EuropeBoard

Welcome back, nations of Europe, to EuroNews! Welcome to Issue Eleven! Please take a moment to sit back and relax to peruse this month’s newsletter.

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European Events
Commissioner Competition
The November election for Second Deputy Commissioner was exciting before it began, with five nations announcing their candidacy. Former Commission hopefuls Rivierenland and Gor Kebab put their names forward, while newcomers Outer Sparta, Eritei, and Alienage entered the political ring for the first time.

Europe, in the past few weeks, has seen a higher proportion of trolls than usual which made regional security the signature issue of the election.

Rivierenland’s campaign once again focused upon his European Defence Agency (EDA). The EDA is a group of four European nations (including Riv), who are appointed at his discretion, “to safeguard Europe from foreign threats” such as trolls and spammers. If he won the election, Riv hoped to make the EDA official and give the members authority over borders and communications, in the hopes of quickly addressing troublemakers. Riv also mentioned that he is interested in repealing the recently enacted Commission (Term Limit) Act 2019, despite most of Europe voting in its favour.

Gor Kebab’s platform was quite diverse and had specific policy ideas. His flagship policy is a mentorship program, where new nations could be mentored by willing, established Europeans. This fostering was meant to help form bonds between newcomers and the RMB regulars while teaching new nations the ins and outs of NationStates. Gor also floated the idea of relaxing Europe’s restrictions on roleplaying, with potentially creating roleplay events where in-character discussions are allowed.

Political newcomer Eritei arrived on the scene without specific policies to push, opting instead to keep the status quo, but vowing to address concerns of Europeans as they arose. Addressing the recent frequency of trolls and spammers in the region, Eritei said that he believes, for the most part, that “Europe needs to brave the storm”.

Alienage was the youngest nation to enter the election. Alienage’s campaign focused upon finding the right balance between protecting others and freedom of speech, using the recent departure of prominent European The Oriental Empire to illustrate his concerns with the status quo.

Outer Sparta, long-time European, also put his name forward for the Commission. Sparta’s main issue with the state of the region, like many of the other candidates, is the seemingly prolific trolls. He stated that Europe needs to be more prompt in stopping trolls and spammers, though how exactly this would be ensured outside of existing regulations and practices was unclear. Sparta did suggest a more vigorous ban-on-sight policy, which turns into more aggressive reporting when regional officers were offline.

Almost immediately after the election began, two candidates were placed ahead of the pack. Rivierenland and Outer Sparta soon overtook the other three candidates, the popularity potentially having strong roots in their prolific RMB activity and longevity respectively. As the four-day voting period continued, Riv and Sparta only continued to grow their voter-base. Both Eritei and Alienage entered the election expecting not to do overly well but were very appreciative of those few who voted for them. Gor Kebab on the other was surprised by his relatively poor performance. Near the end of the election, former RMB regular Hellinicia began to troll on the RMB. Due to most EDA members being unavailable or unable to help, Riv viewed his signature policy as a failure and dropped out of the race. Outer Sparta ended the election with more than twice the number of votes as Riv, the next closest nation.

For a more comprehensive and extensive coverage of the election, with a breakdown day by day, EuroNews Chief Officer Yahlia would recommend visiting Republic of satherland’s Satherlandic Times, which can be found here.

Written by Yahlia

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Football Fun
Everyone has heard of football. It’s the world’s most popular sport, played by millions worldwide. And now, football is strengthening its grip on NS Europe. In the past, there have been several football tournaments in Europe that haven’t caught on very well or failed to even begin, like Rivierenland’s Audi Cup and Kirostan’s Football Cup. But there is another European football tournament (or better said, league) that has gained significant traction in the European community. This league is Dizgovzy’s domestic league, or as it is called in Dizgovzian, Býndskop.

Dizgovzy has allowed other European countries to sponsor a team in the Býndskop of their choice. This has proved successful, as nations gather around every matchday to see if their team has booked a good result. Currently, in the Býndskop, Feria-Alkaline-sponsored, Vjoschtéa is leading the league, followed by Krestonien-sponsored, FC Adyk and Rivierenland-sponsored, Tarasovo. Dizgovzy himself has sponsored Baúrgs aD, which is currently sitting in fourth place. On the flip-side though, there are two unsponsored teams, FC Sarbecium & FC Cirsbaúth, are in the relegation zone, but completely rock-bottom is the Laver Island-sponsored team, FC Mátgoth.

By the time this article has been written, Matchday 6 has yet to be played and by the time it will be published, Matchday 8 has yet to be played. Dizgovzy has organised the league fixtures well enough that the matches will be played every Saturday.

Written by Rivierenland

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Roleplay Report
New King of Laver Island
On 14 November 2018, Laver Island has got a new king. King Vincent I is the new head of state and of national defence. Before Vincent got to the throne, he lived in Western Laver, being born to an Icelandic family. He also finished a degree in political science before he decided to enter the Kingship tournament, which he won and got crowned. Besides being the ruler of Laver Island, he practices swordsmanship in his free time, which is recommended for Laverian monarchs. He’s also constantly guarded by the Valkyrie Guard who are elite sword warriors. His personal guard and secretary is Lady Edelgard Kamilla Eriksson who also handles his public affairs. On a more recent note, King Vincent I has already received international attention, with the Rivierenlander president visiting and the Grand Matriarch of St Scarlett hosting a ball for him.
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Dizgovzy’s Football Tournament
Recently, football has been increasing its influence in Europe with many tournaments, leagues and football associations. The most noteworthy of them all is Dizgovzy’s football league, which has been taking Europe by storm. Coverage from the Býndskop (Dizgovzian Federal Cup) emerges all over Europe every Saturday. The big reason behind the Býndskop’s massive success is the fact that Dizgovzy allowed other European nations to sponsor a Býndskop team of their choosing. Currently, Vjoschtéa (Feria-Alkaline) is sitting in pole position, followed by FC Adyk (Krestonien) and Tarasovo (Rivierenland). In last place, is FC Mátgoth (Laver Island).
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Rivierenlander Television Network (RTN)
The RTN has existed for a few months but was only made official a week ago. Originally, the RTN was used by the Rivierenlander government to broadcast to the world the new laws passed in Rivierenland. Recently, the RTN has been used as a recapping broadcaster to show to the world what Rivierenland is doing. The first official broadcast was to announce Rivierenland’s departure from NATO and the EU. The second broadcast was to show an interview between Skarlagen Vice-President Hans Selberg and Rivierenlander Foreign Affairs Minister, Eleanor Cohen, as well as a meeting between the Rivierenlander president and the new Laverian king. The most recent broadcast is to announce that Rivierenland, after rising tensions, has declared war on Turkey.
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Written by Rivierenland

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Europeans of the Month
Nothing is more important for keeping our region alive than its community! So, here is this issue’s Europeans of the Month to award some of our members for their contributions to NationStates Europe!

The award for Newcomer of the Month goes to... Eritei!
While Eritei has technically been here for over a year he only recently became super active here in our community, but like many other newcomers, he has settled in quickly and become a key figure on the RMB, creating and liking posts regularly.
Europe welcomes you with open arms Eritei!

The award for RMBer of the Month goes to... everyone!
In case people weren't aware, I am currently quite badly sick and I have been for some time. I just wanted to take a moment to thank everybody for putting up with my negativity and my weird rants about how sick I am, and for their kind wishes and words of advice. Hopefully, I will soon recover but until I do, I am glad I'm part of such a kind and caring community <3

The award for Flag of the Month goes to... Regnum Italiae!
I think Regnum's flag is a little under-appreciated sometimes, its design is relatively simple but combines the modern flag of Italy with the old style of the Kingdom of Italy (placing the coat of arms in the centre) as well as Regnum's fictional coat of arms for the country, to create a realistic and interesting national flag for a futuristic version of Italy that has returned to its monarchic roots.

The award for Motto of the Month goes to... Laver Island!
“Saman til frelsis” (Together for freedom)
This motto really resonates with me, and it’s part of what ties Laver Island to St Scarlett and how the two nations grew together, something that's really important to me!

The award for Factbook of the Month goes to... The bohemian-austrian commonwealth!
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This is an incredibly detailed factbook packed with images, maps, and lots of well-researched details. There also seems to be plans to translate the factbook into two other languages, similar to the one created by The Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth.

And last but definitely not least, the award for General Excellence this month goes to... Gor Kebab!
Gor Kebab has recently gone through some big changes in his life and may have to potentially take a break from NS, so for being a valid member of the community, willing to run for commissioner and for everything he's had to go through IRL, I am awarding him this month's award of General Excellence. Good luck with everything!

Written by St Scarlett

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Comedic Comics
The sect meces has gone out of his way once again to create another comic for EuroNews. This one revolves around the World Assembly.

Created by The sect meces

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IRL Info
Bolivian Bedlam
For over a month, Bolivia has been consumed by political turmoil. The nation’s unrest is focused almost entirely on now-former President Evo Morales.

Mr Morales was Bolivia’s first indigenous president and assumed power in 2006, having previously lived as a coca farmer. When he took office, 38% of the South American country’s population lived in extreme poverty. Morales was largely credited for reducing that figure to 17%.

Prior to 2009, Bolivian presidents had a maximum limit of two terms which could not be served consecutively. After constitutional reform in 2009, the ban on consecutive terms was lifted, which allowed Mr Morales to immediately run for a second term, something that was previously impossible. Morales was also able to run in the 2014 Bolivian election, the Supreme Court ruling in 2013 that his first term, beginning in 2006, does not count towards the limit of two consecutive terms because the constitution has since been amended. This ruling meant Mr Morales could become the first president in Bolivian history to serve three terms.

In 2016, Bolivia voted in a referendum on whether term limits should be abolished. 51.3% of the electorate was against the proposal. Despite the result of the referendum, the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that term limits violated human rights, after being asked to rule on the matter by a member of Mr Morales’s party, and subsequently abolished those restrictions on elections, which allowed Morales to seek re-election for a fourth term in 2019.

As the votes were counted late October 2019, there were two different counts: a quick count, and a detailed count. The detailed count, with 72% of the votes counted, Mr Morales had a lead of only 0.58% over his main rival, Carlos Mesa. The quick count tally, with over 95% of the vote counted, had Morales in the lead by 9.33%. Both of these tallies suggested there would be a run-off election between Mr Morales and Mr Mesa as no candidate had a lead of 10%, which is the required number of votes required to win outright.

However, the website which displayed the quick count results stopped updating for 24 hours, when it resumed, Mr Morales had a lead of 10.12%, just staving off a second round. The Organisation of American States, who had sent observers to oversee the election voiced their concern about the counting irregularity, as did the European Union. Other international parties, like the United States, called for a second round of voting.

With much of the public believing that electoral fraud and corruption won Mr Morales his fourth term, hundreds of thousands began to protest in cities across the country. For the next three weeks after the disputed 20 October election, Bolivia was embroiled with demonstrations and violence. Many gathered to fight what they believed was a power-hungry president, while sizeable counter-protests rallied in support of Morales, largely made up of indigenous peoples and union members. Amongst the marches and rallies, violent confrontations between the police and protestors occurred, eventually resulting in at least 3 deaths.
Eventually, the head of the Bolivian army stated that Mr Morales should resign “to allow for pacification and the maintaining of stability”. Morales then announced his resignation on 11 November, claiming political asylum in Mexico.

With Mr Morales, his deputy, and the presidents of the Senate and the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, having all resigned, deputy Senate leader Jeanine Áñez was sworn in as interim president as she was the next in line according to the Bolivian Constitution. Áñez has said that Morales should face prosecution should he ever return, building a legal case to give the exiled former leader the maximum possible penalty. The interim leader has also appointed Bolivia’s first ambassador to the US in 11 years while severing ties with Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and sending Cuban personnel home as she dismantles Morales’s socialist legacy.

Pro-Morales protestors are out in force, claiming the former president was the victim of a coup d'état and have been received with violent opposition from the police, resulting in at least 29 deaths, drawing condemnation from the international community.

According to Bolivia’s constitution, Áñez has 90 days to call fresh elections. Time will tell if a newly elected government will calm flaring temperatures in the troubled nation.

Written by Yahlia

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Chilean Challenge
At a glance, the country of Chile is a nice, South American nation with a great economy. On a second look, the nation has some real problems. The people who are supposed to protect them, the police, are killing citizens and subway stations are catching fire. The military, which also acts as the police, have turned against the people on the orders of a president who allegedly cares little for human rights, but more about the economic success and order. Protesters fill the streets, using slingshots and other various improvised weapons.

This all started when the subway fares were increased, making the trains unaffordable for many. The higher costs outraged the citizens, who conducted peaceful protests, jumping turnstiles and singing chants that were reminiscent of the 1960s and ‘70s in Chile. The government, in response, shut down the subway. The protesters then raided subway stations, some catching fir.

It was at this point that the government disgusted people and turned the police onto the public. Many of the people in Chile say that this reminded them of the 1980s dictatorships that would dispose of troublemakers. Many people were outraged by the government and begun terrorizing the streets, as aforementioned with slingshots and other various primitive weapons, just trying to fight back against the police.

Written by Suomessa

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Hong Kong Kerfuffle: Follow-Up Piece
Recently, the news trends have been touching back on Hong Kong. This is because of the crucial events that took place within this month. Those events include but aren’t limited to: police sieges on the universities, large arrest numbers, and district elections.

The protest movements also haven’t died down since the start, although weakened after time. The population still desires to implement their five demands (an inquiry into police behaviour, a more democratic legislative system, the withdrawal of the term “riot” to describe the protests, Carrie Lam’s, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive’s, resignation, and amnesty towards all who were jailed during the protests).

In regards to the first demand, the inquiry into the conduct of the police, the public wants the constant pepper-spraying of those who interact with the police, suspicious “suicides”, alleged torture, sexual abuse, and harassment allegations to be covered in the investigations.

Some universities in Hong Kong have become strongholds of protesters. The police sieges on HKPU (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) were successful due to the high number of arrests and breaching of cores in the campus. Reporters, medics and 200 minors were reported to have been arrested by the police (the 200 minors were students from the university). Other universities have still been holding strong, like that of CUHK (Central University of Hong Kong).

China attempted to block the passage of the Hong Kong Act in the United States, which is an act to sanction members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and condemn the actions of the police in Hong Kong. Chinese meddling failed, and the act became law.

In recent times, China has threatened businesses with the loss of the Chinese market to influence business practices that went against CPC rhetoric. One of the most infamous examples included ‘blitzchung’’s ban from Hearthstone competitions by Blizzard, a move deemed deeply unpopular by its userbase. Airlines have been pressured into showing that China owns Taiwan and Hong Kong instead of listing them as separate countries. Maps which exclude Taiwan on clothing has also come under criticism from the Chinese leadership.

Many have called for the boycott of pro-Hong Kong Police Force actors and artists, like Zhang Yixing (also known as Lay), a former EXO member, Mulan actress Liu Yifei, and Jackie Chan.

Concerns for Chinese intervention has been heard around the world too, especially since the escalation of actions on both sides. Bullets have been fired already and some have even lost their lives fighting for the cause they believed in. Some are scared that the Chinese military (People’s Liberation Army; PLA) may enter Hong Kong and just begin another Tiananmen Square-esque massacre (although highly unlikely), others believe that Hong Kong’s police are already infiltrated by the PLA. The university sieges are a demonstration that the police are willing to do anything they can to quell the protests. Concerns have also been raised about the general state of health in the city

But on a more positive and less violent note, district council elections were held on 24 November. The government hoped that it would be a demonstration of the silent majority which it claimed stood with the government, while the protestors hoped it was a vindication of their beliefs and their numbers. The protestors were proven right, after the various democratic parties and candidates, in favour of the protestors’ goals, won a distinct majority in many districts.

All in all, many events have happened since we last covered this topic. If you wish to know more specifics, read from Hong Kong news channels and major news networks that follow the event closely.

Written by Pilipinas and Malaya

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Titillating Trivia
This month our facts focus on two countries in South America both experiencing some major turmoil and potential changes in their near futures, with Bolivia finally ousting its long-time controversial president and Chileans rising up against militant police to fight against inequality.
From this month forward I'll also be featuring a third, less newsworthy country, so some countries that are rarely featured in the news also get a chance to shine. We start this off this month with my partial homeland, Ireland.

Bolivia

Bolivia is the only country in the world to have two national flags that are on equal grounds with one another. The most well-known is the red, yellow, and green tricolour which represents the country itself. This flag sometimes also includes the coat of arms in the centre. The other flag is known as the Wiphala, this is a flag representing the native peoples of the Andes in multiple South American nations, though it is only considered a national flag in Bolivia. The Wiphala's status has been protected by the Bolivian constitution since 2009. This is most likely the case as Bolivia has the largest population of indigenous South Americans of all the nations on the continent, making up 20% of Bolivia’s total population.

Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar who was a Venezuelan leader and a key figure in the independence of many South American nations (and served as president to Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru at different points). When the nation gained its independence, it chose not to unite with Peru or Argentina and became the independent Republic of Bolívar, named in Simón’s honour. Though this was changed to Bolivia just days later with the justification "If from Romulus comes Rome, then from Bolívar comes Bolivia".

Chile
While Chile is known for being very long and very thin, a unique shape that gives it a huge range of climates and environments from snowy tundra to dry deserts to rich forests, it is actually not the longest north-south country in the world. Brazil takes this honour but only by 95km, leaving Chile in second place. The country is obviously not the thinnest country either as the Vatican City is just half a kilometre wide. Chile is however, the southernmost country in the world, unless you count territories in which case the United Kingdom would take this honour, reaching almost as far south as Antarctica.

Chile has an interesting relationship with the country mentioned above, Bolivia. The two have shared strained relations since independence and do not have diplomatic missions with one another, this is mainly due to a territorial dispute in which Chile took control of the Atacama Desert and completely deprived Bolivia of its coastline, turning the nation into one of only two landlocked nations in South America. Despite this, the two do have trade relations with one another as well as agreements relating to tourism. Chile expressed concern over the state of affairs in Bolivia recently following the loss of its president Evo Morales.

Ireland
The name of Ireland's capital, Dublin, comes from the Irish Dubhlinn meaning “dark/black pool”. Something interesting about this name is that just across the Irish Sea is the English city of Blackpool which shares an obvious similarity in its etymology. Despite being named for an Irish word, the city's Irish name is not Dubhlinn and is instead Baile Átha Cliath meaning “Town of the Hurdled Ford”.

Due to a very troubled past, there is still a lot of tension between Ireland and it's neighbour the United Kingdom. When the whole island was ruled as a part of the UK, a terrible famine occurred in 1845 which reduced the country's population of 8 million to 6 million, the island has still not yet returned to a population of 8 million and currently sits at around 6.6 million. Despite this, the two nations are largely friendly with one another, many Irish people having British relatives and vice versa and most disputes today relate to friendly rivalry and sports.

Written by St Scarlett

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Edited by Yahlia, Rivierenland, St Scarlett, and Novgorod-Pskov

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We Need You!
We cannot continue to consistently put out fantastic newsletters like this month's without volunteers from Europe. If you would like to help us out in future, as a writer, or editor, or in any other way, please do not hesitate to get into contact with our founder, Feria-Alkaline, or Yahlia, Chief Officer of EuroNews, for more information. We understand that real-life commitments always come before a project such as this, so none of our members are obligated to assist with every issue. More staff simply means less work and pressure for all of us. We hope to see you in our Discord server soon!