Deltaria

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Defense Brief

Cahtice: The Ministry of War has released the new defense budget for the year. This budget was presented alongside the wider state budget, which saw cuts in education but investments in foreign affairs, defense and infrastructure. The new defense budget thus includes over ten billion extra in military expenditures. This new increase in funds can be mostly attributed to the fact that Deltaria has seen a increased role on the global stage and needs its military to protect allies, Deltarian economic interests and the national sovereignty of nations. Increased tensions in Majatra are reportedly also a reason for the increase in the budget. The Ministry of Foreign Relations has also received a one billion increase in its budget, with Deltarian relations expanding it is necessary to increase the MFR budget to make sure that, "Diplomacy has a way to be a major factor in global disputes and situation, so that we do not have to resort to military action in a majority of our encounters with foreign nations". The increased budget for the Ministry of Foreign Relations will likely be used for a expansion of the bureacracy, maintenance of newly created embassies and to step up foreign aid programs.

The new ten billion increase in the defense budget for this year will be used for several things according to the reports attached to the budget. First of all the military is expected to procure new weaponry namely a increased number of its main battle tanks and also lighter ground vehicles to fascilitate requests from the army. Other procurement programs include a additional purchase of Silent Devil torpedos and Pancar-1 anti ship missiles (around 400 torpedos and 2.000 anti ship missiles to be procured), the procurement of new aircraft, namely to supplement the Deltarian arsenal of MiG-29 fighters and the additional purchase of ground based AA missiles to prepare for the reactivation of the HEAT missile system. The purchase of additional AA systems is also on the list. While procurement plays a large part in the increase around 3 billion will also be additionally invested into R&D programs, with reports suggesting that the Deltarian military is working with private partners to research and develop new naval and air assets. No further details have been released on this as of yet.

While the increase in the defense budget seems to suggest that Deltaria is currently having a good economy this is deceiving. The Deltarian economy has been slowing over recent years and now has a growthrate of only 1.6%, compared to the 3.9% four years ago. Economists state that this slowing economy can be mostly attributed to the transition that the Deltarian economy has been facing, from a predominantly manufacturing based economy 30 years ago to a now increasingly information based economy. It is expected that once the Deltarian economy has find its way in this new reality the economy will pick up again but it is unclear when this is the case. The Deltarian government is also drawing up plans for a new economic strategy to elevate and strongly grow the Deltarian economy but such a plan is still far away due to current economic difficulties. Uncertainty in the MEA and regional tensions have also played a role in the slowing economy of the Majatran giant. For these reasons it is expected that despite the growing military budget the military and government will be carefull in spending it on costly programs, preparing for more hardships ahead.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Copyright and Brand IQ

Cahtice: The Minister of Justice Petra Žižková proposed reforms to the judiciary almost two years ago. While in theory small, this reform caused a storm of debates both publicly as well as politically. For two years the minister has been battling to get the bill on the floor of the senate and passed by a majority of senators. The reform is one focussed on reforming the jurors system. While as of now jurors are randomly picked from the populace the minister and her ministry have proposed a reform to change that, instead of randomly picking from the whole populace a jury should, after the reform is implemented, only be picked from professional lawyers. Such a reform, according to the minister and the government, would professionalize the jury's and give experienced law professionals the reigns over life or death scenarios. Such a reform would, according to Žižková, make the judiciary more professional and fair to suspects who would not be in the hands of ordinary non trained citizens.

Opponents of the reform state that the intend of a jury is to feel the emotion of a case, to determine guilty or innnocence not only based of actual law but also based of the situation someone is in. Žižková and her ministry have for the past two years stated that these arguments are not in touch with reality, "The point of the judiciary is looking at the law and making judgements based on the law. A professional jury would ensure that the law is always applied in a correct way. It would reduce the chance for judicial inequality and pathe the way for a truly efficient judiciary." Two months ago the law finally got onto the senate floor, being debated for over four sessions until, a week ago, the vote was held. It was a tight end result, 299 against and 323 for the bill. This despite all of the senate being in KDU hands. The KDU has in recent years proven that most of its senators take their job extremely seriously, often voting based on pragmatism instead of party lines. This has caused some headaches for the party leadership and government but has also allowed the party to portray itself as a truly big-tent party will several wings and different opinions in it.

With this vote the new jury reform is set to be formally enacted on the first of january next year. Ending a 30 year long period of "unprofessional" jury's and, according to the government, creating a fairer, more efficient and more professional judiciary.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Faber Audiovisuals

Branovice: The National Broadcast Agency of Deltaria (NBA) has announced its intend on creating a new worldwide festival named FOMAT or Festival Of Musical Arts in Terra. The agency, which is the largest national public broadcaster in Deltaria, has been contemplating this decision for a while, mentioning it several times over the past few years. In a discussion with the Ministry of Culture in Deltaria and with international broadcasting partners the agency is now ready to finally launch the first edition of the festival next year. In this festival nations can submit their artists to participate. These artist will then compete with a song specifically written for the festival. A professional jury of international artists and other important individuals from the musical world will then rank the artists and their songs in order, picking the best one to win the award of "World Music Winner of the Year" for their nation. The winning nation will then host the next edition of the festival in a city of their choosing.

Deltaria has already announced it will participate in the first edition next year, putting forward one of their most succesfull bands The Bears, a alternative rock and hiphop band, as their representative artist on the festival. Bears has already stated it is working on a song that "speaks to terra as a whole and connects different worlds." Malivia has also announced its intention to participate but has yet to disclose the artist they will send to the festival. The first edition will be held in the Deltarian entertainment city of Branovice in may of next year.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Wallpaper Abyss

Cahtice: Officials from Vascania came to the Deltarian capital of Cahtice earlier today to announce and ratify a new treaty that focusses on, "encouraging collective security and protecting the national sovereignty of nation states accross terra." The new treaty and subsequent organization named the 'Transnational Association for the Sovereignty of Nations' also known as TASN can be considered a loose collective security organization. The provisions of the treaty, which were released to the public later today, make it clear that this organization is different from historic collective security organizations in the sense that its main provisions are not mandatory but optional. What this means is that while the treaty encourages the protection of eachothers territory it does not obligate members to do so. Instead it gives members a justification to aid and defend eachother during conflict but does not enforce this provision upon its members. Other provisions, like supporting eachother diplomatically, are also non mandatory, reaffirming the founding principles upon which this new organization is build. These founding principles are heavily centered around protecting and preserving the right to self determination for both people and nation states and protecting the national sovereignty of states on Terra. According to First Minister Nováková, who was present during the signing of the treaty, the organization, "will not force itself upon others. It will not push for internal changes or demand. It will fascilitate military and diplomatic cooperation between its members, protect the national sovereignty of those people and nations that request its protection and it will make sure that the interventionist tendencies of certain world powers, as could be seen in the Keymonite conflict, will have a counterbalance that protects the natural rights of the nations on terra."

Vascania and Deltaria have been coming closer together in recent years, attributed to increased trade and a common interest in Malivia. Nováková and her Vascanian counterpart see this new organization as a logical reaction to a, "increased brazen attitude of notoriously interventionist powers accross the globe" and hope that TASN will be a strong and powerfull military bloc to stand up against those powers.

Membership to TASN is open to any and all nations that are dedicated to the idea of self determination and national sovereignty and for nations threatened by foreign intervention. The first General-Secretary of the organization is Mikuláš Bartoš, former ambassador to Malivia for Deltaria. The position of General-Secretary rotates between member states on alphabatical order every 5 years.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Gazprom Neft

Cahtice: The relationship between Deltaria and Vascania seems to strengthen by the day. As both nations signed a trade deal to strengthen their markets and economies and later signed the TASN collective security treaty the two nations have now struck yet another deal. This time the deal concerns the question of oil refineries. Vascania is one of the largest oil producers on terra and has been exporting its oil globally. This large oil production has however caused a problem for Vascania, with it unable to refine a large part of its crude oil. In its turn Deltaria itself also had a problem. As regions in Deltaria started to develop more, with Ushalande focussing on maritime trade and shipbuilding, Alazinder on tourism and entertainment, Darali on culture and technology and Doron Akigo on military production and trainign fascilities Dissuwa was left behind, mostly keeping its industrial based economy intact causing it to slowly get behind the other regions in terms of growth and opporunity. For some time the Dissuwan Prime Minister and his colleague the Duke of Dissuwa, Peter von Thaller, had been pushing the Federal government to help regional authorities in kickstarting the local economy. Now, with Vascania experiencing a need and Dissuwa also experiencing one, it seems the perfect opportunity has arisen. The Dissuwan government, together with a private refine company specially created for the occasion (named Dissuwan Petrol) have met with Vascanian representatives on the urging of the federal government. This meeting has now resulted in a comprehensive deal causing Dissuwan Petrol to start construction of two major oil refinery fascilities in Dissuwa, creating a average 10.000 jobs in the region.

These fascilities will, once completed, start refining Vascanian oil which will be transported by ship. According to the details of the deal the Vascanians are allowed to make use of the Deltarian fascilities at a reduced rate, allowing Vascania to refine most of its oil cheaper while allowing Dissuwa to develop its local economy and attract other customers. Some concerns within the federal government have however arisen abotu the conflict this may cause with Kafuristan, which has been the main supplier of Deltarian oil for centuries. According to First Minister Nováková Deltaria will continue to import Kafuri oil and will not substitute it with Vascanian oil, "the new refineries are merely meant to help the Vascanians in refining their oil after which it will be exported to the designated countries its meant to go to while also meant to improve the local economy, the Kafuri oil supply will remain intact and we invite Kafuristan to also use our oil refineries if they desire to do so." While at first two fascilities will be constructed there are plans for two more if the project is deemed a success, possibly creating over 20,000 new jobs in the region and giving Dissuwa the new economic developments it has desired for so long. Construction on the two fascilities is already underway.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: OOR

Cahtice: Deltarian alternative rock band 'Bears' has revealed their new song 'Fire Ants' to the public using the new music streaming platform 'ListenIN' which has become extremely popular in Majatra and has found success on other continents too. The new song is about, "reality and dreams mixed together and the crazy world we live in today portrayed with funky sounds and beats", said lead singer Šimon Zapletal to The Deltarian. According to early polling out of all contestants the new song of Bears is expected to win them either the second place in the contest or first place. These polls say nothing however as the contest is still a few months away and other nations are still expected to announce their participation. The song was released on the platform ListenIN which has seen a rise in popularity with the company developing the platform, named by the same name, has now become one of the largest Deltarian software companies in just several years. Once uploaded on ListenIN band members posted it on social media after which the song racked up over 10 million streams in less then 2 days.

The 'Fire Ants' song will be the official song used by Bears to perform at the FOMAT global music festival, a festival where nations compete every 5 years to win the title of "World Music Winner of the Year" and allow their nation to host the next edition of the festival if they win the title. While bears is already popular globally they expect that their FOMAT appearance will elevate them even higher, with most participating nations broadcasting the event live from their most viewed broadcast channels. Only Malivia has so far announced it will not air the event, citing problems with their own performer for not broadcasting. The FOMAT festival will be held in May of next year with currently four nations announcing their participation. These being Keymon, Deltaria, Hutori and Malivia.


Bears their new FOMAT song 'Fire Ants' released on the ListenIN platform

[Rogue]

OOC Source: The National Interest

Cahtice: The new modernized and partially redesigned Kirov-class battlecruiser that has been under construction for three years has today, alongside two new Slava-class cruisers, entered into its year long sea trials in and around the Majatran Sea. The new ship named the DNS Cahtice will remain in the Majatran Sea for a majority of its sea trials as the ship will be primarily used for the protection of the inner sea, stopping enemy fleets from either operating in or even coming into the sea. The new modernized Kirov has received new modern radar systems, been equipped with the new Pancar-1 anti-ship missiles and Silent Devil torpedos, received one K-X helicopter instead of the older helicopters and has received upgraded versions of its anti air systems namely the long range S-300 systems. It has also seen some reorganizing on board with the class now carrying twice as many anti ship missiles (for a total of 50) sacrificing half of its S-300 systems for it. Other missiles include anti submarine cruise missiles and a variety of other surface to air missiles. The new Silent Devil torpedo has also replaced older Torpedos on the ship. The reduced long ranged AA systems on board are to be compensated using the systems on board of the future Kirov escort ships, namely the Slava class cruisers and the Premsyl class destroyers likely to be in the Kirov Battle Group once assembled. The new modernized Kirov is by some accounts called the "carrier killer" due to the unusually large amoutn of anti ship weaponry on board, much more then regular ships. The MoW and Imperial Navy themselves decided to construct a new modern Kirov just for that role, protecting the Delarian coast and Majatran sea from future enemy carriers if needed. By constructing the Kirov for this purpose they could withold from constructing a extremely costly second Nemec Carrier while still having the capability to protect the inner sea from enemy carriers. By using the future strike group it is expected that the Kirov and its escort ships will prove to be a extremely challenging adversary for any enemy navy entering the sea.

With the construction of two new Slava-class cruiser and the Kirov the largest carrier on terra, the Nemec carrier in Deltarian service, can prepare for its future role as a power projection tool. Till now the DNS Mrazek, as the carrier is known, and its strike group could only be used to a limited degree and stayed mostly within the Majatran sea apart from some exercises. The reason for this was the lack of capable ships to defend the Majatran Sea from enemy intrusions. With the DNS Cahtice Kirov battlecruiser entering service next year that is to change and the Nemec carrier can finally be used by the Imperial Navy as a power projection tool across the globe. With newly found alliances and treaties signed with strategic nations on Terra it is expected that the Nemec strike group will, beginning next year, launch long journeys over the world oceans both for training and power projection purposes. Letting interventionist powers know that Deltaria is there to preserve national sovereignty and that its emerging role as a global player is an active one.

Rumours have however arisen that the Imperial Navy is looking to modernize and refit the DNS Mrazek before it sends it on its new missions. These rumours seem to be confirmed as Senatorial reports have been released stating such a modernization and refit would cost over a billion but would allow the only carrier in Deltarian service the ability to operate for another 40 years. The DNS Mrazek has been operating for 40 full years now with several of its systems needing an update and its entire structure needing a check up and refit. It is expected that if the refit and modernization is to occur it will start within this year.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Elsevier Weekblad

Cahtice: In a closed session of the Imperial Senate foreign minister Mahulena Kasnarová, in her position for more then 15 years, has stated the Deltarian "displeasure" over the recent nuclear tests conducted by Vanuku in Jelbania. The tests are, according to Kasnarová, a danger to regional stability and a "sneer at those who died at the hands of the nuclear blast all those centuries ago." The Deltarian government is monitoring the situation in Jelbania closely says the foreign minister. "We see the Vanukean conduct in the region as agressive and not constructive. Deltaria, after realizing its devastating nuclear test in the Majatran sea was wrong, has admitted its mistake and banned the possession of nuclear weapons in its constitution. Vanuku, even though being the only nation to have launched a nuclear strike, a strike that killed thousands, has decided to now once again conduct nuclear tests. Tests that are conducted on the exact site where all those people died due to their own blast. Its provocative, rude and simply out of order." said the foreign minister.

She also underlined however the right to national self determination for Vanuku, "we cant dictate them to stop their tests until it either endangers the sovereignty of its neighbours or destroys Majatra's environment. We will monitor the situation closely however and work with regional and international partners to formulate a response if the need arises." According to the Director of the Imperial Directorate of Intelligence the government, "has directed us to keep watch. I cant possibly comment futher as you may have expected." It is unclear what other tests Vanuku possibly has planned for the future.

[Rogue]

OOC Source: Google

Cahtice: After a period of uncertainty and continued tensions on the Majatran continent the Deltarian economy has now officially entered a recession. According to the government agency the "Office for Budgetary Management" the economy shrunk last quarter with over -2.1% while unemployment rose to more then 7%, compared to five just months ago. While a slowing down of the Deltarian economy had been expected by the government a recession certainly wasnt. According to economists from different countries these sudden economic troubles are well explained, "The Deltarian economy has over recent years come much closer to Majatran economies, connecting them together through the MEA and other bilateral economic treaties. This interconnectivity combined with a economic transition towards a modernized economy created the problems Deltaria will now be facing. Instability within the continent and abroad has caused the now globalized Deltarian economy to be affected in a negative way." The increased tensions within the majatran continent seem to be one of the main drivers of this recession, with the recent nuclear test by Vanuku being one of the last examples of this instability, "There is no doubt that uncertainty and tension are two things the market doesnt like. Now that both of these things have entered the fray in Majatra the markets are reacting and we will have harsh times ahead." said minister of finance Albert Kočí. Other Majatran economies are also slowing down, creating further trouble for the Grand Empire as markets accross the continent shrink.

Over 7000 bussinesses have filed for bancruptcy in just the last 4 months. Most of these bussinesses are in the service sector but it is also apparent that a sizeable portion of manufacturing and distribution sectors are also being hit by higher bancruptcy numbers. The government has reiterated that there will not be a return to FDSR crisis times. During socialist rule every economic crisis came with severe food shortages and distribution problems, "Our economy today is already much better suited to continue production and distribution. Our private sector will complement the public sector production and people should not fear empty food shelves." said Kočí. The recession is expected to worsen however, with early estimates suggesting that the economy may shrink with 3.1% by the end of the year. The government has already announced a halt on major military procurement programs and has postponed the modernization of the DNS Mrazek that was scheduled to start next month. No concrete plans have been presented to the Imperial Senate as of yet to combat the recession.

[Zanz]

As Deltarian remittances and seasonal work wane, southern Jelbe squeezed