Schneider idly stroked her chin as she listened to the other delegates, before quietly clearing her throat to speak again.
"I am not sure if Ms Townley here is expecting an explanation or simply making a statement. Yes, there are scattered Enclave forces in the Taus, where they are fighting against the Outcast menace as we are. Needless to say with the resources and attention we've spent elsewhere, we cannot fight them as effectively as in decades past.
The Outcasts have launched a new major offensive against us and without the presence of the Enclave forces, may well end up overrunning us. So I'm sure you'll understand that we can't exactly afford to tell them to piss off, if you'll pardon my language - at least not without other arrangements for the safety of our Tau holdings. This is a struggle for survival to us."
She glances over the other participants, her gaze lingering a moment longer on the Maltese delegation, before giving a brief shrug of resignation and continuing.
"Now as I am understanding Mr Redmond's explanation, there seems to be a willingness to include the Guild in a multilateral peace treaty between the nations and other participants. Of course we welcome this; with the Aland ultimatum and all the endless aftereffects it created, we consider the Guild to have been a victim of the greater war, one we had no desire to be part of.
Just as we have expressed understanding for Bretonia's position which led to the ultimatum, so too do we hope to be recognized as a defensive party to the conflict that should be treated as such diplomatically."