Embassy of Europeia

Another Election Season Draws to a Close

In recent days, Europeia elected its 28th Senate. Asianatic, Asperta and Jusduckria were re-elected, and outgoing President Oliver Dion-Grey won a seat also. They will be joined by newcomers Tikal and Tyranna Lucina. Tikal rose to prominence through her outstanding work in the Welfare Ministry. Ty has become a fixture in Europeia's social circles recently and has extensive political experience in The New Inquisition, a close Europeian ally.

In the presidential election, Earth 22 and running mate Common-Sense Politics coasted to a surprisingly lopsided, first-ballot victory over two opponents.


President Earth

Following the traditional swearing-in ceremony, President Earth delivered her inaugural address. An excerpt follows:

We are all Europeians. This is our region. This is our community. Whether you voted for me or not, you are still a Europeian, and you have an equal stake in the success of our region. Each of us, old and new, must step forward. Each of us must bear what we can, because many hands will make this light work. And in turn, each of us will reap the rewards of an ever-greater region. Let us step forward as the greatest user-created region of all time.

Today, my fellow Europeians, we need to look at ourselves and the world anew. As the torch of leadership passes to a new set of elected officials, let us put aside our differences and stand as one.

Europeia.

One word carries so many meanings. If you ask Google, it leads you right back to our forums and our NS page. Urban Dictionary is even less helpful. I guess that's because the definition of Europeia isn't something you can find online, although that's where our community is.

I ask all Europeians to look to your hearts. How do you define Europeia? I see true politics and true community-- a community I'm proud to say I'm part of-- but more than that, I see something I love and care about. I see people that I love, trust, and care about. That makes me want to work hard to make this region all it can be. I hope it makes you feel the same way.

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Following her address, President Earth announced she would be retaining her predecessor's Cabinet: Asperta will serve his fourth term as Interior Minister and be joined by fellow returnees Gustavus Adolphus Rex (Culture Minister) and Tikal (Welfare Minister). The President also appointed Asianatic to fill the vacant position of Foreign Minister and named Oliver Dion-Grey as her Grand Admiral. The Senate swiftly confirmed all these choices.

In the Judiciary, Peaceful Llamas resigned to pursue what was ultimately an unsuccessful bid for the Vice Presidency. As primus inter pares, Abbey Anumia is discharging the functions of the Chief Justice until that position is filled.

For those of you who can't get enough Europeian politics (and if that's you, why aren't you on our forums??), there's more political commentary toward the end of this update.

The Europeian Navy: Making Raiding Fun


Two of Ollie's new recruits.

Upon taking control of the Navy, Grand Admiral Oliver Dion-Grey has been a flurry of activity. When asked about the direction he was taking the Navy in, he said, "I think that a strong community will be more attractive to the average bystander than a list of victories. When we can demonstrate to others that the Navy is a close-knit group of comrades in arms, an organization of honour and integrity as well as strength, we'll be able to attract more Europeians to service." Under this focus, Grand Admiral Dion-Grey intends to organize the Navy into smaller units, called Ships after the naval theme, and to bring naval members together through more personal training and development. The Grand Admiral finished our chat on the same note he started with. "Community is the key," he said, "If we're all close together, the officers will find a real pride in being part of the Navy. That said, we're still going to get out there and mix it up; Europeia's Navy has the potential to be the best in the game, and once we're all pulling on the same rope, we will be.

Dead People Are Cool

While he was serving as President (!!), Oliver Dion-Grey organized a "Quotable Dead People Tournament." Sixteen notable, quotable-- and dead-- people were selected and placed in a March Madness-style bracket. Europeians voted for the winners in each round, offering their favorite quotes from their favorite dead people and debating the contenders' relative merits.

In the end, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated George Orwell in the final, with Winston Churchill edging Mahatma Gandhi for third place. Here's a selection of quotes from the winner:

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.

The French complain of everything, and always.

Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.

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If one of Napoleon's aides replied C'est qu'elle a dit to that last quote, history did not record it.


No wonder they named a complex after this guy.

EBC Revival: Love is Everywhere

Gustavus Adophus Rex has revitalized the long-dormant Europeian Broadcasting Corporation. In addition to his own estimable contributions, Gus has recruited a dedicated staff-- Rachel, Skizzy Grey and Willem Jefferson. Together, they have assembled a series of regularly scheduled features, so that EBC provides Europeia with quality creative content every day.

Gus is unquestionably the EBC's brightest star, but his writing is in-depth and doesn't lend itself to excerpting. Therefore, we offer you this Valentine's Day special edition of "A Taste of Skizz," Skizzy Grey's curiously titled column:

In the wake of the Tiger Woods scandal a little over a year ago, Kansas City sportswriter Jason Whitlock did some excellent reporting on the VIP hostess scene. These "hostesses" get paid boatloads of money by extremely wealthy clients to find women that meet certain requirements and bring them wherever the client is--most often, Las Vegas. The women receive an all-expense paid trip to Vegas and access to all the VIP amenities; in exchange, there's a tacit agreement the women will make themselves sexually available to the client. Starf--kers are a dime a dozen, so if you're the hostess for a guy like Tiger Woods, your job is easy. As someone who thought one of the selling points for celebrity was how ridiculously easy it is to get laid, it blew my mind that Tiger actually paid tons of money to dispense with the miniscule effort it must take for him to get an attractive woman from the bar to his bedroom. I guess he wanted a transactional experience, and was willing to pay a lot of money to get it.

An astonishing percentage of men pay for sex at some point in their lives, so I'm aware a few readers have had their own low-rent version of the Tiger Woods Experience. For the rest of us, Valentine's Day is the closest we'll get to transactional sex. If you're in a steady relationship and buy the customary flowers and chocolates, you're practically guaranteed to get laid tonight, even if she might otherwise not be in the mood. If you buy her a nice piece of jewelry, or had the forethought to make reservations a month ago at her favorite restaurant, she might even do that super-hot, slightly nasty thing she knows you really like. And even if your relationship is in its death throes, your partner probably will grudgingly put out--but you'll have to initiate it, and I personally wouldn't blame you if you decided to save your sweat for your morning workout.

Whatever your situation, I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day. If it's a platonic holiday for you, enjoy it to the max--I had a blast helping my son make homemade Valentines for his classmates, so I definitely see the fun in that. If you're in the honeymoon phase of a relationship, enjoy the magic tonight--and every night, because honeymoon phases don’t last long. And if you're in a comfortable--or even tiresome--relationship, enjoy tonight for the opportunity it brings, and as you reap your transactional reward, feel free to utter the words from the Nike commercial: "I am Tiger Woods."

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Gus and his minions. Not pictured: Rachel

The Outer Limits of Metaphysics: Fake Pundits Comment on Fake Elections

During the recently concluded campaign, there was considerable consternation about the lack of political commentary from the region's news outlets. Henry rose to the challenge, displaying his usual wit and uncompromising style. He wrote these words as voting was winding down, and the scope of the unexpected Earth/CSP landslide was becoming apparent:

First off, does anyone else find it funny that the people winning our Presidential election are two people who have recently put in the least amount of work towards Europeia? Yeah, one of them is a legal guru and the other was recently our President, but shall we take a look at why they're actually winning?

Their competition. Rachel Anumia and Fortana; two people whom the region either doesn't take seriously enough, or takes too seriously. Even with Earth and CSP being mostly inactive this past term and not contributing much, the changed Rachel Anumia still stands very little chance to get inaugurated. During the past term or two, Rachel has shown a change in demeanor and how she presents herself on top of becoming one of the best legislative minds that we've had in the Senate in a while (not counting those who have repeatedly been in the Senate and long since lost any fire or desire to do a whole lot).

Fortana, on the other hand, has held quite a few positions in other regions where he has performed his duties admirably and really only runs into a blockade here in Europeia when it comes to getting anything done politically. The fact that he's gotten his Economy idea off the boat at long last, in defiance of those policing the waters, shows just how dedicated he can be towards seeing something through to the end.

The fact that they both are outstripped by a team-up of people who haven't done much recently, but are well liked, just goes to show how far our Democracy has fallen into a popularity contest.

That being said, I think that both Rachel and Fortana should have been able to read the situation in Europeia better to realize where they would best be suited for the moment. I think Rachel should have definitely continued her career in the Senate for the time-being, perhaps take on another Ministry role should it be cast her way and to continue eradicating the events of the past months from peoples minds. It's a testament to how hard it is to dispel first impressions, which I hear can be quite a bitch.

Fortana has never really been taken seriously here, and even though I have trouble understanding why that is or how it started, and even though I think it unfair; I think he should have taken that into account before trying to run for President out of the blue and without trying to work harder to dispel in peoples minds the idea that he isn't a good choice for higher office.

The Presidential Race and how it's turning out is nothing short of completely predictable, no matter how you look at it.

Our Senate race, or lack thereof, is even more predictable. Nothing really gets changed in the Senate. New ideas are hardly ever committed. When something is changed, it's slow to be agreed upon and usually just an amendment. It's been a long time since anything new was actually able to be introduced. I think that the biggest part of this is what Carracella remarked upon: We've hit the wall in what people here have assumed our destiny to be. There are people here who don't think we can take Europeia any further down the road, or refine her any further.

Simply put, we're stuck in a rut because we think we're perfect. After 4-5 long years, Europeia has reached what it set out to do. Who really wants to join the senate only to have their ideas ear-marked for the trash bin because they don't coincide with peoples view of the perfect Europeia? After a while, who is really left who cares enough to try?

Nothing is ever perfect. Nothing is ever finished. Europeia is far from having nothing left to do and even further from utopia. I think that a lot of our problem in that regard is that we listen too much to the people who say that we are. I think that we should instead begin to listen to people who do have ideas; who do wish to take Euro to a next step instead of allowing it to stagnate in the mistaken belief that we have hit the final wall.

I'm not talking about change for the sake of change, but change for good reason, backed by good arguments.

We still have work needing to be done in shaping up our foreign affairs. We still have work to do in the Interior, in Welfare and Naturalization. We have work to do in the Senate, refining our laws and making new ones. There is always work to be done. There will always be work needing to be done. We will never hit that wall where the only thing needing to be done is maintenance of what we already have in place. Never.

Controversy is good. It stirs activity and makes people pay attention, but at the end of the day, it's a shock factor and little else. Eventually, it will lose its ability to shock people. Stop trying to fill the gaps with controversy. It isn't the answer. The problem is that we've hit a mental blockade where people can't really see the next step. The answer is that we shouldn't stop looking for ways to improve Europeia. The answer is that we shouldn't just limit ourselves to what one; or a few; thinks to be an improvement. You say you're open to all sources, but there are those you discount based on personal bias, no matter what you say to the contrary, and the elections as they stand right now only serve to confirm that bias.

You have no one to blame but yourselves. How's that for controversial?

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Europeia has a tradition of wide-open debate. Henry's words did not offend, but as you can imagine, they stirred the pot. North East Somerset offered the most eloquent rebuttal:

Interesting points, but I don't really fully agree with any of them. I don't think it's a popularity contest, I think Europeians are electing the credible candidates here, the unequivocally better candidates to put it bluntly. There is certainly a sound case to say that over the last term Earth-CSP haven't been massive frontline contributers, but clearly they are capable of being so we have seen in the past, so I don't see that as a huge sticking point. I don't think Fort has put across a particularly coherent campaign, and I don't think this was the right time for Rachel to run. To me, personally, and he is a nice chap, so I really don't mean to demean or insult, but Fort lacks a certain quality I expect of a Europeian President - that maybe other regions would not - that's not to say he cannot grow the quality. Lethen was an erratic and slapdash young chap when I first met him and he....hmm, maybe not a good example...

However, I think this will go down as the election where VP's really made a difference. Not so much who they were, although that is obviously significant, but their timing. The fact the two losing camps presented a last minute campaign without VP selected at the start really served to separate and distance them from the ultra-prepared and organised candidacy of Earth. I think that was the ultimate reason why we see such a colossal gap in the votes between Earth and the other two candidates. Neither PL nor whoever Fort picked I can't even remember offhand, posed such a cutting and professional figure as CSP, whom has become a bit of a household name, I'm sure he would like to think so anyway, though the Senate election might take him back down to Earth - pardon the pun.

Regarding the nothing changing issue, I certainly don't see the need to adjust laws unless there is evidence that the status quo is not working. But that doesn't mean that achievement stops, not all achievement is derived from law, or from the Senate. As you mentioned there is a great deal more Europeia can do, in several fields, and the candidates in the election campaign have addressed this and made proposals. I agree those who think we are perfect or in any way near what we should be aiming at should be ignored, but that doesn't mean we should avoid celebrating what we have achieved so far. Hopefully the next government will go some way towards doing that, and I know that they will prioritise bringing on our next crop of leaders, giving them the know how they need to lead the region in the future, an incredibly important task, which I am sure will not be forgotten.

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Time will tell whether Henry or NES was right. Whatever the outcome, we will report it to you-- but if you've read this far, aren't you interested enough to come to our forums and see for yourself??

Thanks so much for the update!

You Don't Have to Be Kinky to Role Play

Culture Minister Gustavus Adolphus Rex has revived the Europeian theater, with the ambitious goal of quickly restoring its once-proud place as the foremost role-playing venue in NationStates. To that end, Gus is launching two role-play scenarios simultaneously. One is "From Europeia With Love," based on the serial novel by the same name that has captivated the region. In the role-play version, Europeia is embroiled in civil war; characters choose a persona and a place to live in Goldenblock City, where they can engage directly in the battle to save Europeia from hostile forces or do their best to avoid the war and live their workaday lives.


A botched plastic surgery turned a Harrison Ford look-alike into this hideous creature.

The second role-play is not a new scenario, but a revival of an scenario created by Oliver Dion-Grey in Imperial Britain that outgrew that region's dedicated but small role-playing community. Called "Hogwarts," this scenario is loosely based on the Harry Potter novels, but rather than trying to replicate the plot of those well-known novels, it allows players to create storylines of their own in a fantasy world inspired by J.K. Rowling's novels.

Both scenarios are just getting underway. New players are needed and will be welcomed with open arms. So, if role-playing is your cup of tea, come to Europeia and join the revival on the ground floor.

One last note: for the uninitiated, forum-based role playing is not the same as traditional role-playing games. Your humble correspondent used to play Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games, but gave them up when he discovered his penis had uses besides urination. Forum-based role playing is less like traditional RPGs than it is like collaboratively written serial fiction. So if you like to write, or if you like to act-- or ideally, both-- you will likely enjoy forum-based role playing.

The Europeian Navy: More Conquests than Wilt Chamberlain

The Europeian Republic Navy has continued in its flurry of activity from the moment the hammer dropped on Scotland three days after the start of the term. We showed our impressive speed with a raid on Snopesian Archipelago, a region which updates a mere 33 seconds after the start of the update. We showed our indomitable spirit after missing three regional updates in a row to finally settle on Rlyeh, where Cthulhu lies sleeping.

We also showed that dirty raiding is more fun, with twin strikes on Vorlon and Tahiti. We showed that we can play nicely with others, as we split a victory in SPACE with Unknown and The Black Hawks. We showed our nerdy side with an open-source assault on Linux, and last but not least, we showed our willingness to teach newer raiders a lesson with a pointed strike on The Holy Order.

With such a varied experience over the past two weeks, it's hard to really convey it with snappy sentences and clever pictures; you've got to be here to get it. The Europeian Republican Navy is exciting, fun, and you never know what you're going to do next. Thankfully, neither do the Defenders.


This ain't your grandpa's navy.

Trading Places at the EBC: Willem Gets Laughs, Skizzy broods

The European Broadcasting Corporation continues to thrive under the leadership of Gustavus Adophus Rex,with Rachel, Skizzy Grey and Willem Jefferson laboring alongside Gus to produce quality content on a daily basis. In recent weeks, however, there has been a marked change, almost as dramatic as the turnabout in the classic movie Trading Places. Willem, who entered Europeia as an aspiring intellectual, has emerged as one of its foremost humorists. Meanwhile, Skizzy Grey, who is infamous in Europeia for injecting bawdy humor everywhere from spam forums to presidential campaigns, has taken a sudden introspective turn. While Willem's humor relies to some extent on inside jokes, Skizzy's new style requires no knowledge of Europeia to appreciate. Here (following the jump) is a recent EBC submission, ominously titled "In my time of dying":


The real Skizzy, not some stinkin' sunflower.

Our concept of "self" is an artificial construct. One need not be a Buddhist to embrace the fundamental truth of this observation. I am not a nihilist--I exist-- but that "I" exists only relationally. I am a product of my experiences, of my relationships, of my values, of my circumstances. Because all those things change constantly, there is no unchanging "I." Indeed, to the extent our sense of self is meaningful, it is a self that goes through an endless series of deaths and rebirths. The self that exists in one moment is gone the next. Efforts to impose continuity on this process don't survive logical scrutiny--there's not a cell in my body that was there the day I was born; there's not a thought in my brain that was there when I was an infant, or even a child; there's not a single aspect of my character that hasn't changed multiple times over the years. "I" am always dying and being reborn. The question isn't whether this happens, but whether it happens for good or ill.

In the fall, I took my son to Boston Common for an outdoor worship service. Prior to the service, we provided lunch to the homeless people who had gathered to pray. My son and I developed a system for distributing lunches: as the line moved, I asked what people would like to eat (there was a choice of sandwiches), then I gave my son the right sandwich and had him hand it to the recipient. It worked wonderfully. Maybe my son learned something that will stick with him, but more immediately, the people received their free meal with a dignity I could not possibly have afforded them--the delight on their face was unmistakable, and it was a lot more profound than the "wow, what a cute kid" sentiment that young children often evoke.

I understand the distance between my brain chemistry and a homeless person's is no thicker than a c--t hair. Unfortunately, after 37 years living in this society, some part of society's wrong-headed judgments have become part of me. Something in my eyes would have betrayed those judgments to many people in that lunch line. These judgments, as loathsome as I find them to be, are part of who "I" am.

In recent weeks, I've realized that I'm a profoundly selfish person. My selfishness manifests itself in many ways. I measure the worth of other people mostly by what they can do for me. I am motivated to do work I enjoy, I can be prodded to do work that must be done right away, but if I have work to do that's neither interesting nor pressing, there's not a snowball's chance in hell it will get done, no matter how handsomely I'm paid to do it. And in large part because of my profound selfishness, my marriage will never be anything more than a child-rearing artifice. After eleven years of struggle, my wife and I have hurt each other too much to hope for more than that.

It gets worse. Recently, I've realized that my daughter--Daddy's little girl, my pride and joy--is already dead for all intents and purposes. No, my daughter isn't going to die imminently; she has several years of life left, maybe more. But the girl I held in that neurologist's office that awful day six years ago, the girl who endured a bone-marrow transplant with courage I can only imagine having, the girl whose excitement was palpable when she met Mickey Mouse on her Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World, the girl I look forward to holding in my armchair every Christmas morning--she's gone. Forever. I'm not her Daddy anymore. Now, I'm the father of a child who sometimes shows affection for me, but more often doesn't; a child who sometimes giggles when an old friend visits, but more often turns away to watch TV; a child who once inspired many teachers, therapists and aides to go beyond the call of duty to reach her potential, but whose newer aides mostly see her as someone to be babysat and kept out of trouble.

In other words, the "self" I like to see when I look in the mirror either never existed (the hardworking person who cares about homeless people), or is perishing before my eyes (the good husband, the proud father). This is all part of the natural, continuous cycle of death and rebirth. And it would bother me less if I wasn't so invested in a notion of "self" that is disconnected from reality. If I ever was the person I always wanted to be, that "I" would perish instantly. Here's hoping the ugly person I've discovered I am at the moment perishes no less quickly.

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Elections, Conferences, and Constitutional Conventions

Indycar Racing has joined the Europeian Senate, defeating four rivals to capture the Senate seat vacated by Tikal. Like fellow freshman senator Tyranna Lucina, Indy's reputation in Europeia was built mostly in the region's social forums with regular activity and rapier wit. Tikal also resigned as Welfare Minister and was replaced by Europeian veteran Telthas. Tikal kept quiet about the reasons for her resignation, but she has remained socially active in Europeia. We hope Tikal will soon be able to regain her position as a rising star in Europeian politics.


Indycar Racing, Europeia's newest senator

Proposed structural changes to Europeian governance are plodding along in their early stages. A judicial conference-- the second in Europeia's history-- was convened by Chief Justice Abbey Anumia. Attendance was somewhat disappointing because of the timing, which was not convenient for many North American Europeians, but those who attended the Conference universally applauded Abbey for convening it and praised the work done there.

On a more high-profile front, a public debate is ongoing about a rewrite of the region's constitution. Senators and other leaders have taken unusual steps to open the debate to all citizens, and many citizens-- including some not normally known for political activism-- have participated vigorouslyin the ongoing debates. The changes will not alter Europeia's fundamental structure as a democratic republic with separate executive, legislative and judicial branches, but many details are up for grabs. The final constitution will likely be submitted to a public referendum after it is approved by the Senate and President.

Who's Who

Because we know some of you miss that massive masthead.


President Earth, Europeia's Head of Government


Supreme Chancellor HEM, Europeia's Head of State

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Earth22
Vice President: Common-Sense Politics
Grand Admiral: Oliver Dion-Grey
Foreign Minister: Asianatic
Interior Minister: Asperta
Culture Minister: Gustavus Adolphus Rex
Welfare Minister: Telthas
World Assembly Delegate: Lethen

Legislative Government
City Council Mayor: Rachel
Senators:
Asianatic
Asperta
Indycar Racing
Jusduckria (speaker)
Oliver Dion-Grey (deputy speaker)
Tyranna Lucina

Judicial Government
Chief Justice Abbey Anumia
Associate Justice: Jusduckria
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Silver Steps
Attorney General: Skizzy Grey

Thanks for posting the update here.

Let's Party: "Culturefest" Celebrates Renewal of Old Ties

In honor of their new "Treaty of Friendship," old allies Europeia and The New Inquisition held a three-day cultural exchange. Fortana flashed his Irish brogue with a voice recording of himself reciting the names of colorfully named characters from both regions. Fort's audio debut inspired other renditions of the same list and sparked a spirited debate over how to pronounce the surname of TNI Reich Chancellor (and Europeian citizen) Tyranna Lucina.


The lovely Tyranna

New Europeian Foreign Minister Skizzy Grey took the opportunity to appoint himself ambassador to TNI and to publish a special, self-deprecatory edition of his regular EBC column there. The denizens of TNI treated Skizzy kindly, even as they questioned his sanity.

All in all, it was a good time where new acquaintances were made and old ties were renewed. Tyranna and Europeian President Earth are applauded for their work to bring the treaty and festival to fruition so swiftly!

Burn Out, or Fade Away? A Legend Retires, For Now.

On the heels of a lauded presidential term and in the midst of simultaneous, successful stints as Grand Admiral and Senator, Europeian legend Oliver Dion-Grey abruptly retired.


Ollie wouldn't have missed the reference in the headline.

In a tender farewell speech, Oliver plainly stated his reasons for retiring:

• I didn't think that I'd be writing this message for some time, or possibly ever. As some of you may have noticed, I have been tired for some time in Europeia, and it's time for me to move on. This is not a failing of Europeia's, I think. In their lives, people go through many stages where they may need different things. For the nearly two years I've been here, Europeia has been an important part of my life, and I love it dearly, and will be sad to leave it.
  
  I am coming into a stage in my NationStates life where I don't know what I want, I don't know what's going to make me happy. I think the only way for me to find it is for me to wander, and to experiment. Oliver Dion-Grey will go wandering, with the blessing and love of Aessiris. I won't rule out the possibility of returning someday, but it may be some time down the line....
  
  To my comrades of the Navy: You are doing fantastically. You can succeed without me. You have the tools and the knowledge. Grow the Navy. Recruit actively. Be a community together, and be responsible, intelligent raiders, and you will do wonderfully.
  
  To all of Europeia, I say much of the same. You are fantastic, and brilliant, and Europeia will continue to grow. I'll be watching, I'm sure, from a distance, and rooting for you all. I will miss you deeply. I don't want anyone to feel responsible for this action: the only one responsible is me. It's time for me to go now, and find whatever it is I'm yearning for. I hope to see you again, when I'm ready for a place like Europeia once more.
  
  With deepest feelings of respect, admiration, and solemnity,
  
  Goodbye.
  Oliver Dion-Grey

We miss you already, friend.

One Potato: A Fresh Voice at EBC

When Culture Minister Gustavus Adolphus Rex steps back, his revival of the EBC will likely stand as both his first and greatest achievement. Gus's early work at EBC continues to pay dividends, most recently with The Potato. Created by Europeian newcomer Kotharis, The Potato is a conscious satire of perhaps the greatest satirical publication of our age (The Onion).

An excerpt from the maiden issue of The Potato follows. Enjoy.

• Much has been said about the recent success of the Europeian Navy under recently passed Grand Admiral Oliver Dion-Grey. They had conquered regions with impunity for the glory and good of the Republic, and things were going swimmingly. But now, part of the way through the current electoral cycle, the Navy and its new leadership are facing down a new challenge: defending its citizens from the appearance of a vicious and deadly sea monster, the Kraken.
  
  
  
  
  
  The Kraken is a monster of myth and legend, gargantuan in size and capable of substantially damaging even the Navy's most sturdy ships. The Kraken has claimed our former Grand Admiral to its tentacles, and now it has set its sights on the Europeian government. Just in these last few weeks, it has claimed the lives of Senators Andrew Jefferson, Tyranna Lucina, Jusduckria and Foreign Affairs minister Asianatic. As it stands, that leaves half of our Senate and a substantial minority of the Cabinet lost to the slippery tentacles of the beast.

Power Play: Europeian Giants Return to the Senate

After a series of resignations unexpectedly opened three seats in the Europeian Senate, former Presidents Anumia and PhDre and current Chief Justice Abbey Anumia entered the fray and won the open seats, defeating two other candidates.


Past President PhDre is one of Europeia's three new Senators

The by-election, convened and held swiftly in accordance with Europeian law, radically transforms a Senate that had been dominated of late by newcomers. To varying degrees, the three successful candidates held themselves in contrast to the recent trend; the results suggest voters may have become wary of electing newcomers to the region's highest legislative body.

Anumia stated the case for experience most bluntly:

• Recently, we have turned away from this path. Recent times have seen a stern push in a different direction; a wild rush to throw our newest and least-experienced members as high up along the political chain as possible has seen our political culture as a whole abandon traditions and policies that served our Republic for years without fail; now, without conditioning or aid, our youngest citizens are catapulted into a world of duty and responsibility at a rate that would have been considered foolish, even scandalous, less than a year ago, while the older and experienced citizens are retiring or shifting out of politics in droves, citing a need to "let the newcomers have some room."
  
  The end result is a legislature without direction or confidence, and the Senators we thrust too early into the spotlight are left floundering without aid from those with the wisdom to help. Couple this with the recent trend pushed forward of "utter and uncompromising precision over practicality and interest" has seen activity in our Senate dry up and the throughput of legislation in the past few months drop to zero. The Courts are afflicted by a similar problem, and the matter is obvious: we have become so caught up in attaining "perfection" (or as close to it as possible) that we have ground our legal system - in both legislative and judicial spheres - to a boring, unimaginative, and inactive halt.
  
  It is high time therefore that we see a return of some of our better and wiser traditions, and it is time that our Senate wakes up and remembers its potential. Once more, the Senate must become the guiding hand of the Republic, and allow its resolutions to make their full effect in both domestic and foreign affairs. We must remind ourselves that the Senate should not be the first port of call for every new member who gains citizenship, and we cannot nitpick ourselves into oblivion. We must fight to reclaim the spirit of the Senate of old, and in our new age of greater enlightenment, size, and influence, we must not be afraid to allow the Senate to exert its proper influence, within this land and abroad.
  
  Once more we must see our experienced citizens serving in the Senate. Once more we must look at all candidates with a critical eye, to ensure we elect the best and brightest. Once more we must seek to properly introduce our new citizens to our legal system, and support their political advancement in Europeia without giving them a free ride that too often results in a crash. Once more, we must see honour, authority, and duty fully-restored to the rank of Senator.

Don't s--t on this, pigeon!

Who's Who

You don't need to have a program to know the players, but it doesn't hurt.


President Earth, Europeia's Head of Government


Supreme Chancellor HEM, Europeia's Head of State

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Earth22
Vice President: Common-Sense Politics
Grand Admiral: Griff
Foreign Minister: Skizzy Grey
Interior Minister: Asperta
Culture Minister: Gustavus Adolphus Rex
Welfare Minister: Rachel Anumia
World Assembly Delegate: Lethen

Legislative Government
City Council Mayor: Rachel Anumia
Senators:
Abbey Anumia
Anumia
Asperta (speaker)
Free Politic
Indycar Racing
PhDre

Judicial Government
Chief Justice Abbey Anumia
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Silver Steps
Associate Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Attorney General: vacant

Thank you for the update, Swakistek. Your region's activity level is commendable.

The World Comes to Europeia: Security Council Conference

Europeia hosted a World Assembly Security Council Conference, where Europeian citizens and foreign dignitaries discussed the Council's affairs and Europeia's place in those affairs. The Conference demonstrated Europeia's commitment to moving beyond tired raider/defender dichotomies toward a meaningful, robust foreign policy. The keynote speakers were Sedge and Unibot. Both are well-known defenders, and although they certainly were clear about where they stood, both seemed perfectly comfortable mingling with players of all stripes in raider-leaning Europeia.


Sedge made no bones about the raider/defender gap. He acknowledged the belief, widely held in Europeia, that the Security Council is a tool of defenders and offered a spirited defense of the Council.

I've heard a lot of people say the Security Council is defender biased. This isn't really true - the point is that resolutions are voted on by everyone in NS, and most NSers have a slight preference for defenders over raiders - it's NationStates as a whole which is biased. However, this doesn't apply in all situations, and can be overcome - such as 10KI's original commendation being repealed, or Liberate Free Thought only just scraping through at the last moment. Additionally, defenders have been more prepared to get involved in the SC, and push through resolutions supporting their ideals. They've put in the work, and got their reward. If invaders want that kind of influence, they'll have to get involved too.

Europeia is grateful to the visiting dignitaries for their thoughtful contributions to a successful conference! President Earth also deserves great credit for organizing the event. The full proceedings are on display in Europeia's forums.

Beyond Recruiting: Rachel Leads Welfare Ministry to New Heights

No one in the current Administration has a tougher job than Rachel Anumia. At a time when NationStates is growing again, and Europeia is approaching unheard-of proportions, it is Rachel's job to bring new players from NationStates from the regional forum, then integrate them into the life of the region.


Long the redheaded stepchild of Europeian agencies, Tikal revived the Welfare Ministry during her stint as minister in February and March. Since taking the reins, Rachel has taken the ministry to a whole other level. Sending 180 telegrams to the region's newest nations would have been unthinkable a few months ago. Even during Tikal's tenure, that would have been a productive month. Recently, the Welfare Ministry sent that many welcoming telegrams in a week.

Rachel has pulled together an all-star team of Europeian veterans to welcome the region's new arrivals. Having the region's most prominent citizens in this role demonstrates to new citizens that they are valued members of the community. The ability to assemble such a team demonstrates Rachel's ability as a leader. We in Europeia are proud to have her!

Not Too Cool for School: New Kyrkberg Brings Energy and Intellectual Vigor to EuroUniversity

Anyone who has tried to run a university in a NationStates region will tell you it is a thankless, often frustrating job. Europeia has fared better than most; the EuroUniversity has long been one of the game's finest, thanks to the visionary leadership of Swakistek. Even with Europeia's tradition of academic rigor, however, New Kyrkberg raised eyebrows when he came into the forum, demanded that students sign up for his Roman History class (not unheard-of, but bold for a new citizen), and announced -- horror of horrors! -- that his class would include a final exam.


If New Kyrkberg ruffled some feathers at the outset, those sentiments are long gone, because New Kyrkberg has brought unprecedented rigor to the classroom. Far from offering a rote recitation of facts and figures, New Kyrkberg's lectures bring Roman history to life, This excerpt from his first lecture offers a taste of his dynamic teaching style:

... perhaps the most important thing to understand about the basic structure of the Roman Republic is patron-client system. More than anything else, this system is what kept the common people of Rome so content for so long, and mostly willing to let the rich run the system that was so obviously stacked in their favor.

The Patron-Client system is fairly simple to understand. A rich man would be the patron to his clients. What this meant is that he would protect them legally – serve as their lawyer in court on their behalf as oratory was highly valued among the upper classes of Rome – provide them with gifts in the form of small luxuries, or money or the like. It can be likened, in a way, to mafia boss and the people in his territory. The more old-school Godfatheresque mafia. In general protect and support them, The client then, had obligations to the patron. Namely to vote for the patron when he ran for office. And to tell everyone else what a cool guy he is, and why everyone should vote for him. In the Roman political system, it was perfectly legal, despite the fact it was essentially bribery for votes. The Clients also had to sometimes form a sort of vanguard when the patron was in public. Much of the Roman Political and Legal system depended on a man's ability to turn out a favorable crowd, and Clients were an excellent way to do that.

In the later republic, these Clients became a private army for whoever had them, and eventually, rival gangs of clients and ex-slaves would take to the streets and duke it out on behalf of their patrons. The patron-client system kept people voting against their own economic self-interest, which kept the wealthy more securely in power. The machinery of the state and culture revolved around keeping the rich in power. Clients and patrons passed down through generations.

With only three lessons in the books, there's still time to join and learn about the grandeur that was Rome!

No Foolin': When a Joke Goes Bad

As winter changes to spring, residents of Europeia have typically been treated to an April Fools' Day prank. This annual tradition usually involves some variation on the theme of a tyrannical takeover by Supreme Chancellor HEM. This year's joke was the most masterfully planned yet, with President Earth working with HEM to devise the most convincing hoax possible, without too many people being in the know.


The problem? It worked -- too well. Some people looked at their calendars and got the joke, but several others, including a few of the region's most respected thought leaders, thought HEM had really gone overboard. Once those elder statesmen panicked, it gave the general population permission to do the same. Order was soon restored, and there were apologies all around.

Europeia has moved on, but the incident illustrates how forum destruction is top-of-mind throughout NationStates. Emotions run especially hot in Europeia, which is home to several people who played prominent roles in The United Kingdom prior to TUK's demise last autumn. Coupled with Europeia's emergent focus on foreign affairs, this prank will have lasting implications for the region's political life.

Who's Who

Can we put these jobs on our résumés?

as always, Europeia has the best regional update in NS.

That was, indeed, an excellent regional update. It looks exciting over there in Europeia.

Really, guys?? Thank you so much. Come over and check out our forums, btw, we'd love to have you visit us.

Supreme Chancellor: HEM
Vice Chancellor: Lethen
Vice Chancellor: Swakistek

President: Earth22
Vice President: Skizzy Grey
Grand Admiral: Griff
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Rachel Anumia
Minister of Interior: Indycar Racing
Culture Minister: Fortana
Minister of Welfare: Anumia

Senate Speaker: Anumia
Deputy Speaker: Asperta
Senators: Rachel Anumia
Anumia
Indycar Racing
Asperta
HEM
New Kyrkberg
PASD
Peaceful Llamas
City Council Mayor: Lethen

Chief Justice: Abbey Anumia
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Silver Steps
Associate Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Attorney General: Oliver Grey

Election Dissection

This last week, Europeia unfortunately had to pay homage to that redheaded stepchild of humanity: democracy. Elections went on as scheduled, disappointing those who thought that the long-awaited coup by the Burger King was finally coming. Unfortunately, that hasn't taken place yet, but we still had one Whopper of an election season.



Drawing a contrast to previous terms, the Presidential contest was a snoozer, with former President Oliver Grey commenting: "Show's over, folks. Cocktails?" three minutes after beloved President Earth22 declared her intentions to seek a second term at the helm of the Goldenblock. She faced minimal opposition except an obligatory joke candidacy from Tyranna Lucina, who failed to even make the ballot despite the extreme popularity of her running mate, a severed head. The severed head no doubt has a long and prosperous future in Europeian politics. Its determined stare is its greatest asset. Regardless, the Earth22 ticket, this time with Skizzy Grey in the #2 slot rather than Common-Sense Politics, went on to victory, garnering 27 votes to 5 for the ticket of Indecision/Abstain.

The Senate race, however, was no shrinking violet as it has been in the past. Concerns about the quality of the Senate's work in the past few terms prompted a wide bevy of candidates, including some impressive newcomers, and some old-as-dirt fogies who couldn't resist. Due to the newly sparked interest, the Electoral Panel convened and decided to raise the number of Senate seats to eight from its previous six. Twelve candidates ended up running in the race, and as previously mentioned great new talent was discovered in a watermark election season for the Senate.


Old and proven talents were brought back, such as Anumia, HEM, and Asperta, but what was truly surprising was the breakout Senators from last term that were re-elected by large margins. Leading the entire Senate field was Rachel Anumia, followed by Indycar Racing with a finish strongly in league with seasoned Senators. A shot in the arm of talent from the City Council was also evident, with breakout star New Kyrkberg being elected, along with former Mayor Peaceful Llamas and longtime Councillor PASD. The newly created Europeian Expansionist party captured two seats (New Kyrkberg and HEM), while the even more newly created Westminister Party captured one (Rachel).

Separate the Delegates

The true surprise of the election season came, however, when Oliver Grey called upon a little-utilized provision to challenge the region's delegate, Vice Chancellor and long-time crabbypants Lethen. Oliver waged a campaign without much of his usual pomp and circumstance, but heavy on substance, seeking to further Europeia's involvement in the WA, a much talked-about but yet unimplemented policy. Oliver began to garner some early support due to his excellence in many other positions in Europeia.


Just as it appeared that the conflict would come to a head, Lethen decided to pull a LBJ even without a Vietnam and acquiesced to Oliver, ending his 254-day reign as Delegate and ensuring a smooth transition to Oliver at the helm of the WA Department of Europeia. Even through the heat of the short campaign, no harsh words were exchanged about Lethen's tenure, because there wasn't that much bad to say. Lethen transitioned quickly into being elected as the Mayor of the City Council and has a future perhaps as bright as his past.

Roleplay-1, Sanity-0

Gladstone Davies leaned back away from his typewriter. His task was to write an article for the Update about roleplay, but something was taking his mind from the task. Perhaps it was his two children, both of whom had severe headaches from the paint factory that had been constructed over his house on stilts. He pensively stroked his kneecap, something his mother Berta had always done right before bed. This soothed him. He picked up his oilcan, did one last tune-up on his worn-out typewriter, an E. Remington and Sons model, and bared down on his work, all the time watching the door of the office where he believed the Foreign Minister slept after hours...


That's right, folks, Roleplay has shot through Europeia with a vengance. Ever since Oliver Grey's suggestion that the lower legislative body of the City Council include RP in its debates, RP has become an integral part of legislative debates, and it's causing some interesting reactions. Some traditionalists, such as Senators Anumia and HEM, find it to be "unsophisticated", with Anumia claiming to have gotten an aneurysm from watching City Council debates unfold. There can be no argument, however, that the Council has wholly embraced the idea, with Councillers in full character during the most recent debate over an amendment to introduce procedures for the public to recall Senators. Interestingly, one of the biggest proponents of the idea was another of the most elder members, current CC Mayor Lethen. It's yet to see whether this idea will increase productivity or even stick permanently, but for now it's winning over even former skeptics and is adding a spicy flair to what has been a bit of a dull body in the past.

This Just In!

According to a new poll by general Europeian whiz-kid Swakistek, 20% of Europeians are in fact Falconias, former President of Europeia. Few were shocked at the number, as being Falconias had been on the rise ever since he left office, but it was rather surprising to find that statistically, Falconias is one Cabinet member and holds two Senate seats. It is yet to be seen if this is against the law, but considering that there's an 80% chance that Falconias is also one of our Justices, the law may be skewed on this particular question.


This Update was written by FA Media Coordinator McEntire. Europeia's forums can be located Here. Have a great day and a pleasant tomorrow from myself, Foreign Minister Rachel Anumia, and all of us here at Europeia Foreign Update!

Thanks for the Update!

Europeia +1

No problem, guys.

End of an Era: Resignations Trigger "Paradigm Shift"

About a week ago, in the space of a few hours, the abrupt resignations of Supreme Chancellor HEM, President Earth, and WA Delegate Oliver Grey shook Europeia to its foundations. HEM returned the next day, though he has not reassumed his role as Supreme Chancellor. At this writing, neither Earth nor Oliver has been seen in Europeia since shortly after their resignations.

In accordance with Europeia's constitution, Vice President Skizzy Grey assumed the presidency. He quickly appointed Rachel Anumia to fill the vacant office of Vice President. About twenty-four hours after taking office, President Grey addressed the region and reflected upon the "end of an era":


President Skizzy Grey

Adversity has tested the character of this region. So far, we have met the challenge. My confidence in this region and its people has increased tremendously since I reluctantly took the mantle of leadership. I am proud to call you my friends.

Rest assured, I don't underestimate the challenges we face.... I recognize an end to an era. That era ... was the most successful era in Europeia's history to date. Our population grew; our military became the game's greatest raiding force; our cultural offerings proliferated; and our politics were genteel, almost to the point of blandness. In recent weeks, we have seen erosion of those achievements: population is down; the Navy is not at peak strength; our cultural output has withered; and our politics have turned nasty. The things that brought us our current success have proved incapable of sustaining that success. A paradigm shift is underway, and we need new ways of thinking.

In the days since the flurry of resignations, Europeia has been energized -- recruitment has picked up, activity has flourished across the regional forums, and the Senate has taken up a flurry of new legislative proposals. Europeia hopes its departed citizens return home, but in the meantime, the people have mobilized to fill the big shoes those departed citizens left behind.


Legendary Leader Receives Europeia's Highest Honor

Europeia recognized one of its Founding Fathers, as legendary leader Pineapleboy was inducted into the region's Hall of Fame.


Lincoln, Churchill ... Pineapleboy

Another Europeian giant and Hall of Famer, former President Pope Lexus X, delivered the induction speech:

Pineapleboy was one of the first citizens in Europeia, joining on the 22nd of April 2007. Pine was actively involved straight away, running in elections and commenting on legislation and the affairs of state. His abilities were clear from the start. Pineapleboy was elected for two terms as the 8th President of Europeia from August 27th until November 24th 2007. He left his office as the most popular President in Europeian history, and the longest serving at that time. During his terms in office, he was regarded as "active, stern and fair", being also remembered for his drive for the protection of rights and extension of term limits.... Pine faced several foreign and internal difficulties as well along the way, all which were dealt with promptly and efficiently. His legacy as one of the best Presidents is by no means surprising.

In a time of change in Europeia, it was good to remember the dedication of Europeia's first generation, whose perseverance laid the foundation for the region's present greatness, which must be sustained by a new generation of leadership.


Food Fight: Raiders, Defenders Square Off

As a region that emphatically places itself outside the raider-defender axis, you might not expect partisans from either side to make much noise. You would be wrong -- precisely because of its independent stance, Europeia is home to many prominent players on both sides of the divide. These rivals provided a fireworks show in recent weeks.

Rachel Anumia, an outspoken advocate of Europeian independence, harshly critiqued the Founderless Regions Alliance -- the mother-ship of defender organizations -- for its handling of the late 2010 coup in The United Kingdom, where Rachel was once a prominent citizen.


Rachel picks the best avis.

Looking back, I wonder what we actually gained. Security was a minus; [FRA] rarely helped and if they did it was like pulling teeth. This is despite joining FRA makes your region more of a target and telling us that they’d help (a very FRA theme). I wasted time being a rep (in TUK it was the PM and MoD), time better spent in the actual region itself....

TUK went downhill when we put more time into FRA and less time into the region itself. FRA was an “issue” it was never a solution. Others and I spent time trying to fix the whole “FRA issue” like we spent time trying to fix the FA, recruiting and other real issues facing TUK.

Now, my biggest issue with FRA. When our Founder took over the region you’d think that given that it was the government which had joined FRA that they would stand with the government. The government, which put time into FRA and that, loaned its time and its soldiers for FRA. Yet, there was nothing.

Defenders took issue with Rachel's assertions, particularly the claim that the FRA failed to come to TUK's aid. This excerpt from a post by FRA veteran Chin-Chillas is representative:


Why can't all the 'fendas be as cool as C-C?

The threads where TUKs membership was discussed and rescinded by the RA were all available to all TUK members who were registered on the FRA boards, including yourself. TUK's membership was rescinded just over 24 hours after the initial request was made by PASD. It was never 'denied', there was just a short discussion period where various viewpoints were brought to the table.

As the debate unfolded on multiple fronts and got heated -- the civility manifested in the foregoing excerpts wasn't maintained by all participants -- a few Europeians without a stake in the outcome posted this emoticon:



That led former President Common-Sense Politics to question whether openly treating the debate as a spectator sport (as opposed to quietly treating it that way, which a lot of Europeians did) conveyed disrespect for the citizens:

While I'm here I can't help but notice that the popcorn emoticon, being used during a passionate argument, is a bit of a patronizing gesture toward those involved. Both parties were clearly very invested in what they were discussing and to cheapen those emotions and this transaction of ideas to a catfight for us to enjoy is well...quite lame in my eyes. Just some food for thought.

Citizen (and TNI Reich Chancellor) Tyranna Lucina responded:



And a good laugh was had by all!


Who's Who

Here's how things look now that the dust has settled.

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: Lethen
President: Skizzy Grey
Vice President: Rachel Anumia
Grand Admiral: Asperta
Foreign Minister: Anumia
Interior Minister: Hyanygo
Culture Minister: HEM
Welfare Minister: McEntire
World Assembly Delegate: Abbey Anumia

Legislative Government
City Council Mayor: Lethen
Senators:
Anumia (speaker)
Asperta
Hyanygo
Indycar Racing
McEntire
Peaceful Llamas
Rachel Anumia
Subron

Judicial Government
Chief Justice Swakistek
Associate Justice: Abbey Anumia
Associate Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Associate Justice: Silver Steps
Attorney General: Jusduckria

---

New Leadership for a New Era

After a tumultuous term, Europeian voters opted for stability, electing Vice President Rachel Anumia to the presidency by a shocking 2-to-1 margin over five-time President Pope Lexus X and veteran citizen Henry. Rachel's running mate, Asperta, is Europeia's new Vice President.

The election capped a meteoric rise for Rachel, who rose from a junior ministry position to the region's highest office in just over three months. In that time, Rachel has built her reputation on an impeccable work ethic, which carried her to victory despite a superb campaign by the estimable Lexus.


In her inaugural address, Rachel looked toward the challenges facing Europeia:

Elections and perhaps more so this election, are a time of refocusing, renewal and a chance for a fresh start.... There was an opportunity amidst the danger of the crisis and as a community, we took it. We need to continue rebuild and grow, not only as a region but as a community by continuing to welcome new members with open arms, giving them the opportunities and help to succeed.

In the Senate, the electorate also opted for familiar faces, re-electing incumbents Anumia, Indycar Racing, McEntire and Subron and choosing the familiar Fortana and Sopo to fill the other two available seats. After a Speaker race between the incumbent Anumia and challenger Sopo that was so close as to be a draw, the President selected Sopo to take the chair, and he immediately appointed his predecessor as Deputy Speaker.

Return of our Beloved Founder

As our previous Foreign Update explained, the Supreme Chancellor and Founder of our Republic, HEM, recently resigned his position during a tumult, and though he returned to the region shortly after, he did not immediately retake his position as Supreme Chancellor. The position was held for the last month or so by the previously long-standing Vice Chancellor, Lethen, who managed the duties of the Chancellery expertly in the official absence of his predecessor.

A few days ago however, he handed the Chancellery back to HEM, giving a speech where he said:


Lethen's announcement was met with unanimously-positive sentiment, and gratitude from the citizenry for the job he did during his brief time in the top spot. Thank you for the service, Lethen, and welcome back HEM!

Coming to Europeia

Our Republic prides itself on being open and welcoming to our new members. With an entire Ministry dedicated to encouraging newcomers to the forum, and helping them settle in and feel a part of the community, we try our best to integrate and naturalise all of our incoming citizens into the life of our Republic.

As part of our efforts to continually improve our Government programs, we asked a new member who had recently obtained citizenship what his first impressions were in coming to Europeia:

-J. Harl​

Thanks, J. Harl! We at Europeia hope all incoming citizens feel the same as you do.

---

Brief and Fun Updates:
-Europeian Senate discusses changes to improve its world-renowned judicial system, refuses to fund giant inflatable gavels for the Justices
-Areopagitican proposes "The Hootch and Toddy Ordinance" to clamp down on humour in the City Council, is promptly hauled away by the fun police when the Ordinance reaches the Senate
-President Rachel Anumia makes plans to attract new recruits to the Navy, secret photographs of a skimpy khaki outfit leaked from within the Goldenblock
-Outgoing President Skizzy Grey gives Anumia an Ovation for his long-standing work in Europeia, Anumia reported as momentarily humbled, shocks Republic
-Vice Chancellor Swakistek gets new glasses, doesn't improve his stand-up routine
-Earth22 returns to Europeia after an absence, sales of naughty magazines plummet

Congratulation on the successful election, best of luck to the new government.

UPDATE LV
August 15, 2011
36th Congress, 36th Cabinet, 31st Senate
Population: 738
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Sopo
Vice President: HEM
Grand Admiral: karthikking
Foreign Minister: Earth22
Interior Minister: Abbey Anumia
Culture Minister: James Hanover
Welfare Minister: Ogastein

World Assembly Delegate: Abbey Anumia

Legislative Government
Senators:
Oliver (Speaker)
McEntire
Jusduckria
North East Somerset
Klatonia
ACKJVR

City Council Mayor: Rachel Anumia

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: Cordova I
Associate Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Associate Justice: Bootskitten
Associate Justice: Vacant
Attorney General: Jusduckria


A Message from the President

This Message has been rated PG 13 for bad humor

Greetings, friends and allies!

The Europeian people have honored me by selecting me as their next President. What does this mean for you? Mostly that you'll be hearing quite a bit from me- whether you like it or not. If anyone out there would like to talk to me at any time, just shoot me a PM on the Europeian forums and I'll give you my MSN address. I'm always happy to meet new people and learn about the happenings of other regions.

I have a big vision for Europeia, one that cannot come to fruition without our friends and allies. I have already been amazed this term with the interregional cooperation to find the porn spammers. Hopefully future cooperative endeavors will have a much lighter tone. Expect to see very active ambassadors from Europeia and more frequent updates from this point on out. We care about each of our colleagues and want you to know it.

Enough of the srs bznz though, I've got a joke: A man walks into a bar with his son, who is only a head. He carries his son in and they order a drink. The son swallows the drink and he magically grows a torso! The father enthusiastically orders him another drink, and this time he grows arms! Becoming very excited, the father orders him another drink and he grows legs. Amazed, the father orders a fourth drink to see what else could happen. The son slugs it down and falls dead of alcohol poisoning. The bartender says to the father, "I guess he should have quit while he was a-head!"

Haha, get it?


President Sopo's Goldenblock is eight miles wide.

Rising Star Burnt Out

Rachel, everyone’s favourite rising star, resigned as Europeian President on the 27th July. Her Cabinet had lost the confidence of the people and a series of polls by her Grand Admiral, Swakistek laid the nails into the coffin. The polling and report cards in which everyone could see just what everyone else was thinking sowed the seeds for either a resignation or a Vote of No Confidence. After weeks of Cabinet Ministers going in and out, and after weeks of polling, Swakistek put the Vote of No Confidence question on the poll. This is what the Europeian Inquirer said:

Now, it's the question that a lot of people have been waiting to hear about.

We asked whether the performance of the Rachel Administration was sufficiently poor so as to justify a Vote of No Confidence, and 60% said yes. Rumblings have been circulating Europeia for some time, and it seems now even more certain that at some point, somebody is bound to move to such an effect.

Click to expand...

And that was that, shortly afterwards on the same day Rachel, sadly, resigned saying that “If people want me to go, I’ll go. I’ve put in quite a bit into the region and in many ways; perception is the name of the game. Going into this, I knew it would be difficult and I wasn’t as strong I needed to be. “ As per Europeian Law, Asperta, the Vice President, became President. Senator McEntire motioned for a Vote of No Confidence “just in case”. With Asperta strangely silent, the region was wondering what would happen next.

Asperta on July 29th, gave his “encourage[ment to] the Senate to push through with a Vote of No Confidence, and give this term back to the people.” And so a Vote of No Confidence was passed by the Senate shortly afterwards to re-energise the region and to let a government seek a fresh mandate for change. Because of the Vote of No Confidence, the entire Executive and Legislature were thrown out and fresh elections held.

But Asperta said it best about Rachel’s resignation:

It is never easy to see someone who has, I pray that you believe me, worked her heart out for all of us. Her labors for the region are worthy of praise, and her resolve to continue her service in the light of criticism is very admirable. This resignation was frankly something that I have not expected from her. I hope that you join me in wishing her the best of luck for her future endeavors.

Click to expand...

The Presidential Campaigns get Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

After the Vote of No Confidence the electoral gates were flung wide open for platforms of all shapes and sizes. Interestingly we had our very own troll ticket of Blumenwitz/Allied Alliances which led to some serious questions getting hilarious responses :

Oliver:

When you envision a great Europeia, shining at the very peak of its brilliance, what do you see? Describe it for me.

Click to expand...

Allied Alliances:

A desk, a wall, some form of beverage off to my right, a window forward of me slightly to the right.
That's what I saw about a year ago.

Click to expand...

Quickly we had our serious contenders : Sopo/HEM , Swakistek/Abbey Anumia and Ogastein/McEntire.

For the first time we had the Europeian News Network deliver a fantastic set of Presidential Debates. There was one question for each major policy area (Foreign Affairs, Interior, Welfare, Culture, and Navy) and one tailor-made question for each candidate.

Ogastein ran on the idea that Europeia needs to be picked up and replenished, Swakistek on asking “why do we do the things we do?” and Sopo on a “bold new direction”. Writing under the pseudonyms of Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green and Professor Plum, the Europeian News Network panel declared the race "too close to call".

Then election day hit us. Unsurprisingly, Sopo was elected to the Presidency with 21 votes beating the Swakistek ticket on 10 votes, and suprisingly Blumenwitz on 5 votes and Ogastein on 3 votes.

Now Vice President HEM delivered a victory speech in which he promised to emulate Daft Punk :

My friends, thank you all so very much

President Sopo and I have been honored to hold your support in these General Elections. It was not an easy campaign -- and do not let the numbers deceive you -- it was no slaughter.

Swakistek and Ogastein are two of the brightest minds of the region. It is my belief that just as they will be a massive asset this term, they will also be lauded for the considerable candor and breadth of the ideas presented this election.

On a personal note, this region has trusted me with the office of Vice President on three other occasions. Perhaps this region would have been more reluctant to elect me had they realized how I finished not a full term any of those occasions.

In short, I have let this region down before. But I have ran this race not just to right prior wrongs, but to brush such sand aside, and help Sopo build the Europeia that we all dream of.

We all know the dreams. The hopes, the visions. We all know what we want this region to be. I am so familiar with such aspirations because of our humble upbringing. When I dreamed of a great Europeia so many years ago, it was this very region I saw.

But we can always do better.

We can always reach higher.

We can always fight harder.

President Sopo and I have every intentions of doing that. We will take the road less traveled, and we will fight the hard battles. We will make mistakes. We will screw up. But there is no easy way into the history books, and we have stiff competition.

But it is my hope that this entire term is remembered for it's nuance. For it's intelligence. For it's openness. For it's compassion, and yes, for it's challenge.

We have a Senate of grand minds joining us. We have a City Council filled with active and thoughtful veterans and newbies alike. We have an Executive ready to lead.

I believe my friends, soon we will have a New Prosperity.

Thank you all so much, and God Bless.

Click to expand...

President Sopo and Vice President HEM bringing "The New Wave" to Europeia

Europeia Decides
A bit of a shakeup in the Senate Election

On August 5th, Europeia went to the polls to select a new Presidential Administration as well as a new Senate. In comparison to past elections, the field was packed, with 13 candidates vying for 6 open seats. Of the 13, a good portion of the candidates were relative newcomers to the region, which is always a welcome sight.

A number of Senators supported and endorsed the idea of having an Opposition to help hold the Government accountable, which caused the election to be more interesting and active. (For further information, see The People’s Loyal Opposition located elsewhere in this update)

When all was said and done, the results were as follows:
(Candidates in bold were elected.)

Oliver [ 26 ]
Jusduckria [ 23 ]
McEntire [ 17 ]
karthikking [ 8 ]
Lia Moss-Firen [ 13 ]
Blake [ 4 ]
Caninope [ 10 ]
North East Somerset [ 21 ]
ACKJVR [ 14 ]
Blumenwitz [ 4 ]
James Hanover [ 7 ]
Peaceful Llamas [ 13 ]
Klatonia [ 20 ]

While the newcomers didn’t do as well as one would hope, Lia Moss-Firen managed to tie veteran Europeian Peaceful Llamas, and was one vote away from causing a by-election.

The Great Re-Send successful but can't withhold regional turmoil

On July 19th, The Great Re-Send began. The initiative encouraged citizens to re-welcome other citizens of the region who hadn't yet made their way to the region. It started off very well, with over 60 nations re-welcomed on the first day. This success could, unfortunately, not continue as the region went through the turmoil of the abrupt change in government. As each day went on, less were welcomed and the initiative abruptly ended when the government was completely ousted from power. In the end, 160 nations were re-welcome to the region, a success considering the circumstances. Minister of Welfare Ogastein vowed to continue the progress, "I'll be sending out 500 odd more telegrams if that's what need be; anything to get our forum more active."

Porn Spam

"Hello everyone, a quick message from your friendly neighborhood Europeian Vice President!

The recent porn spam attacks have been widespread. They have effected many regions, either personally, or through friendships. Evidence is still being locked together, but the EIA is confidently reassured by the progress we have made. We know people who are complicit in this affair, and even now we are working to bring them to justice alongside the perpetrators.

Just as we hope for international support during the attacks, we are pushing for a show of unity after. This is why Europeia will be looking to host the second Convention on Offsite Property. The details are being ironed out, but all regions will be weclome to send a delegation. We are going to tighten up regulations on what is defined as forum terrorism, while ensuring that certain people can be rehabilitated rather than resorting to such heinous crimes again and again.

Europeia stands in solidarity with the world community on this issue. Together we will end the threat of forum destruction for all regions, and together we will ensure those who have committed these foul deeds to be brought to justice. I urge anyone with information to come forward with it. You are free to telegram myself, King HEM, and you will not be named.

We will find justice for all those attacks, of that, you can be assured Europeia will accomplish.

The People's Loyal Opposition
Westminster May Be Making In-Roads In Europeia

A note for the reader. The author of this piece is the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, and one of the main instigators of its existence. Any bias is unintentional, but likely inevitable.

On August 2nd, I published an article called The Shadow Cabinet, detailing the way that the Opposition in a Westminster system provides critique of the Political Executive, and noted that there was no similar mechanism in Europeia for such critique, and ultimately suggested we should probably have something like that. At the time, I was running for Senate, so I included it in my platform, and a few other notables followed suit. Four Senators with such opinions were elected, a majority in Europeia, and so the People's Loyal Opposition was born.

I maintain that at this time it is still far too early to tell whether the idea is a success or not, but the Opposition has provided some critiques of Cabinet appointments, and begun to lay the groundwork for the introduction of a Question Period. Those opposed to the Opposition have decried it for reasons as varied as "impossible to be effective", "all well and good now but wait til the bad Senators get back in", and "grounded in a culture of irresponsible negativity that hurts others." We've heard it all. Confidence remains high within the Senate, but only time will if this confidence is warranted.

The Update Team: Sopo, HEM, Oliver Marlowe, Hyanygo, Ogastein, Jusduckria, Griff Capulet, and Earth22 Marlowe-Capulet

A message from our MoFA-

Hello!

We haven't heard from you in our embassy for over three months and just want to make sure that you're still around. We'd love to hear from you within the next wee so we don't have to close your embassy for inactivity. If it is closed though, you can reapply at any time, but we'd love to hear from you so that doesn't happen! Just pop on by your embassy, please!

Thank you!
-Earth22, Minister of Foreign Affairs

UPDATE LVI
September 2, 2011
36th Congress, 36th Cabinet, 31st Senate
Population: 741
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Sopo
Vice President: HEM
Grand Admiral: karthikking
Foreign Minister: Earth22
Interior Minister: Carracalla
Culture Minister: Fortana
Welfare Minister: Ogastein

World Assembly Delegate:Swakistek

Legislative Government
Senators:
Oliver
Jusduckria
North East Somerset
ACKJVR
Crist Seymour
Vacant

City Council Mayor: Elections Ongoing

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: Cordova I
Associate Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Associate Justice: Bootskitten
Associate Justice: Asperta
Attorney General: Jusduckria

A Note From the President
Yes, I'm still here.

Friends and Allies of Europeia,

The past few weeks have seens ups and downs, and I'm proud to say that Europeia is surviving a Sopo administration and going strong! There are still plenty of areas which need work, and now that I'm settling into my new life stage, I should have time to get to work on them. The Cabinet has really come together as a cohesive group, and I'm proud to be able to work with them every day. I continue to relish in my position as President, though it does come with it's share of negatives. I am very excited about the remainder of the term and can't wait to build on the progress we've already made!

Now, I won't put you through quite the same punishment as last time (that joke was truly awful), but I will leave you with a thought: "She was only a whiskey-maker, but he loved her still."


President Sopo addressing the Cross-Cultural Conference.

At the Heart of Europeian Politics - Senate Update

The first business of the term for the Senate is always the election of the Speaker. This was a clear cut race with Oliver taking 5 of the 6 available votes. The next matter at hand was dealing with the Cabinet nominations. All the core Ministries were approved, though the Minister of Information was rejected, as well as a Minister without Portfolio. Around this period, Bootskitten and Jusduckria were also approved by the Senate as Associate Justice and Attorney General, respectively. The Senate then moved decisively to Veto EO 70, which the President made to rename the Welfare Ministry to Integration. The Speaker Oliver accused President Sopo of “reckless” and “offensive” behaviour in not making the necessary alterations to the Act’s affected by the change. The President soon withdrew the EO and around one week later, the Citizen Integration Ministry Act (2011) was passed by the Senate, which resolved the issues to the satisfaction of all involved.

Peaceful Llamas was approved by the Senate as an Associate Justice, as Lethen was approved access to the EAAC under EO68. The Fourth Amendment to the Separation of Powers Act was approved, which means Senators can no longer serve simoultaneously as Vice President. This prevent future Vice Presidential abuse of the Executive Order powers. The Legislation Accessibility Act (2011) which was championed by Senator Klatonia was also passed. The Act “tasks the Senate to provide citizens with a comprehensible summary of laws, so that each citizen, whether or not familiar with legal language, may understand his or her duty and act accordingly”. Business from the previous term in the form of the Judicature Bill (2011) was concluded with the passing of a version produced primarily by Skizzy Grey. There was public consternation over the length of previous proposals, and though the final version passed was more concise, it still exceeded 2,000 words in length. The bill comprehensively covers all details of Europeia’s world class Justice System.

One of the more controversial issues to be put before the Senate so far this term was the nomination of OnderKelkia as an Associate Justice by President Sopo. After a long and unconventional interrogation, the nomination failed with 2 votes for, 2 against, 1 abstention, and 1 not present. Senator Somerset who did not make any posts in the nomination thread, said the whole procedure was “a farce that should never have been brought to the Senate” citing the nature of the objections raised as "irrelevant". Former Vice President Asperta was later nominated for the same role, and the Senate approved him unanimously after some discussion.

OnderKelkia’s foreign judicial experience was not enough for the Senate.

Recent opinion polls held by the Europeian Inquirer rated the Grand Admiral and the Minister of Culture’s performance very poorly, and the latter was ultimately removed by the President. Fortana was nominated for the position and approved by the Senate. The retirement of Abbey from active service in Nationstates also meant that a new Interior Minister had to be found, and veteran Carracalla was called nominated, and promptly approved by the Senate. The opinion polls were not just focused on the Government, as they also featured a section for the Senate. The overall Senate rendered a rating of 64.8%, which was deemed to be decent, but not exceptional. The ratings for individual Senators are; Senate Speaker Oliver: 58.3%, Senator Jusduckria: 51.7%, Senator NES: 68.3%, Senator Klatonia: 55.0%, Senator McEntire: 63.9%, Senator ACKJVR: 50.6%.


Senator North East Somerset led the pack in Public Approval Ratings.

Senator McEntire resigned from the Senate during the opinion polling period, citing a lack of available time, and was replaced by Crist Seymour after a by-election in which the underdog defeated former Senate stalwart Peaceful Llamas, by 14 votes to 12.

The Speaker introduced an informal system of “Critics” to question Government Ministers on policy and progress, with each Senator assigned to a different Ministry, early in the term. However the idea appears to have floundered with neither Senators nor Ministers taking naturally to the concept. The Committee for Formal Scrutiny in Government was therefore set up, with the aim of formalising procedures, which may be the only way to make such a system of Executive accountability take hold properly. A Committee for the Creation of a Military Code has also been created, which is Chaired by Senator Klatonia.

The Executive Elections Act is currently in its Second Reading, and discussion is focused around the issue of how the President should be able to call early elections. The most recent proposal was the The Extreme Measures Act which proved highly controversial, and was rejected by all involved. The discussion however got particularly heated, and resulted in the resignation from the Senate of the Bill's author Klatonia and also Oliver stepping down as Speaker after a failed attempt to bar Senator Somerset. The region quickly moved on from the debacle, but it proves Europeian politics can be dynamic and fast moving, when such matters arise.


Senator Crist Seymour thanking voters for their support. He promised to be “the most fabulous Senator in the Senate!”

Stay Classy: City Council

Recently the City Council of Europeia has seen new activity. Under the look of Rachel Anumia as Mayor, the City Council created its own newspaper. The Council Telegraph was newly introduced to the people of Europeia. Tyler Curone has been named editor of “the Telegraph”. The Council thinks this is a step in the right direction to bringing the inner workings of the City Council to the people of Europeia.

Also numerous discussions have begun inside the City Council. The C.C. has begun discussions on a decision to create a new bill that would bring changes to the Euro University. Also talks have continued on the fifth constitution. These talks have been going on for a while and are expected to continue. More updates to come from the City Council.

So for now, that’s all from the City Council for now and we hope to bring you more soon in the near future. From everyone in the C.C., Stay Classy!

The Importance of The Republic Square in Europeia

For those of you who haven't visited Europeia at some point, well, firstly, I'd encourage you to, because it's a really lovely place and we'd love to see you pop by and say hello. To return to the topic at hand, though, The Republic Square is a relatively historical name for the forum in which most of the non-Government activity in Europeia takes place.

It's been around for a while and is probably easily the most viewed forum in Europeia, despite its sitting in a fairly inconspicuous part towards the bottom of our main page.

The Republic Square serves no particular function. It's barely ever used for any official purpose. However, I suggest that its very existence simultaneously embodies and unites our entire region...or at least our forum population. Crazy conversations and fun debates take place as Europeians get to know each other better.

The Foreign Ministry Spotlight

The Foreign Ministry has been the happening place the last few weeks. We're in the middle of hosting a Cross-Cultural Convention, originally with Land of Kings and Emperors, The New Inquisition, The United Federation, and United Kingdom. We've discussed many different topics including: griefing, fun warzone games, and feeders. Also, FRA Arch-Chancellor Spartz was invited to join the discussion on ending TNI and LKE's wars with the FRA. The United Federation left the Conference abruptly but discussion has continued on track without them. LKE and TNI have offered peace negotiations to the FRA and we all wait to hear back.

We've also rewritten parts of our Broad Foreign Policy. You can see the whole thing here, but the major changes include:

Extremism: Europeia takes a harsh stance against extremism, on either side of the spectrum. We strongly support battle mindset to remain on the battlefield, and cordial communications off of it. We strongly support inclusive communities. We condemn regions that preach hate and separation.

Acts of Terrorism: Europeia does not tolerate any sort of off-site terrorism, such as porn-spams, anonymous hate messages, and/or forum destruction. We condemn other regions that condone such actions, and seek for across-game punishment for terrorists.

After a punishment, we are not against opportunities for redemption as long as no laws are broken for the terrorist's redemption.

Click to expand...

Europeia has opened new embassies with Jethnea and Avarene! We'd love to hear from our new friends and our old on our forums! Also, join us for End of Summer-fest!



Written By: Sopo, NES, Earth22, Swakistek, & PASD
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UPDATE LVII
September 15, 2011
36th Congress, 36th Cabinet, 31st Senate
Population: 711
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Sopo
Vice President: Earth22
Grand Admiral: karthikking
Foreign Minister: Oliver Marlowe
Interior Minister: Carracalla
Culture Minister: Telthas
Integration Minister: Vacant

World Assembly Delegate: To Be Elected

Legislative Government
Senators:
ACKJVR (Speaker)
Klatonia
Jusduckria
North East Somerset
Crist Seymour
Vacant

City Council Mayor: Blake

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: Vacant
Associate Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Associate Justice: Bootskitten
Associate Justice: Asperta
Attorney General: Jusduckria

A Note From the President
As if you really wanted to hear from -that guy- again...

This can't possibly be the third time I've written one of these, can it? Time sure flies when you're having fun. Speaking of fun, we in Europeia recently concluded the End of Summer-fest (which I'm sure you'll hear more about later on). It was a fantastic festival of fun and fantastic...ness! I didn't win any of the awards, but given some of the categories, I should probably count my blessings.

We're gearing up for an exciting second-half of the term, with less than a month until the conclusion. It's hard to believe that I've been President for well over a month now, but I truly have enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. There's still much to be done yet, though, so expect to see some new developments from us headed your way! Of course, this wouldn't be a note from me if there wasn't a lame joke tacked on the end. Sadly, I am not quite prepared. I nearly missed the deadline for my article because I didn't know how late it was getting! I tried to find my watch, but I just didn't have the time.

City Council getting “Schooled”
By PASD

To somewhat quote Adam Sandler in Billy Madison with a few changes “Back to school, back to school, to prove Europeia we are not all fools.” Europeia’s City Council has finally created an act that would reform Europeia’s University.

A bill introduced by newly appointed deputy Mayor Rachel Anumia introduces a rough sketch on what the University will look like. But much debate has arisen on who will run the University and who will appoint said person. The City Council is in for a fun time if they want this bill passed, then passed onto the Senate.

On a special note; the City Council has elected a new Mayor. Blake Hanover was elected by member of the City Council. Like said above, Rachel Anumia was named deputy Mayor by Blake. We, in the City Council, wish both of those members the best of luck in the coming term!

Senate Activity Grows
By Crist Seymour

The Senate has been quite busy the last few weeks! With some legislation coupled with numerous cabinet switches, we’ve all had to be on the floor, or question the nominees. ACKJVR (or as I call him Admiral Ackbar) was elected to be the Speaker, congratulations! Senator Jusduckria introduced an act to clean up and repeal some of our old treaties, NES introduced three acts: one act to dismantle the ability of the Senate to vote up or down on a President’s cabinet nominee automatically, an act that expands the term, and one that makes the Speaker or his designate keep track of how Senators voted on legislation to provide accountability.

The Senate passed the Executive Elections Act as well as confirmed Earth as Vice-President after HEM’s resignation, Telthas as the Minister of Culture, and Oliver as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. There is currently a hearing to replace Ogastein (who resigned due to disagreements and feeling he was useless in the cabinet, to run for a position he is better at: Senator!). (With the resignation of Cordova, the President may have to nominate a Justice, too!)

Klatonia resigned from the Senate due to fall out from a controversial piece of legislation, but deciding to run again, he won with a 77% victory. After his re-election he picked right back up on the Committee for Military Code, while Senator Seymour asked to get involved with the Committee for Formal Scrutiny in Government with the resignation of Oliver to serve as the Foreign Minister.


Senator Klatonia (center) walks with supporters to his campaign event.

End of Summer-Fest!
By Earth22


The Winners Get a Shiny!
This past week we celebrated the end of summer with fun games and stories galore! Let's start with the Europeian Achievement Awards (Summer 2011).

Best Europeian: r3naissanc3r
Best President: Earth22
Best Vice President: Skizzy Grey
Best Minister: Earth22
Best Senator: Oliver
Best Councilor: PASD
Best Writer: Skizzy Grey
Best Break-Out Newcomer: ACKJVR
Best Recruiter: Earth22
Best Legal Eagle: Skizzy Grey
Most Intelligent: r3naissanc3r
Best Debator: Klatonia
Best Idea: Earth's Drunk Thread
Most Helpful: Cordova and Old Ogastein
Most Dramatic: Rachel Anumia
Best Blonde Moment: Rachel Anumia "What does the FRA stand for?" - President Rachel Anumia
Biggest Spammer: Allied Alliances
Funniest Europeian: Allied Alliances
Cutest Couple: NES & His Ego
Most Fabulous: Crist Seymour
Best Lurker: Falconias and Jamhug
Most Likely to Have a Psychotic Breakdown: Swakistek
Most Animal-Like Europeian: Earth (from the drunk thread)
Funniest Thread: Earth's Drunk Thread
Biggest Fail: Everything in the 'Biggest Fail' thread.
Best Quote:

Earth:

Sopo is the best prssi ze t ecer and we all shihd kove him fou'rewbe and eber. And I fycjing llve you all cause yihr the nestestest

Haha I warn yu sopoo kinda

Go gators

Fuck gesh

No obe xan bizh euro around ecer cause we're badlassses

Fuck I love tuu all

T

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

That's it for the Europeian Achievement Summer Awards! Seems like Europeia has an affection for underage drunkards..

We also had a Themed Avatar Week, celebrating our favorite childhood television characters. We saw a variety including Buttercup, Squidward, Kuzco, Doug, Maleficent, Tommy Pickles, Digimon characters, Pingu, Egon Spengler, and Rocko and Spunky.


PASD, before arrest.

Loads more fun to be had with our Three Word Story, seen here:

In the beginning, Earth22 created the eight mile wide vagina of death. It was strangely hidden inside the mouth of AA which caused consternation and some constipation for those that entered. One day, elephants on wheelies ignored Earth's post and used their giant purple bananas to utterly destroy the Pancake Tower that Sopo made. The doodling dinosaurs named PASD and Gustavus Adolphus Rex got arrested for killing Switz because he ate their seven sinister babies with three heads. Jusduckria arrested them for ignoring their kids, but let them have hugs.

Click to expand...

We also had Spam Points, with Tyranna ending as the overall Spam Queen and a Recruitment Contest with Earth22 just beating ACKJVR, with Oliver not far behind. We discussed our summers, had a fun Europeian Skype Night as well as an IRC night, and had seven days of Pointless Polls.

From these polls we discovered that..70% of Europeians prefer Coke over Pepsi, 70% of Europeians put their toilet paper over rather than under, 58% (compared to 38%) use the English spellings of "honor, favorite, and color", 57% of Europeians state MSN as their messenger of choice, 56% of Europeians use Chrome, and blue just barely edges out purple and green as Europeians favourite colors.

To end the summer, we found that 39% of Europeians described their summer as "orgasmic", while 44% said they had a fun summer! Europeia hopes that your summer was as fun as ours!

Funnies

What do you get if you cross kangaroo with a hippopotamus?
Flat Australians.

Comic


Written By: Sopo, Earth22, Crist Seymour, & PASD; Compiled by Oliver Marlowe
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UPDATE LVLI
November 4, 2011
37th Congress, 37th Cabinet, 32nd Senate
Population: 780
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Rachel Anumia
Vice President: North East Somerset
Grand Admiral: Common-Sense Politics
Foreign Minister: Vacant
Interior Minister: Ogastein
Culture Minister: JGlenn
Citizen Integration: Switzlanzia

World Assembly Delegate: Fortana

Legislative Government
Senators:
Crist Seymour (Speaker)
Skizzy Grey
West Dhaka
Vinage
Vacant
Vacant

City Council Mayor: Notolecta

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Associate Justice: Asperta
Associate Justice: Hyanygo
Associate Justice: OnderKelkia
Attorney General: Abbey Anumia


Population Gain:

Europeia has seen a massive boom in population, growing from 755 to a population of 908 in just 4 weeks of our newest term. This is a grand achievement for the Interior ministry under the lead of Minister Ogastein, and this achievement has been reached with the help of many hardworking Europeians including JGlenn, Madiebee, Crist Seymour, Vinage, and many others. If growth continues at this rate we will hit 1061 by the end of the term.


Immigrants flocking into Europeia




Senatorial News:


Speaker Seymour [L] congratulates now Senator Skizzy [R] on his win in the Senate

The Senate has been rather quiet since our last update, which may be a good thing given the dynamics of it. McEntire resigned from the Senate to which Sopo filled his vacated seat, ten days later Sopo resigned from the seat, so another election had to be held. Skizzy won a multi-candidate race a few points under 50% of the vote.

Citizen Henry asked the Court how to remove a Speaker from power, to which the current Speaker provided the Rules to Order stating that only another Senator could challenge the Speakership. The Senate unanimously rejected the petition without floor consideration.

President Rachel issued Executive Order 72 to which the Senate lead a full charge against, nearly vetoing it before a parliamentary cluster. Seymour voted Aye, Dhaka voted Aye, Stamosian voted Aye, and NES voted Aye with Sopo and Vinage voting Nay. NES changed his vote to Nay momentarily before changing it again, this time to Abstain; and Seymour followed suit. By the time the vote was closed the result was 2-2-2 Aye, Abstain, and Nay. No one knows what happened with NES’ and Seymour's vote changing, but we can only suspect some politicking.

The Europeian University Act, written by Senator Vinage was introduced to the Senate Floor with relatively little debate on the substance. By the time the quorum for a vote was called, no one knew how the vote was going to turn out as most Senators remained oddly quiet on it. The bill was objected to by the Dean of the University, which is what Speaker Seymour and Senator Dhaka cite as why they voted it down when it came time. The finality of the vote was: 2-2-1, Nay, Abstain, and Aye; Vinage being the only Senator to vote for the proposal.


Senator Vinage looks at the finality of the vote, frustrated at the end result




Sopo Resignation:

Not long after being elected, Sopo, citing personal issues, resigned his position in the senate. His resignation statement included the following statement showing that he is looking out for the best interests of Europeia, “I have realized that, while I love Europeia, there are simply too many things going on in my life to adequately serve in any kind of consistent position.” Following his resignation a by-election was announced and a mixture of Europeians, some old, some new, and others who had recently returned, announced their candidacy.

The first candidates to announce their intents to run were PASD, James, Notolecta, and Jglenn, but after PASD dropped out of the race to focus on being the Mayor of the city council, two more candidates, Skizzy Grey and Lord Chuck Anumia, threw their hats into the ring. The election got off to an even start; however, Skizzy Grey soon pulled away from the rest. The end result was a victory for Skizzy Grey, who received 14 votes with the runner-up, JGlenn receiving half that at 7 votes. This election may have wound up with an veteran Europeian winning, but it still showed that Europeia has a great respect for the skills and experiences brought to the table by both newer members, with JGlenn receiving 7 votes and James receiving 5, and those whom only just returned to the region, with Notolecta receiving 5 votes and Lord Chuck Anumia receiving 2.


Rachel Anumia Delivers State of Republic Speech (excerpt)

Europeia does not give second chances based on a belief that we’re the land of second chances. Rather, we give second chances because we feel that individuals deserve them. We believe that people can change, and we believe in the power of individuals to do great things. Recently, Lone Wolves United has bemoaned the fact that as a raiding region we are not doing what we can to aid the raiding cause and raider unity to fight the defender enemies. They are gravely mistaken to believe that we are driven by “raiderism” and are a “raider” region. We will always put our beliefs and values before any causes, whether it is our belief that individuals deserve second chances, or the fact that we won’t partake in military operations with Nazi regions, or the fact that we raid not to advance “raiderism” but to advance our own interests. Europeia comes first and it’s our beliefs and values that drive us forward and that shape who we are.

When I came to office there had been much hurt and damage during the election and the future seemed uncertain. Could we continue to move forward? I can say with absolute certainty that we have been and that our beliefs and values remain strong. Anarchy was a test of that. Forum activity has been steady, our population has risen quickly, our brand and values have been on display for the world to see, we have performed in multiple military actions, Culture is steady and Citizen Integration has been working hard to get people involved.

One of our beliefs is that things can always be better and that we should always strive to reach the highest of heights. In the past, that belief has been damaging to individuals who felt that there work wasn’t being appreciated. We must both appreciate the good work of the present while also critiquing and looking forward for the future.

Government Changes

The executive branch has had a fair number of resignations and replacements in recent weeks. In President Rachel Anumia's State of the Republic address she announced that she would be replacing her Grand Admiral Karthkikking with CSP, which resulted in a vacancy in the position of Attorney General, which she announced would be filled by Abbey Anumia. It was also announced that Crist Seymour would replace Vice-President McEntire, who was by some believed to have been removed by the Mandatory Recruitment Act, but quickly debate came over whether the office of Vice-President was legitimately open, so the President pulled her nomination of Crist Seymour for Vice-President. Shortly following the debate over whether McEntire was still Vice-President, he resigned, and the President once again nominated a new Vice-President, but this time she choose North East Somerset. All three appointees were then confirmed by the Senate. Not long after the Cabinet shuffle another minister position is left vacant when Bootskitten resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

With North East Somerset the new Vice-President, that made a Senate seat be open for the third time this term, and before the vacant seat could be filled yet another seat opened up after the resignation of Stamosian just hours before he was removed by the Mandatory Recruitment Act, for missing three weeks of recruiting. Running in the by-elections for those two spots are Ogastien, JGlenn, James, and Switzlanzia, with the fifth candidate Notolecta dropping out after being elected to be Mayor of the City Council.


Military and Foreign Affairs

With the unexpected and sudden creation of two new feeders, came the chance to demonstrate Europeian might and values. We sought to establish a democratic convention in Balder, which we believed would be best, started by a democratic region and while we did not manage to start it ourselves, we supported the efforts to establish a conference. Most importantly, we pledged to protect the newly formed region through both our military and diplomatic strength.

A conference with The New Inquisition ended and resulted in the establishment of clear targets for military co-operation. Both sides pledged for greater communication, a joint operation every two weeks and to request the other if they plan on holding the region. World Assembly affairs, something that has never been a major part of either region were discussed and it was decided that they would continue to be discuss in an upcoming conference in The New Inquisition.

Written by Notolecta, Rachel Anumia, and Crist Seymour.
Edited by Abbey Anumia and Notolecta.
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UPDATE LX
November 29th, 2011
37th Congress, 37th Cabinet, 32nd Senate
Population: 960
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Rachel Anumia
Vice President: North East Somerset
Grand Admiral: Common-Sense Politics
Foreign Minister: PASD
Interior Minister: Ogastein
Culture Minister: JGlenn
Citizen Integration: Switzlanzia

World Assembly Delegate: Fortana

Legislative Government
Senators:
Crist Seymour (Speaker)
Skizzy Grey
West Dhaka
Vinage
JGlenn
Ogastein

City Council Mayor: Notolecta

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: Peaceful Llamas
Associate Justice: Asperta
Associate Justice: Hyanygo
Associate Justice: OnderKelkia
Attorney General: Abbey Anumia

General Elections Called

The gathering of the Electoral Panel to determine the number of seats in the Senate marked the beginning of the end of the current term. The Panel seems close to agreeing on a raise of the number of Senators to seven or eight, from the current six. The logic for this being that it should rise in line with increased population and new citizens. However public discussion has been much less conclusive with some citizens even calling for a decrease of the Senate to five - the lowest number that can be ascribed by the Panel. It remains to be seen what the Panel will decide on, if they reach a decision at all. Failure to reach a decision will continue the status quo of six Senators.

Supreme Chancellor HEM made the following speech with the calling of general elections, which are scheduled to occur in the first week of December:

Ladies and Gentlemen; citizens of Europeia, foreign dignitaries, and honored citizens, good evening.

Over the last few days I have spent more time looking upon the topics and debates of old than actually reading the affairs of today's state. As I become more firmly rooted into the past, as my legacy cements, and as the days of the House of Tiberius wane, this region demands the utmost from all its leaders.

This next term will see challenges that we have not yet even imagined or conjured within our mind. But it is only through such challenges that we can place ourselves in the position to claim laurels that destiny will make available to us. It will take every one of you to make the dreams of today, the reality of tomorrow. It will take a massive corp of dedicated junior ministers. A legion of inquisitive and ambitious Councilors. It will take a select order of Ministers. An educated group of jurists. It will take a popularly elected, and well reasoned Senate.

And yes, it will take a President who will dare to wield of the torch and use it as a chisel to forge our destiny into stone.

Who are these leaders? They are our friends, our fellow Europeians. They are people we know well and respect, and they are people we know well and...detest. But the call of Europeia transcends personal relationships or strong willed vendettas.

These leaders are reading this thread, have read threads like it, or will someday read such a thread by one Supreme Chancellor or another.

My friends, you are the leaders of Europeia. You are the promise of this region. With you we will never fail, never falter, and never ever shut the doors of opportunity which we have revealed to this world.

With that, I, HEM Daphnes Augustio Tiberius, Supreme Chancellor and formerly the sole occupier of the granite throne of Europeia declare General Elections for the 5th of December, 2011.

Hail Europeia.

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Cultural Conference with TNI



Recently Europeia has entered a great cultural experience with The New Inquisition. The two regions have started a Cross-Cultural Conference on the TNI forums. The government of Europeia hopes this can expand the relationship between the two regions, and we thank TNI for their wonderful hospitality and welcoming. The Cultural Conference will continue while the two regions discuss issues facing the two regions.

Boys Night Out



Recently TNI, Europeia, the LKE, TBH, Unknown and TIL have taken North Atlantic! Special recognition goes out to ERN Cadets Notolecta and Vinage for their work on the initial raid of North Atlantic. Grand Admiral Common-Sense Politics would also like to thank all those with WA’s who have reinforced Iaxo. Overall deployment peaked at 40 WA units, of which 80% came from the first three aforementioned regions.

Quotas Rising?



The Europiean Senate has just concluded a major overhaul of the Mandatory Recruitment Act. This was necessitated by the ambiguities in the previous Act resulting in various interpretations of how exactly Ministers and Senators are suspended by it, and debate about individual examples including former Vice President McEntire, whose failure to recruit was a key reason behind his removal.

These talks brought up the idea of increasing the quota of the number of Recruitment Telegrams sent by the Speaker and Vice President. A heated discussion on the matter saw a variety of opinions expressed such as should the they be forced to recruit more or should they be focusing on more important issues and let other ministers/citizens do all the work. Ultimately though the Act was passed, with only one Senator, Skizzy, against. However it still awaits the Presidential signature.

In general, the recruitment success of this term has continued, with the population now reaching 960 nations, up from 755 at the start of term. The future of the MRA and it's role in the future of Europeia therefore seems certain.

This Isn’t Your Mama’s RP



Euro has started a new RP game based on an alternative history without the barriers of modern nations. Sign-ups have been active and it seems Euro has finally gained the RP game that has been absent for a while now. Have fun everyone!

Wedding Invite!



Written by PASD.
Edited by NES.
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Thanks for the updates.

UPDATE LXI
February 27th, 2012
39th Congress, 39th Cabinet, 34th Senate
Population: 1,800
Forum Posts: 402,000
WAD endorsements: 360
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: North East Somerset
Vice President: PASD

Chief of Staff: Crist Seymour
Grand Admiral: Rachel Anumia
Foreign Minister: Common-Sense Politics
Interior Minister: Montana Max
Culture Minister: Ogastein
Employment: JGlenn
Attorney General: Peaceful Llamas

World Assembly Delegate: Vinage

Legislative Government
Senators:
HEM (Speaker)
Common-Sense Politics
Rachel Anumia
Crist Seymour
Malashaan
Apollo
Jairo

City Council Mayor: JGlenn

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: Onderkelkia
Associate Justice: Anumia
Associate Justice: Skizzy Grey
Associate Justice: Notolecta

The...Wood Anniversary: Five Years of Europeia

HEM:

Time changes everything. Only five years ago, Gatesville was the king of the userrite world. The Congress of Sovereigns was leading the imperialist cause, monarchies were all the rage, the Allied Defense Network still foiled our raids, and...Europeia was founded.

Being a founder has given me amazing retrospect abilities. Europeia is not a region that should have survived. 9 times out of 10, have things happen how they did in those early months, and the region dies. But fate -- or whatever -- dictated otherwise for us.

Europeia was my side project for a long time. My political scheming had gotten me a top job in Empires of Earth, and I was already vying for the Premiership in the Land of Kings and Emperors. Europeia attracted a...variety of character...and besides the local host of natives, we also became a land of "second chances" for former LKE politicians. One way or another we always tended to be a hotbed for some sort of drama.

Lord Alphanesia trying to provoke war with LKE, Rotalsia demanding that I flatter him at every turn, PRA trying to convert us into a socialist direct democracy. All these interests demanded to be fully fulfilled. For, while today we can afford to lose a few members here and there...when you have six active citizens, even losing one is a tough loss.

Founding regions isn't an easy task. Don Corelone once described it to me as a "thankless job" and he is almost right. The risks are great. But every once and a while you get lucky and end up with a real gem -- Europeia.

Through everything I have been proud to be Europeia's founder. I have made my fair share of mistakes over the years...but I feel I rarely make the same one twice.The trials make the rewards that much more rewarding, and that is what founding is all about.

In the coming weeks we will be celebrating our longevity with a festival for all nations of all regions. Everyone is invited. Anyone may come, and anyone may speak. More details will be included later.

Until then, thank you all, and many blessings upon your own regions!

Click to expand...

On that note, everyone is invited to the Europeian Forums from the 7th-11th March, to join in the 5 years since Founding celebrations!

Numerical Eruption


One of our editors couldn't resist...

Europeia has seen a huge explosion of new population recently, before and after the new NS rules took effect. Europeia was one of the first regions to adopt the use of a script recruiter; however we had seen a large increase even before that thanks to our top recruiters, including Crist Seymour, Vinage, JGlenn, Notolecta and NES. Over 23,000 recruitment Telegrams were sent by our manual recruiters in the 4 months up to its automation, with many citizens chipping in to what was an astonishing team effort as shown by this pie chart:



Jairo also contributed some telegrams just after that tally was made and before the switch over to automated recruiting! It is no surprise therefore that during the last term we reached several population milestones. We got back to 1000 nations and then powered on to 1200 nations, a mark we had never hit before, on the back of the effort of our recruiters. But hitting that mark was just the beginning, since the early implementation of the script recruiter (designed by Montana Max) we have passed the milestones of 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700. And now 1800. From December 17th, when Europeia was home to 1004 nations, we’ve had a 80 percent increase in our population. Along with this explosion of population, we have also seen a great increase in citizens and forum activity, with the forums hitting 400,000 posts on February 23rd.

Europeia passes first WA Resolution

Description: A proposal to encourage nations to fund renewable energy research.

ARGUMENT:

AWARE that the use of fossil fuels and fossil fuel related products depletes the limited reserves upon planets

UNDERSTANDS that the burning of fossil fuels such as coal to produce electricity releases the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming as well as other noxious compounds that can later cause acid rain as well as other environmental issues,

CONCERNED that this rapid depletion would leave no way to produce energy for future generations,

KNOWS that there are other ways to generate electricity without using fossil fuels. These include, but is not limited to, solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro,

HEREBY:

1) Instructs World Assembly nations to devote sufficient funding in order to make a meaningful and good faith effort towards researching renewable energy
2) Encourages nations to enact policies on fossil-fuel burning power plants to commit a minimum 5% from their expenditure to further renewable energy research and to develop ways to better utilize alternative energy sources
3) Urges nations to take into account and implement results from the renewable energy research

IN ORDER to allow future generations to produce electricity without further polluting the atmosphere.

Co-Authored By The Free Land of Individuality-ness

Votes For: 8,115
Votes Against: 3,499

Implemented: Mon Feb 20 2012

Click to expand...

WA Delegate Vinage has not only presided over record endorsements as we top 360 endos, but he has put them to good use in the first ever Europeian delegate proposed GA resolution; the Renewable Research Commitment. This was a result of a grassroots effort to involve the City Council with World Assembly initiatives. Any Europeian citizen can join the City Council, which has a say in the regions legislative agenda.

The submission was successful and the well thought out Resolution soon got to the voting stage. A healthy in-context debate ensued in Europeia, with President Somerset opposing it with a mix of right-wing political arguments, anti-environmentalist rhetoric and a long rant about how fossil fuels will not run out. This contrasted with the NS forums discussion area where Forum Moderator Goobergunchia opposed the resolution because Europeia has supported raiding activities in Nationstates - a new low point for the defender, as many Europeians pointed out.

CSP followed by NES as TAP takes over Europeian Politics


NES enjoying a drink and a cigar following his victory

In the December elections, CSP created a strong Presidential ticket with JGlenn, which went on to win the elections. The final result of 22-16 was closer than many expected, with their opposing ticket, Seymour-Skizzy, putting up a solid campaign and finding a surprising level of support.

The next elections in February saw an early candidacy emerge in the form of NES and PASD, who jokingly ran under the banner of The Acronym Party (TAP) to reflect the plethora of Europeians currently at the forefront of politics known by acronym versions of their name. It was an unusually long time before a challenger came forwards, perhaps due to an aura of inevitability that the Europeian political heavyweight would win no matter who put their name forwards. When someone eventually did, it was in the form of experienced Europeian politician Ogastein, with the former Speaker, Seymour.

While Ogastein’s platform was posted soon after standing, it was received with little enthusiasm and probing. It appeared to have gained some traction and support, but without an NES platform in sight with 36 hours until election day, there was political murmuring that he would be unelectable. To this effect, Skizzy Grey stood with Swakistek, declaring that an unopposed Ogastein bid for the Presidency was an “emergency in the life of the region.” Pundits are still debating whether Skizzy Grey, who subtitled his platform “Standing in the gap,” would have outdueled Ogastein at the ballot. Mere hours later though, NES finally posted his platform. The presence of a substantive NES platform countered, at least in the eyes of the electorate, Skizzy’s motivation for standing for the Presidency, while Ogastein stood down and cast his support firmly behind NES.

The race was back to where it started and the first Presidential Election of 2012 will be remembered as a landslide victory for NES/PASD, and an indication of widespread support for their vision of Europeia. Voters clearly had no qualms about the lateness of the platform, as NES/PASD won with 70% of the votes against former President Skizzy Grey and Swakistek, with 28 votes against 12. Some speculate though that the lateness of the campaign worked in NES' favour as it was not thoroughly scrutinised, with outspoken political commentor PhDre saying "NES’s victory is as much a product of his late run combined with his reputation as a behind-the-scenes maverick for Europeia as it is a product of any particular vision." Moving forward, Europeians are hopeful that NES will be able to to capitalize on Europeia’s positive growth and place in the NationStates community.

The Senate: low-down on whats going on in Europeia's Halls of Power

Two things have been dominating the discussions in its halls in recent times: The Law Reforms, and the work on Constitution V.

The new Senate saw new faces alongside some of the oldest, as HEM, CSP, Rachel Anumia, Crist Seymour, malashaan, Apollo and Jairo were elected to the Senate. The new Senate elected HEM as Speaker. The Speaker's powers in Europeia are more administrative than anything else, but the Speaker also traditionally sets the agenda of the Senate. He put Constitution V at the front of the Senate priorities list. He then proceeded to break discussion of the Constitution into four committees, one for the Executive, one for the Legislative, one for the Judiciary, and the last for a miscellaneous section.

In the discussions that followed, Senators Jairo and malashaan were most involved in debating the language of the Constitution, ranging from small wording quibbles to major substantive issues. Conversation from the others died down recently somewhat until Hyanygo, a City Councilor who was among the three sent from this lay-legislature on to contribute – though not vote – to the discussions directly, posted an analysis of the activity of the various Senators in the four threads. This gave a bit of a kick in the pants, as it were, to the other five, and conversation has started apace again, with contributions from the City Council delegation.

HEM has issued a working plan that seeks to have the public referendum on a completed document done in time to be part of the five year anniversary of Europeia. So far, if activity and discussion continues at the current, renewed pace, odds look good that it shall be completed by HEM's planned Senate Vote deadline of March 2nd, 2012.

All We Do is [EXPLICIT CONTENT] Win


Grand Admiral Rachel Anumia leads revival of Navy.

Following in the lead of then Grand Admiral Common-Sense Politics under then-President Rachel Anumia, the Navy experienced more success under Grand Admiral Notolecta during the Presidency of Common-Sense Politics. North Carolina and Animal House were both successfully raided and support was sent to Asia, Stargate, Corporate Profit Alliance and Belgium. In particular, Corporate Profit Alliance represented our first mission with Democratium. North Carolina was the flagship Europeian led operation for the term, and it was executed smoothly and effectively.

Under President North East Somerset, Grand Admiral Rachel Anumia has initiated reforms to the Navy geared towards long-term success. The Volunteers were established, a focus on strength implemented, the sign up sheet modernized to current global standards and the system of advancement revolutionized through implementation of the point system.

Thus far this term we have seen raids in Christmas, A United Kingdom and Catholic. Support had been successfully sent to Outer Heaven and Belgium, and the Euro Navy also participated with the South Pacific Army in the Warzones. Deployment has exceeded 15 units in some of those missions, as people queue up to join the Navy. We're not sure entirely why, but we understand the Grand Admiral has a unique talent in "motivating" our soldiers. Classified information I'm afraid. You'll have to join up to find out how...

Random funny



Articles by HEM, JGlenn, NES, PhDre, Kisrya and Rachel. Edited by CSP, NES, Henry and Skizzy.
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UPDATE LXII
March 31st, 2012
39th Congress, 39th Cabinet, 34th Senate
Population: 1,589
Forum Posts: 405,000
WAD endorsements: 355
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: PASD
Vice President: Skizzy Grey

Chief of Staff: JGlenn
Grand Admiral: Vacant
Foreign Minister: Common-Sense Politics
Interior Minister: Montana Max
Culture Minister: Apollo
Attorney General: Peaceful Llamas

World Assembly Delegate: Vinage

Legislative Government
Senators:
HEM
Common-Sense Politics
Fortana
Malashaan (Speaker)
Jairo
Cerian Quilor
ACKJVR

City Council Mayor: Lord Chuck Anumia

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: OnderKelkia
Associate Justice: Anumia
Associate Justice: Notolecta
Associate Justice: Hyanygo

Happy Birthday Europeia!

Europeia celebrated the fifth anniversary of its founding with an 8-day festival that featured a series of events designed to celebrate the region's history. Citizens from across the generations gathered to remember, telling humorous stories about past controversies and debating the legacies of various regional politicians. The centerpiece, however, was a series of speeches from senior statesmen and foreign dignitaries.

In his remarks, five-time President Pope Lexus X paid tribute to HEM, Europeia's founder:

Aside from founding the region we joined, [HEM's] actions have made Europeia what it is more than any other's. He was our King, but relinquished his power in the name of democracy, our most prized attribute today. The effect of this was dramatic, opening the realm up to make its citizens policy makers and leaders. He paved the way to give nations a fuller experience in Europeia.


Former President Pope Lexus X

Europeia's early days were fraught with obstacles; treason, forum deletion, and more, but HEM led us through and persevered. A clever diplomat, HEM excelled himself in standing up for his new region's decisions when he came face to face with the 1000 nation giant of the day, Gatesville. HEM did not back down and showed his quality even at this early stage of Europeia.

Over our 5 years, he has only stepped in when it has been necessary. Often painted as part of the Old Guard, HEM guided many of Europeia's members with his wise counsel (myself especially!) but HEM always recognized the potential and need for the newer member to take their place. Such was his conviction, that he aided the rising tide of the EFP whose mark on Europeia created a whole generation of statesmen.

Viktoria Gryfynn, the founder of The New Inquisition, also praised HEM for the risks he took to build Europeia into the great region it is today.

Starting your own region is a pretty risky thing these days, especially considering how big some of the player created regions are getting. It was pretty risky 5 years ago too. As a founder, I know just how much work needs to be put into a region at the very beginning. At the start, you're the one doing the recruiting, and about twice as much posting as anyone else in order to create activity.


The ravishing Viktoria Gryfynn

HEM, you have proven yourself to be one of the great founders of NS, and keeping this region alive is a great achievement that not a large number of NS regions can boast. I raise my glass to you.

When HEM's time to speak arrived, he did not dwell on Europeia's greatest moments, but reminisced about its humble beginnings:

Just over five years ago, a crazy venture was made. A semi-successful politician in Empires of Earth and The Land of Kings and Emperors decided to go out on a limb, and attempt one last time to create his own region.

This would have been my third serious attempt at this, and speculation abroad was critical at best…. Most saw this a throw away move. A waste of my career, which was advancing with my rise to the Speakership in LKE, the House of Commons in GB&I and Lord High Chancellor in Empires of Earth. What a waste of talent they said. What a waste of players.


HEM, in his most recent incarnation

Their fears were reasonable, and Europeia did not show an explosive start…. I appointed eager resident -- Rotalsia as interim Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's office was a tiny subforum in the Grand Hall, and various Ministers were appointed from the ranks of forum members. Catholic Lousiana was out first Culture Minister, Ratatosk was our first Foreign Minister.

But our region grew in activity. Rotalsia helped me recruit for the region, and he I and Ratatosk spent long nights planning for the future of Europeia. We envisioned a strong, active and proud region. Perhaps they would all be just as surprised as I am….

Alas, inactivity was the plague. After amazing months of almost 3000 posts, we hit a dry spell. In fear of my region I pulled the plug on the monarchy. Today we see -- more or less -- the same system as the one our first Republican Constitution set out.

Europeia has been an amazing experiment. It has allowed me to grow personally, and I am honored to have known all of you. It would not have been possible without the early membership of Europeia, and the resolve we had (Just as tomorrow is not possible but for all the great people we have today!). For despite all the doubts, all the chaos, all the political infighting -- we are still here.

And we shall remain here, and remain impactful here, until the end of Nationstates itself. I truly believe that.

We agree with HEM – so long as people are playing NationStates, Europeia will be among its most prominent and esteemed regions. Happy birthday to us!!

PASD Goes to Goldenblock

Sometimes with all the effort and intensity we put into NationStates, it is easy to forget or let slip your mind that this is, at the end of the day, a game and that real life concerns can and will interfere with your ability to do whatever job you may have been elected or appointed to do.


Former President North East Somerset

And such was the case with North East Somerset, who won the last election by a substantial margin with the full intent of seeing out his term and putting all his various plans and proposals into effect. But midway through the term, after giving a speech on the State of the Republic, NES abruptly decided to step down for the good of the Republic.

When I signed my name down for President, I had no inkling that it was possible that I would receive two job offers within my first two weeks of Presidency. And I’ve shown my email records to a number of people to prove this. The job I have accepted involves long shifts on a 2 weeks on, 1 week off roster, at a remote site, and so maintaining the kind of regular activity required to be President will be impossible as I don't expect to have much time for NS during the periods on site.

Saying that he had "served as long as I can as President," NES made all the preparations a smooth and easy transition of power requires. Expressing confidence in the ability of his Vice President and his Cabinent to carry on for the rest of the term, North East Somerset formally stepped down as President, handing power over to Vice President PASD after handing out a number of awards to distinguished citizens in a variety of categories from overall service, to military, to recruitment, and many other things in between.

His resignation was met across the board from people who voted for him and people who didn't with statements along the lines of those given by PhDre: "I'm sorry that RL has caused you to leave us." The next day, PASD gave a speech of his own as he ascended to the Presidency. He said that he was "humbled" to be given the opportunity to lead Europeia, and he promised to do all he could to make Europeia better.


President PASD

PASD continued by stating his intentions for the rest of the term, which were: "for the most part I will be continuing the work NES laid down." In closing, he said:

Finally Europeia. Some people are going to say that I am not ready for this job. "PASD’s inexperienced with this kind of work…..He shouldn’t be President….." I know I am going to have my critics. I will tell them now, I will work my hardest for this month I am President. I will not give up on this region. I may not have a full term, but I will do my damnedest to do my best. This region is ours, lets not let Europeia down.

This is Europeia, and we are strong.

At press time, Europeia was going strong under President PASD's leadership.

By-Election Fever!

With the resignations of Crist Seymour for personal reasons and Apollo Anumia, who was appointed Europeia's new Minister of Culture, the Senate has undergone a small makeover. Two new Senators have taken their place inside the Senatia. Two spots were up for grabs and three people decided to run. The following is a brief rundown of the by-election.

The candidates who ran for the two empty seats were Cerian Quilor, ACKJVR, and Alfie. It was a tightly contested race between those gentlemen and they worked hard to win over Europeian voters until the last minute.

March 5th rolled around and Vice President Skizzy Grey opened the polls. After much back and forth in the polls, the picture started to clear and by the time the polls closed Europeia had two new Senators. Cerian and ACKJVR were elected with twenty and nineteen votes respectively. Alfie finished just out of the running with thirteen votes.

Congratulations to the two new Senators and we wish them luck throughout the rest of the term.

Rachel Anumia Retires

Rachel Anumia retired from the Europeian Senate and as Grand Admiral of the Europeian Republican Navy on March 12, citing real life time constraints as her reason for retirement. Looking back on her longtime involvement in Europeia, Rachel noted that she considered her time as Minister of Welfare the high point of her distinguished career and said that she was "very proud" of her work with the Navy, "particularly when we did missions with purpose."


Rachel Anumia

As Grand Admiral of the Navy, Rachel initiated needed reforms that aimed for modernization and long-term sustainability and success. She also presided over the ERN's participation in several very successful raids. She will be greatly missed by her friends in Europeia and allies in other regions.

Vice Admiral Common-Sense Politics and Rear Admiral Apollo have taken joint command of the Navy as it transitions to new leadership. Their command has already seen the ERN's involvement in the successful occupation of Soviet Union to mark The New Inquisition's 6-year anniversary. We're sure we'll be seeing even bigger and better things from the Navy's new dynamic duo!

Articles by Skizzy Grey, Cerian Quilor, PASD, and Cormac. Edited by CSP and Cormac.
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UPDATE LXII
April 12th, 2012
40th Congress, 40th Cabinet, 35th Senate
Population: 1,514
Forum Posts: 409,973
WAD endorsements: 351
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Skizzy Grey
Vice President: Common-Sense Politics

Grand Admiral: Apollo
Foreign Minister: NES
Culture Minister: Lethen
Welcoming Minister: Abbey Anumia
Media Minister: Vinage
Attorney General: Hyanygo

World Assembly Delegate: Vinage

Legislative Government
Senators:
malashaan (Speaker)
Cerian Quilor
Peaceful Llamas
Apollo
Notolecta
The Graz
Thomas Masterson

City Council Mayor: Cormac

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: OnderKelkia
Associate Justice: Anumia
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Jahka

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Guess Who's Back... Back Again. Skizzy's Back. Back Again.

It is fast becoming the norm for Presidential elections, two candidates fighting it out for one Presidency.

In the red corner we had Skizzy Grey, looking to return to Goldenblock Avenue, and in the blue corner JGlenn, thumb marked as a future President. Skizzy posted his platform first and scored a quick few jabs on JGlenn. However, after some effective body protection, JGlenn got the room to move and days later he released his platform. However it was the unorthodox nature of JGlenn and Vinage's platform which raised some eyebrows and, later, became the focus of the debates - revealing the cabinet and to seek Europeia take on a moderate approach to raiding. While Skizzy Grey did call for the same values, JGlenn's platform went further and, ultimately, isolated some voters. The success of Skizzy Grey's half-term as Vice-President with the previous administration added to his already strong credentials.

While both were applauded for their fantastic domestic plans and domestic records, Skizzy Grey had the foreign affairs edge. An edge he was able to ride all the way to Election Day. Newspapers were trying to predict the results and all of the polls were indicating a landslide victory for Skizzy Grey and his running mate Common-Sense Politics. Were there any last minute shocks....

No. Skizzy won a comfortable victory and will be taking the helms of Europeia for the next 70 days as President. His opening address called for 'Action, Not Words.'

President Skizzy Grey:

"When we debate the issues in a thoughtful and cordial way, the insights that emerge make Europeia a better place for all of us. My gratitude extends to every citizen who participated in the campaign threads and in related discussions elsewhere on these forums. Each of you deserves credit for the thoughtful campaign season we have just enjoyed, which has only deepened my commitment to govern this region in a manner that embraces us all.

Now, it is time to move from words to action. Accordingly, I will keep these remarks brief and refrain from repeating what I have said elsewhere."

Click to expand...

Skizzy's cabinet was announced soon after and will be discussed in our next update!

What the Presidential elections did highlight, though, is that both candidates took their positions to the Left of the Europeian Centre and it will be interesting to see if this continues in the coming months.

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Personal Profile: President Skizzy Grey

Our external communications team asked me to write a few words introducing myself to Europeia's friends throughout the NationStates community. Those of you who have spent time here likely know me from my past service in all three branches of government, including a stint as President last year. Some of you might even recall that I sabotaged a prior presidential bid by saying "f--k you" (twice) to prominent citizens in my campaign thread while polls were open. I've mellowed considerably since then, but I'm still a straight shooter who doesn't mince words. You'll always know where you stand with me.



The amazing transformation of Skizzy Grey.
Before: see above. After: see below.



We have recently concluded a campaign season that revealed a yearning by Europeians -- including those who supported my opponent -- for a vision that embraces us all. With that mandate in hand, I have assembled a team that reflects the diversity of our great region.

One of my administration's key initiatives is to improve external communications. Because we have done too little to communicate with our friends throughout the NationStates community, others have defined us in ways that are not accurate. We extend to you a heartfelt welcome to visit us and learn what we are all about -- you'll have fun in the process!

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General Election + Candidates = New Senate

As the previous term ended, the call for candidates came. The opening period started rather slowly as only a few people standing and few of them newer citizens, leaving some old heads stroking their beards and wondering why. Cormac, a recent arrival, withdrew late in the race [admittedly to some surprise] but went on to win the election as City Council Mayor.

The race for a seat on the Senate saw only two Senators seeking re-election, Cerian Quilor and the Speaker malashaan. Two other recent Senators, Apollo and Peaceful Llamas, were also trying to muscle a way in. Rumour has it that the Senate's cafeteria has had a remarkable dip in quality food so some have been put off running as to avoid taking a gamble on the Chilli Con Carne. The others fighting it out were the: recently returning the Graz, long-time resident Thomas Masterson, forever-running Notolecta, sarcastic-Brit StGeorgie and vocal 'Mac' McEntire.

malashaan's victory was expected after the two previous terms a rounding success, the word on people's lips was 'by how much?' With the campaign being fought out cordially and courteously, everyone was wondering when the fireworks would start as the pressure cooker of elections kept bubbling quietly. At last, a bit more heat was added! At first it was around some of the law reforms being discussed by the current Senate, such as the Pardon Act and Martial Law Act, as well as HEM's Good Neighbour Act. Later, the discussion shifted to the Graz's belief that the CC had pretty much failed where the CSO had succeeded, and his willingness to concede to the Executive on more things, and the various consensus challenging questions put forward to McEntire.

The results were as follows:

An easy victory was always on the cards for malashaan, who won the vote of nearly everyone who voted. In the chasing pack was the Graz, Peaceful Llamas and Apollo close behind. However the interest soon swapped to the last three seats with Notolecta, Cerian Quilor, Thomas Masterson, McEntire and StGeorgie fighting it out. StGeorgie had not posted a platform so his success was seen as a surprise, but I guess you can't disappoint if you don't promise!

With malashaan, Apollo, the Graz, Peaceful Llamas, Cerian Quilor, Thomas Masterson and Notolecta elected, the Senate quickly turned its attention to the Speaker of the Senate. malashaan was appointed to the position without contest and will continue where he left off last term.

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And To Say Goodbye...


EuroUniversity's Kindergarden Class Takes On History

We, at Europeia, hope you've enjoyed our update from the General Elections and wish you all the best.

Articles by Skizzy Grey, Cerian Quilor & Vinage
Visit Us!

UPDATE LXIV
April 26th, 2012
40th Congress, 40th Cabinet, 35th Senate
Population: 1,458 nations
Forum Posts: 412,706
WAD endorsements: 340
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Skizzy Grey
Vice President: Common-Sense Politics

Grand Admiral: Apollo
Foreign Minister: vacant
Culture Minister: Lethen
Interior Minister: vacant
Welcoming Minister: Abbey Anumia
Media Minister: Vinage
Attorney General: Hyanygo

World Assembly Delegate: Vinage

Legislative Government
Senators:
malashaan (Speaker)
Cerian Quilor
Peaceful Llamas
Apollo
Notolecta
The Graz
Thomas Masterson

City Council Mayor: McEntire

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: OnderKelkia
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Jahka
Associate Justice: vacant

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Stocks boom in Europeia-Inc. as talks continue.

Europeia has, in recent times, seen some of its influential and important citizens also be shareholders in good standing in Region Inc. These include recent Euro presidential candidate and current RI CFO JGlenn, current RI Chairman and former Euro Senator Jairo, and other prominent dual citizens such as Henry von Hoffman, Notolecta, and Cerian Quilor. This close ties fostered by this diverse group of dual citizens led to a diplomatic conference, which in turn gave rise to the "Europeia Inc." cultural exchange that was held recently in Europeia.

The culture festival was planned by Cerian and Culture Minister Lethen and featured a wide range of entertaining and humorous activities. Also, when there’s an open bar, who can say no to a drink or five huh? With games ranging from "Pick JGlenn’s new avatar" to "Corrupt a Wish" there was a bit of something for everyone! So much fun that it overran its schedule by nearly a week!!


With much bridge-building, hand-shaking and investments made – it seems that Europeia Inc. might become something of a regular occurrence. Kudos all round!

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The Europeian Republican Navy Strikes Again!

After the recent General Election discussed in our last Foreign Update, Apollo was nominated to the position of Grand Admiral, quickly looking to expand and get the ERN raiding regularly. Even more recently, several ERN seamen, led by Grand Admiral Apollo, successfully captured and held “The Creed” [With arms wide open, under the sunlight, welcome to this place] on April 12th with Cerian Quilor acting as 'Point'. Captured, scouted and held in only a few seconds. Well played!


Something notable of the raid was the ERN posting a link to the previous region’s flag as well as the old WFE to allow them to replace it after their occupation was complete. Well done lads! The other thing notable was the, frankly, boring World Factbook Entry write-up by Cerian Quilor. Come on boy! Where’s the world famous hilarious World Factbook Entry write-ups we are famous for?? Rumours has it, Grand Admiral Apollo will be giving them all lessons on how to tell a joke. Anyway, with the support of the ERN’s Volunteers the TNI. Armed Forces, LKE Armed Forces and the Aphroditean Empire, by the end of the operation the ERN Delegate had over 30 endorsements which is a proud achievement and shows that raider unity is out there. Grand Admiral Apollo, pleased with the success, presented this to those who started the initial operation:


Pretty huh? Congratulations to Rear Admiral Rachel Anumia and Ensign Cerian Quilor for their great work on the raid led by Grand Admiral Apollo and our thanks to our allies who supported us on this mission.

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Jahka, Swakistek Hit The Bench! the Graz To Follow?

At the start of President Skizzy Grey's term, the Judicial Government had a gap that needed some filling. The opportunity was there to fill that gap with one of the usual suspects, one of the usual names that get waved about at these things. However President Skizzy Grey, seeing that there were already seasoned Jurists already present, had decided to allow someone different to prove themselves. Someone away from the small, core group who have previously dominated the Europeian Judiciary for last year or so. Speaking from personal experience, President Skizzy Grey felt that...

I believe Judicial experience is overrated -- high activity levels and good critical reasoning skills are more important. Jahka possesses both in spades. I'm convinced he will be an excellent Justice.

Click to expand...

As another position became vacant for an Associate Justice which Swakistek was nominated and quickly approved for by the Senate. Swak's previous qualifications for this role were self-evident for the Senate and a full AYE was given. Finally, the Graz is currently being nominated, and discussed, to replace Anumia as his term comes to an end. the Graz will be resigning from the Senate to focus on the Judiciary.

The recent nominations and the turnover of Associate Justices shows that Europeia will always give opportunities to a wide spectrum of people, and that devotion and interest can be, if not more, important as experience.

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As always, you can find Europeia here and our doors are always open to a friendly stranger?

Articles written by Skizzy Grey, Apollo, Cerian Quilor & Vinage

UPDATE LXV
May 19th, 2012
40th Congress, 40th Cabinet, 35th Senate
Population: 1,322 Nations
Forum Posts: 421,402
WAD endorsements: 329
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Skizzy Grey
Vice President: Common-Sense Politics

Grand Admiral: Apollo
Foreign Minister: Sopo
Culture Minister: Lethen
Interior Minister: Rachel Anumia
Welcoming Minister: Abbey Anumia
Media Minister: Vinage
Attorney General: Hyanygo

World Assembly Delegate: Vinage

Legislative Government
Senators:
malashaan (Speaker)
Cerian Quilor
Peaceful Llamas
Apollo
Notolecta
Thomas Masterson
Sopo

City Council Mayor: individuality-ness

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: OnderKelkia
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Jahka
Associate Justice: the Graz

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The ERN - Always Supporting Our Allies

This successful operation shows that the ERN will always work together with their allies to promote Foreign Affairs advances.

Thank you,
Grand Admiral Apollo

Click to expand...

How true those words, spoken by the Grand Admiral of Europeia are. The South Pacific and Europeia had recently expressed an interesting in executing several raiding missions together as a sign of friendship and allegiance to each other. Behind the scenes everything was building up to this moment, the moment where Europeia would To support and aid a raid led by the South Pacific Army and helping them achieve a goal they set out. To take and hold Warzone Airspace. A date set, May 12th, and it was time for the plan to be executed.

5pm GMT...... the sailors readied their targets and took aim for what would be the seventh raid of this term already. Grand Admiral Apollo glanced over to Cerian Quilor and gave the signal for the Europeian Republic Navy to jump with their allies The South Pacific Army and The New Inquisition. Acting as both Point and Scout for the mission was Sheepa of the SPA.

A success! The region was captured and soon after over 23 endorsements came pouring in to support the new Delegate and the region was now firmly under control of the incoming sailors. To this day the region is still under the control of the incoming sailors as Defenders fail to re-take a region that even allows them to re-use their puppets. Well done to all of those involved!

If you are reading over this article has made you interested in joining the ERN - come check us out and say hey to Apollo!

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Europeia Completes Re-Write of Laws

One of the first things a fledgling NationStates region must do is decide upon rules to govern its internal affairs. In Europeia, our intricate system of laws has been a point of pride since our earliest days. It came as a shock, then, when Hyanygo proposed a complete rewrite of those laws. Despite early opposition, Swakistek began the re-writing process in earnest late last year, and it has consumed most of the Senate’s time in the months since.


On April 20, Senate speaker malashaan presented the final portion of the rewritten laws to President Skizzy Grey for signing. Several days later, Skizzy held a presidential ceremony to honor those whose work contributed to the success of the law reforms.

• Because our legal system enjoys such great esteem, such a massive rewrite stands not only as one of the greatest accomplishments in our own region’s history, but also stands as one of the great legislative accomplishments in the history of NationStates. This accomplishment could not have happened without the work of many people, both in and out of government…. Please join me in extending our congratulations and gratitude to [Hyanygo, Swakistek and malashaan], and to everyone whose efforts contributed to the successful completion of the law reforms.

Europeia’s commitment to good governance did not end with passage of the reformed laws – the Senate continues to debate ways to make our Republic better!

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What's Europeia Got? Election Fever!


During our last Update, it was expected that the Gratz was going to be standing down from his position of Senator in order to take a place within the Judiciary. With an empty hole in the Senate needing filling HEM called for people to stand. What next happened did not come as much of a shock - two heavyweights deciding to go toe-to-toe in the ring. Sopo and JGlenn stood and their supports quickly thumbed their encouragement and tried to gather some drive between either candidate. Vinage at the Europiean Broadcasting Corporation staged a three day debate between the two candidates in order to try and make the decision easier for the voters. Did it? Not at all.... and an even tighter election night began.


A neck-and-neck race from start to finish but, ultimately, Sopo pulled something out of the bag come the last few hours and victory was his.

A well fought race and one that does Europeia proud, commiserations to JGlenn but it won't be the last time you read about him I am sure!

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What Goal's better?


Papa Cisse vs. Chelsea


Dennis Bergkamp vs. Newcastle

Don't forget to come say hai to us! First 10 people get cookies!!

Articles Written By Vinage & Skizzy Grey

Two regions who, until recently, shared only basic relations have come together as good friends. The Foreign Ministry of Europeia, and especially the hard working Common-Sense Politics, have marked a huge milestone in the development of closer ties with the Game Created Regions [GCR] and especially those with Lazarus, with whom a treaty was concluded last term. The regions celebrated their newfound ties with a Cultural Convention titled "The Europeia/Lazarus Zombie Jamboree" held on the Lazarus forums, where Europeian President Skizzy Grey delivered the following address:

Esteemed Delegate, Distinguished Commissioners, Citizens of Lazarus and Europeia, and friends from throughout the NationStates world:

It is an honor to be here representing the government and people of the Republic of Europeia. I thank Viktoria Gryfynn and the entire government of Lazarus for the invitation.

The purpose of these festivities, of course, is to celebrate the new treaty between Europeia and Lazarus, and to continue to deepen ties between our two regions. The bulk of these festivities will, appropriately, be dedicated to creating opportunities for citizens of our two great regions to socialize and form new friendships. These personal relationships will sustain our interregional relationship over time, even as the shared concerns that provided the immediate impetus for this new alliance fade into history.

Those shared concerns are worth a few words. Although the “game-created regions” (feeders and sinkers) have always been prone to misuse by outsiders intent on capturing them as trophies, in modern times the GCRs have increasingly been under the control of strong, indigenous communities. Without question, these indigenous communities have changed the game of NationStates as a whole for the better – not only are strong communities a good in themselves, but having every newly formed or revived nation born into such a community makes our game more attractive to newcomers. We in Europeia may not be visionaries, but we are sufficiently far-sighted to recognize that strong, indigenous communities are in our long-term interest, even though these indigenous regions' will, based on their independent self-interest, occasionally act to the detriment of our short-term interests.

Unfortunately, the independence of the GCRs has increasingly come under attack. A supraregional so-called “defender” organization has turned its sights toward existing GCRs, using bullying tactics familiar to those of us in the user-created regions in an attempt to arrogate to themselves the right to dictate what sort of policies are moral or immoral, what sort of foreign relations are permissible or impermissible, and so on. These troubling developments have rightly earned the condemnation of many observers, including some who have historically been closely associated with defenderism.

We in Europeia have learned that any self-respecting, independent region with the temerity to stand up to this bullying will find themselves scorned by a group that is not only well-organized, but is motivated by a bizarre belief that their particular form of domination is somehow righteous. Fortunately, those of us who choose to stand up to such bullying need not stand alone. More and more, regions are setting aside labels like raider or defender, imperialist or isolationist, democratic or authoritarian and coming together to protect our common right of self-determination. Rest assured, Lazarus will always have a friend committed to its right of self-determination, even when we disagree on specific issues. We will respect, and indeed embrace, the institutions, values, and history of this great region, even when they differ from our own. We do not want Lazarus to be Europeia; we want Lazarus to be Lazarus. And we will stand together with Lazarus against outsiders who wish to remake it in their own image.

We in Europeia want future generations of players to discover the wonderful indigenous community here, which is different from any other and is more valuable to the NationStates community that way than it would be in any other way. And because we only want Lazarus to be Lazarus, we can confidently say that even when current causes pass into history, we will continue to stand beside Lazarus as your friends.

Thank you again for the invitation. I look forward to the rest of the festivities.

Click to expand...

The above address demonstrates to our fellow regions that Europeia will not seek to influence, warp or twist the policy decisions and direction of Lazarus or any GCR using our influence - something which other regions have attempted in the past towards other GCRs. Europeia sees Lazarus and other GCRs as being separate entities, their own region and their own decision makers. Something we clearly demonstrate in not sharing many citizens or elected officials.

Two separate regions coming together as friends. Europeia and Lazarus stand together on the world stage.

Article written by Vinage. Speech by Skizzy Grey

Fascinating. Thanks for the update.

Allies, friends and fellow players,

As you may know, a WA Security Council resolution liberating The United Kingdom of Britain was recently passed. That resolution would have struck down the password imposed by The Greater German Reich (GRR) -- except that a coalition led by the Land of Kings and Emperors re-took the region and removed the password while the Liberation was still up for vote. Because this development was so late-breaking, the Liberation passed anyway, even though its effect now will be to prevent the native population from reforming their community free from outside aggression.

So, my friends, this is where we need your support with the recently proposed Repeal of the Liberation resolution. This resolution enjoys the support of the liberators and the native population. We would love to have your Delegate's approval and later your Aye vote.

The sooner we can get this to a vote, the sooner the region is safe again from the GRR and other Nazi groups who may wish to retake it.

Thank You,



Vinage

World Assembly Delegate of Europeia

Firstly, thank you very much to those who approved this Repeal and allowed us to bring it to a vote so quickly. Our worry was that we might see a strike back by the GRR or any other Nazi-led raiding group. That said we are only half way to successfully securing the region and ensuring its safety for time to come.

Now that the Repeal has now come to vote and we would greatly appreciate your aye vote so - Please click me and lend us your support again.

Thank You

You might wish to provide evidence that the natives of The United Kingdom of Britain wish their region to be passwordable right now, as otherwise it seems the voters here are apprehensive about voting for the repeal.

UPDATE LXVI
June 14th, 2012
40th Congress, 40th Cabinet, 35th Senate
Population: 1,355 nations
Forum Posts: 426,236
WAD endorsements: 334
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Skizzy Grey
Vice President: Common-Sense Politics

Grand Admiral: Apollo
Foreign Minister: Sopo
Culture Minister: Lethen
Interior Minister: Rachel Anumia
Welcoming Minister: Abbey Anumia
Media Minister: Vinage
Attorney General: Hyanygo

World Assembly Delegate: Vinage

Legislative Government
Senators:
malashaan (Speaker)
Cerian Quilor
Peaceful Llamas
Apollo
Notolecta
Sopo

City Council Mayor: Seven Deaths

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: OnderKelkia
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Jahka
Associate Justice: the Graz

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So You Think You Can Euro?


Europeia had recently held a regional competition, sponsored by the Media Ministry, in order to find the most talented in several different categories - both fun and serious. These included: Artists [Photography, Drawings etc], Fine Artists [Singing, Dancing etc] and Writers for the serious side of things. While the fun ones included Best 'tash, Hottest Avatar and Stupidest Thing Ever Done. It seems that the following story will be crowned the winner, brace yourselves - stupidity is coming....

Vinage:

I have a scar on my head from where I thought it was a clever idea to carry a friend while heavily inebriated.

Basically it was...... Face + Pavement = Hospital 3 hours later

Click to expand...

Oh dear, oh dear!

Anyway Europeia's has all sorts going on from every corner, and especially from Lethen and his team in the Culture Ministry so, really you guys should check it out! Regular games, Roleplays kicking off [which we'll talk about in the next update] and, well, more!!

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Hey, I Just Met You But Call Me Elections


On the June 4th HEM called for the General Elections which were to be held on the 15th of this very month. Yet, concentrically, this month fell on the same month that five years ago saw Europeia become a Republic:

HEM:

I cast an eye to our state five years ago. Chronic inactivity, dire motivation, and political greed at every turn. Our small region was being torn apart at the seams by the elements that wished to control her. However, even the retrofitted government was not enough to stem the tide of inaction and inactivity. Europeia was in dire straits.

The conclusion I came to was a grave one. I had to -- without a doubt -- give up the Monarchy for the common good. It pained me, but I grew more excited and more thrilled at the idea of a Republic. It was my last chance at founderhood, and I was willing to give it everything I got. It worked.

Not because I was the smartest, or the most well equipped, but because I threw everything in and...well...hoped for the best.

My friends, you may not see yourself as ready for public office here. But Europeia may very well be ready for you. I've watched with a sad interest as more and more citizens shy away from the public life. This is -- of course -- the full right of all, but I caution everyone, that this region can be persuasive in calling people to serve.

As we select new Senators, and select a President, allow us to find the strength to embark on the next five years. Craft new tales of boldness, build new cities of valor, and allow Europeia to prevail.

Hail Europeia!

Click to expand...

Quickly the race for the Presidency has heated up with two candidates coming out to stand and are currently battling it out. On one side is Sopo/Vinage and the other is Apollo/Lethen; all four being members of the current administration. One of the biggest issues in the race for president has been welcoming, which has quickly become the main topic in Apollo's campaign thread. Current polls show Europeia is in for a tight race and the 'unsures' will be making a huge difference come election day:

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Life After Recruiting Scripts

The entirity of NationStates suffered what appeared to be a setback recently when automatic recruiting scripts were banned. Europeia has fared very well, fighting the tide to stay above 1,300 nations, even posting a gain. The Interior Ministry's success can be attributed to two main factors: 1) proactive work by Minister Rachel Anumia to prep the region for the end of scripts and 2) strong work recruiting by Notolecta and Apollo, among other contributors. Rachel Anumia, a veteran Europeian recruiter herself, managed to bring the Interior Ministry up to date after its only purpose was gathering dust during the era of script recruiting. Even more importantly, she brough together a group of dedicated recruiters, notably Grand Admiral Apollo and Senator Notolecta. While other citizens have recruited as well, these two have gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve Europeia. Thus far, Europeia stands to continue growing, even without the automatic script, a feat some thought was impossible.

The fight to raise the Europeian population has personal implications for some members as well. Notable Navy members jumped at this offer from St. George, former United Defenders League member:

StGeorgie:

If you get 1,900 Europeian nations... I will not only join the ERN, I will pledge allegiance to LKE and Onder publicly.

Click to expand...

In fact, StGeorgie's bet has been included in the Ministry's recruiting goals:

Milestones to surpass:

- 1,609 ~ Record for TGs sent in one Week
- 1,818 ~ All-time population record
- 1,900 ~ Population required for StGeorgie will join our Navy and swear fealty to Onder Kelkia
- 2,120 ~ Population needed to surpass 10,000 Islands

Click to expand...

All in all, there's a lot to look forward to in the recruiting world- especially St. George's pledge of fealty to Onder.

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Vinage-Onder' Success In The Security Council


Just before the passing of Liberate "The United Kingdom of Britain" the following occured....

Tue May 29:

1 minute ago: The Empire of Newation removed regional password protection.
5 minutes ago: The Empire of Newation suppressed some posts on the regional message board.
5 minutes ago: The Empire of Newation unsuppressed some posts on the regional message board.
7 minutes ago: The Empire of Newation ordered the closure of embassies between The United Kingdom of Britain and The United Kingdom of Breutchesland.
8 minutes ago: The Empire of Newation ordered the closure of embassies between The United Kingdom of Britain and The Greater German Reich.
9 minutes ago: The Empire of Newation aborted construction of embassies with The United San Diego States.
9 minutes ago: The Empire of Newation aborted construction of embassies with Europia.
9 minutes ago: The Empire of Newation aborted construction of embassies with The United Republican Nations.
13 minutes ago: The Empire of Newation elected WA Delegate (ending The Empire of Grand Britain and Northern Ireland's reign after 61 days).

Click to expand...

After a successful emancipation of the region, the password was removed and the Liberation was no longer required. A quickly written Repeal of the text by Vinage and Onderkelkia quickly hit the required number of approvals and a vote was taken. A heavy Foreign Affairs method was led by Vinage which eventually saw to the following ending up in his NationStates nation medals.....



Since then debates have cropped up about what future the World Assembly Delegate has within Europeia - if it should be a Cabinet Minister, a City Council focussed role or if the Senate should have a say in it. Either way times are a-changing in Europeia and its involvement in the World Assembly. Expect an even bigger voice to come soon.

Come Say Hi!

UPDATE LXVII
July 2nd, 2012
41th Congress, 41th Cabinet, 36th Senate
Population: 1,310 nations
Forum Posts: 429,484
WAD endorsements: 345
NS Regional Power: Extremely High

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Sopo
Vice President: Vinage

Grand Admiral: Common-Sense Politics
Foreign Minister: Rachel Anumia
Culture Minister: Lethen
Interior Minister: Apollo
Attorney General: Hyanygo

World Assembly Delegate: Vinage

City Council Mayor: Rachel Anumia

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: OnderKelkia
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Jahka
Associate Justice: the Graz

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Election Fever in the Republic


In a tightly contested election, Sopo and Vinage edged out Apollo and Lethen by a vote of 18-14. Upon victory Sopo confirmed his great respect for his opponent and his vision for the republic based on building and sustaining the regions successes. In the Senate, Malashaan, Versailles-Vienne, Common-Sense Politics, Cormac and Cerain Quilor were elected to the Senate.

Leadership for a Blssoming Republic

"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes."
-Peter Drucker​

This very quote is why I stand here before you today. On election day, Europeians were given a choice. They did not choose based on the popularity of the candidates or based on the eloquence of their speeches, but based on the candidate that they thought would bring Europeia the best results. I have great respect for Apollo; he is a man of character and a man of honor. In the moments he was ahead in the polls, I contemplated what an Apollo Presidency would be like. I am proud to say that I have the same faith in the idea of an Apollo Presidency that I do in my own. We do indeed have our differences, different personalities, different ideas, and different passions- but our love for this region is the same. Apollo is a remarkable citizen, and I am excited to work with him again this term in Cabinet.

I take on my teal uniform in much different circumstances than I did nearly a year ago. Today Europeia is strong, united, and blossoming. When I first ascended to this office, Europeia had just seen a Presidential resignation followed by a Vote of No Confidence in the remaining government. I was set to inherit a much different region with much different problems than those we face today.

As I write, Europeia sits at 1,338 nations, something that would have been unheard of only months ago. Our problem is no longer building success, but sustaining it. We need to embrace our progress, streamlining and growing our means to even better ends. The Cabinet I will shortly propose to the Senate for approval has the experience and know-how to do just that, and I have complete faith in the men and women I put forth to aid me in leading Europeia.

Finally, I would like to take a second to thank my running-mate, now Vice President, without whom I would not have been able to come this far. In case any of you have been wondering what kind of a team we will make over the next ten weeks, I present to you this quote from your very own Veep, defining our respective roles:

"You wield the axe while I get drunk."
-Vice President Vinage​

Europeia has never seen a duo quite like Sopage. My initial instinct told me that we would do well together, but he has exceeded my expectations at every turn. His lighthearted nature brings me back when I get to managerial, and he backs up his fun exterior with real determination, as we've all seen through his WA work.

All in all, I am thrilled to take to the Goldenblock again, something I thought I'd never say again when I departed from these hallowed halls. I cannot wait to get to work, and I hope you all feel the same- there's much to do.

Sopo
President of Europeia

Click to expand...

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Senate Recalled


Roughly 10 days after being elected, former President Skizzy Grey proposed a recall of the Europeian Senate due to inactivity. The petition for recall quickly generated the required number of signatures, picking up seven signatures in only four hours. The measure was not totally unopposed, however, with the likes of President Sopo, Senator Cerian Quilor, and citizen Notolecta publicly and passionately denouncing the referendum for recall. However, before any discussion could be had, the petition passed and the recall was brought to public vote.

The referendum passed twelve votes in favor to seven votes against. (now former) Senator Cerian Quilor said following the vote, "Good luck to whoever the heck wins this time - let's hope you all can satisfy the unrealistic expectations of the Europeian Electorate, so we don't have /another/ recall." Mixed feelings dominate this recall vote. It has yet to be seen whether recalling the Senate will improve the region's activity.

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Yarrhhhh! We Be Wantin' S'um Bootay!


JYarrr! As you've read Europeia has begun a new term and has a new President, this time it didn't take long until the booze was rolled out again. Now, likely a reoccurring theme in our updates, stories about Europeians getting very drunk and that was no different here. In a fun-filled weekend long event, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and organised by Vinage, Europeian's drunk and won gold through games. That's right..... for a short while Europeia has a sliiiiiggghht economy and nobody really noticed. [Editors Note: Somehow I [Vinage] got away with that one]

Anyway Lethen came out as top but the people's champion was Notolecta in a close second place in terms of gold won. A fun weekend full of merriment and ale, what more could you ask for?

Come Say Hi!

UPDATE LXVIII
July 15th, 2012
41th Congress, 41th Cabinet, 37th Senate
Population: 1,222 nations
Forum Posts: 431,584
WAD endorsements: 340

Current Government of Europeia

Executive Government
Supreme Chancellor: HEM
President: Sopo
Vice President: Vinage

Grand Admiral: Notolecta
Foreign Minister: Rachel Anumia
Culture Minister: Lethen
Interior Minister: Remsol
Attorney General: Hyanygo

World Assembly Delegate: Vinage

Legislative Government

Senate

malashaan (Speaker)
Lethen
McEntire
Seven Deaths
Notolecta
Hyanygo*

City Council Mayor: Rachel Anumia

Judicial Government
Chief Justice: OnderKelkia
Associate Justice: Swakistek
Associate Justice: Jahka
Associate Justice: the Graz

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Can't Stop... Elections!

That's right we've had another batch of Senate elections after the recent recall of the Senate followed through after a public referendum. Standing was a strong mix of old-timers *cough* Lethen *cough* and first timers such as Remsol and Seven Deaths. Come the end the results were as follows...


As you can see it ended up being a bit of a one-sided race but first timer Seven Deaths ran on a strong platform and ended up coming third overall! Not bad for someone who's been in the region for a few months. What this does show us is that Europeia is happy, and willing, to embrace new people into elected positions when they come with a strong platform and have come through the ranks – such is the case here and the City Council. Which is, also, active once again thanks to the leadership of Rachel Anumia.

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A Unique Prize


President Sopo. Few words can describe the guy. Some call him a genius, others insane. What everyone can agree about the President though is that he'll always come up with some new, and interesting, idea and is always willing to take one on the chin for the team and the betterment of Europeia. Recently, after the unexpected resignation of Apollo, the Ministry of Interior position was offered out to the citizenry of Europeia via a contest. Those interested would have to send an application form, along with a few answers to questions regarding why they are the best candidate. Both the President and his Vice President, Vinage, poured over the applications and made their decision – or decisions as it turned out to be.

Remsol was the lucky fellow to be awarded the praise of Minister of Interior after a strong entry with shadowlurker and McEntire both awarded non-cabinet Executive roles. So congratulations to you three and, well, with the combined freshness and relative 'newness' of Remsol and shadowlurker it shows that Europeia is always looking for new people to set up into roles within the Government.

Opportunities will always be awaiting you in Europeia so, if you fancy seeing more, come check us out by clicking me!

Written by Vinage

Breaking news, sweeping changes! Europeia has decided to extend SummerFest 2012 for another week, and we wanted to make sure our friends knew!

These changes aren't that sweeping, actually. You get the idea...had to hook you all. SummerFest 2K12 will run concurrently with the London 2012 Olympics; so please, come and join us.

Thank you for the time and consideration!

Lethen, Culture Minister.

Esteemed and Respected Regions,

The citizens of Europeia have recently elected me to be their new President and, well, one of the first things I wished to do was introduce myself to those who may not know me outside of Europeia. I am Vinage, current President and Delegate of Europeia - perhaps I've annoyed you in the World Assembly by voting the 'wrong' way? Likely so...

Anyway I do hope that our regions may both share a prosperous term and couple of months. Also hopefully, in some cases, closer relations. It is likely that we will soon be hosting some Cultural festivals so, if any region or individuals are interesting in participating to, you have only to ask.

So with that, cheers and on with the next few months!