Stopping the Pebble Halfway

[Arkiania]

Bukovina, Saratov
Septem 1598

With the announcement by West Brigidna of a Brigidnan economic alliance. The Saratov government saw this as a threat to the economic integrity of Marzanna. Two years prior, Saratov had engaged in negotiations of a "Marzannan Free Trade Commission" with Mordvania which sought to promote Marzannan business across the world and integrate the economies of central Marzanna. The negotiations eventually ended up breaking down after a political crisis rocked Saratov. The Saratovan government saw this as an opportunity the repair the old wounds still left unhealed by the USR, and release itself from Severyan influence. The messages were delivered to the nations originally intended for the Free Trade Commission; Mordvania, Nenstia, Biyra, Valisfoldek, Videjszeme, as well as Harmajaa, Ceribia, and Karjelinn.

The starting subject was a Customs union to serve as the starting point towards further economic integration.

[Flo]

Tyko, Harmajaa

The Minister of Economy for the Saamo Socialist Republic, Ábel Komini sighed as he read the cable. "Another one?"

"Indeed. This one is from Saratov."

"I can see that." Komini had just arrived in Tyko from Sappa, the northernmost major city in the republic. The train ride had been quiet, and he had taken the time to consider the original proposal from the West Brigidnans. Then, upon arrival and before he had even had a chance to meet with the other Ministers, another cable arrived, this time from Saratov, essentially offering something similar though on a more regional level.

Komini reread the cable. "Has the rest of the government seen this yet?"

"Much of leadership has, yes. From my understanding, they are at least interested in listening."

"Yes, that much makes sense. It would be rude to refuse the invitation, even if it is a bit strange. Regardless, our government needs a seat at that table, even if it is competing with another offer."

"Severyane was not included."

"Indeed they were not. We will need to ask them about that. It's nearly 1600. The time for grudges and petty behavior is long past. Tell the other Ministers I am ready to meet this afternoon. We need to discuss these two and come to a decision. We will surely send a delegation to both."

"Yes, Minister."

[Arkiania]

Bukovina, Saratov
Septem 1598

After intense deliberation by the cabinet, the President and his cabinet fearful of the negotiations breaking down before negotiations begins, cave to pressure from the invited nations to include Severyane. However the decision would prove to be controversial in the party as a large minority still held grudges against Severyane originating from almost 80 years ago, among other concerns that Severyane would ultimately hold power and the planned proposals for harmonization of worker protections and democratic requirements be rendered moot. The message was sent to the Severyan government relatively similar to the original message sent to the other invitees.

[Seperallis]

Nereta, Videjszeme

Such a dark dismal day of endless mists drifting down from blankets upon quilts upon sheets of clouds. A day of air so thick and moist that those gathered beneath streetside awnings and overhands still felt the sticky grasp settle within their clothes hair, where one could grab fistfulls of dew, and footfalls splashed as much from they did from their wake in the atmosphere. A day that deserved the comforts of a warm drink and a crackling fire.

Viktors Petrovskis had neither in his study. Well, maybe a little something to warm the belly and soften the dryness of his reading as he poured over the recent report on the state the disparity between his agrarian countryside and the high-tech fast-life of the cities, a relatively recent development since the boom of foreign IT outsourcing to the country. Mordvanian investment - among others - had been a driving force in the surging buildup of new economic avenues, but the somewhat rapid development and import of educated cosmopolitan labor to meet it had caused its own host of problems that the knock on the door made it really hard to keep straight in his head, god damn it.

"Come in," the man heaved with a sigh, sitting back in his chair and placing his glasses upon the papers to rest his eyes; despite the clock reading midday, by the light outside it might as well be dusk.

The door cracked open, and in peeked a hand sliding upon the frame as a body followed in via head-first lean through its narrow invitation. The girl - it was clearly a girl now, Viktors' eldest - glanced left and right to confirm no one else was in the room while curly brown tresses bobbed along, an act that took not even a second in an answerless cadence that nevertheless felt itself drag itself, like this sentence, far beyond the bounds of pointlessness.

"My apologies, Mister Stanonik is here for you."

Still in the doorway, a hand appeared on her shoulder and another around the door to wedge both gently into the room, and in the place stood the long figure of Simo Stanonik, prime minister, blond eyebrows hinting at what an unfortunate bout of baldness had seen him lose some decade before. "Thank you Miss, but that is completely unnecessary-"

"I insist that it is, he is a very busy man, and we can't have anyone come in here."

"He's Simo, dear, hardly just 'anyone,'" Viktors stated with a sip of his glass and a smile, "but I appreciate your concern. Shouldn't you work on your oratories?"

"I already finished them," chimed the girl in an air of triumph, and grew three inches taller at the revelation."

"Is that so?" replied Viktors. "All the better then, let's have you continue your work, and keep anyone from interrupting me and Mister Stanonik."

The girl happily complied, almost skipping out the room and doubling back to close the door behind her. Both men watched her leave before Simo began, not waiting for an introduction, "I won't be taking much of your time, I simply came to inform you of an invitation by Saratov to a 'Marzannan free trade' negotiation."

"Again?" Viktors shrugged and shook his head, "well maybe this time it'll actually start. But you know you don't need my input anymore?"

"I do, but I still want it. This is something of a topic on which I'd rather we had some unified front while addressing."

Victor leaned back and took another sip of his cup. "Then we will be unified, Mr. Prime Minister, and as my input is that your input shall be heeded, what is your input?"

"That we go, see what others say, say some things ourselves and see what comes of it."
"Then that is what we will do."
"But what is your opinion of it?"
"What matters what my opinion is anymore?"
"What matters is it matters to me," said Simo, who slowly approached the desk, "I don't trust the Brigidnan affair that is brewing, yet I feel that it's long past time that we tried to bolster our negotiating power in the world. It's unfortunate, and there will be consequences, but we will deal with them. But we'll have to be at the meeting to make something favorable to us."

Viktors nodded along up to the end. "And I disagree; the Brigidnan plan would benefit us more precisely because less is likely to come of it, whereas this Saratov plan is likely to succeed, and do you think they care about outcomes that benefit Videjszeme?"

"We weren't invited to Brigidna."
"Yet another reason why my opinion doesn't matter. Go to this meeting, let's see what we can get out of it."
"Mm." Simo motioned to the papers on the desk, the report Viktors had been reading some moments prior. "I see you are already somewhat aware, but there is another matter I wanted to discuss, as well..."

[Hadash]

Slovograd, Republic of Mordvania

"One feels this late proposal is more a sudden response to the conference in West Brigidna than rather a thoughtful push which may lack the required will and preparation for a successful process. I can't see how this is supposed to end different that the previous time, rather the contrary", Borislav Zahovek said.

"Well, we won't lose anything trying again", Agnieszka Szczepanska replied.

"Indeed", Zahovek said. "The proposal seems more ambitious than the last one that failed, but that's not usually a reason to be optimist. But at least it may give us some room to change the agenda at home, even it leads to nowhere again".

It was not the first time that Zahovek showed in private his restrained frustation about how the events in the last months had increased the workload and waste increasingly time for his ministry, a situation he had not expected. A former ambassador to Severyane, Zahovek had left the diplomatic career to become Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs when Zdravka Magajna became President of the Republican Council in 1596, replacing Eha Grahek-Ternehetär as Foreign Minister two years later. Increasing cooperation with Saratov became the top priority when he joined the government but he couldn't help to see that as the first negotiations derailed following a constitutional crisis in Saratov, this new proposal came precisely when he was facing a not that serious but still irritating mishaps at home.

"What do you make that the Nentsians were included in the negotiations this time, however?", Szczepanska asked.

"While they were explicitly left out of the early negotiations", Zahovek replied, "the former Saratovian administration had a clear view that they should be eventually offer to join the block, for both economic and political reasons, so it is not exactly a surprise".

"In any case", Zahovek continued, "as difficult it is to find an agreement between so many countries, it will easier to put the blame on others".

[Nentsia]

Mstsislavsk, Nentsia

I hereby forward you a copy of a document circulated among Nentsian government officials, which has been leaked to the Mordvanian intelligence by a high-placed mole inside the Nentsian government.



[MEMORANDUM: POSSIBLE IDEAS FOR THE MARZANNAN FREE TRADE AREA

The Saratovans have bowed to the pressure of the Nentsian government to allow Severyane to participate in this conference. This shows the success of our chosen foreign policy, and we should continue to push it further. The Marzannan summit is an opportunity for a propaganda victory, and could even turn out much more favourable to us than initially expected.

Our position remains unchanged: we must secure increased access to Saratovan markets, and strengthen our diplomatic ties to Severyane. The main threat remains Mordvania. They will likely seek to demand concessions from us in return for any economic benefits, particularly in areas that would weaken the government's position and the stability in the country.

We must pre-emptively respond to these subversive plans of our Main Adversary. The Mordvanian special services, propaganda and militarists are working day and night to overthrow the Nentsian government and colonize Nentsia as a market for their own interests.

We have been thinking about plans and measures to counter this threat.

- We should propose that Nentsia will not enter any treaty or agreement with Mordvania until Mordvania ceases its psychological warfare operations against our country by shutting down the Nentsian language channels of MTV

- We propose before Marzanna a collective non-aggression treaty that guarantees the sovereignty of all signatories, the inviolability of their borders, and in which all signatories pledge to refrain from military aggression against eachother. This will likely draw support from Saratov whose paranoia of Severyane is without limits. Severyane might be less interested in this, but perhaps we can pursuade them to back it up because it is our proposal. We must insist Mordvania to sign it.

- We could propose economic cooperation in areas where it concerns military industry. This way its easier for Nentsia to access Mordvanian military technology.

- The Mordvanians are going to launch proposals that are designed to make our country look bad. Nentsian intelligence services have been instructed to develop disinformation to be unleashed in response to any future attempts of the Mordvanians. Particularly in the realm of 'human rights', 'corruption', and 'free elections', we are developing counter-narratives and evidence to back it up to weaken the Mordvanian claims. It would be regarded a success if the international public opinion thinks the issue of 'human rights' is one of political debate, where stances depend on partisanship.

More preparation is required for the conference. We will keep you updated.

Signed,


Uladzimir Statkevich
Chief of Presidential Administration

END OF MEMO]

[Severyane]

Severograd, Severyane

---

Ignati put his cigarette out in the ash-tray and took another quick glance at the tablet computer in front of him. He sniffled and looked up at Pyotr, sat low in his swivel chair across the table from him. He put the tablet back on the table and let out a deep sigh as he ran his hands through his thinning hair. So many little fires to deal with... so little time he thought. Pyotr leaned forward as if perceiving Ignati's thoughts.

"Mr. Secretary, we could still ignore this. Our delegation is already attending the conference in the West Brigidnan Union. The Saratovans are bitter folk, and though they have extended this olive branch it is not likely that they will take our presence at this conference very well."

Ignati leaned forward as well, his elbows on the table and his fingers interlaced, he stared directly into Pyotr's eyes. "Under-Secretary Litvinov, do you know what the Consul and the Prime Minister's foreign policy agenda is?"

Pyotr scrunched up his face, as he so often did when he was confused. "Yes..."

"Do you truly? Because I think that if you actually knew, you would know that we cannot refuse this invitation. Letting this petty free-trade commission set up in our own backyard, free of Severyanian influences, would make us look weak. The Carpathians, the Mordvanians, the HLE... all of our opponents on the world stage, they would all see it as a failure to keep our own domain straight. No... we must attend this conference. Send an attache to represent our interests. Our best diplomat, and a team specializing in Brigidnan politics and International Law to support him."

Pyotr stood up quietly and gave Ignati a nod. "Of course Mr. Secretary, I'll see to it at once."

[Arkiania]

After all of the needed nations accepted the invitations the place of meeting and date was set. The delegations of Severyane, Mordvania, Nenstia, Saamo S.R, Videjszeme, and Saratov were to meet at the former Imperial Residence in Bukovina on the 1st of Vintyr, 1598. The residence was still owned by the former imperial family even as they were overthrown from power by Perovist Revolutionaries. Over the course of time it had been restored and renovated to meet modern standard. The family generously gave permission to hold the talks at the residence. On the table, the Saratov Delegation is to introduce the idea of custom unions to start with, but also to increase and unify labor standards across all member states. Those in the Saratovan Government which had supported the talks held doubts about whether the talks would be successful with many of the nations also in talks with the West Brigidnan Union. Still, for the President, his cabinet, and party it had been too late to back out now.

[Arkiania]

1st of Vintyr, 1598
Imperial Residence
Bukovina, Saratov

Following days of ceremonies, and dining. The day of the talks were here, Saratov security details were littered across the areas surrounding the residence. The entrance was surrounded by media as the parties arrived. The main hall had been reorganized for the talks, with the table in the center. The parties were seated alphabetically with Saratov's Head Negotiator, Olesya Dvořák sat in the middle to start the negotiations.

"To start things off, I would like to welcome you all to Saratov. The purpose of this meeting as I am sure you all know is to improve cooperation between the people of Marzanna and unite towards a common goal of prosperity, and freedom throughout the region. The discussion of this meeting is to unify customs and eliminate travel restrictions, and to ease restrictions on trade. Afterwards, we are to move on to discussions about further cooperation. So to start we would like Videjszeme's
comments on the idea of a customs union."

[Seperallis]

Despite plans for Simo Stanonik to attend in person, arrangements had to change as issues at home demanded more attention. He was, however, able to arrange for his Foreign Minister, Rens Boka, to go in his place and attend along with ambassador Valta Balode. These two would not be the ones to speak and were merely to observe and understand the events, however, trusting to the small negotiating team in attendance to provide the facts.

One of them, a Mr. Silvestris Vasils, began the meeting. "Ladies, gentlemen," he said, hands on his papers, "allow me to say, before we get to the important topic at hand, that I believe it is rather obvious to all present that should we fail to attain any agreement on any area and leave this meeting with no consensus to act, then each of our homes shall be worse for it. We are all well aware of the West Brigidna trade meetings taking place, and should those talks succeed than any one nation here, falling outside that deal, will be at a weaker bargaining position internationally in virtually all respects."

"We should make very clear that by no means does this meeting or any future agreement seek to create odds or adversaries between either two prospective blocs, and that entry into this agreement should not preclude entry to the other. The focus of our meeting , and any agreement, should seek only to benefit the stability and prosperity of our national neighborhood, regardless of the whims of far-flung actors."

Pausing to let the words process and any interpreters to get caught-up, he asked, "Can that, perhaps, be our first agreement for this meeting? Because if West Brigidna remains on our minds, as it no doubt is now, then I fear we may all simply be wasting each other's time."