past two days have been pretty frantic in terms of travelling, but so far we making a lot of headway in regards to a strong and coherent answer to the recent events in Donetsk. My first meeting with President Turnichov and his government went along fine, as the current Ukrainian government remains in need of Atlasian assistance in many ways. The talks with President Turnichov dealt with three main issues: The Donetsk situation, future Atlasian aid to Ukraine and the future of the nation in regards to NATO and the European Union. Authorized by SoEA Superique to discuss certain terms, the basic agreement with Turnichov went along these lines:

Donetsk: Of course, I assured Turnichov of our support of his efforts to contain and suppress the Russian separatists who have taken over parts of the region. It is becoming clearer and clearer that 
The majority of the population of Donetsk does not desire to unite with Russia, and the loss of this region would effectively cripple Ukraine as well.

Atlasian Aid: In light of my earlier statements, I promised to send an aid package to the Senate as soon as my resolution/act on Crimea passes the Senate. So far the idea is to allocate one to three billions in immediate economic aid, most of it directed to keep oil prices down and help Tatar minorities expulsed from Crimea. In case the Donetsk situation escalates into civil war, I gave my assurances that I will send a military aid package as well.

Future in NATO and the EU: This area was merely reduced to present to Turnichov the terms Superique suggested to me, and while we failed to reach a concrete agreement, the Ukrainian government is willing to pursue a more federal Ukraine (there’s talk of a potential referendum in May). We are also committed to protect Ukraine’s right to enter the European Union, but we are willing to back down on pushing for NATO membership in order to placate Russia.

Right after meeting with Turnichov and overseeing some of the preparations for the antiterrorist operation in Donetsk, I took another flight to Occidental Europe and met with representatives of the EU and NATO during the morning, in order to coordinate a united front and message against the threat Russian imperialism. I met with Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament in order to gather some thoughts on the current consensus in the EU and review the upcoming vote on a resolution regarding Ukraine. Schulz would later go on to stress the need for protecting the integrity of Ukraine and declare that military intervention should not be an option for either side, and I am happy to announce that the European Parliament passed the resolution condemning Russia, and they are also getting prepared to establish military and energy sanctions.

My last meeting of the day (for I have to return to Atlasia for a quick final speech on my Senate campaign to come tonight) was with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Secretary General of NATO, in order to discuss future NATO movements and a potential deployment to Eastern Europe Rasmussen had in mind. After a brief talk on the subject and with my symbolic approval (as a representative of Atlasia), Rasmussen gave the public announcement that NATO would deploy more forces in Poland and the Baltic Countries as an answer to Russian troop deployments. All in all, a productive couple of days, and I sincerely hope the Atlasian Senate will assist me in these efforts to protect Ukraine.

LumineVonReuental.

[Sec. of State Superique]

Israel-Palestine Final Status Agreement Signed.
Camp David III ends with the guidelines for more peace, security and stability in the Middle East

Nyman, D.C.
27th of April, 2014.

In a medium sized event in the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Herzog, Israeli Chief Negotiator Tzipi Livni, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat have finally signed the final status agreement over the Israel-Palestine Conflict. The event had also the presence of the Secretary of External Affairs Superique, President Duke, Vice President Cinci and also former statesmen of Atlasian years and pre-Atlasian years, such as Mr. Sjoyce, former Secretary of External Affairs and Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

Borders:

The border negotiation was based mainly on the 1967 borders, on Ehud Olmert’s peace proposal and on the ideas of land swaps, while the Geneva Accords were also considered. Apart from every other peace offer ever officially presented by Israelis and Palestinians, the Israel-Palestine peace plan offers a responsible 1:1 ratio for the swaps with Palestinians giving something around 5.1% of their territories while Israelis providing Palestinians with the same amount of squares miles of land.

Israelis will essentially annex most of the greatest settlement blocs currently in the West Bank although major concessions were made as well for the future Palestinian State. Perhaps, one of the most important decisions during the Peace Negotiations was to make the Settlement Blocs thinner, including mainly the already occupied territories but not unoccupied places.

 

The above map shows exactly how are the borders going to look like.  Not only did the peace negotiators consider the amount of land that is going to be swapped but they also put part of the attention on the density and the population of the settlements that would feel the consequences of the newly established borders.  It’s believed that Kokhav Ya’kov and the whole remaining settlements of the Ma’ale Adumim Bloc only remained part of the Israeli territory because of its population size.  

The settlements of Kiryat Arba, Kadumim, Bet El, Ofra and some minor settlements in the Ariel Bloc despite hosting a significant amount of population were not included in Israeli’s side because of security reasons and mainly because of their intrusiveness in the Palestinian Territories. An important advisor of Atlasia Diplomacy told reporters Kiryat Arba and Kadumim hosted radical Zionists and mentioned that their proximity respectively with Hebron and Bethlehem would be an eternal security problem for both countries and could affect Palestinian land contiguity.

While most of Palestinians Negotiators would prefer the smallest amount of land swaps as possible and that Israeli annexations would remain only close to the pre-1967 borders, they were pretty satisfied with the results of negotiations. Abbas personally told reporters that he was particularly happy with the quality of land conceded to the Palestinian State in exchange for the annexation of some settlement blocs. He said that “they are not occupied, they offer good climate and they will be crucial to the increasing Palestinian population and to the refugees that want return to a Palestinian State”.

Palestinians and Israelis divided the No Man’s Land and Latrun Region. Palestinian would get a good chunk of it while Israeli would keep sovereignty of an important area where there is the most important road that connects Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem.  A special underground tunnel will unite the Gush Etzion Block with Jerusalem, it will be over Palestinian Sovereignty but with Israeli Supervision, there will also be a road that doesn’t run over Palestinian Lands.

 Another important aspect of the Peace Deal is that a safe passage will connect Palestinians living in the West Bank to those living in Gaza and it’s also believed that an infrastructure project by the Rand Corporation called the Arch will be set forth by the future Palestinian State with financial help from Atlasians, Europeans and members of the Arab League.

Settlement Evacuation:

The Peace Agreement gave different evacuation times for different settlements. Some more difficult to deal settlements will have longer waiting periods while most of them will have few years of evacuation (6 months to 2 years).  Here there are some specifics about some settlements:
 
Kiryat Arba – Deadline: 2 years from Palestinian State creation – Due to the number of religious Zionists and many aggressive settlers, the Israeli Government will provide all the incentives necessary for a peaceful evacuation of this territory as soon as possible. It expects that just a minority will resist the evacuation but it’s prepared to take action. The close proximity to Hebron and the aggressiveness of the settlers require rapid action from the Israeli Government.  New residencies will be offered in Gush Etzion bloc.

Kedumim – Deadline: 4 years from Palestinian State creation – Mild number of settlers but many radicals. Most of the settlers are expected to leave peacefully since monetary aid is cut but there are some fears of aggressive response against the IDF. New residencies will be offered in parts of the Northern Ariel Bloc.

Bet El and Ofra –Deadline: 5 years from Palestinian State creation– Due to the great number of population and a smaller presence of radicalism than in Kyriat Arba, it will be given a little bit more time due to the great size of its population. The evacuation will be one of the last evacuations and it is expected to be a peaceful one, nonetheless the Israel Defense Forces will also act if necessary. New residencies will be offered in Jewish Satellite Cities of Jerusalem.


In parallel with the Peace Agreement, the Israeli Government announced that it will be gradually de-escalating subsidies for the current settlers and that it would put this money in other projects for Israel. One of those plans is to re-urbanize the settlement blocs within Israeli borders to turn them up on high-density level cities and another project is of creating a technological region near the Negev Desert.  Buji told reporters that it would evacuate every settlement that is out of borders while Tzipi Livni, Israel’s Chief Negotiator and Justice Minister, argued the Israeli Government does not believe that leaving settlers in Palestine will be good for the Peace Agreement and that it would erupt in a huge series of technical problems.

Moreover, the Palestinian Authority declared that it’s already working on the legal structure to host some eventual settlers that want to stay in the Palestinian State and detailed that they would be treated as any foreigner that wants to live in the nation. President Abbas told reporters “the small minority of Jews that want to stay in Palestine will have to respect its laws, it will have to abdicate from it guns and it will have to gave up of its property or land in case it was originally taken from Palestinians”.  SoEA Superique told that Atlasia believes that after all the subsidies and monetary aid are gone, as well as the IDF protection, many so-called “religious settlers” would never stay in Palestine.

Economic Arrangements:

Major investments on infrastructure are being planned to Palestine.

The Peace Plan has put forward a series of initiatives that will encourage Palestinian Development in a process which the Secretary of External Affairs would describe by coining a new term: “Peace through Growth”.  The sharing of technological innovations, the investment on joint initiatives to promote tourism and the promotion of trade between the two countries and Israeli willingness to promote investment more than satisfied the Palestinian side.  The Peace Plan has also proposed an end on the Naval Blockade in Gaza once inside conflicts in the region end.

Furthermore, special arrangements were made to 4 specific industrial parks that are settled in the West Bank: Alfei Menashe, Atarot, Benjamim and Mishor Adumim. While the first will be in Palestinian Sovereignty, the other three will remain inside Israeli borders, however, all of them will have unique schemes of mutual benefit.  Workers from those parks will receive special Visas, which will benefit mainly West Bank Palestinians that currently depend on those jobs; a joint Israel-Palestine Commission will define tax schemes and logistics will be carefully designed along the special coordination that was also designed for Jerusalem.

To be continued

[Sec. of State Superique]

Jerusalem:

Finally the “shared sovereignty” was properly defined; when it comes to borders, Israel will have sovereignty over Jewish Neighborhoods and Palestine will have sovereignty over Arab areas, but both nations will work on joint arrangements of coordination, oversight and regulation.

Administratively, Jerusalem will be divided between two municipalities (Yerushalayim and Al-Qud) with coordination of an elected High Commissioner of Jerusalem that will lead the HCJ - Higher Commissariat of Jerusalem - and that will have significant importance over matters that involve joint infrastructure projects, city planning, security arrangements, economic arrangemenets and tourism. Both municipalities will have autonomy over its institutional organization and with deals that don’t involve both nations.

The High Commissioner will be elected by the “Greater Jerusalem” assembly, which will be basically formed by representatives of proportional electoral districts across Jerusalem. The High Commissioner shall have technocratic credentials, it must renounce affiliation with any political party and both the Israeli and the Palestinian government can veto its election. Both governments will appoint the first High Commissioner of Jerusalem and funding of the Higher Commissariat shall be a responsibility of both nations, although global aid was also encouraged under the Peace Plan.

Physically, Jerusalem will be divided at minimal and strongly connected. There was a strong willingness of both parties to ensure that Jerusalem public spaces would not be divided and that it would remain a open capital but this would require a security circle around Jerusalem and a series of restrictions to enter in the capital that both Israelis and Palestinians were facing difficulties to compromise.  Hence, it was agreed that Jerusalem would be united through connection hubs and the Peace Agreement outlined that “The High Commissariat of Jerusalem and the two municipalities must set forward architectonic measures that promote connection between the two borders”.  It has also encouraged further integration putting at one of the main priorities of the High Commissariat to ensure an “Open and Diverse Jerusalem”.

Architecture will help to create a smooth and almost unknowticeable division of the city.

Furthermore, a special set of measures was prepared to ensure that both Palestinians and Israelis have a stronger feeling of unity. There will be border-crossing facilities with neutral spaces within them where exchanges can happen between the two people. Municipalities will also be allowed, with proper hindsight of the HCJ and the national government, to issue special passes that enable for some citizens more freedom of movement between the two cities, although this measures are not going to be taken soon.

Despite the difficulties for more openness, the Agreement was as an important development since the previous situation had even stronger barriers to movement between Palestinians and Israelis, between East and West Jerusalem.  In an interview that followed the Camp David III signature, Mr. Herzog told to reporters “Jerusalem will be more united than ever, since, in fact, Israelis never had a really united city as many right-wingers wanted to say”.  Superique was also quoted saying “this unsolved conflict was the reason for Jerusalem lacks of unification but now the peace agreement gives the tools for a gradual transition to an open city.”

The Holy Basin:

The Peace Deal defined the Old City, the City of David and the Mount of Olives as part of the Holy Basin. In order to prevent uncertainties about border claims in the future, both Israel and Palestine agreed to define sovereignty over said places but with a mixed approach that would give the power of supervision and oversight for an international authority named HOBOA – (The Holy Basin Oversight Authority) That will be administrated by 7 trustee (the United Nations, Atlasia, Jordan, the Vatican, Palestine and Israel) in order prevent conflicts of interest by sharing power of decision making. Sovereignty was determined as follows:

-The Old City will have a special regime where the Jewish Quarter and a small part of the Armenian Quarter will have Israeli Sovereignty and Palestinians will have sovereignty over the rest of the Armenian Quarter, the Christian Quarter and the Muslim Quarter.  

-Mount Olives and the City of David will be over sovereignty of Palestine.

In accordance with the Camp David III agreement, HOBOA has the responsibility of working closely with HCJ in order to ensure smooth mobility over religious sites and special security arrangements in order to ensure the protection of holy places and the freedom of religion, one important right of the UN Human Rights Charter.

Refugees:

Perhaps one of the most difficult issues of the Peace Agreement, the refugee question dominated great part of the debate. The solution came in form of “recognition of responsibility without an official recognition”. The Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority approved what was defined as “a just and fair solution for the Palestinian Refugee Issue” in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 242, and UN General Assembly Resolution 194.  Both nations agreed on the creation of “a solution with multiple tools to address the Refugee Question”. Furthermore, the Peace Agreement outlined that the Refugee Problem would have to be dealt as following:

1.   All Palestinian Refugees have the Right of Return to their official homeland – the future Palestinian State. This means that all Palestinian Refugees can have the right to acquire citizenship in the state of Palestine in accordance with Palestinian Sovereign discretions and the relevant Palestinian laws.
2.   Both nations encourage the creation of an International Fund administrated by the UN with hindsight with all its funding members that support the Palestinian State on investing in infrastructural, city-planning, environmental, security and sanitarian measures in order to be able to host the greatest amount of Palestinian Refugees.
3.   Israel, in name of acknowledging the Palestinians Refugees suffering and willing to promote peace in the Middle East, would accept a limited number of Palestinian Refugees during a phased-period of time.
4.   Both nations call all nations of the world, specially the signatories of the Arab Peace Initiative to help on the Refugee Question and too absorb as many Palestinians as possible.
5.   Israel accepts to take part in an International Fund with name still to be defined administrated by a joint commission of Israel, the European Union, Atlasia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Nations and Palestine to compensate for material and property loss of Refugees, to provide an economical benefit defined as refugeehood and to help on refugees’ integration in new countries.


In other word, refugee’s resettlement would be given on this order:

1.   Mainly inside the State of Palestine – In its traditional territories or in the new territories annexed by Palestine due to land swaps.
2.   Inside Israel in a very limited way.
3.   In other member-states of the United Nations, especially on the signatories of the Arab Peace Initiative. (Atlasia is willing to absorb more than 100.000 refugees)

 The first clause recognizes Israel as a the state of the Jewish People and its citizens and it recognizes Palestine as the state of Palestinian People and its citizens as part of a medium ground for Israel demand of its recognition of being a “Jewish State”.  This wording is believed to address one of Mr. Abbas main preoccupations, the respect for the Israeli Arab minorities.

Israel agreed to host a small number of refuges due to “humanitarian reasons” and agreed to take the symbolical step of recognizing the suffering of Palestinians Refugees. In a historical decision, it has designed a 15-year absorption plan similar to some guidelines of the Taba Summit. The process of absorption would be guided as follow:

In the first five years, 25.000 Palestinians Refugees would be approved to ask for residency or citizenship in Israel.

In the next five years, 10.000 more Palestinians Refugees would be approved to ask for residency or citizenship in Israel.

In the final five years, 5.000 more Palestinian Refugees would be approved to ask for residency or citizenship.

This would lead to the absorption of more than 40.000 Refugees in Israel within a 15 years range. 10.000 more would be allowed to ask for residency only and other special cases could be open in certain cases, especially for some kind of Guest Worker. Priorities would be given to those original 1948 Refugees (but not their descendants), for family reunification and to other humanitarian reasons, such as the terrible situation of refugees in Lebanon.

The traditional forms of channeling monetary aid and the value of assets that Israel would leave to Palestine in evacuated blocs is also considered in the agreement as some form of contribution made by the Israeli Government to the Palestinian Refugee Problem. The special economic arrangements mentioned earlier as well as possible future guest worker program are being listed as possible economical compensations that Israel could make to help Palestinians.
 
Both nations recognize this agreement as an End of Claims for both sides on the issue of all original refugees or descendants of refugees and that it satisfies the Arab Peace Initiative and all the previous UN Resolutions.  They would also agree to gradually phase out the UNRWA program and to move the last Palestinian refugees to the responsibility of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

To be continued

[Sec. of State Superique]

Security Arrangements

The Peace Agreement established that the future Palestinian State would be demilitarized and that it would only be authorized to hold some residual security forces and police forces. The use of weapons will be a monopoly of Palestinian Security forces and no Palestinian citizen will be able to hold weapons. Palestinians would also cooperate with Israel Defense Forces in the combat of terrorist action and it would not engage on any military alliance with a country that does not recognize Israel’s right of existence and that is hostile to the State of Israel.

Moreover Israel would have also the right to have some occasional access to Palestinian Airspace, to introduce radar systems and early-warning aerial attack stations in parts of the future Palestinian state. Both nations would also agree on ending the incitement of violence and on promoting the creation of public channels of communication and forums to discuss the peace between the Israeli and the Palestinian People.

A Phased Withdrawn of Israel would follow with more autonomy of Palestine over internal issues.

In exchange, Israel agrees to gradually withdrawn from Palestinian Territories, it will leave most of the territory in 36 months after the formation of the new Palestinian State, in 48 months it agrees to leave Kedumim, in 60 months it agrees to leave Bet El and Ofra and in 72 months it shall leave the Jordanian Borders and the Jordan Valley. Israel has also committed itself on ending the Gaza Naval Blockade once internal conflicts over the region come to an end as well as on negotiating the release of some Palestinian Prisoners.

UN Peacekeeping forces will be essential for supervision of the Peace Process, Training and Security of both Palestine and Israel.

UN-Peacekeeping forces lead by Atlasia, France and the United Kingdom will also play a crucial role in the security arrangements. It will ensure compliance of the agreement in Palestine, it will guard Palestinian borders (preventing terrorist movement), it shall temporarily protect Jewish religious sites that are not included in the Holy Basin section of the agreement and it has also the responsibility of training and capacitating Palestinian Security forces along with the Jordanian Army. This international force will also have the right of using Early-Warning stations in Palestine.

Atlasia has also announced that, when the Peace Agreement is finally settled, it’s quite possible that the Atlasian Senate will stop all its sanctions against Israel and that it will finally be able to consolidate the introduction of more multi-layered aerial defense system in Israel that could help the Jewish State to block many of the possible threats coming to it.

End of Claims

Livini and a Palestinian Friend

The Peace Agreement precludes any further demand for both signatories on the issues negotiated on it. That means that both the state of Israel and the future state of Palestine have finally agreed on their final status on the issues of Jerusalem, Security, Borders, Refugees and many others. Minor agreements will follow related mainly to water resources issues and economical matters which the Atlasia Diplomacy will have much less involvement.

State of Palestine Recognition and Referendum:

The Palestinian Authority shall organize a Referendum over the approval or disapproval of the Peace Agreement negotiated in the Camp David III Summit within six months and in case the document is approved, Palestine will be a state officially recognized by Israel and by Atlasia as well. Polls show wide range of support for the Peace Offer and national commotion in Palestine may become even stronger during the next following days.

[Adam Griffin]

Congrats, Phil!

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

The hard work has paid off! Let there be peace in this era of good feeling!

[Sec. of State Superique]

Congrats, Phil!

Phil?

[Adam Griffin]

Congrats, Phil!

Phil?

It's a running meme across the forum. There's probably a thread somewhere that explains it, but I don't know where.

[TNF]

I for one, am happy to have been among those who voted to keep applying pressure on Israel with economic sanctions, without which none of this would have ever been possible.

[Lincoln Republican]

Congrats, Phil!

The Winfield legacy lives on.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

I for one, am happy to have been among those who voted to keep applying pressure on Israel with economic sanctions, without which none of this would have ever been possible.

This treaty is illegitimate. Jerusalem must stay united in Jewish hands and only Jewish hands. I ask Duke not to divide Jerusalem.

[Sec. of State Superique]

I for one, am happy to have been among those who voted to keep applying pressure on Israel with economic sanctions, without which none of this would have ever been possible.

This treaty is illegitimate. Jerusalem must stay united in Jewish hands and only Jewish hands. I ask Duke not to divide Jerusalem.

The agreement was made, the cities are divided but strongly connected. I'm sorry if you have been disappointed...

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

I for one, am happy to have been among those who voted to keep applying pressure on Israel with economic sanctions, without which none of this would have ever been possible.

This treaty is illegitimate. Jerusalem must stay united in Jewish hands and only Jewish hands. I ask Duke not to divide Jerusalem.

The agreement was made, the cities are divided but strongly connected. I'm sorry if you have been disappointed...

Atlasia has no right to divide Jerusalem. The agreement is totally illegitimate. I urge our senate to say no to this abomination of a treaty. The land belongs to the Jews. Simple as that.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

The hard work has paid off! Let there be peace in this era of good feeling!

Go back to the table. Jerusalem must never be divided. It's the capital of Israel and is not to be divided under any circumstances. I want peace but the concessions forced on the Israelis is absolutely unacceptable. A one state solution with the borders post Yom Kippur as standing law.

[Sec. of State Superique]

The hard work has paid off! Let there be peace in this era of good feeling!

Go back to the table. Jerusalem must never be divided. It's the capital of Israel and is not to be divided under any circumstances. I want peace but the concessions forced on the Israelis is absolutely unacceptable. A one state solution with the borders post Yom Kippur as standing law.

Get over it JCL! It's over! There's no way that we are going to give up about that. The Jerusalem Solution was strongly and smartly developed to keep morphological continuity while keeping up with different sovereignties over different regions. The fact is that Jerusalem is not really not united today, most Palestinians cannot even have access to the West Side, is that real "undevided" Jerusalem?

Jerusalem will be more united than ever before and don't try to change things up because you don't agree with this. I've been discussing with those important leaders and not a single solution was imposed. There was a lot of debates and discussions, nothing was imposed. Moreover, you had the opportunity to show your opposition a long time ago, but you prefer to react to what is already decided... I shall not loose my limited time with this frivolous acts of protest.

Have a Good Night, my fellow Bayit Yehudi Supporter!

[Sec. of State Superique]

Atlasian Report – The Visit to Brazil

Superique makes public secret documents from the (1960-1980) in order to help the Brazilian Truth Commission.

The event had the presence of President Dilma Roussef, Former Presidents Lula, José Sarney and Fernardo Henrique Cardoso.

Brasília, Brazil.
May 24th , 2014 – Saturday

The Atlasian Secretary of External Affairs visited Rio de Janeiro in a special ceremony of the country’s Truth Commission. The Atlasian Chief Diplomat announced that the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of Atlasia would provide the Brazilian Government with all the essential documents about Pre-Atlasian United States years of collaboration with the civil-military regime that governed Brazil from 1964 to 1985.

“For many years, Brazil has had part of its history in blank. There are still many things to know about the crimes and human rights abuses of the Military Regime that governed this country from 1964 to 1985. From Castello Branco to João Batista Figueiredo, Brazil has still a lot to learn about its own political life. The Atlasian Diplomacy understands the importance of the Truth Commission and we shall support the current political movement in Brazil. It’s for this reason that we announce today that we are going to make it public all the current intelligence information that we have about this period” told Superique to reporters during the event

A specialist from a widely respected university in Nyman told reporters that Superique’s moves are just one of the part of his pledge of protecting and promoting Human Rights across the globe. “There is still a lot to do about Human Rights in the world. Palestine was the first step but Atlasia can contribute to so many other issue,” told Fernando Henrique Cardoso during the event. President Dilma cried during the event and congratulated to the significant change of posture from the Pre-Atlasian US Diplomacy to this new approach that Atlasia has been taking for a long period of time.

Secretary of External Affairs met with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and talked with the “accidental President” for more than 4 hours. The unofficial meeting raised some discussions in Brazilian blogs from Dilma and Lula supporters.

Brasília, Brazil.
May 25th  - Sunday

“Remarkable, intelligent and realistic” those were the three words that Superique used to define the former President of Brazil. The chief diplomat told reporters that the two men just had an unofficial conversation and that the meeting ended up happening because of his own private interests. Both men discussed about Marijuana Legalization, Political Reform, the process of Globalization and Inflation.

On his official Facebook page, FHC writes “Both Superique and I believe that there’s a stronger need for more global integration. We believe that for a more humane capitalist society and for a better environment and society for us all, it’s more than time to rethink about Drugs, Global Markets, Political Systems and Environmental Protection. Brazil or Atlasia alone won’t make the change that this world needs. The change that this world needs must be lead by the United Nations and by every nation’s society. It’s time for more freedom, for better standards of living and for a global community that can work more cooperatively”.

Supporters from the Workers’ Party, labor unions and fringe socialist parties, however, were not that happy with the meeting.  “President Fernando Henrique sold Brazil to the IMF and was a big supporter of the Yankee intervention in Latin America. Isn’t it just strange now that we are seeing Superique having private conversations with this man? It must be another plot of this neoliberal hawks from the Washington Consensus” argued an old lady protesting member of PSTU, a ultra-leftist fringe party.

On the official page of Atlasian Diplomacy, there was just a small note noting that former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso also agree with the need of more global efforts to global issues. Rather than just citing the environment, the official webpage also argued that Atlasia and the world needs a stronger movement for a better-suited regulatory system for the whole world financial markets.

Secretary of External Affairs meets with President Dilma Roussef. Talks about Brazilian Oil Reserves “The Pré-Sal” and about more scientific cooperation between the two countries.

 

Brasília, Brazil.
May 26th , 2014 - Monday

“The “Good Neighbor Policy” is back!” joked Superique when finally leaving the Palácio da Alvorada after a meeting with President Dilma Roussef. Despite all the criticism from the weekend about Superique-FHC’s meeting, it seems that the lunch with the Brazilian Commander in Chief showed a very good and welcoming position to the chief of Atlasian diplomacy. “Conversations couldn’t be better than they were;” said President Dilma “Brazil-Atlasia cooperation will grow and certainly the era of old unipolar order is over.”

Superique discussed for more than five hours with President Dilma about a varied set of issues but focused the conversation especially on the Pré-Sal. The Atlasian statesman congratulated the state-owned company Petrobrás about its efforts on the development of research on offshore drilling. He also told the Brazilian Leader that Atlasia is highly interested on having a stable, democratic and reasonable country as a provider of oil. “Our dependency on Foreign Oil is certainly something that worries Atlasian politicians and specialists but since we depend on other countries to fuel part of our industries, it’s better to have a nation that respects Human Rights and has a consolidated Democracy” told one of the top advisers of Mr. Superique.

Another discussion that Superique had with the President was about cooperation on the scientific camp. “Brazilians can learn a lot in our universities and we are going to be more than happy to receive great minds in our land,” told the Chief Diplomat after the meeting.  President Dilma also declared in a press conference that she was looking forward to have joint research programs between Brazil and Atlasia. “On areas such as Space Industry, Information Technology, Green Industries and the Energy Sector, there’s a lot that both Atlasians and Brazilians can learn with each other.

Secretary of External Affairs visit Rio de Janeiro “Rocinha’s” Slum. “Things are approving but we need more Global Efforts to reduce poverty across the developing world”.

 

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
May 27th, 2014 - Tuesday

In his last event in Brazil, Secretary of External Affairs visited Rocinha Favela, a slum that has been occupied and stabilized by the carioca police forces since 2011. The statesman visited shops, played football with some kids and even hugged some ladies that appeared during the visit to meet what they called “an important man”. As a Brazilian-born Atlasian Citizen, Superique told in Portuguese that he “was at home and that (he) loved this warm welcoming that all carioca’s have”.  

The head of Atlasian Diplomacy, while talking with a journalist from Rio de Janeiro’s newspaper “O Globo”, pointed that poverty in Brazil has been significantly decreasing thanks to the wonderful work of former Presidents FHC and Lula as well as President Dilma’s efforts. “Inflation Control with FHC’s Real Plan and a boost on family consumption due to the Workers Party “Bolsa Família” were crucial to reduce poverty across Brazil but there’s still a lot to be done.” The man argued that some of the matters were up to the Brazilian Government, citing Education, Healthcare and other basic services, but he also was quote saying “that there’s part of it that’s up to the international community”.

In a more informal conversation, the statesman told reporters “the world community can bring smart and creative solutions for issues such as social fairness, higher equality, greater standards of living and better environments for our future generations”. He also mentioned that many of the UN Commissions could have a higher role on fighting against poverty, not only in Brazil but also in many other countries. Before leaving, however, Superique had time to listen to the concerns of many Brazilian citizens, which were basically centered on the report of human rights abuse during favela police operations. “The security of our cities are crucial but there must be as well higher concerns over Human Rights respect and about the very democratic rights of those communities” said the SoEA in a hint of collaboration and concern over the poor civilians of Rio.

[Sec. of State Superique]

Official Visit to Uruguay

Secretary of External Affairs meets with President Mujica, congratulates for his Marijuana legalization initiative.

Montevideo proximities, Uruguay.
28th of March 2014.

It has been a few years since Atlasia started with a huge package of drug legalization and decriminalization but the results are more than noticeable. Crime rates falling, a good chunk of money coming from marijuana taxation and a much better control of drug quality are just one of the few positive aspects of the current policies over Drug.  The clever initiatives of Atlasia inspired many nations of the world and provided a boost for all pro-Legalization movements across the globe and now Uruguay joins in this list of countries with its own model.

“There are serious differences between the Uruguayan and the Atlasian policies,” told one specialist on drug legalization, “Uruguay is treating the issue in a more paternalistic way, trying to impose limits of consumption and having state-owned companies controlling the matter. While Atlasia is more concerned of leaving the society decide in a more autonomous way about Drugs. Nonetheless, both follow a very similar strategy of damage control and both are showing newer and better ways of dealing with drugs rather than just keeping up with a stupid war.”

Before the meeting, President Mujica was found saying “It’s always good that we can have partners about this difficult task of controlling drug usage and rethink the issue of drugs”.  Superique arrived in Mujica’s farm and talked with him about a series of issues but gave special attention to a more globalized effort of legalization. “Marijuana resources are a great part of the illegal Narcotic markets and they finance a good part of the violence. It’s time to deal about that matter in a better way” told the Chief Atlasian Diplomat to a large group of reporters that were waiting around the Uruguayan President’s residence.  Both statesman also talked about research and science and agreed that it would be good to facilitate research over Marijuana and other psychotropic substances. 

The leaders have a warm conversation and even joked with each other. At the end of the meeting, both Mujica and Superique smoked Cuban cigars -  “a gift from Fidel” said the Uruguayan. In the end, they hugged themselves and told he was more than happy to meet with such a simple and pragmatic man and told reporters “Latin America would be a better place if their politicians were more like Mujica”.

The America Philharmonic – A Tour in the Continent

The project will be inspired on Brazilian Project “Projeto Aquarius”, that brings Classical Music to all social level.

Montevideo, Uruguay.
29th of March 2014.

Secretary of External Affairs of Atlasia announced a megalomaniac plan to join the best musicians from America in a special and temporary Philharmonic to tour the whole continent. “Classical Music is one the greatest genres of Humanity. It’s time to bring it to all the places of the continent” said Superique in a meeting with the Uruguayan Concertmaster Daniel Lasca.

“Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Bach, Yohan Strauss, all those great masters are part of our routine but we cannot even recognize them. It’s time to bring Classical Music to all social levels and inspire people over this wonderful activity, that is to play, understand and listen to high quality music” writes Lasca on the Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra webpage.

The project would involve basically private funding and the many Philharmonics that participate on this joint mission would help as well with financial resources. The shows are expected to be mostly free or very low cost. There are also expectations that the events would involve mixed participations offered a mix of pop, classic and modern music. Superique mentioned that Rick Wakeman, Philip Glass and other important musicians would be invited to take part in the events and show that Classical Music can live along more newly created music. “I’m very excited about the event and I hope that everything goes well”.

[Sec. of State Superique]

After Peres political blessing, Nobel Laureaute Dan Shechtman is elected by the Knesset to a largely cerimonial role as President of the State of Israel.

Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), Israel.
10th of June, 2014.

It all came as a surprise when, at the beginning of the year, Mr. Shechtman announced that he was running for the Israeli Presidency. But, after the credibility of a series of left-wing candidates were put in doubt, such as Mr. Ben Eliezer (Corruption) and Mr. Meir Sheetrit (Personal Finances), it seemed that Herzog’s Labor Movement Party was forced to support an independent candidate to beat other candidates.  In a few months, Dan Shechtman, a man apart from the current political scenario of Israel, skyrocketed along Knesset rankings.

The election of Dan Shechtman represents probably a new era for Israel. It seems that Israeli Politics is moving over from the Israel-Palestine issue and focusing more on the domestic issues, which were the focus of the interviews and speeches of Mr. Shechtman. Tired of the old and usually corrupt politicians, there is a strong movement in Israel to moralize public institutions and Shechtman’s bid is largely a signal of this general feeling across Israel. Public Polls showed that 47% of Israelis supported Mr. Shechtman while just 25% supported Reuven Rivlin, who, although not usually associated with Israeli political establishment, was Speaker of the Knesset for 4 years and has been in public life since 1988.

Almost every single Israeli wanted Shimon Peres to stay as President of Israel, but being more than 90 years old; it was time for the old statesman to retire. Nonetheless, Israel’s Chief of State took part on the selection process and showed his public support to Mr. Shechtman a few days before the election. The fortune was following Shechtman’s path, the other leftist candidates had their candidacies self-destructed, Ben-Eliezer was accused weeks before the Knesset voting due of taking part in a corruption scandal while Meir Sheetrit gave up of his campaign due to doubts about his own wealth and tax returns.

On the right wing camp, a candidate that emerged from a more radical right-winger faction of Netanyahu’s Likud, Mr. Reuven Rivlin was able to unite more extremist Zionists along his bid.  Although saying that he would not oppose the agreements made by Abbas and Herzog in Camp David and that he would fulfill the democratic decision of its own people, Rivlin admitted that he had an emotional bond to a Greater Israel, which lead to a support from a varied right-wingers group, from some members of Likud to the more radical parties of Bayit Yehudi and Yisrael Beitenu.

During the election process, Shechtman narrowly clinched the first place in the first round with 45 votes, while Likud’s Reuven Rivlin got 44 votes, Kadima’s Dalia Itzik got 22 votes and Independent Dalia Dorner got 8 votes. In the second round, following an arrangement with the Haredi MKs, which in the first time on their history were able to vote freely in a Presidential Election, Dan was able to be selected with 62 to 54 votes against Rivlin, there were 3 abstentions and one MK was overseas.

[Simfan34]

BBC News- Iraq military head appointed PM

The head of Iraq's military, General Babakir Zebari, has been appointed Acting Prime Minister following the sudden dismissal of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki earlier today.

The announcement came from the office of President Jalal Talabani, in the form of a brief missive declaring that Zebari had been appointed to form a "government of national unity" in "consideration of the present situation".

Several units of troops were seen moving around central Baghdad Friday evening before the announcement was made.

In a televised address, broadcast around midnight Baghdad time, General Zebari vowed to restore order to the country and to "beat back the terrorist elements that threaten our unity", a clear reference to the Islamist insurgents of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

However, General Zebari denied his appointment was the result of a military coup. It is not clear whether or not Iraq's constitution allows for the President to unilaterally dismiss the Prime Minister.

The announcement came as the militants widened their grip in the north and east, and threatened to march south, towards Baghdad.

The UN says hundreds have been killed - with militants carrying out summary executions of civilians in Mosul.

President Duke has said Atlasia is reviewing its options over Iraq.

Iran has also promised to help the fight against the insurgency.

The insurgents have threatened to push towards the capital and other regions dominated by Iraq's Shia Muslim majority, whom they regard as "infidels".

General Zebari, a Kurdish Sunni, has served as the commanding general and Chief of Staff of Iraq's Joint Forces since 2003. Prior to that, he fought with the Kurdish Peshmerga rebels in opposition to Saddam Hussein's regime.

Zebari served briefly in the armed forces of the Baathist regime, but deserted in 1973 after atrocities were committed against Kurds.

General Zebari will have to restore confidence in the country's armed forces and attempt to organise the various sectarian militias opposing the insurgents- Shia, Sunni, and Kurd- into a coherent fighting force.

[Simfan34]

MOSUL HUMVEES LAND IN HASAKA

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://syriadirect.org/main/37-videos/1437-mosul-humvees-land-in-hasaka

[Sec. of State Superique]

Atlasia prepares to emergency action: “This is our first strike against ISIS. Drones are going to be sent to Iraq immediately”.

Nyman, D.C.
14th of June, 2014.

Pentagon’s chief representative and four-star General Mosley Urquhart announced to the press that twenty Predator drones were going to be sent to Iraq in a period of 2 weeks (the first ten will be there just in a week) and that military technicians were expected to travel along with these machines in order to help Iraqis operate with those technologies. The General also announced that ten Sentinel drones were already being sent to Iraq in order to help its government map the region under ISIS control.

During the event that happened in the Pentagon, protests of pacifists groups were happening and the activists were calling Atlasia not to intervene the region. “It’s none of Atlasian business to interfere in Iraq, we shall let its own people decide their own paths” shouted one protester while other said “It’s funny, our President and our SoEA talks a lot about Human Rights and Peace and now they want to go back to Iraq. Seriously? That’s certainly a foreign policy backlash of this Administration”. A representative of Duke’s government also arrived in the place and before trying to talk with the protesters told to reporters “Duke and Superique don’t want to see war, but, if we don’t do nothing, Iraq will be under ISIS control in a few months”.

[Simfan34]

Months? Is that correct? Because you have a line saying "Iraq will be under ISIS control in a few weeks”

[Sec. of State Superique]

Months? Is that correct? Because you have a line saying "Iraq will be under ISIS control in a few weeks”

Sorry... Hehehe Going over like Stalin and changing some wrong information. The International Tribune apologize for that mistakes.

[Sec. of State Superique]

SoEA Superique flies to Nyman and have a meeting with President Duke. “No option is ruled out”.

Nyman, D.C.
14th of June, 2014.

After greater developments of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) insurgency over Iraq, the Secretary of External Affairs Superique decided to fly to Nyman in order to have a significantly important meeting with President Duke.  Hours ago, the State Department announced that it was already in contact with the Iraqi Government many months ago but that they weren’t able to predict that the insurgency would grow so rapidly. Furthermore, it was also announced that the Atlasian Government has been providing the Iraqi Security Forces with satellite photographs and all digital information that they could get of the ISIS.

“It really worries us, “ told SoEA Superique “but I guess that this is mainly the result of years of letting Iraq follow its own path without even having some sort of more elaborated collaboration”. Despite criticizing the path, the SoEA also made a mea culpa “I mean, the past Administrations certainly have a main responsibility over the Iraqi issue but we should have been more sensible to the insurgencies in Iraq.”. He also told to reporters that it was shown once more that following a very strict isolationism would not help to bring peace across the globe.

The Secretary of External Affairs stated that more cooperation would come to Iraq but argued that it doesn’t want to take over the country just because of this crisis. A top adviser of the Pentagon told that he was surprised with the action of the Iraqi President on taking out Maliki of its charge and that Atlasian Security officers feared that Iran may not be very keen to help with the new President. Nonetheless, Superique announced to the press that Atlasia recognizes the current Prime Minister of Iraq, General Zebari, but stressed the importance of forming a real unity government with all cultural groups of Iraq. “Iraq has a Shia Majority, so it’s crucial and extremely important that Zebari, as a Sunni Kurd, put those people on his government to make it really represent Iraqi society.” Atlasia’s Chief Diplomat also said that he was extremely hopeful of seeing Iranian Cooperation.

[Sec. of State Superique]

Duke and Superique unveils their Plan in Iraq.

Nyman, D.C.
June 15th, 2014. (The decision was taken yesterday)

The President of Atlasia, Mr. Duke, and the Secretary of External Affairs, Superique, announced today in a joint address their plan to deal with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to help the Iraqi Government suppress the current insurgency that is happening on the northern party of the country and that is gradually arriving to Baghdad. Superique told reporters that this plan would "help Prime Minister Zarebi on his fight against terrorism and it will allow the Iraqi People to look to a more peaceful future to their land.”

The plan includes aerial support, drone attacks and intelligence collaboration, which will give support to the Iraqi Armed Forces operations and enhance their combat against the insurgents.  The White House announced that it want to see a bill of legislation about this project being made as quick as possible in the Senate and released the details of the operation, which are the following:

-The 20 Predator Drones and the 10 Sentinel Drones are going to have their delivery speeded up and may arrive in Iraq in 5 days.
-AS President Purple State (CVN-77) aircraft is heading towards the Persian Gulf immediately.
-More than 100 CIA technicians and agents are moving to Iraq in order to help the Iraqi Armed Forces with the drones and with war strategy.
- $200 million being considered for humanitarian (70 mi) and military (130 mi) to the Iraqi Government and 50 million dollars worth of direct delivery of Atlasian Military armament to the Iraqi Armed Forces.
 
Prime Minister Babakir Zebari, in an official address in Baghdad, said that he was pleased with the news coming from Nyman but told the press that he was willing to see a return of “Atlasian Forces in the country”. The Iraq’s Chief of Government told that the Armed Forces were still in need of better training and that some sort of residual troops ought to have stayed in Iraq to deal with those sorts of insurgencies that are happening today. As a response, President Duke told reporters “the White House is confident that the Iraqi Government can deal with the insurgencies without our ground support”. Superique also commented about Zebari demands saying “we don’t believe that ground troops are necessary but we can study its necessity if our actions are not sufficient to help them ”.

Foreign Visits

Following the announcement, the Department of External Affairs said that Superique is going to visit both Turkey and Saudi Arabia this week due to a series of concerns about the current Iraqi Situation. Specialists argue that Turkey can be an ally when it comes to the Iraqi Hostages and that it could help the people of Iraq with Humanitarian support.  On the Saudi Arabia visit, however, the explanation was not that positive; the former Prime Minister of Iraq Al-Maliki has been accusing that many fragments of the Saudi Elite are supporting terrorist and radical Sunni political factions.

Another meeting that is being considered is a meeting on a neutral place, like Germany, where Mr. Superique shall meet with Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Javad Zarif. Atlasia is willing to cooperate with Iran on this particular issue and it was said that the Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was particularly concerned with the bloodshed that is happening on Iraq. The DoEA announced on its official website that both leaders, Mr. Hassam Rouhani and Mr. Duke, “were willing to put differences aside in order to deal with the current situation.”

Secretary of External Affairs, Superique, phones Iranian President Rouhani

President Rouhani told to his national press that he is willing to fight terrorism and started already to take ground action in Iraq with the support of its government. The measures came with no surprise as the Iranian Government has been a strong partner of Iraq during the recent years and, since the Syrian Civil War, it has been concerned with the developments in Iraq and with the security effects that the Iraqi Insurgency can have to the region’s geopolitical balance and peace.  As the British Newspaper “The Guardian” unveils, more than 2.000 Iranian advance troops entered in the country, this action was allowed by previous PM Al-Maliki but Zebari told the International Tribune that he also decided to support the measure.

The Iraqi Government is planning attacks to regions such as Mosul, Samarra and other cities that were recently taken over by the ISIS and it’s trying to gain popular support to those actions. A specialist said to the International Tribune that Zebari is willing to make the Sunni support the actions and is trying to put the Shiite Militias (that are growing) under the control of the Iraqi Armed Forces in order to prevent them from becoming agents of more sectarianism. After the announcement with President Duke and heading to take a flight to Istanbul, the Secretary of External Affairs said that he was confident of the action that they were taking and that he hoped that a solution to the Iraqi Crisis could come as soon as possible.