Building on the momentum made by the formal signing of the Luthorian-Lodamese Strategic Partnership Agreement, which ultimately made way for a “special relationship”, to be developed between the two nations, Secretary of Defence Hank Greer visited Fort William earlier this week to discuss numerous issues related to the new partnership, namely intelligence-sharing, joint exercises and strengthening bonds between the Luthorian Armed Forces and the Lodamese Armed Forces. Secretary Greer’s visit to Lodamun represents the first time a high-ranking official of the Lodamese defence establishment has visited the nation in centuries. Although the two nations maintained cordial relations via the Luthorian Commonwealth agreement, the Lodamese Government had traditionally maintained an arms distance from much of the organisation’s structure beyond diplomatic and economic cooperation. With the special relationship being largely disconnected from the Luthorian Commonwealth and ultimately “marketed” as a structure separate from said organisation, it was surmised that Secretary Greer’s visit had been facilitated as a result of this paradigm shift. “This new relationship between our two nations represents a major step in the history of Lodamese-Luthorian relations,” Secretary Greer said, “Built on the core tenets of respect and common interest, this partnership will undoubtedly bring broad prosperity to both our nations.”
When President William Hanlon last visited the nation to sign onto the agreement he noted that subsequent visits by Lodamese officials would be needed to build on his landmark visit. According to Secretary Greer, there were still major teething issues which bureaucrats within the Lodamese defence establishment, primarily those within the Department of Defence (DoD) and the security and intelligence community, have stated could potentially hinder true progress and cooperation via the partnership. “My visit does not represent a change in conscience by the government. I am simply here to oil the gears of this partnership before setting it off on its maiden journey,” Greer explained. He confirmed that the Director of National Assessments Edward Walsh, had accompanied him to the visit, with the sole intent of meeting with Luthorian security and intelligence officials. Numerous agencies within the Lodamese intelligence community, namely the National Investigations Bureau (NIB), the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) and the Office of Defence Intelligence (ODI) have expressed concerns related to the nature of intelligence-sharing between Luthori and Lodamun. Whilst fielding questions following a closed-door hearing at the National Congress, John Khan, Director of the SSA, the agency responsible for both foreign and signals/communication intelligence stated that Luthori’s involvement in the
Allink Command Agreement complicated the relationship between the two intelligence communities as it was unlikely that Lodamun would be able to verify whether information passed to Luthori would not be shared with third-party entities. Secretary Greer stated that subsequent meetings with Director Walsh resulted in Walsh’s agreement to meet with Luthorian security and intelligence officials with the aim of encouraging the Luthorian government to sign onto the
Common Intelligence Sharing Agreement (CISA), which he views would allay the fears of signals/communications intelligence community.
On joint exercises and strengthening bonds, Secretary Greer stated that it was imperative that the Lodamese Armed Forces become more familiar with the tactics, strategy and MO of the Luthorian Armed Forces. He admitted that as it stood, the Luthorian Armed Forces was the more capable of the two, recognising its capability to deploy throughout the world, largely under its own steam. He noted that as the federal government continues to pour significant investment into the armed forces, its strategy of service-focused rearmament would continue. “We continue to enhance the capabilities of the various services. One would note that the [Lodamese] Coast Guard has been receiving particular attention recently. This is a result of our service-focused rearmament. We want to ensure that the LCG is capable of conducting a wide range of operations in support of our national security strategy. Initiatives such as Operation Barracuda is but one example of how it intends on doing that,” Secretary Greer explained. A new security intelligence covering the Artanian continent and which has been viewed as a seemingly contrived counter-weight to the already existing JAMS agreement has drawn significant backlash from numerous nations within the international sphere. The Joint Artanian Security Agreement (JASA) as it is known, is a broad mutual security agreement, largely championed by the Kundrati Union with the backing of the Holy Luthori Empire as a means of establishing a basis for stability on the Artanian continent, which amidst the end of established Dorvish-led order, had come to the forefront.
Rumours surrounding the alliance’s nature (as it is largely in its infancy) have been criticised by the Government of Narikaton & Darnussia, with accompanying commentary from a Deltarian commentator; as the former noted that the alliance had been “
born out of a misplaced feeling of responsibility,” with the latter’s critique of the entity pointing
squarely at JASA being a means by which Luthori would ultimately make its mark on the continent. In fielding questions alongside his Luthorian counterpart, Secretary Greer was asked to substantiate
the comments made by the Lodamese Embassy in Fort William’s tweeter account. He noted that whilst he could not comment on the diplomatic angle, he ultimately viewed the alliance to be a net positive. “Any structure which brings about a continued peace on the Artanian continent is ultimately a good idea. The Lodamese Government remains eager to engage with this new alliance on the basis of cooperation. It is imperative that a region which has been so contested as Artania needs a regional security structure which will safeguard the interests of the continent as a whole. As we have seen in our regions, the absence of cooperation among states lends itself to confusion and distrust, which is ultimately exploited by extra-regional territories. We are not an Artanian nation and have largely maintained a reasonable distance from this continent’s affairs, however, it is our [the Lodamese Government’s] opinion, that nations ought to be able to determine their own destinies, recognising how nowadays very little of it is becoming not of our own choosing.” The embassy’s tweet was subsequently quoted by the Beiteynuese Foreign Ministry which said: “
#nomoredorviks”. Although he did not directly address the comment, he deferred the question to Whitehall Press Secretary Peter Spencer who called the quoted tweet: “Odd.”