Austenasian state visit to Adammia

Wednesday 4th October saw Emperor Jonathan I and Empress Hannah represent Austenasia in a state visit to the Empire of Adammia, where they were hosted in the Adammic capital. The imperial couple were met by Emperor Adam I of Adammia in the British city of Wakefield, from where they were driven to the Adammic capital of Imperial City. Adam I was accompanied by his mother Emperor Mother Jayne and grandfather Lord Reginald Hall. Jonathan I and Empress Hannah were given a guided tour of Imperial City’s sites of historical and cultural interest before sharing a meal with the Adammians. Emperor Adam I gifted the Austenasian delegation with a signed copy of a history of Adammia, which will be placed in the Imperial Library of Austenasia. In return, Adam I was gifted handmade soaps patterned with the Adammic flag. The two Emperors used the meeting as an opportunity to sign the Charter of the Association of British Micronations (ABM), an organisation which will plan and promote diplomatic summits for small nations of British origin. The ABM will be governed by a board of trustee nations, which will have Austenasia and Adammia as permanent members alongside Lundenwic, as per agreement reached at a trilateral meeting in 2021. Wednesday’s state visit also saw Empress Hannah sign a treaty of mutual recognition with Adammia on behalf of her independent Principality of Wildflower Meadows. This makes Adammia the third nation – alongside Austenasia and the Grove – to have official diplomatic ties with the Principality.

Emperor chairs GUM summit in London

Yesterday saw an international summit organised by the Grand Unified Micronational (GUM) held in London, chaired by Emperor Jonathan I. The GUM, founded in 2009, is the oldest and largest international organisation for small unrecognised independence movements and “micronations”. The Emperor took office as Chair of the GUM on 6 September earlier this year – the fourth time he has held the position – after winning a snap election called after the resignation of the previous Chair following a chaotic time in the organisation. Jonathan I was elected on a platform of restoring order to the GUM – a task which it is fair to say has been achieved – as well as on several specific pledges, foremost of which was organising an in-person summit before his term ended with the New Year. The GUM ordinarily conducts its meetings – formal sessions of official business being called Quorums – online, and has only held two in-person summits in its history. The first took place in July 2012, immediately following the famous PoliNation summit in London. Representatives of several GUM member states were gathered in one place, and took the opportunity to hold a physical Quorum. The second was a less spontaneous affair, held in Birmingham in 2019, and was organised by Adam I, Emperor of Adammia, the then Chair. It had been proposed for the Birmingham summit to inaugurate a tradition of annual meetings, but this hope was dashed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With life now returning to normal, Jonathan I was able to organise yesterday’s summit, and chair the third in-person GUM Quorum. The summit was held at Grove Vale Library in East Dulwich, London. Four GUM member states were represented in person: Austenasia (by Jonathan I), Adammia (by Adam I), and also the Serene Beaconite Republic (by James Frisch) and Elmwycke (by Larry Martin). Also in attendance was Lord Mike Lewis, Prime Minister of Lundenwic, a nation which is no longer a GUM member but has been in the past and is interested in re-applying for membership. A higher turnout was expected, but some prospective attendees had to drop out, including the Emperor’s Vice-Chair, Newton von Uberquie. The minimum number of delegations required for a Quorum meeting to take place is eight; with only four member states present, a “hybrid” Quorum was held, with the summit meeting being livestreamed and delegations able to participate online. The formal Quorum meeting held during the summit addressed some routine votes on membership issues, and also discussed a possible replacement for Diplomabear (a toy animal posted between different countries on a “diplomatic tour”) and campaigning regulations for future GUM elections. The summit also saw two presentations, one on early Adammic history and its legacy, and one on the flag of Elmwycke. Emperor Jonathan I is the only person to have been present at all three in-person Quorums, and Adam I and Lord Lewis the only other two people to have been present at more than one.

Relations established with Lundenwic at London meeting

A treaty was signed yesterday establishing mutual recognition and formal relations between Austenasia and Lundenwic at a multilateral meeting in central London. Emperor Jonathan I met Lord Mike Lewis, Prime Minister of Lundenwic, as well as Emperor Adam I of Adammia. Adam I is also currently serving as Acting President of New Virginia after last month’s failed coup in said nation. The three national leaders met at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, gradually making their way to Kensington over the course of the afternoon. Lundenwic was founded in December 2013, and has a population of fifteen. Its land claims are bordered by south-west London. Despite only entering into formal diplomatic relations yesterday, Austenasia has held informal friendly relations with Lundenwic for some time. Lord Lewis visited Wrythe as a tourist in December 2016, took part in Austenasia’s tenth anniversary celebrations along with Grand Duke Julian of Lundenwic in September 2018, and joined both emperors at the June 2019 GUM Birmingham Summit. Over the course of yesterday’s meeting, Austenasia, Adammia and Lundenwic all agreed in principle to the creation of an organisation to promote the interests of small nations and unrecognised independence movements in the British Isles. This idea was put forward by Austenasian Prime Minister Lord John Gordon in November last year, and its promotion made a priority of the Austenasian Foreign Office. More details of the prospective organisation will be forthcoming as discussions progress. The location of Speaker’s Corner was chosen to commemorate the tenth anniversary – off by only ten days – of the 2011 Intermicronational Summit. This summit, which likewise had Speaker’s Corner as its initial meeting place, saw fourteen politicians and diplomats gather for the first multilateral in-person meeting of members of the “MicroWiki community”.

GUM Summit held at Birmingham

Yesterday saw the first international summit organised by the Grand Unified Micronational (GUM) held at Birmingham. With twelve attendees representing eight GUM member states and Westarctica, the summit was the largest held in the United Kingdom for small nations since PoliNation 2012, seven years ago. Organised by outgoing GUM Chairman Adam I of Adammia, the summit was held in the Guild Council Chamber of the University of Birmingham, the university at which Adam I is currently studying. Adam I was joined by Lady Hermione Peace, his Minister of National Development. Austenasia was represented by Emperor Jonathan I. The summit was, naturally, chaired by Adam I as Chairman, assisted by Jonathan I, who was as Associate Justice and Archivist the next-highest ranking GUM official in attendance. Other attendees were Lord Mike Lewis of Lundenwic, and two diplomatic representatives of Westarctica. Also in attendance were five officials from the micronation of Essexia, three of whom each also represented another GUM member state (Gradonia, Aspen, and Quebec resepectively). The summit saw presentations by attendees, as well as open discussions on law enforcement, international organisations, and economics The summit was also used as an occasion for the signing of the Edgbaston Convention, a treaty aiming to ensure higher standards of accuracy in regards to the sometimes vague or frivolous claims made in the community of small nations. As well as signing the Edgbaston Convention, Emperor Jonathan I also signed a treaty of mutual recognition with the State of Gradonia, courtesy of its Essexian representative. With so many national delegations gathered in one place, the opportunity was held to hold only the second in-person Quorum meeting of the GUM in history. The first had been held at the Tate Modern in July 2012, the day following PoliNation; Jonathan I is the only person to have been present at both. This in-person Quorum was primarily a ceremonial event, but did vote to refuse one membership application and to expel an unprofessional observer state. The summit ended with the playing of national anthems. It is hoped that a similar summit will be held next year.

Austenasia, Flandrensis and GUM sign convention condemning falsehoods and sockpuppeting

Several small nations and independence movements yesterday signed the Wrythe Convention, a treaty denouncing and condemning falsehoods and intentional deception within the community of small nations. The Convention was signed yesterday at a gathering at the Imperial Residence in celebration of Austenasia’s tenth Independence Day. A link to the text of the Wrythe Convention can be found here. The treaty condemns sockpuppeting, identity theft, false claims and deceptive exaggerations, practices which have unfortunately become common within the micronational community over the past few years, with many entities making fictional claims in an attempt to boost their esteem. One individual in particular engaged in all of the said practices, James Klaassen-White and his “Kingdom of Catan”, is specifically singled out and condemned by the Convention as having “not had the decency to cease such behaviour after it has been exposed”. Klaassen-White is well-known in the micronational community for his absurd claims and hostile behaviour to those who question them, having infamously claimed to have gained recognition from the UK and USA via photoshopped letters, spent £30 million on a navy, and creating a fake social media account with stock photos which he later “killed off” by falsely claiming it to have been a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. The Wrythe Convention’s first four signatures were made by representatives of Austenasia, Adammia, Flandrensis, and the GUM (the Chairman of the latter signing on behalf of the organisation of 22 members). Adammia has aided in the fight against online deception by Catan before, having previously informed a person claimed by Klassen-White to have been Catan’s “Prime Minister” that the latter had stolen his name and photographs from social media, much to the surprise of the individual involved, who of course had no knowledge of Klassen-White’s claims. The Wrythe Convention was also signed by Wildflower Meadows, as well as Lundenwic and Sakasaria. The treaty has been left open for signature, and those who have signed encourage other nations to do so as well.

Independence Day party held at Imperial Residence

A celebration attended by various dignitaries was held yesterday at the Imperial Residence in celebration of Austenasia’s tenth Independence Day. The party, hosted by Emperor Jonathan I and his parents, was attended by Princess Hannah of Wildflower Meadows, Adam I of Adammia, Lord John Gordon of Palasia, the two leaders of Lundenwic (a nation with which Austenasia does not currently have diplomatic relations but is in the process of negotiating), and Lord Michael and Dame Rosalind (uncle and aunt of the Emperor). For most of the guests, it was their first time meeting each other in person, and so plenty of friendly discussion was able to be had. Various parlour games were also played towards the end of the evening. Several of the guests took the opportunity to sign the Wrythe Convention, an international treaty condemning falsehoods, deception and sockpuppeting within the community of small nations. The very first physical Austenasian flag to be made was hung up in Parliament Hall, having been taken out of storage for the occasion. Each attendee received a complimentary commemorative coin, and several guests were also granted peerages and knighthoods by the Emperor.