View from Benacia/Issue 37: Cyberian Talks Making Progress

This imported article was originally posted at http://viewfrombenacia.blogspot.com/2004/12/issue-37-cyberian-talks-making.html at 12/02/04.

It finally seems that the Cyberian conflict has made a major breakthrough.

In the past day or so, the bringing to the table of a new negotiator on the side of the RCC, one "Technarchus Prime Timothy W. Dunkin", seems to have paved the way for easier discussions with the VCC representative Alan Grieve in the peace talks being hosted by Kaiser Raynor XI.

After a considerable amount of confusion over the numbering system in Jacobus' imperial House of Bonaparte, Mr. Dunkin laid down a set of concessions that the RCC was willing to make in order to move the peace process along:

"HIH Emperor Jacobus II and I are prepared to:

- Renounce any and all claims of ownership, proprietorship, protectorship, etc. upon the VCC, its lands, waterways, territories, cultural and intellectual property in any form, etc. etc. 

- Renounce all claims to sovereignty or other authority over the VCC and its provinces. 

- Renounce the use of the name "Cyberia", as well as the name "Ciberia". 

- Formally acknowledge the existence and legitimacy of the VCC. 

- Abandon the concept of the "Restored Commonwealth of Cyberia" specifically, as well as the claim to Emperorship over said entity. 

- Refrain from attacks upon the citizens or lands (fora, etc.) of the VCC, and from any attempts to disrupt the functioning of the VCC. 

- Apologise for any and all mental anguish, etc. etc. we may have caused the VCC and its members in particular. 

- Turn over the passwords and usernames for the RCC website (www.geocities.com/cyberiancommonwealth) as well as the associated EZBoard forum to the VCC President, James Conway. 

In return, we ask for the following: 

- That the VCC refrain from meddling in the other intermicronational affairs both of HIH Emperor Jacobus II as well as those of myself. 

- That the members of the VCC refrain from speaking of either HIH Emperor Jacobus II or myself on other micronational fora, except that we be also present in the particular threads in which we are being discussed/attacked. 

- That the VCC refrain from harassing or in any other way hindering the activities of any and all micronations which either HIH Emperor Jacobus II or myself may be involved with. 

- That the VCC apologise for slandering both myself and HIH Emperor Jacobus II on various other micronational venues."

Mr. Grieve seems to agree to most of these points in principle. There are two main exceptions to this, the first being that the RCC's renunciation of using certain names should include "all historic and current Cyberian place names" (spelling corrected). The second concerns the VCC apology: '"Given the record of inflated rhetoric used by both sides this seems a bit rich. Surely it would be better just to disregard the rhetorical exchanges of the last 5 years." 

Still, Mr. Grieve also commented that "I think we can start drafting the treaty itself." This seems a positive sign, given the previously deadlocked state of the talks, and it offers a little ray of hope to those who wish to see the Cyberian conflict decisively closed.