News:Yarova



=2018=

Jan 09: Riordan meets with Grigorievna: Yarova to become member of the League of Free Nations
By YAROSLAV BATRUTDINOV |  09 January 2018 — 18:30 (UTC+7) SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — For the first time in eight years, a Brigantican president is carrying out a state visit to the United Federated Districts. President Joseph Robinette Riordan arrived in Shchyokhov in the early hours of this morning and after an eventful itinerary, is expected to depart at midday tomorrow. At a press conference this afternoon, President Konstantina Grigorievna made a statement detailing of future Yarovan participation in the League of Free Nations, an intergovernmental organisation comprised of eight other member states: Airgialla, Akiteiwa, Aukalnia and Sartland, Brigantica, Jinhang, Legantus, Vallis, and South Veikaia.

As was announced in September of this year, Brigantican President Joseph Riordan has met with President Konstantina Grigorievna in Shchyokhov today to discuss issues of bilateral trade and common defence, amid growing concerns of the North-South Concordant. Riordan and Grigorievna held a 40-minute-long press conference in the Lyustra komnata (or Chandelier room) of the Surkov Palace’s Presidential Residence Wing at 2.30 pm. Security has been estimated to cost the Yarovan government around ₲291.6 M ($36 M USD), with land and air patrol scheduled to be on high-alert through the course of Riordan’s 36-hour visit. Earlier this morning, Riordan was hosted by Vice President Isaak Nikishin Svoburg at the Orekhovvy Hotel in Shchyokhov for a talk on combating climate justice issues by internationally-acclaimed life-long naturalist and documentarian Dr. Matvey Tselner. Tselner applauded Riordan for his determination on countering the effects of climate change at government-level and awarded him with the Tselner Prize, which honours high-profile individuals who use their influence to bring climate justice to international attention. Riordan is reportedly “very delighted” with receiving the award. Later on this evening, the president will lay a wreath at the Memorial of the Republican Rebels in Chaykoboksarsk, before attending a partially-televised banquet. The Brigantican Ambassador in Yarova, as well as all ministers of Grigorievna’s cabinet, are expected to be present – including Erik Meselev, who was initially hesitant of showing his face.

Riordan’s state visit has not come without controversy, with thousands gathered on the streets of Shchyokhov, Chayboksarsk and other major cities in the country protesting Yarovan membership of the League of Free Nations. Petrol has only been added to the fire, as Meselev publicly went against Grigorievna’s wishes when he ruled out Yarova being admitted to the League of Free Nations while he was Minister of Defence. Meselev’s alternative of so-called ‘pragmatic pacifism’ would see Yarova practise an independent defence policy and increase military expenditure by 0.33% every year until security threats had been quelled, subject to review. Meselev slammed Riordan just last month when he accused him of “generating endless division across the world” and “dragging Yarova into the moronic board game of bloc-politics.” President Grigorievna was rumoured to have presented Meselev with a formal warning to which he responded with a threat of walking out regardless, although the authenticity of such claims have not yet been confirmed. Sizeable swathes of the Democratic Socialists and Progressives had backed Meselev and at the peak of the feud, it was becoming increasingly likely that the party would see a split and the country would be spiralled into a bitter general election. Thus far, such a prospect has been evaded, due to its undesirability, but it is uncertain how long it will take before the situation deteriorates once again. Of course, the Conservative Party have been lapping up the Left’s worsening factionalism, with Leader of the Opposition Tanas Gruzdev welcoming Grigorievna’s supposed “shift to the Right” – a statement designed to be incendiary.

Standing against this background, Grigorievna undoubtedly has plenty on her plate, while simultaneously keeping up appearances with her allies in Brigantica. The League of Free Nations was founded at the end of the Great War and was based upon a charter known as the Ornans Pact, the city where the Artemia Reconstruction Conference was hosted. Brigantica, Vallis and Legantus have partaken in this military alliance arrangement since its launch, so Yarova’s admittance nine decades later is significant and brings to the table a multitude of questions. Why would a country, which has descended down a path of extensive demilitarisation, suddenly take such a dramatic U-turn? What could be the international community’s response to this, particularly members of the North-South Concordant? Has Yarovan membership of the League come about directly due to untold foreign threats of aggression?

In her speech to the press, the president displayed poise and confidence when she insisted Yarova was not steering towards conflict and that membership would mean defending values of democracy, fairness and human rights. However, even Grigorievna’s artful professionalism and body language could not conceal the air of anxiety and imminent unpredictability. Provided is a full transcript of Grigorievna’s speech:

“I would first like to commence by saying publicly: Mr. President, you are most welcome to the United Federated Districts. The honour is entirely ours to receive you in our capital on this rather frigid January morning. It is our hope that our cordial hospitality will be sufficient in sustaining your body warmth – if all else fails, a ushanka will certainly be on the ready!

Both of our states, the United Federated Districts and the Continental Republic, have an extensive, shared history of warm bilateral relations, be it in terms of diplomacy, trade, commerce or otherwise. Our republican roots run deep and owing to this undying fact, we are brothers and sisters.

The Continental Republic supplied munitions and military strategy expertise to the Republican Front during the Vojiskiy War – a war from which the people emerged victorious for the first instance.

The Briganticans played their part in aiding the Yarovar republican rebels in their fight for freedom; the rest is now history. There exists a special bond between the United Federated Districts and the Continental Republic; for our harmonised aspirations are fuelled by social justice and human rights.

Since our transition from Empire to ballot boxes, there has been a phrase commonly uttered and heard in our state – and I find it most befitting given the circumstances – “Politics is for us, not above us.”

As Head of State of my country, I am not above my fellow citizens, I am their most loyal and faithful servant – as I am sure you would agree, Mr. President. As Heads of States, this is what we are morally obliged to do. For if we do not, we become despots of tyrannies, with free reign to act at the expense of the people and to the detriment of the common good.

Certainly, we should neither celebrate tyrannies nor permit such poison to seep into the borders of other, more vulnerable states, which may typically be found in the developing world. Both the United Federated Districts and the Continental Republic are tremendously proud of our democratic traditions and ideals of liberty, equality and justice; therefore, it is fundamental that we work towards securing such freedoms for people elsewhere in our world.

The Continental Republic must continue to play its part, as it did in 1924. As must we, because our national experience forbids us to forget or water down the atrocities of the Imperial Era. We must not authorise the repetition of this sinister dimension of history. Military defence partnership and security co-operation with our allies most committed to global peace and stability is first and foremost on our agenda. Therefore, in the coming weeks, the United Federated Districts will initiate participation in the League of Free Nations.

To whomever is intent on the misuse of power to undermine democracy and threaten what level of international order and goodwill we have fought so strenuously for, on behalf of my government, the Yarovan people and the free world, I tell you this simply: You will not be enabled to sleep upon us any longer, you will not be allowed to wantonly spawn upheaval. Not while so much commendable work has been achieved, such as the accomplishment of physical activist ceasefires, peace processes, new-found common ground between former perceived foes and the facilitation of respectful, respectable dialogue.

This very city from where we stand today has, itself, experienced first-hand the incessant and unsparing consequences of war. The Great War, followed by two civil wars and several terrorist attacks by dissident secessionists have collectively and individually shaken Shchyokhov to its core. Alas, Shchyokhov is far from a solitary case – war has profoundly and negatively impacted all four corners of our globe.

Conflict maims and slaughters, it mentally scars its victims and those their beloved. The damage it does unto the infrastructure and economy of any civilised state is immeasurable. Needless to say, conflict is not anywhere to be found on our agenda. We want nothing more than to see the threat of conflict subdued through consistent and considerate intergovernmental conversation. As it stands today, we are not edging into the proximity of conflict, but we and our Brigantican allies hold the view that additional effort is required in order to advance the cause of global peace and stability.

Yes, we have reached so very far, but indeed, there is more work to be done. As we journey through a new year, I am hopeful that great progress will be made as we persevere in the pursuit of peace in 2018. Thank you.”

Replying to a question regarding the Meselev controversy, specifically whether or not Meselev would resign, Grignorievna had this to say: “Mr. Meselev and I may not have seen eye-to-eye on this particular issue [Yarova in LoFN] in the past, however, such disagreements have since been reconciled. I am confident my colleague will act, as have I, in the best interests of the people’s government to which he has been appointed to serve.”

Meanwhile, vocal backbenchers such as Yuriy Pechkin have publicly condemned the president and even made calls for her to resign. Asked if the country could be dragged into a premature general election, she said: “I cannot imagine any scenario by which we would be compelled to call for a general election, especially in regard to the United Federated Districts joining the League. If anything, I am optimistic that greater co-operation and engagement will be in the best interests of our nation.”

Grigorievna provided vague answers to questions of future projects within the League, particularly the prospect of League bases in Yarova and its seas. “Our government is completely dedicated to protecting the people of this country and upholding the stability which we enjoy so very much today. I am, by no means, a clairvoyant, but I can assure that no decision will be taken which could contradict our values and undermine our resolve to secure regional and global peace.”

“There exists now a remarkable opportunity for our nation… a stellar opportunity… excuse the pun… to expand the national space programme and collaborate to a greater extent with allies.”

The Conservative Party have largely welcomed the decision, having pushed for it for many years, but have criticised Grigorievna for her “lack of transparency and openness.” Vice President Isaak Nikishin Svoburg was, initially, reported to have been ‘discontented’ with the development, but ultimately granted his approval. In a closed conference with fellow Ecology Party members this evening, he called for “Continued unity and focus on defending the earth;” as well as “Making certain the DSP honour the Yarovan ideal of pacifism and basic human decency.” Yarova Today will deliver additional commentary the moment additional information is received. =2019=

Apr 05: Twenty years on since Shvekshna broke away from Aukalnia, what has changed?
By LYDIA CHUZNIKOVA | 05 April 2019 — 10:21 (UTC+7) CHERNYAKHOVSK, Shvekshna — In 1995, then-president Vladimir Rodchenko passed his controversial Aukalnia and Sartland Decolonisation and Reconciliation Act, which rendered the principle of consent void and handed over Shvekshna Oblast to the newly-formed United Republics of Aukalnia and Sartland. The government of the former oblast refused to accept the Act’s legitimacy and declared independence as the Yarovan Republic of Shvekshna. The political implications of the parliamentary vote had unprecedented ramifications for the whole of Eastern Artemia and resulted in a three-year bloody conflict between the Aukalnian Armed Forces and the unionist ethnic Yarovar population of the breakaway region. By 2000, the Shvekshnars had pushed the Aukalnians to the outermost territorial fringe and since then, have de facto maintained control over most of the region. The Yarovan Republic of Shvekshna has its own parliament, military, police force, postal system, currency and vehicle registration – is it now time for Yarova to formally recognise its independence?

“The reign of terror our country thrust on a smorgasbord of peoples across this continent in the name of ‘Eastern Domination’ was not inevitable. But the undoing of that terror – decolonisation - is indeed inevitable.” Those were the words of Vladimir Rodchenko in a rare address to the House of Representatives only three months into his radical presidency. The Aukalnia and Sartland Decolonisation and Reconciliation Act, 1995 which he personally championed was arguably the single-most contentious law to ever pass in the Yarovan parliament. Elements of the national media viciously lambasted Rodchenko. Ivan Pasternak, then-Leader of the Opposition and President of the People of Yarova, demanded he be tried for an act of treason. The Act authorised the Aukalnian takeover of the historic Švėkšna region, which was heavily settled, or planted, by ethnic Yarovars and Peremorovkars in the early nineteenth century. To understand the present situation, it is important to reflect on the region's history of violence and mistrust.

By the 1840s, almost 90% of the inhabitants were East Slavic settlers and, in 1853, the Vojiskiy Empire formally annexed the region. In 1926, the Provisional Government declared Shvekshna one of the 23 federated districts of the union. Following the victory of the communists in the Aukalnian Civil War, the People’s Socialist Boreal Republics laid claim to Shvekshna in its constitution, and referred to it as the county (apskritis) of Švėkšna. No diplomatic, commercial or trade relations were fostered during this period. For much of the 20th century, the contested region would dominate the fractured relationship between Yarova and its smaller, north-western neighbour. After three Aukalnian soldiers were purportedly shot dead by the Yarovan Land Forces near the disputed border in 1950, a war was looming ever closer.

Liudvikas Vainikonis, the Aukalnian dictator who was celebrated and vilified by equal measure, issued the Bartninkai Ultimatum to President Slava Novoseltsev. This threat of an Aukalnian invasion resulted in widespread ethno-sectarian attacks against Boreal minorities in Shvekshna’s capital of Chernyakhovsk. It is believed some 80 Aukalnians and Sarts lost their lives in the riots, and hundreds more were injured. Following Vainikonis’ death in 1951, tensions mollified considerably, but it was not until Merunas Kanys’ premiership in 1977 when both states started to engage in formal diplomatic relations. In the 1990s, the Kanys administration, with the endorsement of Yarova and the League of Free Nations, announced plans to transition Aukalnia to a market economy. However, he was promptly ousted from office by the People’s Socialist Party and his successor, Marijus Kerasevicius, rescinded his liberalisation policies. This is when things got ugly.

Any hopes of Aukalnia once more becoming part of a Yarovan Eastern Bloc were seemingly dissipated with Kanys’ removal. However, Pan-Slavist President Sergey Khismatullin was unprepared to allow Aukalnia and Sartland’s steps towards capitalism to flush down the drain. “He saw an open window of opportunity and he dove face-first to effectively alter the national constitution,” asserts Dr. Ilya Usoyev, a political scientist at the University of Chaykoboksarsk. “It is on record that the hypermilitarisation of the UFDY was the raison d'être of the People of Yarova since the party’s creation.” In May 1992, Khismatullin presented to parliament a bill which proposed changing Yarova’s defence policy and extending the Federal Armed Forces’ capabilities to launch military operations off Yarovan sovereign turf. Owing to the dominance of the People of Yarova in the House of Representatives at that time, the major vote managed to narrowly pass 236-225, with a further 29 parliamentarians crucially abstaining. A 250,000-strong pacifist demonstration on the streets of Shchyokhov did little to change Khismatullin's point of view.

Fast-forward one month and the Federal Armed Forces were mopping up the last of Aukalnian resistance in the Boreal metropolis of Ažytėnai. In spite of international condemnation, Yarova invaded its neighbour. Khismatullin accused Kerasevicius of overseeing human rights abuses and, in an official press statement, detailed of alleged intelligence reporting of potential WMDs based in the southern stretches of the country. In reality, there were no such findings. Communist Aukalnia and Sartland was nothing more than a cantankerous, sickly old grandfather, while Khismatullin’s vision of Yarova was a brutish, hypermasculine man pumped up on steroids.

Khismatullin assured critics in Yarova that the operation was simply to democratise Aukalnia and secure the frontier with Shvekshna. However, Gardic spyplanes soon gathered intelligence of surface-to-air ballistic missile sites in five different locations in Aukalnia, believed to be of Yarovan origin. Unsurprisingly, the situation deteriorated into what is now known as the Aukalnian Missile Crisis, between the nuclearised states of Yarova and Gardarike. It took a threat of a Gardic counter-attack in Sartland to eventually bring Khismatullin to the negotiating table, after several push backs and displays of his trademark stubborn character. After a one-year peace process, all Yarovan troops were withdrawn and the Northern Coregnancy supervised the establishment of the United Republics of Aukalnia and Sartland, which would function under a capitalist economy and practise open, multi-party elections. The Ruchava Agreement guaranteed a pact of mutual non-aggression between the two neighbours. However, the Question of Shvekshna was only becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

The Yaro-Aukalnian War did tremendous damage to the reputation of Sergey Khismatullin and the right-wing People of Yarova party. Thus, it was an expected result when Vladimir Rodchenko of the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP) was elected as the thirteenth President of Yarova. Rodchenko was staunchly opposed to the invasion of Aukalnia and had made known his views regarding Shvekshna and its future in the union. In the aftermath of the Act’s implementation, all that was changed, changed utterly.

Rodchenko firmly stood by the view that, because the principle of consent was not codified in any law, it was not an unconstitutional act to “peacefully hand over the reins to Kapcinskas.” He was sorely mistaken, however, if he had truly believed that Shvekshnars would have willingly accepted Aukalnian rule. The day after the Act’s passing, on 21 September 1995, the oblast’s assembly in Chernyakhovsk unanimously voted to declare Shvekshna’s independence. Through the course of 1996, the Yarovan authorities gradually withdrew from the oblast, and thousands of Shvekshnars fled to the nearby Pivnichna Peremorovka Oblast. Those that remained, relentlessly resisted attempted Aukalnian advances into the region, which escalated into the First Shvekshna War of 1997. Initially, Rodchenko offered military support to the handover but by 1998, Shchyokhov abandoned this policy. In the Second Shvekshna War, from 1999-2000, the Aukalnians persisted in its efforts to gain control of the region but only succeeded in acquiring 20% of the territory. The remaining 80% maintained its independence, regardless of what is argued by Ažytėnai, Shchyokhov or even Holmgard.

“We refer to ourselves as the ‘Millennium Republic,” laughs Zina Cherenchikova, a fresh-faced 22-year-old student teacher from the outskirts of Chernyakhovsk. Zina was just three months’ old when the First Shvekshna War ignited. To her, Shvekshna is as much a country as Aukalnia and Sartland or indeed, Yarova. “Our entire livelihoods are here, we have our own government which enacts its own laws, our own police force which enforces those laws, our own hospitals, schools, and we use our own legal tender.” The principle of consent is a term that is widely echoed in the Yarovan Republic of Shvekshna, an area that encompasses the city of Chernyakhovsk and some fifty towns and villages which surround it. “Us Shvekshnars are still angry now, of course. The old country we once felt part of greatly betrayed us, flung us out into the cold of night,” says Boris Emskikh, a 48-year-old butcher who partook in the rebel resistance during the conflict. It is clear a new sense of identity has been cultivated here, and that is certainly no thanks to Yarova.

Given the DSP has been behind the steering wheel of Yarovan governance since 1995, the policy on Shvekshna has remained relatively unchanged. With that said, in 2014, President Nikita Chekudayev showed signs of subtle sympathy, by permitting the opening of a Yarovan pseudo-consulate in Chernyakhovsk. However, the federal government maintains to this day that the activity is merely cultural in nature. The People of Yarova’s official party policy affirms the principle of consent, although in 2019, the context has undoubtedly evolved. The current Leader of the Opposition Tanas Gruzdev recently reiterated that policy by stating that if he became president he would recognise and normalise diplomatic relations with the Yarovan Republic of Shvekshna. Notably, President of the Yarovan Republic of Shvekshna Pavel Kurhepin has said publicly that he is “ready to talk.”

The question is, 20 years on, should President Konstantina Grigorievna and the DSP revise its stance? Some DSP political figures have argued that by doing so, it would be in breach of the terms of the Ruchava Agreement - as recognising Shvekshna's independence would equate showing aggression towards Aukalnia and Sartland. As the People of Yarova are climbing in popularity, with the most recent poll by YTV indicating that 54% of voters would choose them over the DSP, this question has become significantly more relevant. Is the Pan-Slavist argument still an acceptable aspiration?

Jun 06: End in sight for the DSP? People of Yarova Party take country by storm
By ALEXEI BANIN | 05 April 2019 — 10:21 (UTC+7) SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — In a formidable sweep and a major blow to the ruling-DSP, the People of Yarova party have increased their number of district chancellors from seven to sixteen, making them the largest party in the country for the first time in almost twenty five years. The controversial right-wing party, which supports the reestablishment of Yarova's nuclear weapons program, has vowed to keep the oil rigs in business and its leader Tanas Gruzdev sets his eyes on the federal presidency.

Just three weeks after Tanas Gruzdev topped a popularity poll which, needless to say, served as a major embarrassment to the Grigorievna administration, the People of Yarova have emerged as the overall victors of the district-level elections. Although the right-wing party were forecast to get eleven candidates to the finish line, a favourable increase from 2014’s total of seven districts, they have secured a jaw-dropping sixteen chancellors. For the first time since the presidency of Sergey Khismatullin from 1985 to 1995, more districts are represented by the People of Yarova than any other party – a major blow to the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP). The People of Yarova have maintained majority control over the traditionally-supportive districts of Bochinovka, Buguznogorsk, Khanskoye-Chirbent, Otrada, Pozdnyakovskaya, Roslapeysk and Yelerinsk, successfully putting forward well-known public figures such as Victor Sagadeyev, Jr. and Kristina Kelerova.

In addition to this, the party have impressively gained ground in Kamenka, Khomustatskaya, Kogalma, Leont’yevskaya, Smirnova, Yadryshkina, Yumarapol and, controversially, Borisopol. The free city of Borisopol is commonly regarded in Yarovan popular culture as the ‘swing district,’ that is to say it is believed that the city determines who will be the federal president in an upcoming election by the party it elects in the chancellorship race the preceding year. Borisopol has never strayed from this trend since it was awarded free city status in 1973, and this year’s result has led to a frenzy. But what has brought about such a rapid and significant shift in the voting patterns of the electorate? Oil, or so reckons Dr Sosi Karchagina from the School of Political Science at Shchoykov’s National University of Yarova. “It is clear from analysing trends of public opinion that the federal government’s announcement of ‘phasing out’ the domestic petroleum industry by 2030 has resulted in people turning their backs on the DSP. Of course, the People of Yarova were waiting in the wings to clutch on to that discontent. That’s how populism works.”

The DSP, which have governed the UFDY for almost 25 years, may soon see their democratic socialist project come tumbling down, but perhaps not without a good fight. In a surprisingly honest admission, President Grigorievna has stated that her government “have not heeded the anger of ordinary people whose livelihoods rely on the continuance of the oil industry.” However, Grigorievna fell short by refusing to answer on whether or not she regrets setting government policy on the matter, or even if such policy would be retracted following the election result. Vice President Isaak Nikishin Svoburg, who leads the Ecology Party (EP), has called for the “uniting of the Left” and the “abandonment of all internal disagreements” to ensure the People of Yarova are prevented from getting access to the driver’s seat in Shchyokhov.

For a great number of people in eastern oblasts of the country, like Mr and Mrs Lagransky from Shultaysk in Bochinovka, this year’s election result was a long time coming. Mr Lagransky, aged 78, worked on an oil rig from the age of just twelve years and he shares with us why he wants to see Tanas Gruzdev become the sixteenth president of Yarova. “In this country, we are blessed by God to have so much natural resources. 45 billion barrels of oil! We would not be half the country we are today without it. We could not fuel our vehicles, heat our homes, power our factories, or pave our roads. Jesus Christ, you mean to tell me they want to take all this away from us?” He continues: “Gruzdev gets it, there is no horseshit passing his lips. I have supported him since he has been leader. He knows that it is lunacy to shut the oil rigs.” Mrs Lagransky, aged 74, has a soft spot for newly-elected Otrada chancellor Kristina Kelerova. “I like this young blonde! She reminds me of myself when I was in my youth, a real working girl [she laughs].” The mood changes when they are asked about their feelings towards President Grigorievna. An initially-hesitant Mrs Lagransky ponders: “But how could they put a foreign, coloured woman in office? She does not represent Yarovars, she knows nothing about us.” Mr Lagransky adds: “I think she should be deported to Kesh.”

Unfortunately, such racist views are not rare and the Lagransky’s remarks echo those of Gruzdev’s in the past, which are not limited to the verified video recording in which he says about Grigorievna: “Look at her! Look at her! This woman is disingenuous, she is not a Yarovar!” This time around, however, the People of Yarova have tread carefully on the issue of race and strategically put forward ethnic minority candidates such as Kellerovo’s Areqshu Nashko (who is Adyghe) and Yelerinsk’s Annagül Ibragimova, (who is Trukhmen). Both Nashko and Ibragimova were successful in their respective bids for chancellor and have, in the process, polished the party’s reputation on the matter.

Dr Karchagina is unsurprised by this and offers a personal prediction of what to expect in the presidential race later this year: “Expect to see a far more versed and prepared Gruzdev, who is willing to say the right thing when it comes to race relations and LGBTQ+ rights. I do think that he will select Kelerova as his vice-presidential running mate. She would be a wise choice, given her popularity.” Kelerova, whose great-uncle-in-law was none other than the late Sergey Khismatullin, is a self-proclaimed ‘farmer’s daughter’ and ‘run-of-the-mill Otradan’ who just so happened to study Law and Vallisian in affluent Shchyokhov. She rose to prominence within the party over the past number of years and, yes, she is the woman who gave that cringe-worthy speech about how she isn’t a feminist because the DSP ‘stole’ the term. If Kelerova is chosen, it is unclear why she would contend in the district-level elections, but what is clear is that the People of Yarova have their eyes on the ball and very much want to tear down the DSP establishment.

Jul 11: When Tanas met Vika: Interview with People of Yarova party leader
By VIKA ZUYEVA | 11 July 2019 — 19:30 (UTC+7) SHCHYOKHOVSK, Yarova — With the not-bargained-for victory of his People of Yarova party earlier this month in the district-level elections, Tanas Gruzdev tells Vika what makes him presidential material and why he is hitting the campaign trail early.

Although we have seen each other on numerous occasions since, the last time I interviewed Tanas Gruzdev for Vika was way back in 2009 when he ran for the second time against Nikita Chekudayev. Things were certainly different back then. The Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP) were an insurmountable force, against which the People of Yarova (PY) never stood a realistic chance. The Rodchenko years solidified the DSP into Yarovan political life, all the while the PY retreated into the shadows in a desperate attempt to brush off the dust of the tumultuous Khismatullin administration. Much like the Christian Alliance Party (CAP) in Kropokhovo, the PY held on to its traditional vote in the eastern half of the country, typically consisting of those involved in agriculture and the oil industry. This demographic would prove itself essential to winning the party’s first majority in almost 25 years.

Tanas Shaposhnikov Gruzdev was born in the remote town of Oktyashikha in north-eastern Buguznogorsk Oblast on 3 March, 1951. An average academic performer at school, in 1967, at the age of sixteen years, Tanas was enlisted in the Federal Armed Forces and was first stationed at Sosotroitsk, before being transferred to Likhigrad in 1969. In spite of his childhood dream of someday becoming a colonel, his service in the military was over within five months. After getting caught within the range of a deadly KELL bomb detonation, irreparable damage was done to his right leg. Who could have predicted this injury would end up changing the face of Yarovan politics forever?

Tanas did not let his disability hold him back. In fact, his limp has become something of a sensation in popular culture and has resulted in his common nickname Utka, meaning the “duck.” Shortly after returning to his hometown, Tanas dove headfirst into local politics and joined the Republican Party. After the party formally disbanded in 1979, Tanas proved instrumental in the formation of the People of Yarova Party and in 1984, was briefly elected Chancellor of Buguznogorsk. In 1985, he served as Minister for Agriculture and Food Affairs under Sergey Khismatullin, before returning to district chancellorship from 1994 to 2004. A man with a countenance once likened to a “bulldog licking urine off a nettle,” Tanas is, unashamedly, everything westerners portray the eastern stereotype to be. Oddly, maybe that is his charm.

Cut to 2019, and duck memes deluge Yarovan social media. On teenage girl’s bedroom walls, beside posters of drag queens, mumble rappers and pop heartthrobs, is the awkward, crotchety mug of ole Grandad Gruzdev. “Konstantina is shook,” reads one post on trendy Yarovan platform Boltovnya in the immediate aftermath of PY’s success in the elections. This would be harmless, if it were not for the fact Tanas has a questionable political record on weapons of mass destruction, the environment, race relations, gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. To his critics, Tanas is a very real threat to peace on our continent, but to his supporters, he is a living, breathing example of a changed, unapologetic Yarova.

Vika: Whether one agrees with the sentiment or not, every Yarovar is familiar with the phrase “oil and toil is a feast for the east”. I recall sitting in my office when the news broke of the district election results, seeing the celebrations in places like Borisopol and thinking it will be no time at all before all of the country will be having its feast. No doubt it was a historic outcome.

Tanas: It was a day of absolute jubilation. Finally, we could see with our own eyes that, actually, yes, we can accomplish the goals we were always told were impossible. Communities that have had no reason to celebrate in many, many years were having street parties. Elderly people were up on their feet dancing. Little children had their faces painted white, blue and yellow. To me, this was beautiful.

Vika: Would you consider yourself a patriot?

Tanas: Of course! To be a patriot is to have love for one’s own country. I would not be doing any of this if it were not for the fact I love Yarova and my countrymen. It is patriotic to stand up firmly against the ineptitude of the DSP dynasty and ensure that the cosy consensus they have with the ecosocialists is exposed. It is patriotic to want to see Yarova prosper and that cannot happen with these spineless crooks in charge.

Vika: In that case, do you believe the Democratic Socialists and Progressives are patriots?

Tanas: Only an emotionally-uninvested foreigner from afar could spout such nonsense. The DSP are the antithesis of what it means to be a Yarovan patriot. Clearly, their policies are conceptualised by people with underdeveloped brains. They do this country a great deal of harm and this can never be considered patriotism.

Vika: Do you understand people who find the things you say, and the way you say them, offensive? For instance, when you imply that foreign leaders are incompetent at their jobs or that immigrants are destroying the national economy.

Tanas: Illegal immigration is a very real problem here and it is common knowledge that the DSP have built alliances with fellow crooks mismanaging other countries. This is not unfair to say. Contrary to what the media says, I am not the boogeyman. I can empathise and try to understand why some people feel a particular way about me. However, I reject all of this political correctness crap. We are nurturing the youth of this country to be crybabies who whinge and moan about anything and everything they don’t want to hear. Truth tends to hurt the weak and I think that is the actual issue.

Vika: How do you define good leadership?

Tanas: In order to be a good leader, you must relate to the electorate. To the common, everyday people. You must be able to see things from their perspective. Only by those means can you plausibly represent them. Leadership must be driven by patriotism but also by the ability to make tough calls when difficult situations arise. Take no shit from anyone. None of this is new to me.

Vika: Already, you have been on the road for quite a number of weeks on the campaign trail. Early bird catches the worm? [Vika smiles]

Tanas: Or in this case, early duck catches the worm! [Tanas laughs]

Vika: “An untameable she-wolf”. That is how your running mate Kristina Kelerova has been described by Artem Lagransky at the YTV News Network. Former President Danila Christov referred to her as “iron-willed”. What made her a suitable pick for vice presidential candidate?

Tanas: Kristina is an exceptional negotiator and has a way with people that is unmatched in Yarovan politics. She has served her district of Otrada for a great many years and, most importantly, she loves where she comes from. I personally find that she also has that international dimension, with her ability to speak Vallisian and Jungastian fluently, something which critics falsely accuse our party of lacking.

Vika: Certainly, you have come a long way from questioning President Grigorievna’s ethnic origins in 2015 to appointing an Adygeyan, Dzhokarian and Trukhmen as chancellorship candidates in 2019. Do you regret any of your behaviour in the past and would you admit that you indulged in racist rhetoric?

Tanas: I do not accept that assessment. In 2014 I proudly selected my life-long friend Saidakhmed Khadzhiev to represent the People of Yarova in Pozdnyakovskaya. My own wife of 45 years is half Hay, my father-in-law grew up on the reservation. For decades, I have stood up for the rights of ethnic minorities and I vocally supported the signing of the Abaksamir Agreement in 1970, even though KELL blew off a chunk of my leg less than a year before. It can be assured to you, I am no racist.

Vika: But do you not think that Madam President deserves an apology from you though? The audio recording where you brought her skin colour into question was, in fact, substantiated.

Tanas: It was not substantiated. If we are going to talk about President Grigorievna and apologies, perhaps she should first apologise to the Yarovan people for her pathetic misgovernance. [Tanas shrugs his shoulders]

Vika: Now, nuclear weapons. You have talked extensively at rallies about your intention to put forward an executive order that would authorise the recommissioning of weapons of mass destruction in this country. If, indeed, you are elected president. Are you aware of the severe ramifications such a move could have on international relations?

Tanas: I am aware, I am aware. Yes, Grigorievna has more than her fair share of cohorts in the League of Free Nations who have ‘raised concerns’. There are fears that Gardarike could attempt some kind of a supposed ‘pre-emptive strike’ to stall the redevelopment of our program. Make no mistake, this threat is precisely why we have no choice but to proceed in this direction.

Vika: Following the official announcement of the district elections, President Svidrauskas has stated that Aukalnia will increase its military expenditure two-fold and reports have come in of military exercises near the contested Shvekshna. Can you, Tanas, here and now, explicitly rule out another conflict with our western neighbours?

Tanas: It would be ill-advised to speculate and start making efforts to conflate two unrelated factors. What I will say is this, under my leadership, the United Federated Districts will not antagonise another sovereign state unless indisputably provoked. However, it must be emphasised that we will not be bullied into submission either.

Vika: You mentioned the League of Free Nations. Do you see a future for the United Federated Districts in the organisation if you were elected president?

Tanas: Like I said, unless we are provoked, there should be no problem with us remaining in the League. I welcomed President Grigorievna’s decision. But it must be acknowledged, since our admission as a member state nearly two years ago, we have pumped a substantial amount of money into the organisation. Frankly, they need us more than we need them.

Vika: Are you willing to tone down on some of your policy ideas in order to continue participating in the League?

Tanas: What specific policies are you referring to?

Vika: Well, nuclear proliferation is, of course, the major issue that everybody is talking about. Would you put down some clear red lines and say to the League ‘this far but no further’?

Tanas: No, there will be no red lines or concessions. It is as if there is an epidemic of both mass-amnesia and hypocrisy. The United Federated Districts possessed nuclear capabilities in the past. How is it that President Grigorievna can preach world peace and then increase military expenditure 1.5% in less than four years? Why is she not condemning Brigantica, a leading member of the League, for its arsenal?

Vika: Just last week at a gala event in Cheskovsk, your party’s foreign affairs spokesperson Boris Mekhantyev reaffirmed the People of Yarova’s controversial position on Shvekshna. So, you would be prepared to enter the territory and break the conditions of the Ruchava Treaty? Surely this is antagonising another sovereign state?

Tanas: If there is one piece of legislation in the history of our state that frustrates me the most it is the Aukalnia and Sartland Decolonisation and Reconciliation Act. It should never have been tabled and was a callous act of treachery against our own brothers. Vladimir Rodchenko should be thrown into a jail cell to rot. If I am elected president, or indeed any other People of Yarova candidate, there will be exhaustive talks with President Kurhepin to negotiate the peaceful reunification of All Yarova. Aukalnia may choose to partake in this process, but that will be their decision to make.

Vika: Your party is set on changing the way our country’s economy operates. You are an open advocate of supply side economics. You often admonish the DSP for its record on wide-ranging nationalisation. You don’t believe the government should be solely responsible in handling the healthcare system. You have played with the idea of reintroducing tuition fees and loans. Don’t these policies go against ideals of equal opportunity?

Tanas: Without a shadow of a doubt, equal opportunity is a cornerstone of this federation’s very foundation and it must be protected. The political stances you just referred to are not contradictory. But I must say, even though tuition fees are not high on my list, it would never target low-income citizens. I believe in some form of a safety net and the private sector can offer more opportunities to those with a determination to work and do well.

The DSP have carelessly created a culture of idleness and undue entitlement, where there is no initiative among a significant proportion of our healthy young people. That needs to change, reform in the welfare system will make it much more complicated for these people to become recipients. The success and survival of this country relies on the motivation of all its citizens.

Vika: Your sixteen chancellors have recently signed a pact to ignore federal government orders on phasing out on the extraction of oil. Of course, the Supreme Court are set to make a ruling on this. How can you expect DSP chancellors to listen to you if you are elected to the office of president?

Tanas: This is simply spin, no person in the eastern United Federated Districts is falling for it. Hundreds of thousands of people are employed in the petroleum industry in this country, this is their livelihoods. I don’t care about the shoeless hippies, they can go live in mud dwellings in the Karbykans. Until the DSP present to me a more competent solution, which they are incapable of doing, we will continue to work in the best interests of the normal, everyday people we were elected to represent. This is how a federal democracy works.

Vika: Lastly, since we are short on remaining time. Why should a Yarovar vote for you, Tanas Gruzdev, to be the sixteenth President of the United Federated Districts?

Tanas: I would ask citizens of this country to vote for me next year to be their president because the DSP dynasty needs to be torn down. We have suffered the same torturous humiliation for 25 years. The economy is in decline, unemployment rates and crime rates are on the rise. President Grigorievna has demonstrated, time and time again, that she wants to see our country become a lapdog of the West. If I am granted the opportunity, I will not allow this to happen. I will not shut down the oil rigs. I will not compromise on our national defence plans. I will reunite all Yarovars and I will ensure that we will regain our status as an economic global player.

Vika: Tanas, it has been a pleasure. The best of luck to you. [Tanas and Vika shake hands]

Jul 18: When Vika met Konstantina: Interview with President of Yarova
By VIKA ZUYEVA | 18 July 2019 — 19:31 (UTC+7) SHCHYOKHOVSK, Yarova — Following last week's interview with the Leader of the Opposition Tanas Gruzdev, I met with President Konstantina Grigorievna at the Surkov Palace to discuss a range of topics, from federal policy-making decisions to the rise in support of the PY. Just last week, a long-awaited interview I conducted with People of Yarova (PY) party leader Tanas Gruzdev was published to a global readership on my website. The enigma that is Tanas has garnered a cult following across the eastern United Federated Districts and, with fresh electoral strides in the swing district of Borisopol, along with traditionally-DSP Yadryshkina, Smirnova and Yumarapol, political scientists are placing their bets on his victory in the presidential election in less than twelve months. In the interview (which you may find here: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=35925168#p35925168), Tanas reasserts his resolve, if elected, to proceed with controversial policies such as renuclearisation, the expansion of the petroleum industry and the reacquisition of the Shvekshna disputed territory. It is these said brazen stances that have skyrocketed public support of Tanas and his PY party, helping illuminate to the understanding the sheer level of frustration felt by tens of millions of Yarovars towards the current administration. However, for the sake of healthy, balanced political discourse, it is important to also gain an insight into the perspective of the personnel operating within the federal government itself. Who better to touch base with, I thought, than the Head of State and Government, President Konstantina Grigorievna?

Konstantina Jiraiya Payaimar Grigorievna was born in Yarova’s second city of Minerinsk-Belgorod on 3 April, 1969. She was born to a black Yarovar mother and a father of Mahdi and Hay heritage. The president was raised in a family of devout Eastern Orthodox Catholics and attended St. Magda’s Primary School, an Orthodox educational establishment in the ward of Slaksa in south-east Minerinsk. She studied at a public school for her secondary level education, the Sarolma Hill Secondary School. In her youth, Grigorievna was a keen gymnast, horse rider and debater. She joined the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP) at the age of just 16 years in 1985. After graduation, in 1987, Grigorievna earned a scholarship and studied at the National University of the United Federated Districts in Shchyokhov. She went on to study at the E.K. Lemenev School of Law in Shchyokhov, which she attended from 1992 to 1995. During her time in the education system, Grigorievna stirred up controversy for her radical social views, such as her advocacy for same-sex marriage, cannabis legalisation and the decriminalisation of sex work. This would pose itself as a trend for the rest of her high-profile political career, as she steadily climbed the ladder from a district representative for Minerinsk’s 22nd Ward in 1996 to federal president in 2015.

A moderate socialist, it is widely known that the president became politically-motivated directly owing to her contempt of the then-ruling PY party under presidents Danila Christov and Sergey Khismatullin. It is mildly amusing then, if not simply indicative of our country’s polarised political atmosphere, that the PY party has observed an explosion in membership due to much of the public’s negative perceptions of President Grigorievna. Since her inauguration four years ago, the president has, among other things: renationalised Air Yarova and Yarovan Railways, raised the minimum wage from 10 USD to 15 USD, implemented the Altekst Policy (go-ahead for federal funding of nonprofit environmentalist NGOs), and rescinded marijuana from the federal list of prohibited substances.

However, most significantly, the Grigorievna administration has overseen the United Federated Districts’ admittance to the League of Free Nations, a major global bloc of states which promotes military and economic co-operation between its members. This contentious decision required the carrying out of a plebiscite in May 2018 which altered the national constitution and has subsequently authorised the Yarovan Armed Forces to engage in military exercises outside of domestic territory, after 51.8% voted in favour. Since Grigorievna’s ascension to office in 2015, federal military expenditure has increased from 0.48% to the current total of 2.0%. In January 2018, the Minister of National Security and Defence, the United Federated Districts’ third in command, Erik Meselev, resigned in protest and accused President Grigorievna of “dragging Yarova into the moronic board game of bloc-politics”. The dust has never quite settled since then and, although the Yarovan Armed Forces are currently participating in League drills in Western Artemia, the likelihood of the United Federated Districts remaining in the organisation is shrinking by the day.

Naturally, not unlike any of its preceding counterparts, the Grigorievna presidency has experienced the highs and lows that come with governance. Nevertheless, with her administration’s expressed commitment to ‘phase out’ from all fossil fuels by 2040 and, especially, the petroleum industry by 2030, for the first time in 25 years, the DSP are polling behind the PY party. A poll released last Monday, conducted for TV Pyat’s Politika, has indicated that President Grigorievna’s approval ratings stand at an unimpressive 39%. The lowest ever being 36% in February, following the release of the renewable energy transition targets. Of course, people have cause for concern. Unemployment is on the rise across all 29 federated districts, and has increased from 3.6% to 4.9% in the past four years alone.

PY representatives have argued that the increasing of the national minimum wage has taken its toll on small, rural businesses. While some economists have pinned the blame on new, stringent environmental regulations suffocating the chemical, pharmaceutical and automobile sectors, coupled with the sharp elevation of the corporate tax in recent years. Inner-city crime is also a growing problem in districts such as Yumarapol and Cheskovsk. The training and competence of personnel in law enforcement agencies and their use of routine excessive force have been raised into question, but have seemingly fallen upon deaf ears in Shchyokhov. How does Madam President reckon with these damning statistics? Does she see herself realistically securing a second term in government? I visited the Surkov Palace to find out.

Vika: Kicking down a dead-end, brick wall of classism and inequality. Promoting the needs of everyone rather than produce massive profits for a small handful of this country’s people. Combatting the ever-looming threat of climate change and ensuring that future generations of Yarovars will get to see the light of day. Bringing an end to the gluttony of corporate capitalism.These are just some of the things you were quoted as saying in your historic presidential address in 2015. Firstly, my question to you would be: Do you think you have been successful in achieving these things?

President Grigorievna: Well, let’s hope you’ve started off with the toughest questions and you’ll ease down a little as we go on! [President Grigorievna laughs]

I don’t think it was ever on my agenda to achieve all of these things within five years or, indeed, within ten years. With that said, that is not to suggest we haven’t made progress and I think that is the key word here, actually. The democratic socialist project in this country was launched by former President Rodchenko almost 25 years ago, it was never his intention to see it finalised overnight. In a federated state like ours, where private corporations still wield an insane amount of power due to the vested interests of right-wing politicians and other public figures, we cannot expect to see a rapid and smooth transition. I believe we have gotten closer to our goals, with tougher action on corporations with higher taxation and environmental regulation. But, as we have seen in recent times, our opponents, who benefit from this inequality, are definitely not taking this lying down.

Vika: We hear that a lot from DSP representatives and, I mean, with the greatest of respect, President Chekudayev was prone to this explanation of a “gradual project.” But to people on the outside, to a great number of ordinary Yarovars, it can feel like an excuse. As if you are paying lip service to grassroots activists while effectively not doing what you were elected to do. Do you grasp that increasingly common interpretation?

President Grigorievna: I would, unreservedly, call that a misinterpretation. However, I would be evading the truth if I led you to believe I never, myself, encountered those views by citizens who were concerned. It’s understandable why they would be. I will tell you the very same thing I say to them each and every time.

Our aim as democratic socialists is to end our society’s subservience to the financial market. We have already taken steps to realise this, such as the establishment of universal healthcare in 2000 and the abolition of third-level tuition fees in 2011. But we need to keep working to eventually replace the private ownership of the means of production with a collective, democratic ownership. In the short term, we can’t eliminate private corporations, but we can bring them under greater democratic control. It will be no walk in the park, but that is the ultimate plan.

Vika: So what you are saying is, the DSP someday plan to seize all private property in this country. How would this make you any different to the Communist Party in Teutonenland? Which, of course, the League of Free Nations frothingly opposes.

President Grigorievna: The DSP have been among the harshest critics of authoritarian communist states, like Teutonenland, as you mention. Just because their bureaucratic elites call them “socialist” does not make it so; they also call their regimes “democratic.” The DSP have always opposed the ruling party-states of those societies, just as we oppose the ruling classes of capitalist societies. However, the improvement of people’s lives requires real democracy without ethnic rivalries or new guises of authoritarianism. Most importantly, we cannot allow all radicalism to be dismissed as “communist.” That suppression of dissent and diversity undermines Yarova’s ability to live up to its promise of equality of opportunity, not to mention the freedoms of speech and assembly.

Vika: Would you not agree that there is, at the very least, a semblance of contradiction in a self-identified socialist president proceeding full-throttle to participate in a bloc of liberal capitalist states?

President Grigorievna: Upon our full entry into the League eighteen months ago, our government prepared a formal bulletin which was issued to the general public outlining our rationale for engaging in the organisation. As set out in the statement, among other things, our primary objectives include the preservation and advancement of human rights, the promotion of sustainable economic and social development, and the initiation of stable international diplomacy. Our membership has granted us access to a valuable avenue in which the United Federated Districts can carry out positive diplomatic dialogue with the government of the Gardic Realm. These objectives do not contradict our values as a political party whatsoever, in fact, they are very much compatible.

Vika: In acknowledgement of your election promise to tackle the soaring crime rates in some of our country’s major urban centres. The crime rate has only exacerbated through the course of your tenure. The Chancellor of Yumarapol Jivan Kurdin made headlines last week for accusing your government of being “scared shitless of the Sem’ya”, also known as the Yarovan mafia. Why has your government refused to recognise and counteract the explosion in organised criminal activities?

President Grigorievna: The federal government have treated Mr. Kurdin’s words as nothing but smear tactics to aid his party leader in getting into power. This is the kind of rhetoric from district governments we expect to hear a lot of now that the majority are presided over by opportunists in the PY party. The fact is, the Department for Domestic Cohesion and Protection is in the process of addressing organised crime by adopting new control approaches such as improving police efficiency by emphasising greater coordination between law enforcement agencies. In the House of Representatives, DSP representatives are currently drawing up a tougher antigambling bill and in government, we intend to establish a standing committee to attend to police corruption and isolation. We are not scared of any criminal organisation in this country, myself and my cabinet simply refuse to give any legitimacy to these thugs by using the titles they want us to use.

Vika: But these ‘opportunists’ that you refer to must be doing something right, Madam President. Considering the fact the PY leader Tanas Gruzdev is consistently polling 10 points ahead of you. If these polls are not an indication of who will be President of Yarova next year, then certainly the last district elections were. How do you come to terms with this? Is the fight really over?

President Grigorievna: No, the fight will never be over. Gruzdev and the PY party have been lurking in the shadows for quite some time, waiting for the appropriate moment to latch on to any form of public discontent and run with it for political gain. That is what has happened over the past few months, and that is why he is faring more positively in the polls than I am at the moment. Even if I were trailing twenty, thirty or forty points behind him, I would not hold my hands up and throw in the towel.

Vika: Do you see yourself winning a second term in office?

President Grigorievna: Look, there is undoubtedly a fight on our hands come the next election. I know that the fight I am leading is one of equality, justice and fairness, and as the saying goes, I will ‘keep fighting the good fight’. If the Left can mobilise and come together constructively, I truly believe we will still be in with a credible chance of getting into government again. It will take a massive amount of grafting by a hell of a lot of people but it’s a challenge worth taking.

Vika: Why should my readers, in your view, not vote for Tanas Gruzdev?

President Grigorievna: I had hoped for easier questions but this is just a no-brainer! [President Grigorievna laughs]

The very concept of Mr. Gruzdev as President of the United Federated Districts would be a defilement of the office. He is an unrepentant racist. A man who has questioned my Yarovan-ness due to the colour of my skin. A man who was responsible for lifting the racial discrimination laws in Buguznogorsk Oblast in the 1990s. He is openly anti-LGBTQ. A man who once referred to two men kissing as “against the natural order”. A man who still thinks transgender people are “deluded” and do not deserve access to hormone treatment. He is an unashamed jingoist. A man who wants to bring back weapons of mass destruction to this country. A man who, during Khismatullin’s War, bragged about wanting to “reduce Gardarike and Aukalnia to rats and cockroaches”. Surely this is not the person we want representing our union on the international stage. With Mr. Gruzdev, we have some very serious national security risks and I suspect many millions of people will feel compelled to resist if he is elected.

Vika: In hindsight, if you had known how negatively the general public would react to your cabinet’s renewable energy transition targets, would you have done things differently?

President Grigorievna: … [President Grigorievna hesitates for a moment]

I do not believe that the proposals and targets laid out in the strategy were cause for such a widespread level of opposition. It is excusable why some people, especially those directly involved in the energy sector, may be unsettled at the idea of complete termination of petroleum works within such a short timeframe. However, we have a great team of climate change and energy experts advising us on policy-making and determining which targets are realistic and which are actually not. An alternative employment plan is covered across the length of eighty pages in the report. I continue to stand by the paper and am mostly frustrated at how the PY have managed to contort the situation in their favour.

Vika: Since I have asked you why my readers should not vote for Tanas Gruzdev. Why should my readers vote for you, Madam President?

President Grigorievna: We are rapidly approaching a major crossroads in the history of the United Federated Districts. Which person is elected President of Yarova in 2020 will decide the future of our country and what direction we go in; not just politically, but also economically and socially. Globally, tensions are running high. In a collective manner, the League of Free Nations is working tirelessly to uphold stability in our region and beyond. Now is the time to branch out to our neighbours and present ourselves as a true beacon of liberty. We cannot afford to see a ‘Gruzdev’s War’ with Aukalnia over who should administer a post-colonial war zone. We cannot risk our hard-fought, fragile peace with Gardarike over who has the most rockets, this is not about boys and their toys.

Instead, we need to persist in the twenty-five-year-long fight for democracy at home and abroad. We need to advance the democratic socialist project into the next decade. We need to combat climate change. Only the DSP can deliver the practical and pragmatic policies necessary to accomplish all of these things. That is why I am asking for the citizens of this proud country to vote for me in the upcoming election. The work is not done! [President raises her fist]

Vika: And with that, I am afraid we are out of time. I want to thank you sincerely for your time, Madam President. The best of luck to you in the coming months. [President Grigorievna and Vika shake hands]

Aug 19: Breaking: 16 killed in Borisopol bomb explosion
By YAROSLAV BATRUTDINOV | 19 August 2019 — 12:25 (UTC+7)

BORISOPOL, Yarova — The Borisopol Police Department are treating a bomb explosion on the city's eastside, which has killed 16 civilians, as an 'act of domestic terrorism'.

At least 16 people were killed and more than two dozen injured in a car bomb explosion Monday at the headquarters of Christian pressure group Zashchita Very (ZV) in Borisopol’s eastside borough of Andreykovo. Two 26-year-old males of Yarovan nationality have been identified as potential suspects and have been apprehended by the Borisopol Police Department. Among the dead include prominent anti-LGBT rights activist and qualified psychiatrist Yaroslava Abakumova who, notably, recently endorsed Tanas Gruzdev in the upcoming federal presidential elections. The attack comes as tensions are rising between left and right. It is believed that the suspects are linked to militant anti-facism. Severny Lane, Sibrayt Street and Polina Street have all been cordoned off by the authorities. Both pedestrians and drivers have been asked to fully cooperate with this undertaking until the criminal investigation reaches its next phase.

According to a Surkov Palace press release, President Grigorievna is set to make an appearance in Borisopol tomorrow in an act of solidarity with the victims and their families. However, reports have come in that a government request to meet the director of ZV has been denied. In the official statement, the president has described the attack as an “unthinkable evil” and “unrepresentative of Yarovan socialism”. Meanwhile, Gruzdev, presently on the campaign trail in Maugorod, has engaged in a conference call with a handful of ZV members as they were being hosted by the district Chancellor Edik Savasin. Both Gruzdev and Savasin have pinpointed the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP) as the suspects’ source of inspiration in carrying out the bombing. On the People of Yarova (PY) website, Savasin claims: “For my entire political career, I have talked about how dangerous the DSP pursuit of an anti-faith agenda is on our society. Do not be deceived into thinking otherwise ... the socialists are responsible for this tragedy”. While Gruzdev goes further by noting that Grigorievna has already “incited an insurrection” in the event he makes it to the presidency.

Nonsensical alarmism? Or perhaps we should expect to see more incidents like this, as Yarovan politics continues to become increasingly polarised. The motivations of the culprits behind the bombing have not yet been confirmed in what was the worst domestic terror attack seen since the Steppe conflict of the 1960s and 1970s. The team here at Yarova Today will continue to update on this story as more developments unfold.

Aug 22: Kelerova: Grigorievna has blood on her hands
By YAROSLAV BATRUTDINOV | 22 August 2019 — 14:15 (UTC+7)

MAUGOROD, Yarova — In her possibly harshest and most personal criticism yet, deputy leader of the People of Yarova (PY) party and vice-presidential candidate Kristina Kelerova has shockingly accused President Grigorievna of being directly responsible for the terrorist attack in Borisopol on Monday.

In spite of requests from law enforcement and district government officials for members of the general public to remain at a safe distance from the cordoned-off area in southern Andreykovo, Borisopol, thousands gathered last night for a candlelight vigil that endured through to the early hours of this morning. On Tuesday, the Borisopol Police Commissioner Oleg D. Noskov issued a public statement in which he disclosed the names of the two 26-year-old male suspects, Matvei Preobrazhensky and Peter Kushnir. An additional, third suspect has also been named and shamed by Noskov, in a move reportedly deemed controversial by others within the police department. A 24-year-old woman, Dominika Petrossian, believed to be romantically-connected to Preobrazhensky, has also been apprehended.

The suspects have been linked to a 341-page compendium entitled Rastvoryayushchiy Yad (‘Dissolving the Poison’) which advocates militant anti-facism and largely propounds principles of antireligion. Kushnir’s maternal uncle Ilya Svyatoslavovich works as a policy advisor for the Alternative Socialist Movement (ASD), a party with one seat in the House of Representatives, which has yet to condemn or even comment on the explosion. Noskov has estimated that up to 100 kg of fertilisers containing nitrates were stored in the back of a white Litvin transit van which was detonated at 9.23 am (East Artemian Time) outside the head office of conservative Christian advocacy group Zaschita Very (ZV) (‘Defence of Faith’).

The explosion has now claimed a total of nineteen lives, as three more victims have died in hospital due to injuries sustained from the blast. The youngest, a boy, only seven years of age, was walking along the pavement beside the building with his mother who, herself, is said to be in critical condition. The Director of ZV, Sergey Kirillin, was absent from the city when the bombing took place. He has cited scripture in his denouncement of the attack, saying: “Do not say, ‘I’ll pay you back for this wrong!’ Wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you”. Kirillin, himself an Orthodox priest, offered a Divine Liturgy in St. Mikhail’s Cathedral in remembrance of the deceased victims and those who have survived the attack.

The Surkov Palace initially announced President Grigorievna’s scheduled arrival to the city as being Tuesday, however, this date was later postponed to Thursday owing to purported “security risks”. In an unexpected move, the president briefly met with the Chancellor of Borisopol, Edik Savasin, who strongly criticised the government and its socialist ideology, which he believes was the driving force behind the attack. Grigorievna and Savasin joined in prayer with members of the public who were gathered beside the bouquet-adorned barricade, which was erected to block pedestrians from entering the crime scene.

Nevertheless, Savasin maintains that the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP) influenced the mindset of the perpetrators and that “Grigorievna has got to go”. The Chancellor is not alone in his pointing the finger of blame on the president and the greater DSP party, PY deputy leader and vice presidential candidate Kristina Kelerova addressed an audience in Maugorod in which she confidently asserted that “Grigorievna has Abakumova’s blood on her hands”. Yaroslava Abakumova, a Gruzdev advocate who dedicated most of her adult life to anti-LGBT activism, lost her life in the explosion. Kelerova outrageously claimed that she thinks it was an “inside job” and part of a “terrorist plot to extinguish conservative Yarova”.

“We must pay very close attention to Kristina Kelerova’s comments, stresses Yuriy Dzeghaschte, Yarova Today’s political correspondent. “Not solely for the substance, but also the time and place in which she has said this. She is on the campaign trail with Tanas Gruzdev, arguably this could not have come at a better time for the PY. In their typical fashion, they seem to be stirring up this intense anti-DSP sentiment and, scarily, its working”. Although the population of the Maugorod Islands is less than 50,000, the visit to the archipelago by Gruzdev and Kelerova is significant, as it marks the first time ever that a federal presidential candidate has campaigned there. In a rare case of intervention, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Andreya Davydkina, has asked Kelerova to retract her accusations and apologise to the president, who has yet to respond.

In the address, Kelerova was seemingly determined to make the headlines one way or another, by controversially concluding her speech: “The People of Yarova will work for the betterment and success of All-Yarova, from Maugorod to Shvekshna. To those who want middle ground, we give them the middle finger”. The irredentist term ‘All-Yarova’ dates back to the Vojiskiy imperial age and corresponds to all territorial acquisitions made by the Yarovan Empire during its exercise of manifest destiny, known as Vostochnoye Gospodstvo (‘Eastern Domination’). The PY’s frequent usage of this term has been regarded by numerous political pundits as intentionally-inflammatory, but who can argue that Kelerova’s remarks are not sincere? Either way, by simply mentioning the disputed territory of Shvekshna once again, the PY are sure to further test the patience of Aukalnia and other Northern Coregnancy states.

Aug 23: Breaking: Far-right riots break out in Shchyokhov
By LYDIA CHUZNIKOVA | 23 August 2019 — 12:25 (UTC+7)

SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — More than 2,000 far-right demonstrators have taken to the streets of the Yarovan capital, Shchyokhov, to partake in anti-government riots. Video footage has been uploaded to social media, showing widespread theft and vandalism - with additional reports of stabbings. The civil disorder comes following Kristina Kelerova’s comments in Maugorod yesterday, alleging that the Borisopol bombing was an “inside job”.

Usually, the atmosphere in Shchyokhov’s political district surrounding the imposing Surkov Palace is calm, peaceful and untroubled. However, such a description could not be further from the truth today, as an estimated 2,000 far-right demonstrators continue to clash with law enforcement in what the former are referring to as a “stand against the socialist regime”. Eyewitness footage has shown rioters looting businesses and pushing back at police officers who were originally only employing baton charge tactics. The Shchyokhov Police Department have since been reduced to using tear gas and rubber bullets following reports of multiple civilian stabbings. It is believed People of Yarova (PY) party deputy leader and vice presidential candidate Kristina Kelerova could be a source of encouragement for the violent demonstrations, as just yesterday she accused the federal government of being behind Monday’s bombing in Borisopol which claimed the lives of nineteen people. Government officials did not have time to respond to the accusations, it seems, before masses of people deluged into the city centre this morning in what appears to be an attempt to force President Grigorievna to resign.

Among the demonstrators include white supremacists, ultranationalists, fascists and people who identify closely with right-wing parties such as the PY and the Yarovar Defence Front (YDF). Riot control measures taken by law enforcement and security forces have succeeded in holding off demonstrators from reaching Respublikanskaya ulitsa (‘Republican Street’), the immediate vicinity of the Surkov Palace, which houses the Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Presidential Residence. Three armoured tanks have been stationed along the street as a “balanced precaution” and the palace has been placed on temporary lockdown, with fears that the violence could descend into a downward spiral. It is unknown at this current time whether or not President Grigorievna is present in the heavily-guarded building.

In a significant development in the past half an hour, the Surkov Palace Press Secretary Vladimir Kuznetsov has issued a formal statement from President Grigorievna in reaction to today’s riots and the recent spike in violent extremism (see below). Kuznetsov, responding to a query from YTV concerning the increase in political polarisation and related violence, has said each district government is being asked to reform its law enforcement policies in anticipation of more attempted riots and bombings elsewhere in the country in the future. He has described it as a "bleak reality, but a reality all the same" and has rejected suggestions that DSP failings in government may be to blame.

THE SURKOV PALACE — Federal Office of the Press Secretary — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 23 AUGUST, 2019 — Statement by the President

“In acknowledgement of the civil unrest in our capital city of Shchyokhov, it is essential, first and foremost, that the federal government expresses complete disapproval of all forms of violence and condemns, unreservedly, those individuals who instigate such violence on our streets. Today, those with involvement in the rioting have put self-interest above both our national security and our ability to serve the people of Yarova, through whom we have a legitimate, democratic mandate. As President of the United Federated Districts, I have absolute confidence in my cabinet and we will continue our rightful service to the Yarovan people.

As Yarovars, we take immense pride in our propensity to offer tolerance and mutual respect to those with different beliefs. In incidences where we may find ourselves in disagreement, we seek to always arrive at a resolution. We are all too familiar with conflict and the shattering impact it can have on our everyday lives and on those we love. Above all, we strive to uphold our values of justice, equality and liberty, and hold those to account who recklessly try to deprive us of these values. All individuals found to be partaking in violent and unlawful behaviour will be faced with criminal charges. I commend the personnel operating in the security forces who are courageously keeping us safe at this time.

Finally, I would ask all political parties in the House of Representatives to join the Democratic Socialists and Progressives in condemning the riots and other incidents of extremism. They do not commit these acts of lawlessness in our name.”

Oct 10: Breaking: Vice President and Surkov staffer in critical condition following assassination attempt
By YAROSLAV BATRUTDINOV | 10 October 2019 — 15:05 (UTC+7)

SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — In the past half an hour, Vice President Isaak Nikishin-Svoburg has been rushed to St. Nikolai’s Hospital in Shchyokhov. Reportedly, after being seriously wounded by a bullet that ricocheted off the side of the stage from which he was addressing a crowd of supporters. A Surkov Palace staffer who accompanied the Vice President at the public engagement, identified as Viktor Igorevich from Cheskovsk, has also been shot and is reported to be “on the point of death”. The perpetrator, who has not yet been captured by the authorities, opened fire on the audience from an adjacent building facing northwards but no one else has been injured.

At an afternoon rally in Shchyokhov’s city centre marking his fifth week on the presidential campaign trail as leader of the Ecology Party, Vice President Issak Nikishin-Svoburg has been shot in the chest in what is being treated as a politically-motivated assassination attempt. The assailant who carried out this outrageous attack, which has also resulted in the hospitalisation of a Surkov Palace staffer named Viktor Igorevich, remains unidentified and at large. The 71-year-old Vice President is thought to be in critical condition at the nearby St. Nikolai’s Hospital. The city’s chancellor Sofia Pechkina has declared a curfew on all eight boroughs, which will be effective from 6.30 pm tonight following the sounding of the controversial ‘curfew siren’ and will require all civilians to remain indoors until 6.30 am tomorrow morning. The Shchyokhov Police Department, assisted by the Yarovan Land Forces, have set up roadblocks on all major routes exiting the capital. The Shchyokhov Metro has also declared an immediate closure until further notice and is not expecting to operate until the apprehension of the culprit, or indeed, culprits.

As expected, social media is awash with reactions and commentary from a long line of some of the country’s most relevant celebrities and public figures. Speaking on the matter on Yarovan platform Boltovnya, make-up artist and drag queen Chika Chuvash has likened the scenes in Shchyokhov to the “militarism of Unterpreuschwitz”, while celebrated tennis champion Evelina Shulichenka has asked the question on virtually everyone’s mind: “When will this f*cking bloodshed end?” This is not the first time Shulichenka has expressed her political opinion so openly, just last week she featured in the star-studded, DSP-EP-sponsored television campaign to ‘Keep Gruzdev Out’. Each day, this political broadcast (of sorts) offers the take of a popular Yarovan public figure on the presidential race and what they personally loathe about the PY party’s candidate Tanas Gruzdev. Shulichenka discusses his past misogynistic and anti-feminist comments. It appears as the presidential race approaches ever closer, the country’s political landscape is becoming increasingly divided and violent - this assassination attempt just the latest incident in an exhaustive list of verbal attacks, bombings, shootings, and riots fuelled by the animosity between the Left and Right. It does not appear that this turmoil shows even the slightest sign of slowing down, and Gruzdev has yet to comment on the shooting.

At the time of writing, a press conference is underway in the Surkov Palace’s Briefing Room. Press Secretary Vladimir Kuznetsov has stated that President Grigorievna has convened her cabinet and chief advisors for an emergency meeting in the Artur Mosal Conference and Intelligence Management Centre, located in the Palace’s Grand Cellar. However, Kuznetsov has remained particularly tight-lipped and has refused to answer whether or not this could compel the government to pull the plug. For the second time in six weeks, both the House of Representatives and Supreme Court have been forced to close, citing security concerns on the west-wing of the Palace which is considered the most vulnerable to potential external attacks. Secretary General of the League of Free Nations Folker Waecther has stated the organisation, of which Yarova is a member, will assist in the investigation to determine the identity, whereabouts, and motives of the perpetrator. According to inside sources at the Palace, senior government officials are allegedly infuriated at local law enforcement for allowing the culprit to flee the scene. The district government of Afonas’yevskiy Oblast, which surrounds the capital, has appealed to civilians to remain indoors and contact the police of any suspicious activity. Thus far, no criminal organisation has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Us reporters at Yarova Today will keep you updated as more unfolds in due course.

Oct 18: Breaking: Vice President Nikishin-Svoburg speaks out just one week after being shot
By LYDIA CHUZNIKOVA | 10 October 2019 — 15:05 (UTC+7)

SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — Vice President and leader of the Ecology Party (EP), Isaak Nikishin-Svoburg, returned to the Surkov Palace this lunchtime to address journalists in the Briefing Room, following yesterday’s historic moves at an emergency congress in Chaykoboksarsk to merge the party with the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP) and endorse the incumbent President Grigorievna for re-election.

It was all smiles and enthusiasm today, as the vice president approached the main entrance to the Surkov Palace in Shchyokhov. For a split moment, it could be forgiven if it slipped one’s mind that, a mere seven days beforehand, this same man was shot in the chest at a presidential rally in this very same city. Fortunately, he made a steady recovery in St. Nikolai’s Hospital, while a vigorous, eleven-hour manhunt for the perpetrator ensued. Cornered in an alleyway, almost forty kilometres north-west of Shchyokhov in the town of Bereksin, the suspect was identified as Sasha Yevdokimov, a 47-year-old man with ties to the Sem’ya. Yevdokimov seemingly took a ‘death-or-glory’ approach and shot at advancing soldiers - to which, predictably, they responded by gunning him down. Far-right conspiracy theorist and devoted critic of the government, Agafya Khaba, posted on Boltovnya: “Convenient how alleged suspect was sloppily pumped full of lead in such a massive, League-supported military operation… Didn’t they need some important answers from him? Perhaps it is the public who are in need of answers”.

Tanas Gruzdev, however, in a rare instance, did not resort to tactics as low as those of Khaba, and expressed on social media his “immense relief” at the shooter being stopped in his tracks. “Look at what is happening to our country,” he asserts. “I don’t care about whatever political differences we may have. Let me make myself clear, I am wishing my respectable colleague Vice President Nikishin-Svoburg a smooth, speedy recovery. I would like nothing more than to see him in full health debating with me next month. Only an absolute madman who HATES Yarova would want to see such a heinous act committed against federal officials!” Meanwhile, President Grigorievna made those all-too-familiar calls for calm and restraint, coming directly in response to growing reports of DSP supporters egging PY activists and a tour bus in the capital city. “We must channel our frustration into positive action, I beg of all grassroots activists to refrain from targeting and physically intimidating PY counterparts. It is not effective and, most importantly, it is not the Yarovan way”.

The vice president underwent surgery immediately after being admitted to hospital and, within 36 hours, was pronounced to be in a stable condition. Yesterday evening, he was deemed sufficiently fit for discharge. The palace staffer, on the other hand, Viktor Igorevich, who also was shot by the late-Yevdokimov, remains in intensive care and his fate is regarded as less promising. The assassination attempt, the first ever aimed at a Yarovan vice president, resulted in the organisation by the Ecology Party executive of an emergency congress, held in Chaykoboksarsk on Thursday, 17 October. With the permission of a conscious Nikishin-Svoburg, after lengthy discussions, the party made the historic decision to merge with their partners in government, the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP). By way of a video call, the vice president and party leader announced this to his party faithful: “Dear friends, allow me by first saying it is better to be slapped by the truth than kissed with a lie. These are troubled times we live in. I have been in this politics business for almost half a century, never have I heard of, never mind experienced first-hand, such horror in our land. Standing against this background, I fear that the situation will only deteriorate if we allow the Right to consume us. It is not in our nature to be defeatists, and accepting defeat is not what I am asking of you. It is time to be strong”.

Nikishin-Svoburg continued by emphasising the close relationship shared by the EP and DSP: “For just under ten years, our small but committed party has succeeded in putting our own mark in federal policy as junior coalition partners, ensuring that the government, in everything they do, remain closely in touch with ideals of environmentalism and climate justice. I do not want to see that mark of progress simply washed away by five or ten years of neo-liberal egomania, gluttony and recklessness. I know you don’t either.” Before the vice president could even utter the word “merge”, the conference descended into a rapturous hubbub. “Although I am in a comfortable condition following last week’s incident, I would find it much a disservice to my health, and indeed my wedding vows, if I were to continue forth with this presidential campaign. Therefore, I ask of you today to join me in endorsing my dear friend and fellow eco-socialist President Grigorievna for a second term in office, by voting yes to the upcoming motion”.

Vera Krivoukhova, a veteran House Representative for Central Minerinsk and the federal government’s current Minister for Agricultural and Food Affairs, then proceeded to read the said motion out: ‘This Congress would support dissolution measures in regards to the operation and activities of the Ecology Party in explicit preference of amalgamation with the Democratic Socialists and Progressives’. Indeed, the response from delegates was mixed, with several individuals shredding up their papers and walking out in protest to the controversial motion being tabled. Krivoukhova herself pleaded for quiet as the votes were being counted. However, those activists who staged a walk-out were fighting a losing battle, it seemed, as a visible majority voted in favour of the EP’s merging with the DSP. Yaroslav Dzungarov, 69, a former EP councillor from Srednikovo Oblast who has been a member of the party since 1977, was particularly resentful and was ushered out of the congress by security. Speaking to him outside the building, it was clear that he was emotionally upset as tears filled his eyes: “This is one of the biggest political sell-outs in decades, it is God damn shameful. After all of the years we have put in to saving our planet, this is how they repay us?”

Joined by Dzungarov was his brother-in- law and fellow member, Boris Antonovich, also 69: “We won’t be a part of this, it’s a f*cking joke”. Other members, in contrast, were confident with the upcoming amalgamation and echoed the words of Nikishin-Svoburg. Julia Schusterova, 22, a university student from Chaykoboksarsk, cheerfully told our reporters: “We have been heavily associated with the DSP for many years. We share a Simikinist Socialist ideology and we have successfully influenced the upper echelons of the DSP to be more environmentally-conscious. It is not as if we are being asked to merge with the People of Yarova, it makes no sense why some members are getting so worked up about this”. At the time of writing, the DSP party have yet to release a public statement on this matter, although a number of party officials have expressed their support online and today’s briefing has illuminated to the understanding how this merger will take place.

At the press briefing, Vice President Nikishin-Svoburg, wearing a fitted, grey checkered suit, was accompanied by President Grigorievna, who donned a white shirt dress. When grilled by a reporter on the time-frame of the political merge, the vice president gave a confident response: “Pursuant of the extensive talks in which our two parties have been engaged over the past number of days, we are assured that the amalgamation will be effective from as soon as the first week of November”. Nikishin-Svoburg also confirmed that he would now be retiring from politics, although he expects the legacy of the EP to live on with the formation of a Climate Action Committee within the structures of the DSP. President Grigorievna stated that Nikishin-Svoburg will be replaced as vice president by Svyatoslav Uspensky, the current Minister for Climate Action and the Environment, who is often dubbed ‘Isaak’s right-hand man’. Uspensky’s ministerial position will be filled by Akim Zheng, another senior member of Nikishin’s team.

The cabinet reshuffle has been applauded as a ‘smart move’ as the EP begins to make way for integration into the DSP. As the threat of a Gruzdev federal presidency looms, it is apparent that the Yarovan Left is taking unprecedented measures to make sure that threat does not materialise. Although, perhaps it should not come as too much of a surprise, as Nikishin-Svoburg acknowledged the heavy electoral losses of his party in 2015 and again, in 2019, when Khomustatskaya Oblast voted for a PY district government. “Just as I discussed with my comrades at yesterday’s congress, these are turbulent political times we are present in. It is paramount that Yarovan socialists work together to prevent a right-wing government and, let’s face it, the Ecology Party’s energy would be much better utilised in a strong Leftist organisation like the DSP. The past few elections have demonstrated that we must evolve in order to keep on the winning side and protect future generations”. To wrap up the briefing, Grigorievna stated EP activists will be “welcomed with open arms”. It is worth noting that the PY party have remained silent as of yet and our reporters will be watching closely for the moment an inevitable statement is published. =2020=

Feb 01: Gruzdev: "Let Shvekshna determine its own future"
By ALEXEI BANIN | 01 February 2020 — 16:00 (UTC+7)

ABRAMIVKA, Yarova — During a campaign rally address in Abramivka this afternoon, federal presidential hopeful Tanas Gruzdev spoke of the “need for togetherness in Eastern Artemia” and called for the Aukalnian government to respect the self-determination of Shvekshna, as they have expected Rovsnoska to do with the Graznava People’s Republic. In a significant policy shift, the Leader of the Opposition and President of the People of Yarova (PY) has acknowledged the principle of consent and has said he would not “force Shvekshna to rejoin the union if the will is not there”. The disputed territory, which seceded from the United Federated Districts in 1995, is still claimed by Aukalnia and Sartland as a ‘special administrative area’ and since the end of the Second Shvekshna War in 2000, the status of the region has remained an issue firmly in political deadlock.

In a speech that has been labelled “profoundly problematic and ignorant” by none other than the President of Aukalnia and Sartland Džiugas Svidrauskas, Tanas Gruzdev has finally made his intentions clear that a PY government would only seek to regain possession of the former oblast if the population demonstrated their support through a democratic vote. In his latest campaign rally across the federated districts, Gruzdev offered the most detail on his prospective government’s strategy on Shvekshna to date. Unsurprisingly, in doing so, the Buguznogorsk native missed no opportunity to make snipes and take swipes at the supposed shortcomings of the incumbent President Grigorievna. “Listening to Grigorievna, you wouldn’t think that this is the same woman who has increased the military budget from $68 to $110 billion in just five years."

"You wouldn’t think that she and her predecessors have overseen the stationing of Yarovan troops across Aukalnia, Sartland, Zaporizhia, and the GPR. If you still think I am a warhawk for offering an olive branch to the people of Shvekshna, then what must your thoughts be of her?” Citing military surveillance concerns of more frequent military training exercises on the other sides of the border with Rovsnoska and Lestykhol, in 2015 the Ministry for National Security and Defence announced it would be following up on common defence commitments made as part of YZAGA - which included a substantial increase in federal expenditure. One key feature of the PY’s campaign has been to emphasise the supposed unfairness and injustice surrounding the 'Decolonisation and Reconciliation Act', which saw Yarova end its administration of Shvekshna Oblast and return control to Aukalnia and Sartland.

“An interesting poll was conducted across the country in 2001, with a sample of 1,600 people, and it put to the public an important question: ‘Do you think the Yarovan and Aukalnian governments should have respected Shvekshna’s right to self-determination?’ You know how many people said ‘yes’ in that poll? A staggering 88 percent of respondents, with an additional 7 percent who said they were ‘unsure’. That means only a minute fraction of 5 percent were actually in support of what I call ‘Yarova’s greatest mistake; the undemocratic and violent handover of Shvekshna Oblast”. Gruzdev added that if the DSP have genuinely increased defence spending for “the sake of regional stability” (as President Grigorievna once put it), then they should “not be building walls but rather bridges”. He continued: “Shvekshna does not have to be a threat. It is clear that attempts of cultural assimilation framed as decolonisation did not work, and this current ‘our way or the highway’ approach by YZAGA cannot be sustained. There is still time to rectify the missteps of the past, and that is by doing what we should have done in the first place; honouring the principle of consent”.

Addressing just how precisely his government would honour the principle of consent, Gruzdev said on the matter: “Once we take our place at the Surkov Palace, we will set up a committee within the parameters of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade which will be tasked with engaging in dialogue with the Yarovan Republic of Shvekshna. We will inform our allies both in YZAGA and the League of the decision to support Shvekshna’s right to hold a referendum. It would be regrettable to see the withdrawal from any multilateral agreement but come what may, the Federal Armed Forces will defend the referendum process”. Gruzdev likened the recognition of Shvekshna’s political independence to that of the Graznavan People’s Republic, a small nation claimed by Rovsnoska which declared its independence two years after in 1997. Since then, the GPR has taken its place among the world’s nations, and adopted an integral role in the signing of YZAGA. “There’s a lot of fear-mongering noise about how we are out to antagonise Aukalnia. That is simply untrue. How is it that Aukalnia can expect Rovsnoska to respect Graznava’s sovereignty but refuses to do the same when it comes to them respecting Shvekshna?” Gruzdev’s rally was filled with rapturous applause, in an oblast where the PY are extraordinarily gaining traction, trailing just 4 points behind Peremorovkan Voice at 43 percent.

With audible chants in Peremorovkan of “Vryatuy Boh Gruzdev!” (“God Save Gruzdev”) ringing through the air, it seems like the message of Shvekshnan self-determination has resonated with the people of Pivnichna Peremorovka - a lot of whom evacuated Shvekshna during the handover and subsequent conflicts. He ended his final campaign rally in Peremorovka with this: “I will be the president who will get the justice the people of Shvekshna deserve. I will be the president who will get the worn-out economy on an upward trajectory again. I will be the president who will finally bring peace to our region. Give the People of Yarova a chance, judge us on how we deliver”. With 62 days until the election on 3 April, it appears that Gruzdev may get that chance, with yesterday’s poll released by Chaykoboksarsk Business Times placing the PY at 51 percent and the DSP at 39 percent. We reached out to the People of Yarova for comment on President Svidrauskas’ remarks but did not receive a response by the time of printing.

Feb 05: Breaking: Christian Alliance Party join Yarovar Defence Front in pledge to 'prop up' a minority People of Yarova Government
By LYDIA CHUZNIKOVA | 05 February 2020 — 15:05 (UTC+7)

SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — In a stunning political decision, presidents Yaroslav Dubrovsky of the Christian Alliance Party and Aleksandr Lusitsyn of the Yarovar Defence Front have both each issued statements to their parties' membership setting forth their commitment to prop up the People of Yarova (PY) party in the event of a minority government. This pledge all but guarantees the likelihood that Tanas Gruzdev will become the sixteenth President of the United Federated Districts - a monumental blow to the DSP and the Grigorievna campaign, which last weekend polled 12 points behind the PY at an uninspiring 39 percent.

Today’s decision by two less-dominating political parties may just have copper fastened the reality of a Gruzdev presidency next April, in a never-before-seen display of anti-DSP unity. The Christian Alliance Party, which currently holds 11 seats in the House of Representatives, and the Yarovar Defence Front, which won 22 seats in the last election and presently holds 21, have both released their manifestos and a shock commitment to support a PY federal government. “It is not the conventional procedure for a political party to announce publicly that it will ‘prop up’ another party before even votes have been casted, as it simply reduces its own chances of momentum in an election process” says Dr Sosi Karchagina from the School of Political Science at Shchoykov’s National University of Yarova.

“What the [Yarovar] Defence Front and Christian Alliance [party] have essentially declared is that ‘a vote for us is a vote for Gruzdev’, in a clear demonstration of riding the wave of discontent against the status quo”. At the Bol’shoy Soldatskiy Zal (Great Soldier Hall) in Vhekvitili-Vyshika, the Christian Alliance Party gathered for its annual membership conference this morning and afternoon, and President Aleksandr Lusitsyn delivered a speech detailing of the party’s plan to support the PY in an event they do not receive enough seats. Lusitsyn has stated that, in return, the PY will be withdrawing all of their candidates from Kropokhovo Oblast; the traditional heartlands of the Christian democrats.

Lusitsyn expressed his disapproval of the current federal government and proclaimed the electorate’s appetite for change can no longer be ignored: “The DSP have had twenty-five years to tackle the burning issues we face in our country... soaring property prices, gang-related violence in our decaying urban communities, an economy which looks to be heading full-steam ahead towards recession, not to mention the socialist agenda encroaching on our rights enshrined in the constitution”. It seems that, for the Christian Alliance party, a strategy based solely on ousting the left-wing DSP is one worth fighting for - so worthy, in fact, they are willing to join forces with volatile parties further to their right.

“As Christian democrats, we stand firmly by the principles fought for by our forefathers, and the right of oblasts to their own government. If we allow Grigorievna’s socialist agenda to continue, within five years, we will have become a centralised police-state with a crippled, controlled economy. To that, we say never!” Echoing Lusitsyn’s rhetoric, last night, the Yarovar Defence Front’s leader Yaroslav Dubrovsky submitted a public letter to Tanas Gruzdev, offering his party’s support in a concerted effort to “drive out the communist corruption in Shchyokhov”. In the letter, Dubrovsky also highlighted the DSP’s “pitiful desperation to keep their iron grasp on power”, making mention of their political merger with the Ecology Party (EP) in October of last year. Lusitsyn denies having corresponded with the far-right party on their respective party decisions, and has called the timing “purely coincidental”.

Following his highly successful rally in Abramivka on Saturday and the extensive lead in recent polls, things are looking positive for Gruzdev and the PY. In response to the support from the two parties, PY deputy leader and vice presidential candidate Kristina Kelerova posted on Boltovnya: “It is hard not to well up with tears of joy at the recent announcements by @YDubrovsky and @SashaLusitsyn the past 24 hours. This is what putting your country first looks like…. the socialists better get used to it, we are coming for you! #GodBlessYarova, and #GodBlessGruzdev!” Meanwhile, the DSP candidates are still determined to not let a bad week bring them down, and at a private event with the Yelerinsk Farmer’s Union, a visibly-exhausted President Grigorievna told reporters: “So far, this presidential race has been a saga of bombings, shootings, and riots, the polls have never before fluctuated at such a pronounced rate".

"There is still all to play for and I am absolutely positive that we can turn the tables before April. I have faith in the Yarovan electorate that they will see through the lies of the populist and ethnonationalist PY. We aren't giving up that easily”. Indeed, only time will tell, and the only poll that matters is the final vote in three months’ time - however, the likelihood that we will see a Grigorievna presidency has just become substantially less, and the prospect of a Gruzdev presidency almost feels inevitable as the odds stack up against the DSP and the incumbent. The ramifications such a presidency would have, not only on the United Federated Districts, but also Eastern Artemia and the greater world, could be untold.

Feb 13: "We have utterly failed you": Grigorievna meets with Free Nation Governments
By LYDIA CHUZNIKOVA | 13 February 2020 — 12:30 (UTC+7)

VHEKVITILI-VYSHIKA, Yarova — President Grigorievna met with representatives from the devolved governments of Yarova’s fifteen free nations in Vhekvitili-Vyshika this morning to discuss the advancement of the reconciliation process with the federal government. In an historic acknowledgment of previous administrations “falling short of honouring the spirit of freedom”, the constitutional status of self-determination for the federal reservations was considered a priority by Grigorievna if she were to succeed in winning a second term in government. The four-hour-long talks have also paved the way for proposed significant territorial expansions for the Azeriya, Trukhmenskaya, and Kartvelia reservations.

Branded a “cheap bid to gain votes” by Yelerinsk Oblast’s Chancellor Annagül Ibragimova, for the first time since 2015, President Grigorievna engaged in talks with the leaders of Yarova’s federal reservations. “I take immense pride in being the president of a diverse, multicultural country. A country where a broad array of different languages are spoken. A country where many kinds of ethnic groups practise their ancestral traditions unhindered”, President Grigorievna said. “With being federal president, it is my duty to demonstrate my government’s appreciation of our country’s indigenous minorities, and make it clear that we are committed to the reconciliation process that started with the Abaksamir Agreement fifty years ago. In recognition of the semicentennial, I am here today in good faith that we can continue to build upon the Trojan work of since-passed peacemakers”.

The president offered a cautious tone, however, noting that her predecessors were not always leading with reconciliation in mind, and even had a few words to say about her political rival. “It is fair to say, the road to peace on which we have embarked has not been one without slumps and bumps along the way. I would be the first to admit that federal presidents have, in the past, fallen short in honouring the spirit of freedom that is enshrined in the deal. Since 1970, we have had a president who threatened to tear up the agreement, two presidents who drove agendas of nauseating one-people nationalism, and now another presidential-hopeful who wishes to reignite that cause to the detriment of our free nations. This would be enormously damaging”.

During the discussions, which comprised of separate slots between the president and each respective free nation government, and a meeting including all delegates, a number of proposals were made, some of which gained the personal support of Grigorievna. Above all, the most controversial proposal was the right for free nations to determine their own future with authorisation from Shchyokhov to carry out independence referenda. First Minister Pschimaxwe Keshokov of the Adyghe Free Nation in Kellerovo Oblast believed that most free nations value the benefits of being part of the United Federated Districts but stated such a policy change could see the secession of Kartvelia from Yarova. “While it is an applaudable gesture of goodwill from the president, the reality is, the Kartvelian Free Nation in Kropokhovo are undoubtedly going to want to hold a referendum and that is a poll they would win by the same measure of certainty”. When asked by one of our reporters who was present, Kartvelian First Minister Murtaz Rekhviashvili blankly refused to comment on the matter. Unionists in Yarova’s south-east have already voiced their opposition to such moves, with Kropokhovan Chancellor Mikhail Siyanitsa vowing to resist any attempts of Kartvelians holding a vote.

President Yaroslav Dubrovsky of the Christian Alliance Party, Kropokhovo’s leading political party with a staunch anti-Kartvelian nationalist stance, has come out to criticise President Grigorievna for “playing dangerous games with the stability of the Dzyunakaz”. Further to this, Dubrovsky accused the president of “seeking vengeance” for his party’s recent pledge to support Tanas Gruzdev’s presidential campaign. Chancellor Siyanitsa has, along with Chancellor Ibragimova, made it clear that their district governments would prevent proposals of territorial expansion for the Kartvelia and Trukhmenskaya reservations. Ibragimova, born and raised herself on the Trukhmenskaya reservation, has called the DSP “incredibly stupid” for its talks with the leadership of the free nations at “such a belated stage” in Grigorievna’s presidency, and stated that any promises made could not be acted upon before the upcoming presidential election. “They [the federal government] can promise the moon, stars, and the buttocks of the Lord Jesus but we all know she [President Grigorievna] is not getting that second term she is so hell-bent on”, she told her 1.3 million followers on Boltovnya.

Feb 14: DSP, PY publish manifestos ahead of first televised debate next week
By ALEXEI BANIN | 14 February 2020 — 09:10 (UTC+7)

SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — Yarova’s election season is finally picking up heat with the publication of the two largest parties' manifestos today - the People of Yarova (PY) and the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP). YTV, the longest-serving broadcasting network in the country, has also announced the date the first presidential debate will be televised, scheduled for Friday, 21 March at 8 pm Eastern Time. With emphasis on the “gradual nature” of the democratic socialist project, the DSP have set out policies which aim to tackle wage gaps, unemployment, shortages in healthcare funding, and climate justice. While the PY has offered promises to stamp out organised crime, deliver “ambitious” reforms in law enforcement, expand the petroleum industry, and proceed with a nuclear weapons programme.

The cabinet of the federal government met with President Grigorievna for the launch of the DSP’s electoral manifesto this lunchtime. In conjunction with this, the president held a press conference in the Surkov Palace’s Briefing Room along with Vice President Svyatoslav Uspensky and Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure Emma Louise Anrep. The president recognised the public’s growing discontent with her administration, saying: “I meet people every day and I know the worry, frustration and concerns around the pace of progress in our government’s transition to renewable energy, and especially how our green strategy may be impacting workers in the fossil fuel industry. Today we are laying out our plans to build on what has been done, with a particular focus on the transferral of employment to sustainable energy sources”. On the DSP’s published spending plans, Anrep has called the budget “forward-thinking, enduring and deliverable”. The party plans to increase federal government spending on education from 11.48 percent of GDP to 11.98 percent, and healthcare from 12.48 percent to 13.25 percent.

Controversially, there has been no indication of reneging on previous commitments to invest a staggering 5 percent of GDP on energy and the environment - possibly a precondition for the merger with the Ecology Party (EP). In March of last year, the party’s green strategy leaked to the public, and virtually all political pundits agree that the electorate punished them in June’s district elections where they lost nine chancellorships to the People of Yarova. The president also reiterated her potential future government’s intention to oversee a “change in the constitutional status” of the federal reservations, possibly offering the green light for free nations to organise plebiscites on their communities' future in the United Federated Districts. This comes following her talks with free nation leaders in Vhekvitili-Vyshika yesterday.

Within an hour of the DSP’s manifesto release, Tanas Gruzdev and Kristina Kelerova unveiled the PY manifesto while at yet another campaign rally event, this time in Borisopol. Some of the party’s most familiar and popular faces joined the fiery pair on the stage of the Udar Molnii Arena and embraced one another with warm hugs as the famous Yarovan folk song ‘The Steppe Marchers’ played loudly. Certainly, an untraditional method of acquainting the general public with a political manifesto. In keeping with core campaign promises, the PY platform stood true to its devotion of rearming the country with nuclear weapons, expanding the petroleum industry across the eastern oblasts, as well as placing YZAGA “under review” and facilitating a democratic referendum in the disputed territory of Shvekshna to be “supervised by an independent and impartial body”. The party’s manifesto also features policies which Gruzdev was reluctant to address in the past, such as healthcare, which would see a substantial increase in funding at 14 percent, slightly more than the DSP’s proposal.

However, fears of wide-reaching privatisation has stirred up anxiety among some medical boards - the party has yet to conclusively address this. Although there are proposals to increase investment in law enforcement by $12 billion, the PY party has stated that they are opening up elements of the Federal Incarceration and Rehabilitation Management Service (FIRMS) to the contracts of third-party private companies. “We have listened closely to the spin, honestly, we are their most attentive listeners”, Gruzdev said, on the criticism of the DSP. “Let’s face the facts, we need all the help we can get in crushing the pervasive problem of organised crime in our urban communities. While the socialists run scared, the People of Yarova will fight back. The Sem’ya [the Yarovan mafia] are finished”. The two presidential candidates will go head to head on YTV next Friday, 21 February at 8 pm Eastern Time.

Feb 20: YTV-Yarova Today Presidential Debate transcript
By ALEXEI BANIN | 20 February 2020 — 22.45 (UTC+7)

BORISOPOL, Yarova — (Speakers: Konstantina Grigorievna (DSP); Tanas Gruzdev (PY); Yervant Kalashnik, YTV host; Oksana Tarasivna, Yarova Today national editor)

KALASHNIK: Live from Vladimir Simakin University in the city of Borisopol, this is the YTV-Yarova Today presidential debate.

We want to welcome our viewers in the United Federated Districts and watching around the world, watching us on YTV, YTV International, YTV Peremorivs’koyu, YTV.ya, yarovatoday.ya, YTV’s Boltovnya page, and listening on the YTV1 radio network.

I’m Yervant Kalashnik moderating tonight’s debate, along with Yarova Today’s national editor Oksana Tarasivna. We are in Borisopol tonight, because it’s one of the most critical battleground districts. Borisopol has backed all presidential winners since it was awarded free city status in 1973.

TARASIVNA: The two presidential front-runners are at their positions behind the podiums. If everybody in the audience could put your hands together for our candidates.

President Konstantina Grigorievna of the Democratic Socialists and Progressives. (APPLAUSE)

And Deputy Tanas Gruzdev of the People of Yarova. (APPLAUSE)

Before we begin, a reminder of the ground rules. You’ll each receive 60 seconds to answer questions, 45 seconds for responses and rebuttals, and 15 seconds for clarifications. Please do refrain from interrupting each other, as that will count against your time. We will now ask for the candidate’s respective opening statements, you will each receive 60 seconds. Madam President, do begin.

GRIGORIEVNA: Good evening, Oksana and Yervant, and thanks to VSU for hosting us. The principal question in this election is really what kind of country we want Yarova to be and what kind of future we will build together for our next generation. Yesterday, I attended my newborn niece’s baptism, so I have been thinking about this a lot.

First, we have to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. That means we need new jobs, decent jobs, with rising incomes. I want us to invest in you. I want us to invest in your future. That means jobs in infrastructure, in advanced manufacturing, innovation and technology, clean, renewable energy, and small business, because most of the new jobs will come from small business. We also have to make the economy fairer. Over the past five years, my government has raised the federal minimum wage from $12 to $15, prohibited pay disparities based on gender, and since 2015, Yarova has received over $30 billion in investment from tech industries, which is the highest rate on the continent.

Finally, we tonight are on the stage together, Tanas Gruzdev and I. Tanas, it’s a pleasure to be with you. We’re going to have a debate where we are talking about the important issues facing our country. You have to judge us. Who can balance the enormous, awesome responsibilities of the presidency, who can put into action the plans that will make your life, and the lives of your loved ones, better. I have worked with immense effort over the past five years as President of the United Federated Districts, and I want to keep doing so and deliver for the people of this country. I hope that I will be able to earn your vote, for a second time, on the 3rd of April. (APPLAUSE)

TARASIVNA: Thank you, Madam President. Deputy Gruzdev, if you will?

GRUZDEV: To the working people of Yarova, tonight I bring you a message of hope. We can make change in this country. I know from personal experience it can be done.

When I was discharged from the Federal Armed Forces in 1969, following severe injuries to my right leg in a KELL bomb attack, I felt pretty hopeless. Although my life-long dream of one day being a colonel was tarnished, all was not lost and, by the grace of God, I found my way to politics.

Ten years later, I played my part in the foundation of the People of Yarova. During my short first term as Chancellor of Buguznogorsk in 1984, within a year, unemployment had decreased by 2 percent and crime was down 6 percent. When I became Minister for Agriculture and Food Affairs in 1985, I set out a bold vision for Yarova’s farmers. We secured key trade deals in meat produce with countries in Western Artemia and Kesh. We kept farms in business, we strengthened farm workers’ protections and we closed the gender and race gaps on farm ownership. Yes, it can be done.

The truth is, President Grigorievna’s aggressive socialist regime has robbed the Yarovan people of higher wages and a better quality of life. A lot of the aforementioned progress in employment, crime and agriculture has been undone by the repressive tax agenda and the unhealthy fixation on so-called “green policies”.

When I am president, I will restore your personal freedoms and even up the score. It will be a challenge to reverse quarter of a century of DSP ineptitude but it would be my honour to get this once-proud nation working again. (APPLAUSE)

KALASHNIK: Thank you, Deputy Gruzdev. I want to start the debate with one of the top priorities for voters, and that is healthcare.

Deputy Gruzdev, last week you released your party’s manifesto outlining your new healthcare plan which would include outsourcing maintenance and catering services in hospitals to private companies. You have consistently fudged on the question of privatising the health service, is this a new strategy to do so by stealth?

GRUZDEV: Absolutely not. In fact, from reading our manifesto, you will have noticed that we aim to invest $24.5 billion more into the health system than the figures set out by the DSP in theirs. I am committed to making our healthcare system work. Through the course of the campaign, I have been listening to Yarovan families, listening to experts, listening to healthcare providers, and what I came away with is a very clear understanding that we are heading for an iceberg if we do not deliver a plan that is responsive to the needs of the Yarovan people.

Frankly, who employs the janitors and canteen cooks is the least of our worries. The DSP may take credit for creating a “universal” healthcare system but the reality is that underfunding has led to a growing shortage in staff, hospital beds, and vital medication. Their manifesto plans only confirm that they don’t understand the sheer scale of the problem at hand, and that just isn’t good enough.

KALASHNIK: Would you be prepared to categorically rule out further privatisation of the healthcare service?

GRUZDEV: When I am president, the Federal Health Executive will be receiving an extra $29 billion in annual funding: it is not for sale.

KALASHNIK: Madam President, in your party’s manifesto, healthcare is only set to gain a very modest increase of 0.14 percent. Is this your party and government’s dismissal of a worsening crisis? Certainly, no one was expecting Tanas Gruzdev to outdo you in terms of healthcare funding--

GRUZDEV: Well, it would seem I am outdoing her in all of the polls as well. (LAUGHTER)

GRIGORIEVNA: Only one poll matters, Tanas, and that is a bit further down the line.

To answer your question, Yervant, we do … we do acknowledge that our country is in need of more nurses. That is why we have proposed a new recruitment approach, which includes training bursaries, that would see the bringing in of 100,000 nurses to the workforce by 2025. Privatisation is not the answer, whether you attempt to do so whole-sale or by stealth. I find Tanas’ tendency to dodge questions on this rather unsettling. If I succeed in a second term, I will demand an outright ban on any such attempts of privatisation in the future. This is not just about the current state of the service but also its sustainability for decades to come.

TARASIVNA: Let’s now move to energy and the environment, another important topic so far in the election. We will, of course, be revisiting healthcare policies in the next couple of debates.

Madam President, you want to shut down all oil wells in the United Federated Districts within the next twelve years, despite the massive stimulus the petroleum industry provides to our national economy. It is estimated that somewhere in the range of half a million people work in the industry when all related broad occupations are taken into account. Once you have halted works, how do you expect all of these people to make a living?

GRIGORIEVNA: You are right, Oksana, the petroleum industry has played its part in economic growth but we must also acknowledge the negative effects it has had on the environment--

TARASIVNA: What about all of the workers though, where will they go for employment?

GRIGORIEVNA: If you would kindly allow me to finish I can explain, thank you.

Consistently, through the course of my tenure as president, my cabinet has released renewable energy strategy documents detailing our objectives, and that has included the issue of employment transition for fossil fuel workers. We have covered employment transition in a thorough and comprehensive manner.

The investments in efficiency and clean renewables will generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs for Yarovan people. Clean energy investments will produce more jobs for electricians, roofers, steelworkers, machinists, engineers, lorry drivers, research scientists, lawyers, accountants, and administrative assistants. With a moderate cost of $500 million, we aim to cover income, retraining, and relocation support for workers facing retrenchments, as well as effective transition programmes for what are now fossil fuel-dependent communities across large parts of eastern Yarova.

I invite those of you watching at home to visit the federal government’s official website, surkov.gov.ya, where all of these strategies are displayed in PDF format for you to view.

TARASIVNA: As I am sure you are aware, Madam President, leading economist Mohammed Pankiv has said that the figures listed in your leaked 10-year plan to phase out petroleum production do not add up. (GRIGORIEVNA SHAKES HEAD) He has said that your proposed policies will lead to workers facing layoffs, falling incomes, and a decline in public-sector budgets to support schools, health clinics, public safety--

GRIGORIEVNA: Yes, I am aware, Oksana. I would disagree with Mr. Pankiv’s analysis. I am confident that the renewable energy strategies will work, and bring both stability and sustainability into the lives of millions of Yarovars.

TARASIVNA: But, of course, respectfully, neither you nor I are economic experts on the matter; while Mohammed Pankiv, on the other hand, is.

GRIGORIEVNA: Lots of economists have also come out in support of our strategies, as well as our manifesto which has been costed by the Ministry for Finance and Public Expenditure. Perhaps Mr. Pankiv would prefer it if we were to sit on our hands, just as the People of Yarova plan to do.

TARASIVNA: I want to bring in Deputy Gruzdev. Your party not only wants to keep the oil wells pumping but also to further develop the petroleum industry across the board. You have even hinted that you would like to see exploration take place in Peremorovka. Do you not care about the environmental implications such an expansion could bring?

GRUZDEV: If it is acceptable, Oksana, once I have addressed your question, I would like to strip bare what President Grigorievna has just said. (TARASIVNA NODS)

To answer you, I do care about the environment, and placing all of the economic benefits to one side, drilling for crude oil can actually benefit the environment in the long term. (GRIGORIEVNA LAUGHS)

Natural oil seepage accounts for almost 60 percent of oil pollutants in the world’s oceans, which pushes methane gas into the atmosphere and creates those ghastly oil slicks on the water’s surface. This is hardly a good thing for marine life. Oil exploration can reduce the pressure of reservoirs under the seabed and greatly reduce hydro-carbon leaks and methane levels in the atmosphere. Obviously, I am not advocating oil exploration based on environmental grounds but I am trying to demonstrate that this is not a black and white matter.

Now, what President Grigorievna said a moment ago about relocating fossil fuel workers to alternative employment is completely false, and I know many of those watching, particularly from Bochinovka and Roslapeysk, will see where I am going with this.

Sure, you can promise those currently with jobs that you will give them a hand down the line but what about the 4,000 people working for the National Gas and Petroleum Corporation that President Chekudayev laid off in 2013? What about the more than 7,500 workers who have lost their jobs with Stremits’ya Neft’ and Ovragnyy-Zhemchuzina since 2015 because of your ingenious green regulations?

TARASIVNA: All right, thank you, Deputy Gruzdev--

GRUZDEV: I would much rather see these people back in jobs than being forced to accept welfare, and when I am president, they will get their jobs back-- (APPLAUSE)

TARASIVNA: Deputy Gruzdev, it’s now time-- (APPLAUSE CONTINUES)

GRUZDEV: The bottom line is, this “climate change” thing is a convenience for President Grigorievna’s DSP, and they are providing it as an excuse to drive their economically-disastrous socialist agenda in this country. No more! (APPLAUSE)

TARASIVNA: It’s now time for a short commercial break. We’ll be right back, please don’t go anywhere. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KALASHNIK: We’re back with the YTV-Yarova Today presidential debate. We want to turn now to law and order.

Deputy Gruzdev, this is for you. The crime rate is up. Incidences of gang-related violence are becoming more frequent. The Department of Domestic Cohesion and Protection has reported that urban district police agencies are under-resourced and personnel are not receiving adequate training. You have both outlined plans, but you in particular, that could end up violating human rights laws and exacerbating organised crime. How can you justify your manifesto’s so-called ‘tough-on-crime’ policies?

GRUZDEV: There is no law this country is currently bound by that our policies would, in any form, contravene. The homicide rates in some of our inner cities are through the roof: Yumarapol, for example, is dealing with a rate of 65 per 100,000 people. It is in the top five of the most violent cities in Artemia.

What we want to do is target crime hotspots by carrying out routine police raids on gang-held areas, grant the Land Forces greater policing responsibilities, and introduce tougher sentences for suspected gang members. We won’t go easy on criminals, why should we?

The real question that should be asked is how can President Grigorievna justify her deficient law enforcement policies, when the Sem’ya are actively plucking child recruits from school grounds? (GRIGORIEVNA RAISES HAND) (KALASHNIK NODS)

GRIGORIEVNA: Well, first of all, in our manifesto, we have allocated an additional $6.8 billion to be invested in public order and safety. We recognise that more needs to be done but Tanas’ policies tread dangerous lines. No modern, developed democracy has the military involved in police operations during peacetime, it is unnerving that he would stand over this.

We have seen arbitrary arrests of gang members before. In Rovsnoska, where they call it the Željezna metoda, or ‘Iron Method’. It has been used to dispose of political opponents and has led to unmanageable levels of police brutality. Ultimately, it does not reduce the crime rate. When I say that this election is about what kind of country we want Yarova to be, this is what I am talking about. A vote for Tanas Gruzdev is a vote for a police state.

KALASHNIK: Madam President, the proposed increase in funding you speak of would show that you are cognisant of the growing problem, however, some of the comments from your party colleagues would be cause for concern. In September 2014, Kryzhelovschina’s Jaraslaŭ Biarizkin said “let the dogs fight it out” in regards to the Sem’ya. He also went on to say that the “mob have their pros and cons” as they “impose curfews” and “keep drug-use down”. Do you stand by Biarizkin’s words as party leader?

GRIGORIEVNA: I was not aware that Chancellor Birarizkin made these remarks, and I do not agree with them whatsoever.

KALASHNIK: Will he be facing disciplinary action?

GRIGORIEVNA: I can assure you that this is not in line with party policy now, nor was it in 2014. I expect him to clarify his views and issue an apology.

TARASIVNA: Moving to foreign policy, which will be our final topic on tonight’s debate. Deputy Gruzdev, why do you want the United Federated Districts to be armed with weapons of mass destruction?

GRUZDEV: Quite ironically, the very same people who claim to have made our regional environment a safer and more stable place have only further jeopardised the security of it. It is an unfortunate reality but a reality nonetheless that an arsenal is a necessary evil in assuring the protection of the United Federated Districts.

As President Grigorievna is fully aware, Yarovan intelligence has indicated that the Kholaks are taking fresh steps to develop a nuclear weapons programme, and it is highly suspected that Rovsnoska already possesses a stockpile. When I am president, I will reach out to the AES states to settle peace between our countries but we must do so at an equal footing.

TARASIVNA: Madam President, have you anything to say in response?

GRIGORIEVNA: Disturbingly, Tanas has come across cavalier, casual even, about the redevelopment and use of nuclear weapons in the United Federated Districts. He has advocated more countries in our region getting them as well - Aukalnia, Zaporizhia, even Graznava. The thought of Tanas Gruzdev hovering over a red button chills me to the bone--

GRUZDEV: I hope you’re not losing too much sleep.

TARASIVNA: Sir, please. Don’t interrupt.

GRIGORIEVNA: When Vladimir Rodchenko won the 2000 election, he won a mandate for denuclearisation. In 2003, we signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty and decommissioned our eight armaments. Our country became a golden example in the anti-nuclear movement. Redeveloping nuclear weapons would be a major regression and a taint on our international reputation as peacekeepers.

It seems that a President Tanas would be far too interested in playing with his rocket toys and flexing his muscles with his close friends in the AES. No different to President Khismatullin… take a look at the history books, look what happened there.

This is a man who has earned the unequivocal praise of despots: surely an attestation of his character. Lucijan Perica, a dictator who has presided over heinous human rights abuses, has recently come out to say how lovely a person Tanas is, and that he believes his presidency would smooth the path for a “close Yaro-Rovsnoski friendship”.

Now, I’m not sure why you (FACING GRUZDEV) would take to Boltovnya and say how “grateful” you are for an endorsement from a tyrant--

KALASHNIK: Thank you, Madam President, I would like for us to move on to the closing statements--

GRIGORIEVNA: Just one moment, Yervant, if I could just quickly read out a quote. This is from Leonardo Sapateiro, yet another questionable individual who has offered his support of Tanas: “I welcome the rise of Gruzdev in Yarova. The sinful and sodomite government of Yarova has destroyed their society and risks exporting their disgusting ways to other countries around the world. Should Mr. Gruzdev win the election, then we, as a Republic, shall form a closer bond to the state of Yarova and its people who seek to remove the filth from their communities”.

If I may, I would like to ask you, Tanas, if you are grateful for this endorsement as well? (GRUZDEV SHAKES HEAD)

GRUZDEV: The simple reason I posted online in relation to this particular commentary from Grand Marshal Perica was due to the fact he, quite rightly, called you out for your marxist agenda and double standards on terrorism. (GRIGORIEVNA ATTEMPTS TO CUT ACROSS)

You talk about dictators. You talk about dictators as though you are not the same person who is trying to see our great country reduced to a communist totalitarian state.

GRIGORIEVNA: Answer my question.

GRUZDEV: Oh, I do apologise. I had no idea you had conceded defeat already and have taken up a new career as a television host. (LAUGHTER)

KALASHNIK: Okay, thank you to you both. So, now, I am asking each of you to offer your final closing statements. You will both receive sixty seconds to tell the Yarovan people why they should elect you to be President of the United Federated Districts. Madam President, you were the first to give your opening statement, so I will give this one to Deputy Gruzdev.

GRUZDEV: Thank you very much, Yervant. I don’t think it would take a genius to figure out that Yarova is in an utter, complete mess. This evening, we covered numerous issues involving various sectors of government which President Grigorievna has overseen since 2015. I think it has been highlighted rather well just how much she has failed. I look forward to the next two debates when we can highlight her failure even more. President Rodchenko was the worst president in Yarovan history but I hate to break to you (FACING GRIGORIEVNA), you aren’t far behind. It’s high time the federal government stopped forcing eco-communist policies and started delivering for the people.

To those of you watching or listening, wherever you may be in our country, my message to you tonight is that you deserve better. From Smirnova to Kropokhovo, Shvekshna to Maugorod, you deserve so much better. We need ambition. We need big ideas and we need a government for change. We cannot bear five more years of the DSP dynasty, that is why I am asking you to vote for me so I can bring about positive change across the length and breadth of this great union. God save Yarova!

KALASHNIK: Deputy Gruzdev, thank you. Madam President?

GRIGORIEVNA: Well, I would like to say to everyone watching tonight that I’m reaching out to all Yarovars, progressives, moderates, conservatives and independents, because we need everybody to help make our country what it should be, to grow the economy, to make it fairer, to make it work for everyone who calls Yarova their home. We need your energy, your ambition. You know, I have been unimaginably privileged to serve as president of this country, and I know all too well the tremendous responsibility of protecting our country and the incredible opportunity of working to try to make life better for all of you--

GRUZDEV: And you have failed astonishingly.

GRIGORIEVNA: A tremendous responsibility that requires level-headedness, integrity, dependability and compassion. Tanas Gruzdev, evidently, does not have any of these qualities. I have made the cause of sustainability for future generations really my life’s work. That’s what my mission has been throughout my political career spanning three decades and I will continue to do that. Tanas risks the future of our country with his reckless bluster about Shvekshna, his infatuation with nuclear warfare, and his aim to transform Yarova into a police state. Let’s not go there. Let’s not regress. I am asking you to allow me to continue the hard work in making this country a better place to live. I hope you will give me that chance to serve you once again as your president.

TARASIVNA: Thank you both. Madam President -- (APPLAUSE). Hold on just a moment. I want to thank both of you for participating and we look forward to seeing you in the next two debates. That brings us to the end of the first debate sponsored by the Federal Board for Presidential Debates. We want to thank Vladimir Simakin University and its bright students for having us. In just 43 days, the people of this country will be taking to the voting booths - the decision lies with you. One thing everyone here can agree on is we value the democracy our country enjoys - we hope you will exercise your right on the 6th of April. Thank you and good evening. [APPLAUSE]

Apr 05: Breaking: People of Yarova secure overall majority, Gruzdev elected president
By LYDIA CHUZNIKOVA| 05 April 2020 — 11.50 (UTC+7)

BORISOPOL, Yarova — In a historic, landslide electoral victory, the People of Yarova (PY) have won an overall majority in the Yarovan House of Representatives. With a tally of 401 seats, comprising almost 80 per cent of the house's total and gaining 213 seats, the PY has never before been given such a clear and decisive mandate. The outgoing president, Konstantina Grigorievna, quickly conceded defeat in the early stages of the vote count. Her party, the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP), lost 189 seats, after only securing a feeble total of 53 seats: definitively ending quarter of a century of the party's monopoly on national politics.

On the third day of Holy Week on the calendar of Yarovan Christianity, many conservative Yarovars broke their observance of Lent, not to prematurely celebrate the second coming of the messiah but, rather, to engage in festivities and drink a toast to the coming of a second messiah of their own. However, this perceived “saviour of Yarovars” does not come in the form of a bearded man with ripped abs and a glowing complexion. Instead, he comes in the form of a grey-haired, often-stony-faced Methuselah called Tanas Shaposhnikov Gruzdev. Gruzdev stunned political pundits in June of last year when his once-disgraced party managed to win the chancellorship contests of 16 out of 29 federated districts, including the ‘swing district’ of Borisopol - reportedly his favourite city. Indeed, his seemingly superhuman ability to appeal to Yarovars of completely opposite walks of life has made him an enigma and the first president-elect to stand over a majority of more than 70 per cent. “Gruzdev is a talented politician, who has somehow succeeded in garnering the support of the elderly, eastern and religiously devout, and the young, urban and up-and-coming communities of the country”, claims Dr. Ilya Usoyev, a political scientist at the University of Chaykoboksarsk.

“On social issues, particularly LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, he has been infamously quiet and tends to use the trademark excuse that we are a federation, and that it is for the districts to decide on such matters for themselves”. In his victory address, Gruzdev maintained his trademark vagueness and focused on the default republican catch phrases which have so often been heard at his countless campaign rallies. He made reference to the oil workers in the eastern oblasts and the economic suicide that another five years of DSP governance would bring to the union. “Yesterday is behind us, today is a celebration, tomorrow let’s get to work in rebuilding this great country”. Grigorievna pointed the finger of blame at the party leadership of the Christian Alliance Party (CAP) and the Yarovar Defence Front for their “concerted effort to undermine the democratic will of the Yarovan people by endorsing Tanas Gruzdev”. President-elect Gruzdev delivered his victory speech from the Memorial'nyy Sad (‘Memorial Garden’) in Borisopol, the first federal presidential victory speech not given from Shchyokhov. He has informed the public that Grigorievna has congratulated him on his success in the election and that his inauguration will take place this Friday, 10 April.

The never-ending stream of questions which are flowing following this election result stems from Gruzdev’s knack for ambiguity and some of the controversial campaign promises he and his comrades have made. One of our reporters spoke with the vice president-elect, Kristina Kelerova, this morning, just moments before the vote count had been completed across the board. On the PY’s extremely impressive showing, she said: “You know, there is a common saying where I am from; God helps those who help themselves. And by God, we have proven that this is true. Throughout this ugly campaign, we showed grit, backbone, and passion. All of this in spite of the low-levels our opponents were reduced to in their hopeless attempts to push back the imminent tide of change. This day marks the second birth of our republic”. Kelerova’s mention of the election being an “ugly” one are not wrong and if there is one thing all Yarovan politicians can agree on, it is precisely that. The assassination attempt on former Vice President Isaak Nikishin-Svoburg, the riots in Shchyokhov, and the bombing in Borisopol are arguably the most awful election campaign highlights our country has seen since the 1990s. Grigorievna has called the PY victory Yarova’s “blackest day”.

Along with the PY’s 401 seats and the DSP’s 53 seats, four other parties and a handful of independent politicians will take their place in the House of Representatives. Despite endorsing Tanas Gruzdev for president, the Yarovar Defence Front lost 13 seats in this election, plummeting from 21 to just 8 seats, while the CAP’s agreement with the PY to not contest in Kropokhovo Oblast has meant that they have held onto their 11 seats. Peremorovkan Voice has lost 4 of its 14 seats to the PY, while the Agricultural Rural Workers’ Party lost all three of its seats and the Alternative Socialist Movement lost its only seat due to the PY’s stampede to victory, the latter two will not be partaking in the upcoming house for the first time ever. 27 independent politicians won in this election, 12 of whom endorsed Gruzdev for president.

Undoubtedly, the political landscape has utterly changed, and this will lead to a dramatic change in Yarova’s international commitments - placing YZAGA and Yarova’s membership of the League in potential uncertainty. Of course, this has given way for comments from the leaders of other countries. According to one publication, Lestykhol’s Ataman Pavel Simonenko is reported to be “hopeful” that Gruzdev’s election may lead to a “new era of peace and goodwill” between Yarova and its northern neighbour. Meanwhile, Shvekshnan Prime Minister Pavel Kurhepin has expressed he is “looking forward to the unity referendum”, something which Aukalnian President Džiugas Svidrauskas has reiterated today “definitely will not be happening”. Officials working for the League of Free Nations, YZAGA, and the Allied Eastern States have yet to comment on Gruzdev's election as Yarovan president.

Apr 07: Breaking: Konstantina Grigorievna will resign as party leader after DSP's crushing defeat
By YAROSLAV BATRUTDINOV | 07 April 2020 — 9.40 (UTC+7)

SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — Speaking a press conference in the Surkov Palace’s Briefing Room this morning, outgoing federal president, Konstantina Grigorievna, has said that she would not be leading the Democratic Socialists and Progressives (DSP) in a future election campaign. Grigorievna has also said that she will be stepping down as party leader early next month following an internal leadership contest voted for by the grassroots membership. Her announcement has come after the party’s resounding defeat by Tanas Gruzdev and the People of Yarova (PY) in the United Federated Districts’ general presidential elections.

“I want to make it clear that I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign”, Grigorievna said. “I will discuss with our senior party committee to ensure that there is a process now of reflection on this result and with the grassroots on the policies that the party will take going forward”. This election defeat, then, officially marks the close of Grigorievna’s tenure as DSP leader. Her rise in 2015 energised the environmentalist, left-wing base of the party, becoming the first female and non-white leader. However, in equal measure, she terrified more moderate members, including leadership rival and outgoing Minister for National Security and Defence Erik Meselev, who viewed a Grigorievna-led DSP as politically damaging and economically disastrous. The DSP officially lost a catastrophic 189 seats yesterday, erasing the party’s dominance over Yarovan politics and forcing them out of federal governance for the first time since 1995. While the DSP maintained strong support in large western cities in Yarova Proper, such as Chaykoboksarsk, Cheskovsk and Minerinsk-Belgorod, the PY has made significant gains even since their historic sweep in last year’s district, chancellorship elections.

Traditionally-DSP constituencies in the oblasts of Srednikovo, Irinovskiy, Golitsyna and Sof’yanka featured strong showings for the PY, with electoral debuts in some, such as in Chistopa-Bykhiv and Voroscow-Voskrelchik. Many DSP representatives and large swathes of the membership have attributed the electoral nightmare for their party to the controversial profile of Grigorievna. It is a widely held belief that she is too left-wing, and many argue that the final nail in the coffin for her administration was the publishing of last year’s green targets which set out to terminate the oil industry by 2030. Grigorievna’s failure to direct the Ministry for Energy and Natural Resources to abandon the plan only exacerbated her unpopularity. Coupled with her lacklustre performance on all three of the televised debates, where she reckoned with her poor record on employment, law and order, and the economy, her political fate was sealed long before the Christian Alliance Party (CAP) and Yarovar Defence Front endorsed Tanas Gruzdev for president in February. What could never have been predicted, though, was that the DSP would earn only 10 per cent of the Yarovan vote, while the PY would take home just under 79 per cent — the largest share of one single party in the history of the United Federated Districts. The ramifications for democracy brought on by the handover of such influence and control to the PY could be untold. That will be Grigorievna’s legacy, and she will have to live with that.

So, Grigorievna’s departure from DSP leadership looked inevitable after yesterday. The question now is who will replace her — and whether that person will hail from the left-wing or from the more moderate, centrist wing who seemed diminished with the election of Vladimir Rodchenko — but who may find new support in a party that just lost to the unabashedly right-wing Tanas Gruzdev. It is still too early to tell who will put their name forward for next month’s leadership contest, although it is expected long-time rival of Grigorievna, 63-year-old Erik Meselev, will contend. It is also thought that 41-year-old Yuriy Kurakin will run, the outgoing Minister for Development, Infrastructure and Planning who held onto his seat for Samadnoye. Meselev’s candidacy would appeal to the more centrist DSP members who generally do not support Yarova’s place in the League of Free Nations or shutting down fossil fuel industries within the next decade. Meselev previously served in a number of federal government executive roles such as Minister for Transport and Communications (1995-2000) and Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure (2000-2005) under President Rodchenko, and Vice President (2005-2010) under President Chekudayev (2010-2015). Although fiercely critical of President Grigorievna, he took up the role of Minister for National Security and Defence following his defeat in the last party leadership contest. In 2017, he almost resigned as a result of the United Federated Districts’ agreement to join the League of Free Nations.

Certainly, Meselev would offer a new style of leadership for the party — his long political career and endorsement from Soyuz, Yarova’s largest trade union, would undoubtedly help in this pursuit. Whereas Kurakin has long been thought of as the natural successor of Grigorievna, perhaps not an attractive association after this nightmarish election for the party. It is also too early to tell whether or not the DSP has any chance of bouncing back, this will be determined by the popularity of the new leader on the ground. At today’s press briefing, President Grigorievna also offered some harsh words to the man of the moment, Tanas Gruzdev: “We have heard your promises. We have heard your loud, aggressive bluster. We have heard your criticisms. The Yarovan people have given you the honour to deliver on those promises, to channel your rants into action, and to show you will not contradict your criticisms. My hope, now, is that you will do this with integrity and always, always place the best interests of Yarovars first. It’s over to you, Tanas”. Indeed, it is over to him.

Jul 29: Breaking: Džiugas Svidrauskas in Yarovan custody
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Sep 11: Latangans displaced from Salua, Moamoa in military base expansion
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Jan 22: Governments begin talks on founding Union of Eastern Artemia
By YAROSLAV BATRUTDINOV |  22 January 2022 — 8:00 (UTC+7) SHCHYOKHOV, Yarova — The three Eastern Artemian states of Yarova, Aukalnia and Sartland — and possibly Zaporizhia — will be under one president as soon as 2025, if a proposal by a group of experts is effected. The presidents of the three countries, Tanas Gruzdev, Stepas Valicka and Danis Laivinš, are to meet in a month’s time to decide on the proposal made by a committee they mandated in 2020 to study mechanisms for the “Expediting of the Political Integration of Eastern Artemia”. The moves to politically unify large swathes of Eastern Artemia into one sovereign state have been largely denounced by opponents to the Gruzdev Administration, which many say is attempting to materialise 'Yaroslavia' — a romantic, irredentist form of Yarova, similar in size and might to the Vojiskiy Empire.

The committee of five, chaired by the head of the Yarovan Department of Justice and Equality Grischa Pishchalnikov, presented a report of their findings to the three presidents during the Twenty-Second Annual Summit of the Allied Eastern States last week. This is in spite of the committee having no affiliation to, or support from, this intergovernmental organisation. The membership of which includes states concerned by such moves, such as Rovsnoska and Lestykhol. The far-reaching proposals by the committee provide for the launching of the Union of Eastern Artemia in January 2025.

Upon receiving the report, the three presidents announced they would be meeting sometime in February to pronounce themselves on it. Prior to then, the respective governments will hold wide public consultations on the proposals. Yarovan President Tanas Gruzdev said during a ‘sub-meeting’ at the summit that in February they might even decide on a date earlier than 2025 to effect a political federation. Indeed, the Pishchalnikov committee was the brainchild of Gruzdev, although an Eastern Artemian political union has been discussed in Yarovan politics for decades. Such an aspiration is often described as Yaroslavism.

At the People of Yarova’s party conference last September, Gruzdev invited presidents Valicka and Laivinš to discuss their shared goal of regional integration. Laivinš insisted that political unity needed to be expedited due to the growing threat of further aggression from the West. Popular support for this project is high in the United Federated Districts, however, following the deeply divisive conflict in the Boreal region over the past couple of years, a democratic mandate may be more difficult to achieve in Aukalnia and Sartland. That being said, the elections of Valicka and Laivinš, respectively, may offer an idea of which way the wind is blowing—both are vocal about the necessity of unity. This paints an interesting picture for the future of the two Boreal republics—Aukalnian and Sartish reunification is a realistic scenario but only with the inclusion of Yarova.

Once in place, the Pishchalnikov committee sought views from all the three countries as a basis for their report, which provides for a rotating presidency between 2025 and 2027, before Eastern Artemians directly elect their president in 2028. Political commentators have speculated that Gruzdev and colleagues in the People of Yarova party would be exceptionally hesitant to have an Aukalnian or Sart preside over Yarova’s government, no matter how loyal they may be to the unionist cause. By 2025, according to the proposals, an East Artemian Constitution, approved through a popular referendum, would have been put in place. In addition, the borders of the three countries would have been opened, with citizens issued Eastern Artemian passports and identity cards.

At the same time, the region would have attained a full economic union, with a common currency—recommended to remain the Yarovan Gal’ka. In order to effectively implement the expediting of the federation, the committee proposes that each country should appoint a specific minister for the Eastern Artemian Union to be resident in Shchyokhov, the de facto capital. Each country should directly remit a percentage of its national revenue to an account for the Union of Eastern Artemia to meet the increased expenses of fast tracking the union.

The proposals recommend a consultation with the Zaporizhian government to explore a possible immediate addition to the unification discussions. Similarly, Lestykhol, Rovsnoska, Pozrika and the partially-recognised South Kryzhelovschina are mentioned extensively in the report, with the prospect of further expansion post-2025. Chairman Pischalnikov himself cautioned against debating the committee proposals in a manner that could jeopardise a positive decision by the leaders next month. He said all three states are determined to bring about the federation “at the risk of losing the current state of sovereignty in the region”. The political talks are expected to garner condemnation from the membership of the Pan-Artemian Coalition (PAC) and the League of Free Nations (LFN).