PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE CONSUL --

Regarding the untoward publication from the "Austenasian Times," written by Emperor Jonathan I, a line-by-line refutation which is backed by physical evidence is due. Screenshots of the following exchanges are available upon request.

I have already addressed many - though not all - of these issues with the Emperor, and the errors were acknowledged, yet the article has not been taken down as of the time of this release.

Quoting the article "Relations with Delvera break down" published August 30th:

"Earlier in the month, Emperor Jonathan I was invited to take part in a discussion hosted on Facebook Messenger... " ~Austenasian Times

In truth, Emperor Jonathan I was invited not earlier in the month of August but in the month of May to attend a Congress hosted via Skype, and we had frequent reminders in the weeks and days leading up to the event.

"Being unable to attend the first scheduled session of discussion due to urgent personal reasons, the Emperor noticed that he was referred to in a document drawn up by the others in a way that was disrespectful to his office as Austenasian Monarch. Upon pointing this out, he was met with a tirade of abuse from Callahan, who claimed that his inability to attend the earlier session resulted in the standard courtesy of correct styles of address being waived." ~Austenasian Times

We had requested that if there was any reason a delegation could not attend, to please inform us so that we could make alternate arrangements to suit. We were not informed, and the Congress could not act without a quorum, so we moved the discussion to Facebook Messenger and recorded the discussion there in the minutes. We referred to each other without official titles, and Emperor Jonathan I was noted as "Jonathan Austen (Not present)." When he says "upon pointing this out" he refers to blasting a series of statements at 1am which woke many members of the Congress from their sleep. He "objected" to being called by his given name and went on to rant about the Queen of the United Kingdom not receiving such treatment.

I informed him that he had not responded to my messages asking for his input, he had not even shown up for the Congress, he had not informed us of his inability to attend beforehand, and now he was "objecting" to something he had chosen not to be a part of. He therefore should have simply asked a revision take place rather than this actual tirade, and I informed him that when he could offer an ounce of respect for the other delegates and the Congress, he could then make objections. This was far from a "tirade of abuse," and much less of a rant than the midnight objections I was responding to. His being referred to as "Jonathan Austen" was first noted on the Congress page days beforehand, the same as all other participants.

"Callahan was eventually calmed by the intervention of Rev. Joseph Marx, a longstanding friend of the Emperor who was also present in the discussion group. Another document drawn up was then reviewed, which referred to the participants as all belonging to “micronations”, despite the policy of Austenasia to never refer to itself – or others it recognises as sovereign states – as such in official documents." ~Austenasian Times

Prime Minister Marx was trying to calm Emperor Jonathan I at that time, as well as the other delegates who were outraged at Emperor Jonathan I's behavior. I acquiesced and immediately got out of bed to satisfy his demands.

"Callahan then criticised the Emperor’s decision to raise this issue, and referred to Delvera itself in terms which seemed ambiguous in regards to the Delveran government’s attitude to its own independence." ~Austenasian Times

I never criticized raising the issue, it was I who raised the issue by calling a Congress to debate it. I responded with my thoughts on the matter, which the Emperor took objection to and took that opportunity to question the basis of Delveran sovereignty - the very issue of defining sovereignty we sought to explain and debate with this Congress.

"Upon unprovoked rudeness from another member of the group, the Emperor decided to leave it as not worth his time." ~Austenasian Times

There was no rudeness, there was discussion, asking about the position of the Austenasian government regarding taxation and other macronational matters related to micronationalism, and explaining our own position, before Emperor Jonathan I left the Congress.

"Callahan was contacted in regards to resolving the confusion arising from his statements concerning Delveran independence, and claimed that his government’s 'relationship with Austenasia is a top priority' and that he was 'very hopeful for mutually beneficial relations moving forward.'" ~Austenasian Times

I had been trying to contact him for days at this point privately, with my messages being ignored. In the very moments prior to this query from him about our sovereignty, I had been asking him why he was behaving this way, asking if Delvera was being subjected to diplomatic sanctions in some way.

And indeed, our relationship with Austenasia continues to occupy this government's time and by default remains a top priority to this moment.

"It was agreed that diplomatic talks should take place between the Empire and Delvera to resolve the outstanding issues. However, in that time, Consul Callahan has – instead of attempting to schedule talks with the Emperor – spent his time accusing the Austenasian national flag of being “cancerous” on the MicroWiki Forums and accusing the Empire of being unable to conduct diplomatic relations." ~Austenasian Times

I have sent easily a dozen messages or emails to the Austenasian government through her ministers in the time frame mentioned above, it is a lie that I had not been attempting to schedule a time to resolve the issues.

Further, it is a lie that I said anything about the flag of Austenasia being "cancerous." I never said a word about the flag except to suggest a white border around the red star. And this was done on a private forum where such discussion is frequent, and in a very unofficial capacity, as Delvera does not conduct official business on private or public forums.

And I do indeed accuse with proof-positive that the Empire of Austenasia is unable to conduct diplomatic relations with any degree of coherence.

"Where all this leaves the future of Austenasian-Delveran relations remains to be seen. Diplomatic talks are, in theory, still to be scheduled, but nothing yet has come of this endeavour." ~Austenasian Times

We have continuously petitioned the Austenasian government to provide a time frame suitable, for we are ready to meet with them, and the only response we had received up until the time that Austenasia had posted this article was that they were too busy with their personal lives to address the matter at all.

"Consul Callahan is best known in the MicroWiki community for a protest in December last year over the administration’s decision to uphold a ban on foul language being used on the MicroWiki Forums." ~Austenasian Times

I believe I am best known for facilitating the annexation of NLA, facilitating the collapse of New Israel, facilitating negotiations with "Emperor" Mark Williams, and now the Congress of Colo.
The attempt at defamation is noted as obvious and mean-spirited.

We believe the above article was written by Emperor Jonathan I due to his statement at the time it was published that he had "responded in kind" to an article published in "The Lavrada Bannerman," which is not owned or operated or consulted by or with my office or myself personally.

Some of these things have been discussed with the Emperor, and he has apologized for some of them, yet a retraction has not been made. Thus the need for this release to set the record straight.

Again, screenshots will be provided to any outlet wishing to verify this refutation.

Note: this press release originally posted on Facebook.

PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE CONSUL --

While our team goes over a more-or-less official refutation to the factually errant publication by Emperor Jonathan I of Austenasia, itself a response to an article by the Bannerman, I would like to update the people of Delvera and our allies:

1. We have increased our offers of support and aid to Austenasia, including financially.

2. We have renewed our offer from previous weeks for a formal state meeting. Still no response.

3. We are investigating what is apparently a breakdown in governmental structure of Austenasia.

4. We note a consistent narrative of personal schedules taking precedence over matters of intermicronational relations in Austenasia.

5. Emperor Jonathan took the time to request I personally take down the Lavrada Bannerman's article on the situation, which it is neither in my purview nor best judgement to do. The Bannerman is a private media company, not a state-run enterprise. The people have the right to speak and to hear the news.

6. Subsequently, the state-run Austenasian Times has published a "response in kind" directed personally at myself, the Consul, ignoring the leaders of other nations and private citizens who have expressed concerns at his conduct.
​
Our refutation of the claims in the Austenasian Times, which we believe to have been written by the Emperor himself, will be forthcoming.

Note: the text of this press release was originally released on the official Facebook page.

PRESS RELEASE
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE CONSUL --
I have included a copy of the conversation I had today with Emperor Jonathan I of Austenasia.
In short, while I believe we have a better understanding of the other's perspective, especially having addressed some of the many factual errors and misrepresentations of Emperor Jonathan's publication this morning, our government is unfortunately unable to move forward until further discussion is had, and we reiterate our previous position that positive changes must take place within Austenasia.

The full text of the conversation can be found here: docs.google.com/document/d/18y-mgOipKtIRqe4FfLK3AtM9qyKWU6IsL_igdsYVF3I/edit

PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE CONSUL -

​The following statement was released by Consul Callahan this morning.

The government of the Grand Republic of Delvera takes great pride in the strides we have made in advancing a new era of diplomacy within the intermicronational community. It is clear that with the immanent adjournment of the Congress of Colo, we will have sparked an exciting new beginning for the dedicated leaders of the micronational world to take up, nourish, and grow. And we look forward to sharing our ideas and hopes with every micronationalist within the sound of our voices. Moving forward together with our allies, friends and fellow micronationalists was and is our greatest goal and achievement in this endeavor.

A major step in this process was our invitation to the Empire of Austenasia to participate and help formulate processes and stipulations that would foster exciting new possibilities for all micronations everywhere. Unfortunately, our friendship with Austenasia has only suffered as a result. We submit the following facts to a candid world:

Emperor Jonathan I has shown little interest in the Congress -

Despite initial indications that he wished Austenasia to take part, prompting Delvera to facilitate scheduling and formatting consistent and convenient for Austenasian participants in Greenwich Mean Time, even if that meant odd hours for our own delegation, he has ignored plans for organization.
He has ignored scheduled sessions.

He has ignored requests for multiple members to be included in each delegation so as to allow for some delegates to take needed time away from the session without sacrificing their delegation’s participation.

He has ignored requests for proper notice in the event he is unable to attend a session so that we could reschedule or otherwise provide adequate representation for his country.

He has ignored multiple private messages from me personally inquiring as to his intention to participate in the Congress.

He has ignored official, diplomatic emails imploring more open communications with his allies.

He has disregarded diplomatic protocol and courtesy to others in the Congress while at the same time obnoxiously demanding our adoption of customs for himself, which would have been reasonable if requested in a manner consistent with propriety, which it was not. 

He has disregarded his own laws and customs and policies in not delegating representation to Delvera in the form of an ambassador or more generally by his Chief Ambassador rather than by himself, and likewise with the Congress which Delvera now hosts, rather than the present situation wherein he claims no time for these matters of state due to personal issues taking precedence.

He has disregarded his own ministers by not so much as informing them of Austenasia’s intention to be party in the Congress of Colo, disallowing them from participating or even knowing that the Congress was convening.

We now know he has instead spent the time we humbly requested for diplomatic relations as an opportunity to prune his “Microwiki” articles.

He has instead spent his time and energies on updating the “Micronational Facepalm Museum.”
He has instead spent his time and energies on his forums and Facebook pages promoting ephemeral projects.

He has thereby insulted the leaders of multiple nations and cast aside reasonable hope for constructive dialog.

And while doing so, he has personally called the sovereign status of Delvera into question and removed himself from talks on the very subject of sovereignty that the intermicronational community had invited him to attend.

Diplomatic efforts from other delegations to the Congress of Colo, including the personal efforts of Emperor Jonathan’s longtime friends and allies, were impotent to bring a favorable diplomatic result. And all for reasons unknown to us.

For these causes, it is with a heavy heart that we call on our friend and brother, Emperor Jonathan I, and we implore him to consider his actions and their effect on his own nation as well as others.

Taking proactive steps to reach out to the Austenasian government in general, we attempted contact with Austenasian Prime Minister Joseph Kennedy. We were informed by Emperor Jonathan that the Prime Minister of Austenasia could be contacted via Skype at the Skype name [REDACTED] or at his personal Facebook account which was under another given name. It was in a conversation with the Prime Minister that we learned the subject of the Congress of Colo had not been broached with the Prime Minister, whose government was being represented therein.

Further, we had asked of Emperor Jonathan the contact information for the Chief Ambassador of Austenasia, Lord Rear Admiral Alastair Cranston, whose office is charged under Austenasian law, according to their official website, with “maintaining diplomatic relations with other nations.”

We were given a non-descript, Canadian domain email address, with the provisos that the Chief Ambassador of Austenasia was on holiday and was more used to forming new diplomatic relations than maintaining existing diplomatic relations.

It has been some 10 calendar days since our initial contact with the Austenasian Prime Minister requesting an in-person meeting to discuss these and other matters, with no official reply received. We have inquired as to the receipt of our communications from Prime Minister Kennedy, and he has graciously responded that the email was received and a response was forth coming, but as days turn into weeks, we must move forward.

We have also sent an email to the Chief Ambassador, but we do not expect a reply given the information we have been given by the head of state himself.

For these causes, we have no recourse but to consider Austenasia to be in a state of crisis, as they are not only in violation of our Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, but also the government of Austenasia has shown our government in this experience that they are incapable of foreign relations with other states to any coherent or lawful degree.

We sadly have been given no option but to require that in order for normal diplomatic relations to continue, positive changes must be made. We are not cutting ties with Austenasia, we are asking Austenasia to please reestablish them. We do not seek penance. We are not out to satisfy demands of petty trifles. We are seeking a pragmatic solution to a problem that is deeper than a diplomatic relationship - one that we fear may be systemic within Austenasia.

We are open, as always, to the myriad of diplomatic options on the table. We are, in fact, open to no other options but those of enhanced diplomacy.

To those friends of Austenasia, among whom we count ourselves, who may be inclined to shutter out this message of heartfelt but stern consequences for unstatesmanlike actions, we ourselves ask you to indeed, stick up for Austenasia. Now is the time for all of us to rally behind Austenasia’s banner and help our friends through this time. Austenasia has so much to offer, it is a shame that such a blemish has befallen her in relation to her friends and allies around the world.

We are calling on Austenasia to provide modes of contact with her ministers consistent with her status as a sovereign state and her stated national character. We are asking for more focused ministrations devoted to diplomatic relations. We are calling for more effective communication within the government of Austenasia.
​
This is not about Delvera finding fault. This is about us all. Our community. This is about the standards to which we hold ourselves and those we consider legitimate states.
Thank you.

PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE CONSUL -

Early last week, I directed Jordan Brizendine, ambassador to the North American Confederation, to submit a plan which would merge the Grand Republic of Delvera and the North American Confederation. After much negotiation, our two governments have agreed to pursue becoming one nation.
The NAC will be conducting a national referendum, and hopes are high that the merger will, indeed, be approved. Upon the acceptance of the citizens of the NAC, the states will individually apply for provincial status within the Grand Republic, and Emperor William I will be installed as Lord Protector of Delvera.
A live press conference will be taking place at 8pm Central, 9pm Eastern.

This announcement was first published on the official Grand Republic of Delvera Facebook page.

The Chamber of Deputies convened to on the 17th of August to consider the following matters.

Resolution on Micronational Sovereignty, as proposed by Deputy Brizendine:
"Resolution on Micronational Sovereignty
The Grand Republic of Delvera does hereby endorse the following pertaining to micronational sovereignty:
Whereas micronations and macronations exist on separate, parallel planes whereby their duties and responsibilities do not overlap; and
Whereas micronations have sovereign power which is exerted in the social, cultural, and economic realms; and
Whereas micronational authority is entirely based on the consent of the governed rather than a monopoly on force; and
Whereas micronational laws are enforced through the implementation of punishments agreed to via consensus ad idem and pursuant to macronational restrictions on violence; and
Whereas all micronational citizens hold macronational citizenship; and
Whereas macronations do not tolerate challenges to their authority in the manner of true secessionism or separatism; and
Whereas micronational governments, as true servants of the people, should protect their citizens from unnecessary hardship and persecution at the hands of macronations in relation to movements of secession;
Therefore, micronational sovereignty and macronational sovereignty do not preclude one another; and
Micronations which seek macronational status alter their basis of authority, and therefore their national character; and
Micronational governments must not seek to impose their will by force, as this is counter to the principles of micronationalism and can only lead to discord between micronationalists and macronational citizens; and
Micronations should refuse to recognize any group or movement which seeks to usurp macronational authority, regardless of any labels which said group or movement uses to identify itself."

Ayes: Deputy Jordan Brizendine, Lavrasia; Deputy Hannah Callahan, Neosho
Nays: --
Passed 2-0

An unofficial summary of this resolution can be found at the Lavrada Bannerman here.

Proposal: To amend the Rules of Order Act by inserting the line "or a Clerk appointed from among the Chamber members" directly after the line, "Proceedings shall be presided over and recorded by the President of the Chamber".

Ayes: Deputy Jordan Brizendine, Lavrasia; Deputy Hannah Callahan, Neosho
Nays: --
Passed 2-0