April 2793
After a series of intensive morning meetings with the Speaker of the Koinoboulio, Kalopia's parliament; Colonel Anaxander Kanaris, the Prothypourgos, or head of government; and the Foreign and Defense Ministers (Gerasimos Tavouloris and General Thanasis Rigas, respectively) Grand Secretariat Nikolaos Ballantynos today appeared before the nation in a press conference at the Secretarial Palace late this afternoon. The overall theme of the briefing was Kalopia's new role in world affairs, but a central tenet of this was Kalopia's withdrawal from the GPO.
The GPO, or Global Peacekeeping Organization is a multinational alliance dedicated to promoting peace and stability throughout the world, and is considered by many analysts to be Terra's premier military alliance. The Organization has historically had close ties with Kalopia; the GPO was chaired for a long time by Kalopian politican Pornidious Aristocrat, and is now run by his son, John Aristocrat, and Kalopia has traditionally been a major supplier of troops to the Organization. However, the GPO has recently come under fire in the Imperial Lands, with the relocation of their headquarters of Kafuristan and the rising unpopularity of recent Kalopian involvement in the Pontesi conflict.
Further, the concept of the GPO has always sat uneasily with the Imperial Patriotic League's ideals of Kalopian sovereignty, in the amount of sacrifices Kalopia is expected to make for the supposed collective security such an organization would give. Under the guidance of Grand Secretariat Ballantynos, the IPL-dominated Koinoboulio withdrew from both the "Global Peacekeeping Organization - Peace Troops" Treaty and the "GPO Grand Legislation" Treaty, in the National Sovereignty Act of 2792, but it was not until today that Kalopia formally announced its resignation from the organization.
Regarding the involvement of Kalopian military forces in any currently occuring GPO exercises, deployments, or other mobilizations, Ballantynos commented: "Kalopian withdrawal from the GPO means that all Kalopian forces serving with the GPO in any capacity have been ordered to return to Kalopia in order to carry out their primary mission, the protection of the Kalopian people. We are sorry for any inconveniences that our immediate departure causes, but frankly, with our nation's decision to cut ties with the organization, we feel the sacrifice of Kalopian blood and treasure would be wrong."