EDEN or Sweden - I have no illusions

Day 1,392, 12:32 • Published in Norway Norway • by T Cherub
I’m going to do this article in English, for the convenience of possible readers from Sweden or EDEN. Our current situation is a pickle. I don’t want to write a long article, so let me cut to the chase.

This is my second term as Minister of Defense in Norway. I have a long history in the political scene of Norway, but I haven’t spent all my spare time on eRepublik. During my time, I've been in several governments and three times Country President.

Sweden want our regions, in general they want all of them. They don’t want us to have a Congress, as this will enable us to create MPP (Military Protection Packt) with other nations, and then create a threat to Sweden. Maybe not a threat as Nation, but through EDEN.

Now, for the record, my primary goal is to get a Congress just to get our politicians back on track. I want Norway to survive and not vanish. I want Norway to grow!

The last couple of days I’ve been trying to call upon the Swedes to find out what they want from us, beyond occupying all our regions. I could try get credit for the release of one region, but if you ask any Swede, it is by the grace of their president and his advisers. Truth is, they did indeed make that decision without my help, and there was no threat or leverage from me.

So now the question is; will we keep our one region and get a Congress, and I did push to get an answer. Lonestar heard my diplomatic voice and opened the forum thread in the Swedish forum. Curious to see what they said, it kind of boils down to this:

Scenario 1)
We leave EDEN, get one region, and Sweden will allow us to have a Congress. Without EDEN in our back, we are in the grace of Sweden and their willing.

Scenario 2)
We remain in EDEN and Sweden will do what it takes to refuse us Congress and further growth.
We are in the grace of ourselves and whoever in EDEN or elsewhere willing to help us.

I’ve been told many times, by various players, that Sweden is a “closed door”. I took it as a sign of frustration from futile diplomatic efforts. I have failed to see how Sweden could be more hostile and more difficult than other more remote eNations. After all, we almost speak the same language, and from my perspective, I saw them as neighbor and with some kind of “alliance”. Maybe I’m a child of EDEN and my perspective is still colored by how it was while Sweden was EDEN friendly.

Nevertheless, I haven’t closed the door completely to Sweden, especially since there are still some players who finds it more interesting to keep Norway alive in eRepublik, than to overrun us with Q5 tanks until we’re dead.

Then again, I’m really struggling to see how the grace of Sweden is any better than the grace of EDEN. The more players in Sweden with political influence that sees Norway as their private eh... female dog, the less I think we have anything in common. I believe in gamer community, and not feed either trolls or players who need some place where they can use nations for their personal vendettas.

Now for what it’s worth, if Sweden decides on refusing our Congress, they are clearly missing the point of my politics. I want Norway to stay alive, but I don’t want Sweden to make our decisions. I realise that in order for Norway to stay alive, we can not afford to get too many Congress seats, since that will allow hostile players run “our show”. If that is a matter of one, two or more regions, depends fully on how many Norwegians we got playing on our soil. I am willing to work for the continued growth of Norway. Either by the help from Sweden, or the hostility from Sweden. To put it another way, I’d rather have Sweden’s hostility than apathy. But I wouldn’t mind friendship (who would?).

So if you read all this; what do you prefer? The grace of EDEN, or the grace of Sweden?

Your Minister of Defense and loyal Norwegian citizen,
Tommy Skaue / cherub