Region Name: BalderRegional Forum Link: https://balder.boards.net/
Regional Discord Link: https://discord.com/invite/7a3xJNugwJ
Head of State (nation and discord ID, if applicable): Dragonian Kazaman, eponym7
Head of Government (nation and discord ID, if applicable): Millenhaal, dead_rozes
Minister of Foreign Affairs (or equivalent; nation and discord ID, if applicable): A Leaf on the Wind, sarah.annelie
Do you wish to apply for an embassy or a consulate? Consulate
Why do you wish to apply for an embassy/consulate?
It has come to the Realm of Balder’s attention that some members of The Rejected Realms are concerned about the 2012 invasion of TRR and specifically Balder’s perceived position on that situation. In the interests of providing the opportunity for all parties to develop a shared and accurate understanding of the events of 12 years ago, Balder is proceeding to directly clarify the factual record and dispel any doubts that have arisen as to our stance.
The February 2012 invasion and Balder’s response
On the major update of 2 February 2012, The Rejected Realms was invaded by The New Inquisition Armed Forces. TNI announced that the raid of TRR was in pursuit of its six-year-long declared war against the FRA; TRR was at the time the largest FRA member-region. TNI accomplished what remains the most recent invasion of TRR by ejecting military units from the occupation of Belgium, the first time that TRR was invaded exclusively via the ejection of military units of those taking part in the occupation. TNI clarified that it did not share its invasion plans in advance with any of the independent and raider regions involved in the Belgium occupation. We should note also that Balder was not one of the 17 parties in the occupation of Belgium.
Within an hour of the invasion, Balder received a request for military assistance from TRR, in accordance with Article III of the Pan Sinker Security Pact. At the time, Balder and TRR were both parties to the PSSP, which committed the signatories to defend the security and sovereignty of all members. In response to the request, Balder promptly deployed to support restoring Whamabama, the rightful Delegate in accordance with the laws of TRR, to the in-game Delegacy. As indicated by its prior announcement, TNI withdrew from TRR prior to the minor update. Fortunately there was no difficulty in the restoration of Whamabama to the Delegacy, and this was achieved by the next update, with Balder’s support.
Balder’s support for TRR was also rapidly expressed through internal processes, despite the lack of any obligation to make decisions based on this. During the invasion, Balder was in the middle of a process to confirm members of our Judiciary. The live nominee for Chief Justice was Onderkelkia, distinguished as the then serving Chief Justice of Europeia. Onderkelkia was also the Crown Prince of TNI, the head of TNI’s armed forces, and the player who assumed the in-game Delegacy of TRR during the 2 February 2012 invasion. Solely due to his leadership of the raid, Onderkelkia’s nomination was defeated in Parliament. This outcome underlined Balder’s stance against the invasion. Eluvatar was subsequently nominated and confirmed as Chief Justice of Balder.
Broader context of Balder, TNI and TRR in 2012
Balder was neither involved in, nor sympathetic to, the invasion of TRR. Instead we actively supported the efforts of TRR’s government to reclaim control, in accordance with our treaty obligations. Balder also stands out for having, via our democratic process, imposed meaningful political consequences on a regional citizen for his role as the commander of the invasion. In February 2012, fewer than 5 months after our founding, Balder was home to members with a wider range of gameplay backgrounds, including dual members affiliated with each of Europeia and TNI, but also a considerable defender contingent. It is ahistorical to think that Balder was sympathetic as a region to the invasion of TRR, much less that Balder was actually in support of the invasion.
During these events, the Delegate of Balder was Zander, and the Vice Delegate was by Night. Neither Zander nor by Night were members of TNI at the time, and neither have ever been members of TNI at any point in their NS careers. It was not until March 2013 – over a year after the invasion of TRR – that TNI and Balder became allies, reflecting that the earlier ties between TNI and Balder did not translate to political alignment. There were of course some crossover members of TNI and Balder at this time, most prominently North East Somerset (NES) and Charles Cerebella. But this type of crossover must be understood in the broader context of Balder’s status as an emerging GCR which included a mix of defender and independent players upon its establishment. These dual citizens’ roles did not imply Balder support for the invasion of TRR any more than it did for the other regions where those individuals held such roles. For instance, in the years subsequent to the invasion, NES held Cabinet level roles in a number of other regions including Osiris and Europeia.
Balder’s participation in measures, to bolster TRR’s security as a treaty partner, continued beyond the invasion’s aftermath. In October 2012, Balder joined with TRR, Lazarus and Osiris in enacting an amendment to the PSSP. This read: “No signatory shall harbour an individual who attempts, conspires to, or knowingly provides aid to someone attempting to unlawfully seize control of the WA Delegacy of a signatory”. This legal provision, whilst not retroactive, supported the most stringent action against any player involved in future invasions of TRR. Balder made this additional commitment in full knowledge of the continued presence of dual citizens with TNI who remained at war with TRR. The PSSP was dissolved over a year later in 2013, but in no way did this represent a change in Balder’s stance on the TRR invasion.
Confirmation of our position
As we have set out, Balder was far from silent about the invasion of TRR. As a treaty partner of TRR, we took military, diplomatic and internal democratic decisions which reflected our support for TRR sovereignty. The position of Balder in connection with the invasion of TRR was not left ambiguous. In addition, with the passage of time since these events (which is over 12 years ago), there was not seen to be a need to reiterate our previous stance any more than has been the case for any other region with crossover members with TNI.
Balder terminated embassy relations with TRR in 2018, for events unrelated to the 2012 invasion. Particularly as the past events have grown distant and knowledge has become more limited, our position on TNI’s 2012 invasion of TRR may have been misunderstood, or misconstrued. An ahistorical narrative has recently emerged that Balder is either culpable for the invasion, or has somehow left its position on it unclear. So, in view of all the points noted above, and to underline its position on the public record, Balder wishes to affirm the following as its views:
- At the time of the TNI invasion, Whamabama was the rightful and lawful Delegate of The Rejected Realms.
- That any coup or support of a coup in TRR is a violation of TRR’s regional sovereignty. Indeed, it is Balder’s understanding that TNI intended and claimed to wage war against TRR’s sovereignty in undertaking an external invasion/raid of TRR and that this did not constitute any attempt to establish a native government. As documented above, Balder opposed TNI’s invasion.
We feel that it is necessary to clarify our position on the invasion, despite the passage of time, in view of our awareness that Balder’s position has been perceived as unclear. We apologise for not clarifying this matter earlier, thus allowing misconceptions or misinformation on this matter to proliferate - but we have now provided assurance as to our stance based on the facts and acknowledgements that we have outlined. We believe the best option would be to put these historical events, and any subsequent misinterpretations behind us, and move forwards to a more positive relationship with TRR.
Short description of your region:
Balder is one of the nine Game Created Regions (GCRs) in NationStates. It was established on the 19th October 2011. The names of the three Sinker regions are drawn from mythology and are linked to stories of death and rebirth. Balder is named after the Norse god of the same name. Balder was a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg. He was slain by his brother Hodur, who had been tricked into killing Balder by Loki the mischief-maker. It is said that Balder will emerge from the underworld after Ragnarök (the Norse apocalypse) to rule the new world.
More information available here; https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1588583
