Kalistan

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Her Imperial Majesty welcomes Zardic Ambassador
Will dispatch Ambassador within a Month
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
November 17, 5588


Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina I Ananto meets with Zardic Ambassador Flora Mielango in Kaliburg

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina I Ananto received the Credentials of Zardic Ambassador Extrordinaire and Plenipotentiary, Her Excellency Flora Mielango this week at Wilson House in Kaliburg. The new Zardic Ambassador to Kalistan met in formal audience with Her Imperial Majesty for 30 minutes, along with Chancellor of the Empire Dame Dianne Bolton and Her Imperial Majesty's Foreign Minister Sir Christopher Bjorksdattir. All Formal Audiences are strictly confidential, but following the audience, Her Imperial Majesty and Her Excellency, Ambassador Mielango sat for photos in the Library. There will be a welcome dinner this evening at Wilson House, which Her Imperial Majesty has invited Ambassador Mielango to, where they can have tea and get to know one another less formally.

Sir Christopher Bjorksdattir fielded questions from the press.

With regard to the topic of conversation, Sir Christopher said, "It was mostly the normal formalities, of course. Her Imperial Majesty asked the Ambassador to present her credentials, the Ambassador provided them to the Chancellor who presented them to the Empress; she read them, and so forth. Her Imperial Majesty usually gives a welcome speech to those Ambassadors who are delivering their credentials, and in this one, she emphasized the newness of the relationship between Kalistan and Zardugal, expressed her hope that despite ideological difference which might exist between Kalistan and Zardugal, that the two nations can be friends and find excuses to work together, and that she is prepared to open Kalistan to new cultural and trade opportunities with Zardugal."

When asked if the Ambassador had anything questions of Her Imperial Majesty, Sir Christopher answered "No, she wasn't really invited to ask questions. Formal audiences are usually designed for the Empress to listen to the person in audience. The Zardic Ambassador expressed her greetings to Her Imperial Majesty on behalf of her own Government, and said that Zardugal is on the precipice of new economic growth in manufacturing and shipping, and hopes the Anantonese Empire will pay more attention to western Majatra. She said that in many ways, the export oriented emphasis in both Zardic and Kalistani economy is similar and she feels that the two nations have a lot in common and a good foundation to build upon."

When asked if the Chancellor asked any questions, Sir Christopher responded, "Her focus was primarily on logistics. Zardugal has never had, to anyone's knowledge, an embassy in Kalistan. But several locations have been selected for Her Excellency to pick from, all of which should serve her and her staff's needs quite well. The Zardic Ambassador has been provided a town house less than five minutes' walk from two of the four possible sites, and may choose other accommodations if the ones provided do not suit her. She scheduled a review of the security procedures and asked when the remainder of the Zardic Embassy staff would be in country, so she could arrange for them to be similarly situated in comfort and convienience."

And did the Foreign Minister have any questions? Sir Christopher Bjorksdattir responded, "I wanted to check where Zardugal stood on Kundrati, since that area seems to be concerning to every sane nation on the globe. Zardugal, like Kalistan, openly rejects the fascism in Kundrati, and Zardugal was hurt by the rise of fascism in Kundrati, so we wanted to get a head start working together on the issues that are happening there. I'm not at the moment fully briefed, because our meeting was quite short during the Audience. But we got enough to give us a good idea of where Zardugal stands, and to move ahead. I will be meeting with Her Excellency several more times over the coming months so there will be plenty of time for chit chat then."

Asked about reciprocation of the Embassy, Sir Bjorksdattir said, "The Empress will announce her decision for Ambassador shortly: We are still getting the Consulate set up there, and they will then do the ground work into finding an Embassy building. Meanwhile, Her Imperial Majesty, has authorized me to say that she has narrowed the candidates for Ambassador down to three, Sir Harold Green, of Vrassa Free City, Mde Helen Alvarez, who is related to her cousins, and Sir Zachary Nelson. All three are counted as life peers of Her Imperial Majesty, and as such are qualified to serve in the role of Ambassador. Two of those three have career foreign service records, and all are fluent in Augustan. In addition, Sir Nelson has been working with the Zardic Consular Mission to get the Consulate Set up, and is already in country. But Her Imperial Majesty will make her final decision just after the new year."