An Appeal to Honesty

Day 1,974, 16:31 • Published in Croatia Croatia • by Arrlo

Last month, after a prolonged and crippling period of occupation by their larger neighbours, the Portuguese CP acted unilaterally to secure some regions for his country. He signed a pact with Spain with the aim of returning to the map, and allegedly to foster improved relations between the two countries. As well as its bilateral implications, the agreement stipulated that Portugal should sign MPPs with other countries which had been heavily involved in the conquest and occupation of their own regions. The announcement and details can be found in Spain's MoFA paper:

http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/nap-eacute-ame-otra-vez-iberian-pact--2230847/1/20

We in EDEN must take some responsibility here for the corner Portugal was backed into. We failed you on several occasions. Although I remember EDEN orders being set to try to liberate Portuguese regions in order to win a congress for you, Portugal, after having spoken to several of your players it is obvious that you felt ignored and abandoned. I apologize unreservedly for that.

Returning to the topic of the article, I must confess at this point that I tend to dislike peace treaties between historical rivals, and I absolutely detest them when I see them as unfair or cowardly. Polish agreements sold to a desperate France or Netherlands for example were totally objectionable to me. That said, I had never been quite as staggered as I was when I read the despicably unjust terms forced on Portugal. The treaty was designed to humiliate and to neuter Portugal completely, and seemed deliberately interwoven with technicalities to ensure that Portugal would be forced, at some stage, to break with the treaty. I'll list a few of my concerns with this "agreement":

1) The Treaty is indefinite

If no mutual agreement is reached to amend or adjust the terms of the treaty after each presidential election, the treaty simply renews itself in its original, draconian terms. In the worst case scenario, should Spain choose never even to reply to Portuguese representatives, the treaty is automatically rolled over to next month. I hope everyone can agree that this clause is fundamentally unfair, and gives absolutely no room to the Portuguese to negotiate. It must be scrapped.

2) The Treaty was signed by an unopposed President

Due to the Spanish occupation, Portugal's sovereign power was in the hands of one individual. Acting unilaterally to bind Portugal to this agreement, as shown above in perpetuity, would have been beyond the remit of any elected representative, let alone one unaccountable to a congress. No referendum was held; no congress existed to oppose him. There was no democratic scrutiny of the terms of the agreement before it was "ratified". To their credit, many Portuguese citizens put aside their personal disappointment and distaste in order to abide respectfully by the pact (signed in their name) by voting to approve the three TWO MPPs once the deal was in place.

3) The Treaty named a Spanish ally as custodian of the guarantee

In the event that the pact failed, Poland was chosen as ultimate arbiter between the two nations, entrusted with a cash deposit of 500000 from the Portuguese Treasury, an enormous figure for a country Portugal's size. It strikes me as unfair to have chosen Spain's closest ally to be the judge in what would certainly be a contentious case, although perhaps finding a truly neutral party would have been tricky. USA maybe? Russia?

4) The Treaty exerts undue influence over Portuguese foreign affairs

The obligations of the treaty mean that Portugal has to clear any, and I mean any activity with Spain before it can act. No MPPs can be signed without Spain's agreement, and plainly Portugal is unable to undertake any military venture without the permission of Spanish government. To my knowledge this is the first time such binding requirements have been included in a non-aggression pact, and go above and beyond any reasonable attempt to foster a friendly relationship.


To an outside observer it doesn't appear that this treaty was cooked up by Spain with any intention whatsoever of improving Iberian relations. It seems designed more to humiliate Portugal, to alienate the Portuguese permanently from their former allies without offering them any alternative, to hold a boot to Portugal's throat regarding their activity, to kill the Portuguese community through division and boredom, and ultimately to make off with the 500000 currency entrusted to Poland. The Spanish CP has already desperately tried to find an excuse to claim the money, which undermines any dishonest tale from Spain of their wanting to form any friendship with Portugal.

I urge any Spanish players with any decency to support a fairer deal for the Portuguese community. You should be honest now: If you don't care about friendship with your neighbours, return the cash guarantee that was given in good faith, and resume hostilities. If you do care, you need to offer a fairer deal to have any hope of inspiring any kind of amicable feelings from your smaller neighbour. Keep in mind that Portugal has, within any reasonable expectation, adhered to the letter and to the spirit of the shameful treaty, and now it's your turn to act with some dignity.