To: Kingdom of Bretonia Government -|- Subj: Violation of Treaty of Snowdown

[Bundeskabinett Sekretariat]

=[INCOMING TRANSMISSION]=

PRIORITY: High
ENCRYPTION: High
IDENTIFICATION: Minister for Foreign Affairs Hans Averbach-Schmitz
SOURCE: Hauptsitz des Auswärtigen Amts, Planet New Berlin
SUBJECT: Violation of Treaty of Snowdown

Esteemed members of the cabinet,

My name is Hans Averbach-Schmitz and I am the new Minister for Foreign Affairs of House Rheinland. I am looking forward to working closely with my Bretonian counterpart however there is a very important problem which needs to be addressed immediately; namely the violation of the Treaty of Snowdown.

Code:

The Governments of the Kingdom of Bretonia and Federal Republic of Rheinland, with the understanding and acceptance of the ruling body of the Independent Miners Guild and Freeport One Administration, do make the following agreement;

Code:

2.1.3 - The Independent Miners Guild has the right to demand the Rheinland Military withdraw its forces from the vicinity around Aland Shipyard, and the Rheinland Military must respect this request if it be issued.

Code:

2.2.2 - The Independent Miners Guild has the right to demand the Bretonia Armed Forces withdraw its forces from the vicinity around Freistadt, and the Bretonia Armed Forces must respect this request if it be issued.

Code:

3.1 - The Independent Miners Guild is given the power to regulate docking rights to the Aland Shipyard, and the Freistadt mining base. Vessels and pilots known to be a threat to local commercial shipping will be denied docking rights.

Code:

4.3 - Corporate vessels of corporations belonging to Rheinland, Bretonia, the Independent Miners Guild, and those belonging to the Zoners of Freeport One are allowed unrestricted trade access to each others markets.

Code:

4.4 - Presently undiscovered, and otherwise unmentioned mineral resources within the Snowdown system are to be openly mine-able by all Bretonian Companies as well as the Independent Miners Guild.

In the aforementioned passages it is evident that the Independent Miners' Guild is formally recognized with mining and trading rights in those two systems as well as control over its stations and their exclusive zone. When the Kingdom of Bretonia violently seized Aland Shipyard and outlawed the IMG from their House they effectively and flatly violated the Treaty of Snowdown which Rheinland had carefully respected since its formalization, in 819 A.S.

The justification used by the Bretonian government at that time was due to the war with the now defunct Kingdom of Gallia. However the war is over for four months yet the Bretonian Armed Force continue to occupy Aland Shipyard, in direct violation of the Treaty.

Unless a preliminary handover agreement with the IMG is signed, the Bundesrepublik of Rheinland will declare in the Ides of March the Treaty of Snowdown as null and void and will authorize the Rheinland Military to begin patrols in the entirety of the Snowdown system as permitted to us by the Boorman Treaty.



Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Hans Averbach-Schmitz

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[The Kingdom of Bretonia]

To: Mister Hans Averbach-Schmitz

Sir, allow us to express our surprise and our confusion to you regarding your message. It was made clear to us, at the time of the Aland Crisis that Rheinland would not seek to be involved in any way, this was made very clear to us by mister Karl Graves. It was also established within the peace treaty that the House of Bretonia signed with the IMG that Aland would henceforth be identified as a Bretonian Station. Pains were taken to ensure that no violation of the treaty of Snowdon would occur. Considering that the events of the Aland Crisis happened in Omega-3 (Now Nottingham) we fail to see how Rheinland is involved, particularly now after the Rheinland government clearly expressed a desire to stay out of it.

Furthermore, it has been well documented that the IMG & ALG were involved in the defence of Aland alongside the Red Hessians, a point ( I believe) we brought to your attention. Finally, the Bretonian Government requests your formal credientials as we are unaware of exactly who you are sir and we are less than certain as to whether or not you do indeed speak for the Rheinland Government. Before this conversation moves further, it is vital you provide us with these so we may continue with full assurance that you have sanction to do so.

In service to the Crown,

Alexander East
Secretary to the Cabinet

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[Bundeskabinett Sekretariat]

=[INCOMING TRANSMISSION]=

PRIORITY: High
ENCRYPTION: High
IDENTIFICATION: Minister for Foreign Affairs Hans Averbach-Schmitz
SOURCE: Hauptsitz des Auswärtigen Amts, Planet New Berlin
SUBJECT: Violation of Treaty of Snowdown

Secretary East,

It is a pleasure to meet you. Here are my credentials.

You are correct about your assessment; Rheinland is a peace-loving nation, we still believe that avoiding direct involvement during the Aland Crisis was the right call. However do not take this as a sign of weakness, Rheinland will not tolerate the violation of its Treaties.

Bretonia, at that time, communicated not just to us, but to the international community that the forcible nationalization of Aland Shipyard was an emergency situation but also a temporary one, until the war was over. My predecessor tolerated this as he genuinely believed that it was a matter of survival for Bretonia but it appears he was misled and Bretonia's government had no intention of relinquishing Aland following the conclusion of the Gallic War.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has been notified about the treaty between Bretonia and the IMG, it was notably not transmitted by your government despite our involvement through the Snowdown Treaty. We had examined it and discovered that there are no provisions about the status of Aland Shipyard. The only reference in fact is about the war wrecks surrounding the shipyard.

8. The Guild will retain it's right to salvage the wrecks of vessels belonging to it or it's allies in the vicinity of Aland Shipyard, as well as The Kingdom will retain it's right to salvage the vessels belonging to the Armed Forces and it's allies. The Guild will retain it' right to clear the Cardiff intersection from the destroyed station, and will not lay claim to re-establish operations in the said intersection.

Which is correct. The Duchess of Westminster, Lady Sarah Mountbatten cannot unilaterally change the status and regulations surrounding Aland Shipyard as that would infringe on 2.1.3 and 3.1 articles of the Treaty.

As previously stated, the Bundesrepublik of Rheinland expects that negotiations with the IMG will begin immediately so that the Kingdom of Bretonia continues to abide by the Treaty of Snowdown.



Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Hans Averbach-Schmitz

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[The Kingdom of Bretonia]

To: Mister Hans Averbach-Schmitz

The Bretonian Government accepts your credentials as legitimate and we thank you for providing them.

We feel the need to point out sir that the topic of Aland was indeed raised with the IMG at the time of the peace treaty. While the IMG proposed the return of Aland Shipyard, this government rejected this proposal. In the words of her Grace The Duchess of Westminster:

As with expanded mining rights in Dublin, the return of Aland under these conditions was promised in exchange for the guild's cooperation. As it is, we will not be returning Aland now or at any point in the foreseeable future

This rejection was sent on the 27th of the 11th 825 A.S at 03:48 in the afternoon. Four hours later at 7:42 in the evening the IMG replied with an acceptance of our rejection and their signature, which was added to the peace treaty, thus concluding the Aland Crisis (For your information.

Allow us then to offer our most sincere apologies for failing to keep the Rheinland Government informed of the terms of the peace treaty. Likely a bureaucratic error on our part, yet all the same, on behalf of Her Majesties Government, I apologize.

However, two things must be observed:
Firstly, The Omega treaty did not take into account the possibility of war between two or more groups outlined in the treaty (and therefore, did not render the act of war illegal)

Secondly, Nothing in the treaty expressly outlawed the seizure of a station in the event of a war.

Mister Averbach-Schmitz, Bretonia does not believe that the matter we speak of requires any type of military intervention considering two parties have made peace with the current situation. Should Rheinland begin to venture into Nottingham, then the situation will be such that the Armed Forces will be required to escort your men to the border.

In service to the Crown,

Alexander East
Secretary to the Cabinet

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[Bundeskabinett Sekretariat]

=[INCOMING TRANSMISSION]=

PRIORITY: High
ENCRYPTION: High
IDENTIFICATION: Minister for Foreign Affairs Hans Averbach-Schmitz
SOURCE: Hauptsitz des Auswärtigen Amts, Planet New Berlin
SUBJECT: Violation of Treaty of Snowdown

Secretary East,

Thank you for providing us with additional content to review, which we were obviously not aware of until this moment.

You have raised two points, which I would like to address both.

Secondly, Nothing in the treaty expressly outlawed the seizure of a station in the event of a war.

You are speaking of the Right of conquest. Our House, and I think most of the world reject this archaic right and believe that the legal and valid way to solve disputes is solely through arbitration and/or independent courts of justice. There was no such attempt in this case, only violence.

We feel the need to point out sir that the topic of Aland was indeed raised with the IMG at the time of the peace treaty. While the IMG proposed the return of Aland Shipyard, this government rejected this proposal.
(...)
This rejection was sent on the 27th of the 11th 825 A.S at 03:48 in the afternoon. Four hours later at 7:42 in the evening the IMG replied with an acceptance of our rejection.

This is indeed a valid argument. However on a legal basis it is not. No matter what is being accepted or rejected through the course of a negotiation, only the terms of the final agreement matter which the parties have to abide by. Of course in our case I am referring to the Peace Treaty document signed by the IMG Guildmaster and the Duchess of Westminster.

However I can assure you that we are trying to keep an open mind on this and prefer to solve this situation in the most amicable way as possible, so our Federal Ministry is going to send a communication to the IMG leadership inquiring about their claims on Aland Shipyard; the content of these messages will become available to your cabinet as soon as possible.



Mit freundlichen Grüßen,

Hans Averbach-Schmitz

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[The Kingdom of Bretonia]

To: Mister Hans Averbach-Schmitz

We do not regard the ownership of Aland ours by right of conquest, if anything it would be more akin to a prize of war. We feel the need to clarify a singular point: Returning the yard to the IMG was offered as terms for its use and thus was dependent on their cooperation. They did not and so We are not going to reward them for making war on us. They made a bet on Gallia and lost. I would refer you to this series of messages which initiated the crisis. Given our expressed desire to avoid a conflict and a clearly expressed willingness to return Aland once the war was concluded, it is our position that the IMG lost all rights in Bretonia once war was declared.

Once the fighting began, the RHA and members of the Gallic Intelligence services joined in the fray alongside the ALG and IMG. Their side was made clear, therefore we feel there is absolutely no need nor for that matter is there any desire to return the shipyard. It was mentioned, and rejected. Rheinland's concern for the rule of law is respectable, but ultimately, a wasted effort. We await your reply along with the words of the IMG, should you choose to share them.

In service to the Crown,

Alexander East
Secretary to the Cabinet

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[Bundeskabinett Sekretariat]

=[INCOMING TRANSMISSION]=

PRIORITY: High
ENCRYPTION: High
IDENTIFICATION: Minister for Foreign Affairs Hans Averbach-Schmitz
SOURCE: Hauptsitz des Auswärtigen Amts, Planet New Berlin
SUBJECT: Violation of Treaty of Snowdown

Secretary East,

The Independent Miners' Guild has answered to our communique. Here is the relevant part:

In light of the transpired misinformation and misinterpretation of the Peace Treaty by the government of the Kingdom of Bretonia we, while not objecting the legitimacy of the Peace Treaty, urge our diplomatic adversaries to fulfill their responsibilities according to the Treaty of Snowdown and order the withdrawal of the Core forces present, as well as renegotiate the status of Aland Shipyard, distancing themselves from the obsolete practice that our distant ancestors have banned for it's irrelevance in the modern, ever-improving society.

I was hoping that they would have accepted the new owners of Aland Shipyard. That would have made things much simpler as we could have easily revised the Treaty and solved the matter. Instead they are accusing your government of misinformation and misinterpretation.

We are well-aware about the unfortunate events during the crisis. The ALG in particular had been punished severely for their involvement. However you speak about the desire to have solved this matter peacefully. Then why did you sideline House Rheinland and did not contact us about your plans to violate the Treaty? Wasn't Aland Shipyard tied to the Snowdown Treaty? You might argue that our concern for the rule of law is a wasted effort but from the beginning you were never troubled about the rule of law.

You might believe that you have no responsibility to return the shipyard to its former owner but you also have a responsibility towards the House I am representing. We have signed a treaty which you refuse to respect. That will leave us no choice but to withdraw from the Snowdown Treaty and the restrictions it imposes on our ships and operations.



From the Ministry for Foreign Affairs,

Hans Averbach-Schmitz

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[The Kingdom of Bretonia]

To: Mister Hans Averbach-Schmitz

It is not the obligation or responsibility of this or any House Government to inform people of publicly available records and treaties. If they were unaware of a treaty they signed, then they are ultimately responsible. So far as we are concerned, there was no manipulation, lying or trickery involved on our end when it came to negotiating peace with the IMG. All parties involved in a treaty are expected to know what they are signing. To complain about it months after the fact and decry it as 'misinterpretation' and 'misinformation' is not only insulting, it is wrong.

We did not inform Rheinland because of a previously mentioned bureaucratic error. Likely caused by the loss of half the Government and a sizable portion of the civil service as well. It was not a deliberate slight against your house, our intent was not to cause offence and we believe appropriate apology has been given for this unfortunate fact. Now we feel we are being pushed into a situation that we thought long since resolved. If it truely is Rheinland's intention to void the Snowdon treaty then that is most unfortunate and regrettable indeed.

We hope it should not come to that.

In service to the Crown,

Alexander East
Secretary to the Cabinet

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