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One Day in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

I've heard that people don't exactly know what the government does in practice. Some even go as far as claiming that government does nothing but sits still, when they should be making plans and organizing citizens. Maybe that's right in some countries, maybe that's right even in here. However, instead of offering you a rant on government roles or what can we exactly do, I'll present you one day of my life as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Day 600 of the New Worl😛 The World From Avec's Point of View

I woke up some time between 9.30-10.30 in the morning. I opened my computer, make my bed, and then decided to sit for a while in front of my computer. I had planned to rest for the day, and do most of my MoFA duties on Monday. I opened eRepublik and IRC, and saw the front page: "Latvia attacked Zemgale, Finland". The wall was at -150k, deep in the underground. I stared at it for a second, and then I rushed to the government IRC channel. ”Where's the president? Where's the Minister of Defence?”, I asked. No one had seen them, I was the only government official around. I sank my head in my arms in desperation, but quickly rose up. There were people around - ambassadors, parliament committee members, soldiers, people who could contribute. Ambassadors were quickly sent to ask help from their target countries, soldiers ordered to be on standby and ready to launch a counter-attack, citizens told to prepare for battle.

In the absence of Minister of Public Relations, I wrote a government article, ordering citizens to fight in Zemgale and defend the region. I thought of a list what to do, and began slowly executing it. I noticed the UK Armed Forces SAS leader on-line, and I asked him a favour – to ask the UK War Council to send their paratroopers defend Finland. It was quickly done, it gave me hope that if even the UK can send troops to defend Finland, surely our close allies are much more eager to provide assistance.

Then, began the long series of negotiations and preparations. Other government officials came, including our president, MoD and some other key members that could provide invaluable help. Our allies in EDEN were already informed of the attack, and they were preparing to send aid. Our close ally Sweden deployed paratroopers immediately to the defence of Finland, as did some other countries too. Finland and Romania prepared their forces for a joint strike in the evening. EDEN countries were easy to mobilize and ask for help, the others were the hard part.

Throughout the day, the government discussed their options and plans. The national weapon company began distributing weapons to all citizens, all military units were armed and prepared to fight, orders were given and word was spread out. Ambassadors began receiving answers - some negative, some positive.

Then, an unusual initiative was though out. Theocrats, those mysterious people living in Switzerland and fighting in various conflicts throughout the world – could they be of any help? I approached the Theocrats, and asked for soldiers to help Finland. At first, the response received was fairly negative, as Theocrats had used a lot of their weapons and currency in recent battles, they needed to replenish their supplies before engaging in further conflicts. I was authorized, so I offered them tickets and weapons and possibly funding from our government. Latvians were aided by Hungarians, enemies of Theocrats, so this was an excellent chance. They agreed to help Finland, and later in the evening they began their attacks in Zemgale.

In the afternoon, I was approached by the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He wanted to know, if the current conflict has an impact on relations between Finland and Estonia. I responded, that if Estonia does not officially condone the attack on Zemgale (which they had by the way done in the morning), and begin publishing articles saying "Death to Finns", then we'll most likely be OK. The Estonian MoFA was at first a bit uneasy because of that, but we quickly reached an agreement that we have no reason to remain hostile towards each other, and we should resume peace negotiations as soon as possible. Like a sun had suddenly emerged behind the clouds, we, in the midst of this conflict and sound of battle far away in Zemgale, agreed on possible peace between our two countries.

At approximately 21.30 in the evening, our military began striking. The wall had risen from -180k to -95k during the day, despite attacks carried out by Hungarians, Latvians, Estonians and Russians throughout the day. The joint strikes carried out by other countries had been noticed, and by the time our military began striking, heavy counter-offensive by enemy forces took place. Despite that, the wall was lifted still to about -80k, and it kept rising.

As our close allies were already deploying to Finland, this left me only a few countries to deal with: USA and Canada. Living on a different time zone, it was but an early morning for them. I had sent messages to both countries' ministers, and now, late in the evening, it paid off. I noticed the Canadian Prime Minister had come on-line, and I contacted him straight away. I explained our situation to them, and offered help in exchange for their help now.

Canadians were, just as Americans, worried that PEACE might launch an offensive on North America. As Hungary just gained a border with Canada, it was understandable that Canadians were worried. However, from my point of view, it was more likely that Hungary wouldn't launch any offensive against Canada at that time in midnight, after it's tanks had already fought in Zemgale. Even without that, it was highly more likely that Hungary would attack Norway first instead of Canada. Either way, Hungary's move to annex Scotland was a good move, as it allows for all the options to be carried out.

As we had already discussed earlier, we agreed on an MPP between Finland and Canada. The MPP was quickly signed, and as soon as that was done, Canadian troops were sent to fight for Finland.

The USA also made an initial offer to send help, but they were unwilling to dedicate a lot of their troops for the conflict as they feared an Indonesian/Russian invasion of their home soil. It is understandable, but later, when it was already a night in Finland, their Marines and government officials came to fight for Finland. Also, in the evening, the UK sent it's paratroopers to fight in Finland. Despite recently seen as spineless and backstabbing nation, the UK has never had any quarrel with Finland, and in need both countries have promised to help each other.

At this time, I had done what I could. I had made contact with our allies, Theocrats, USA and Canada. I looked at the wall and saw Hungarian strike forces roaming in Zemgale, and thought what the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs had said to me the other day. ”Hungary simply provides economic and diplomatic support for Baltic states.” Yep, that seemed to be the case.

As there was nothing left to do, and I had fought already in the joint strike dealing 2,1k damage, I decided to go to sleep. It was two o'clock in the morning after all. When I woke up, I heard that the joint strikes carried out early in the morning had lifted the wall up to +6,000. However, a rush of Indonesian tanks changed the direction of the battle again, and the wall sunk back to -30k. Then, the battle was put on hold for the duration of maintenance break, and there was nothing left to do. After the break was over, the battle had ended and Latvia had secured the region.

Epilogue

That was one day, one day as a government official. Each day is not as quick-paced or dramatic, but most days are filled with negotiations, planning, and maintaining relations with different countries. The role of MoFA is certainly not simply sitting still and waiting for perks to drop. Time in the office is about reading international media, making contact with foreign ministers and ambassadors and other key personnel. The structure and importance of the role varies in different countries though, so my conclusions may be off the hook for some. Yet, this is how I conceive it.

I left some details and meetings out of this article (and congress duties involved), if I put them all here this article would span two pages more. I can only imagine how much more the governments in USA and Canada have to deal with right now. I write all my articles with a bit of fluff and candy-coat them for the reader, but I hope you got at least some kind of picture what my life in this game is like. Till the next article,



Cheers!

Gen. Avec, Finnish Defence Forces
Minister of Foreign Affairs and a Member of Parliament