Press Release

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.

Dylan Callahan
Consul
Grand republic of delvera
​August 29, 2017