Press Release: Refutation of Austenasian Times Article

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.