Helinium annexed as new Town

Yesterday saw the small polity of Helinium annexed as a new Austenasian Town. Helinium, which is bordered by the Netherlands, was a part of New Virginia from November 2020 until July 2021, when it became independent during the attempted coup of that month. Since then, it has existed as a tiny independent city-state. The past week saw negotiations for Helinium to join Austenasia, culminating in annexation legislation being proposed to and passed by Parliament on Saturday 14th. Bradley of Dullahan – the newly elected King of the Romans – has been appointed Acting Representative of Helinium, to serve until a local election is held on 5 June. The Duke of Dullahan does not live in Helinium, but does live within the requisite twenty five miles from the Town to serve as its Representative. The new Town is home to his sister and her partner.

Fraternitas gifted to New Virginia as stability returns

Monday 1st November saw the Austenasian Territory of Fraternitas ceded to the Commonwealth of New Virginia. Following the chaotic events in New Virginia earlier this year (link to the Adammic Express), leaders of the failed 29th of July Movement coup led their own territories in secession from New Virginia. This left the Commonwealth without any land from the original Duchy of New Virginia which amicably seceded from Austenasia in February last year. Upon last year’s said secession, Fraternitas – an uninhabited area of one of the Towns which formed the newly independent Commonwealth – was retained by Austenasia at the suggestion of the now Lady Admiral Kennedy, as a sign of the common heritage and enduring friendship between Austenasia and New Virginia. However, earlier this year, far from functioning as a sign of friendship, Fraternitas was used to stoke tensions between the two nations. Sophia Albina, a New Virginian politician who also held Austenasian nationality, attempted in various falsehood-laden statements to persuade the New Virginian government to unilaterally claim Fraternitas from the Empire and declare Austenasia an “enemy” and “threat”. This led to her being convicted of treason and stripped of Austenasian nationality. Although the New Virginian government distanced itself from Albina’s words and actions, discomfort with her suggestion that Austenasian possession of Fraternitas was in some way a colonial occupation led to the Austenasian government seeking to arrange diplomatic talks with New Virginia to discuss the future of the territory. Before such talks could be held, however, the 29th of July Movement announced their seizure of power. This led to a low-point in Austenasian-New Virginian relations, with the alliance between the two nations being formally ended. With the coup having failed, New Virginia has slowly but surely been rebuilt. Adam I of Adammia became Acting President, and oversaw a return to political stability and the organisation of a new presidential election. This saw Sir Sertor Valentinus elected as New Virginia’s new President, inaugurated on 19 October in an online ceremony attended by both Jonathan I and new Prime Minister Lord William Wilson. However, with the departure of so many of the revolutionaries, New Virginia was described by many as having been left a “rump state”. The acquisition of Fraternitas by New Virginia would once more give it land that was part of the former Austenasian Duchy of the same name. With the consent of Lady Admiral Kennedy, the Emperor passed an Imperial Decree in October ceding Fraternitas to New Virginia effective as of 1 November. Eager for a return to friendly relations with the Commonwealth, the decree was quickly approved by the House of Representatives. The Emperor’s Imperial Decree stated the following: “We can think of no better way for Fraternitas to fulfil the meaning of its name than by serving as a gift made in good faith by the Empire to provide the Commonwealth of New Virginia with a physical connection to the original Austenasian Duchy of the same name. Our Imperial Majesty reiterates and reaffirms our will for peace and friendship with New Virginia, and our confidence in the legitimate elected government of the same moving forward from the events of the past several months.” Although the Empire and Commonwealth have their differences, it is hoped that this donation of territory will not only remove a prospective source of conflict and undermine Albina’s claims of Austenasian hostility, but cement a friendly and co-operative relationship between the two states moving forward into the future.

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”.

New Virginia balkanises after failed coup – Adammic Emperor becomes Acting President of rump Commonwealth

An article from the Adammic Express on recent events in New Virginia.

PM White: New Virginian government “not legally dissolved”

New Virginia’s elected Prime Minister, Sir Simon White, together with other leading New Virginians, have come out in explicit opposition to Thursday’s “29th of July Movement” revolution supported by President Brooklyn Kennedy. Prime Minister White released a statement yesterday afternoon New Virginia time, countersigned by Deputy Prime Minister James Frisch, Speaker of the House and First Ambassador James Stewart, Adam I in his capacity as President of the Senate, and local governor Lord William Wilson (who is titled as a ceremonial co-founder of the nation). In their announcement, they argued “that the Revolution is an unlawful insurrection, that the President has abused her emergency powers, and that Parliament and the government were not legally dissolved. We stand for the Constitution of the Commonwealth of New Virginia; we stand against the great peril the 29th of July Movement places the Commonwealth in. We will be releasing a comprehensive argument against the Revolution, ideally in a week or two; thereafter, an alternative path forward will be presented […] Long live the Commonwealth!” A “24th of July Movement” has therefore been formed, composed of the elected Prime Minister and other supporters of the constitution in opposition to the revolutionary “29th of July Movement” calling for its overthrow. President Kennedy responded by calling them “reactionaries”, a label which White rejected, and asked whether they planned to put down the revolution by force. The Prime Minister stated that the 24th of July Movement “isn’t a movement about stopping the Revolution by force” but “through good reasoning”, and that they “hope a rebuke will help you [i.e., Kennedy] to realize that you have not considered the voices of all New Virginians, only your narrow focus on those with socialist mindsets.” White further called for a constitutional convention to be called to resolve the crisis and its underlying causes.

Coup underway in New Virginia

Chaos erupted yesterday in the Commonwealth of New Virginia as President Kennedy suspended the constitution in response to a declaration of “revolution” before joining it herself. Events began when Elizabeth Lewis published a poster in the “Announcements” channel on the official New Virginian Discord server. Headed by a picture of Karl Marx, this poster called for an overthrow of the constitutional order, the “building of a socialist… state and party” and “the deportation of dangerous right wing figures”, before declaring “Long live the New Virginian revolution”. A second graphic was then posted calling for the removal of Bradley of Dullahan, the Leader of the Opposition. President Brooklyn Kennedy responded by assuming emergency powers, using the authority granted to her by the Constitution to suspend it “for the time being”, and announcing that all powers of state would be exercised by the Presidency until New Virginia could “return to a state of normalcy”. Under ten minutes later, Kennedy made a second announcement, declaring her support for the “29th of July Movement” revolution. Claiming that the New Virginian parliament was “rife with reactionaries, racists, and elitists”, she stated that the “time has come for these men to be purged”. The President went on to announce that all political parties were immediately dissolved, and power would be held by a Revolutionary Committee comprised of three people appointed and chaired by herself. Sir Simon White, the New Virginian Prime Minister, refused to support the 29th of July Movement, stating “I cannot in good conscience support this insurrection. To outlaw reactionary partisanship is indeed a noble policy, but the outlawing of conservatism in general is utterly repugnant to this nation.” It is furthermore being reported that Adam I of Adammia, who also serves as President of the Senate of New Virginia, has called on the Constitution to be immediately restored and for a general election to be called, criticising the committee for its lack of democratic mandate. Adammia has announced that it has suspended relations with New Virginia, and Wyvern has indicated that it does not recognise the Revolutionary Committee as the legitimate government of the country. In Austenasia, meanwhile, Cabinet met online to discuss the situation, and the following statement was co-authored by Emperor Jonathan I, Prime Minister Lord Gordon, and Deputy PM Lord Wilson: “A hand of friendship, as always, is extended to the New Virginian people, but we cannot recognise an illegitimate government. If the situation has not been resolved with respect to the democratic rights and representation of all New Virginians within the next 36 hours, we will consider the New Virginian government to have fallen and therefore be incapable of maintaining diplomatic relations.” Talks had been in the process of being arranged between Austenasian and New Virginian officials to discuss the way forward following the events of last month. However, following the news of the ongoing coup in New Virginia, the House of Representatives met and voted on a motion calling for the Empire to withdraw from the alliance it still formally held with New Virginia. Independently, eighteen minutes later, the Revolutionary Committee likewise voted to sever the alliance. Bradley von Dullahan later announced the unilateral secession of Helinium – the New Virginian claim governed by himself – from the Commonwealth, interpreting the rhetoric used by Kennedy and the other revolutionaries as thinly-veiled threats against his own position. Lord William Wilson, who also serves as a local governor in New Virginia, said the following: “This coup is of a blatantly authoritarian nature, with a small cabal of politically aligned individuals surrounding the President. They have suspended their constitution and legislature, threatened the exile of political opposition, and used rhetoric of death to ‘capitalists’ and ‘reactionaries’.” He also accused the revolutionaries of seeking to turn New Virginia into an “echo chamber”. Kennedy and Lewis have objected to this summary of events, stating they were “not just removing people for disagreeing with us”. They pointed out that von Dullahan left of his own accord – although Lewis later commented that he “left before he could be kicked [out]” – and argued that he could not technically be considered a political opponent of theirs as they both hold non-partisan offices. Bradley of Dullahan provided the following exclusive statement to the Times: “For a long time Brooke [Kennedy] and Elizabeth [Lewis] have been dissatisfied with the partisan politics that they enabled through the creation of the now abolished political system. It actually worked fine and was stable. A true multiparty system was developing slowly, with in my mind at least another party in the make. However, the government cabinet, as foolish as they were, schemed with the President to declare a fake emergency to amend the constitution. Now it has come to pass, they used some random offensive argument to push through their ideas and abolished the whole lot. Not at all what the Prime Minister had in mind. They enabled the President by feeding her ideas that this was a good idea, and then when she took it a step further they were shocked and angry. However, my disappointment with New Virginia doesn’t end there. The entire justification of this inside coup (all members were government officials, so no “people’s revolution” at all) was on the basis of my person. They do not mention me by name, but every accusation they give is directly relatable to a warped and sickening view that Elizabeth has of me, which the President of the Commonwealth has adopted and used for the declaration. Its inaccurate, misleading, and highly offensive. The President of the Commonwealth of New Virginia and all her cronies in the so-called commission for the salvation of New Virginia and everyone who joined in on the revolution are traitors. The rightful head of government is Simon White. They destroyed a nation without giving it time to grow.” New Virginian Deputy PM James Frisch, who has refused to join the “29th of July Movement”, rejected the allegation that the government had “schemed with the President”,

Former PM Kennedy: “I am a transgender woman”

The politician formerly known as Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy has announced that she is a transgender woman, and has changed her name to Brooklyn. Kennedy served as Prime Minister between 2015 and 2020 before leading the amicable secession of New Virginia in February last year. She currently serves as its elected head of state as President. Dame Brooklyn will no longer use the title of Caesar, which is for men only. Her other Austenasian titles – three titles of nobility, a peerage, and three knighthoods – will henceforth change to their female equivalents. With respect to her Austenasian titles, she will therefore henceforth be known as Lady Admiral Brooklyn Kennedy, Duchess of New Royton.

Campo Del Sol dissolved as Albina convicted of treason

The Territory of Campo Del Sol was dissolved on Sunday 27th June in the aftermath of its founder, Sophia Albina, being convicted of treason for advocating its seizure by another country. In recent days, Albina has played a major role in a significant downturn in relations between Austenasia and its ally New Virginia, in which she is also a politician. This began after she made inflammatory statements in the New Virginian legislature which included false accusations against Austenasia as a whole and Emperor Jonathan I specifically, and introduced legislation to declare the Empire an “enemy” and “threat” and to claim the Austenasian territories of Campo Del Sol and Fraternitas. New Virginia is a former Austenasian duchy which amicably seceded from the Empire in February last year. The two nations established a formal state of alliance upon New Virginian independence, and have maintained a strong friendship ever since. Fraternitas had been part of one of the claims which joined the newly independent country, but was retained by the Empire at the suggestion of now President Kennedy in a gesture of goodwill and fraternity. Campo Del Sol was claimed for Austenasia by Albina herself in June 2019. Neither area of land is inhabited. It is unlikely that Albina’s proposed law will pass, but the inflammatory rhetoric used by Albina and the false accusations levelled against Austenasia have led to an increase in support within New Virginia for the idea of ending the alliance. Senior New Virginian politicians downplayed Albina’s actions and rhetoric as that of a radical unrepresentative of the New Virginian government. However, Albina then spammed a Discord server hosted by the Austenasian government with images comparing herself to the rebels who fought against the Austenasian government in the 2010 civil war. This resulted in a bill being introduced in Parliament to strip Albina of her nationality and titles and to dissolve Campo Del Sol, preventing it from being used as “leverage” against the Empire. However, objections were raised given that action was being taken despite Albina not having been tried for her actions. Due to encouraging another country to seize Austenasian land and actively working against Austenasia’s national security and international standing, treason charges were formally brought against Albina on Saturday 26th at the request of the Chief Inspector. The evidence against her was presented, but despite being invited several times to make a legal defence she chose rather to use profane language and insult the jurors while making further unfounded accusations against the Austenasian government. In her final statement, she called for Campo Del Sol to be “freed” (despite the land being uninhabited and her claiming it for Austenasia in the first place) and for an unspecified “new Emperor” for Austenasia. The jury presented a verdict of guilty the following morning. The Consuls – Duke Bradley of Dullahan and Princess Hannah Augusta – agreed on a sentence of indefinite exile, with Albina now forbidden to enter Austenasia until the Throne sees fit to allow it. With Albina having been given a chance to defend her actions, the bill previously proposed in Parliament was passed, dissolving Campo Del Sol and stripping her of her Austenasian national status and titles. An online meeting between diplomatic representatives of Austenasia and New Virginia has been proposed for the near future to discuss the downturn in relations and search for a resolution.

Alliance established with Wyvern

One of Austenasia’s oldest international friends, the Kingdom of Wyvern, has entered into an official alliance with the Empire of Austenasia upon the signing of a treaty earlier today between the sovereigns of the two countries. Although Austenasia maintains close and friendly diplomatic relations with numerous nations – forty two, at present -the formal status of “ally” is an extremely prestigious one, granted only to Austenasia’s very closest international partners. Austenasia has only had two other official allies: the Kingdom of Wilcsland from 2010 to 2013, and the Commonwealth of New Virginia since its amicable secession from the Empire in February last year. The addition of Wyvern to this exclusive group marks the first time Austenasia has had more than one official ally at the same time. An alliance includes a provision for mutual defence, distinguishing it from other forms of diplomatic ties, no matter how friendly. Austenasia and Wyvern have accordingly pledged in today’s treaty to “come upon request to the other’s defence in the case of an attack by a third party”. Wyvern and Austenasia officially entered into mutual recognition on 27 January 2014, but had interacted in the diplomatic sphere for several years preceding that, albeit not always on the best of terms. Relations slowly began to improve, and a national friendship was solidified with a treaty on 21 September 2016. Relations between the two countries have only grown closer since then, leading to the recent decision to establish a formal state of alliance.

Ministry of Territories and the Diaspora established

Tuesday 19th January saw a new Cabinet Ministry created by Parliament to enable greater political participation for non-residential subjects and for the governors of uninhabited territories. Out of Austenasia’s population of one hundred and twenty one, only eighty five live in Austenasia itself. The other thirty six, known as non-residential subjects, form an Austenasian diaspora the majority of whom live in the United Kingdom, USA, Greece, and New Virginia. Given non-residential subjects do not live in a Town, they are not represented in Parliament. Their comparatively limited ability to have their voices heard has been noted before, but Emperor Jonathan I and PM Lord John Gordon agreed to enact concrete steps towards enabling their greater political participation. The newly-established Ministry of Territories and the Diaspora has therefore been tasked with creating a group for non-residential subjects which will allow them to have a greater involvement in Austenasian politics and culture. The exact form this group will take and the time-frame for its creation have not yet been confirmed, but membership will be voluntary. The new ministry has also been given the responsibility of “relaying to Cabinet the concerns, requests or opinions of Governors”, that is, the officials that administer uninhabited Austenasian land claims, who have prior to this not automatically had any official means of having their voices heard in lawmaking or policy. Lord Andrew Creed has been appointed the first Minister of Territories and the Diaspora. He is Austenasia’s longest serving Governor, having administered Corinium Terentium since December 2013.