[eMKD MoFA] Interview with Iain Keers & Arrlo!

Day 3,866, 13:38 • Published in North Macedonia North Macedonia • by MNR Makedonija


Greetings ladies and gentlemen, for this month I've decided to do a series of interviews whenever I get the time, so lets kick it off with eUK's officials, their Country President and Prime Minister!



Iain Keers


1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself to the eWorld and the eMacedonian community. Who are you, some personal details you seem worth sharing, and what made you come back to the game?
-Most of the world probably knows me better as Iain Keers. I don’t want to be that person who spends a lot of time talking about past accomplishments, but I will just say I’m a player from the golden age of the game who was mostly involved in alliance politics back in the day. I did bring Macedonia into Phoenix back when they were added to the game a long time ago now 🙂

In the real world I’m a 30 year old guy living in London 🙂

2. Why did you run for President in eUK? Is there something you don't like there, and/or what is your goal for this month?
-Mainly because jamesw changed his mind about being eternal Country President, and there wasn’t another good candidate (in my opinion anyway). I ran because I feel (and have always felt) like I have a duty to the country. In terms of policies, my goal was to try and get people excited about being in government again and making a difference. I’m not sure how well that is going to be honest but we’re trying!

We’ll also have some interesting (non war) developments soon, but I don’t want to give too much away.

3. Recently we all witnessed the unsuccessful coup attempt in the eUK by UK's Finest. What was that about? The reasons behind, and his intentions.
-I don’t really want to talk about him too much, because really he craves attention. That’s what the coup was about, attention seeking as always.

4. How do you see eUK in the eWorld today? In regards of allies, firepower, and future views.
-The eUK was in a very weak position prior to James coming back and taking over. We all owe him a big debt for pulling us out of the fire. We aren’t in the front rank of countries, and we’re not formally in an alliance, which is a bit disappointing to me as that brotherhood is important to the game. However we do have some really good friends including Macedonia which is great. Generally we are pro-Asteria and have a lot of friends in Asteria and in the pro-Asteria group alongside us. In terms of firepower, we are a small country. But we are working on improving our air damage. Our value has always been non-military however 🙂 We are good at organisation.

5. Apart from your articles on it, I would like your point of view on the already thrid ongoing month occupation of the eUSA. First, tell us eUK's relations with the eUSA, then some words on the occupation, the impact you see it having on the Pacifica alliance, and of course, the economy once eUSA had.
-The eUK and eUSA have had a hostile relationship since the beginning of 2009. They’ve invaded us many times and most Brits don’t really care about them.

In terms of economic impact, it clearly had a big effect on the production of WRM as prices spiked from 5.5 to about 7.8 in a week or two, and only recently dropped. House production also faltered, and this drove up wages around the world as housing companies opened elsewhere and hired workers. It caused a huge amount of disruption but it’s beginning to calm down.

I don’t agree with any permanent/long term occupation of an active community. I think it just drives people from the game and that’s just sad. I’d like to see the eUSA given a diplomatic option for coming back on the map, even if they are not given all their states (or even most of them) back. It would require commitments from them too to work.

6. Continuing on that topic, after the wipe eUSA seems to have awoken in the international affairs. We've seen them once or twice actually sending soldiers and helping their little allies left, something that couldn't have been even imagined few months back. Why do you think this is, and do you think it will change anything?
-Rainy is a good president, and she has been successful in changing the culture at the top of the country. They realised they can’t win alone against their occupiers, so they’re out being good allies. That kind of teamwork is what makes the game fun so I’m glad to see them doing it more.

7. How do you see the relations between eUK and eMacedonia? Anything to improve, or work on?
-I think relations at the top level are good. We could talk more, and be more involved in each others politics and dramas and struggles. I’m always happy to work more closely with partner countries, whether I’m CP or not. On a normal citizen level, few people alive today remember the last time we fought together in a formal alliance as it has been so long. There aren’t a lot of connections left. I think we need to work to rebuild those connections and I think once I step down as CP I will do an article tour of friendly countries- not necessarily posting “we love you” articles but just showing that we’re out here and thinking of you. I’ll make sure Macedonia is top of the list.

8. What do you know about our country, anything that pops right into your mind.
-That’s a dangerous thing to ask a historian 😛 Let’s just say that Skopje is one of the oldest cities in Europe, and leave it there.

9. Thank you for your time answering these questions, if you have some finishing words for our community, now is the time to say it.
-I’m always happy to speak to anyone who has any questions, or would like to chat. The eUK discord is https://discord.gg/X73Mxfg and you are always welcome there. I hope the UK and Macedonia can be good friends again 🙂




Arrlo


1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself to the eWorld and the eMacedonian community. Who are you, some personal details you seem worth sharing.
-Hello, my nick is Arrlo and I'm a British man who lives in South West England. Anything more and you'll have to ask. 🙂

2. We see you are currently eUK's Prime Minister. How come? For so long you had eCroatian citizenship, and you were long included in their internal and external affairs, you were multiple times their MoFA. Will we finally be seeing your playing actively for eUK and help them grow stronger?
-Yes in the past I was very involved with Croatian community and made many, many friends there. They're a great bunch with lots of heart, and I see many similarities between their community and yours.

Because I spent so long as eCroat I didn't really have deep ties any more to eUK, but jamesw and Spite313 are my two oldest friends in the game. When I saw that first jamesw and now Spite were working hard to improve the standing of eUK, I wanted to lend them a hand.

3. Recently we all witnessed the unsuccessful coup attempt in the eUK by UK's Finest. What was that about? The reasons behind, and his intentions.
-From what I understand he just started the coup for his own entertainment. I hope he enjoyed it.

4. How do you see eUK in the eWorld today? In regards of allies, firepower, and future views.
-eUK has been floating on the periphery of Asteria for years now. It's broadly the same alignment as Macedonia's, but we're a lot weaker so we matter a lot less to Asteria. In future I don't see many changes in the countries we consider allies - if an alliance emerged similar to the Nexus project then I would see UK's place as there.

5. Apart from your articles on it, I would like your point of view on the already thrid ongoing month occupation of the eUSA. First, tell us eUK's relations with the eUSA, then some words on the occupation, the impact you see it having on the Pacifica alliance, and of course, the economy once eUSA had.
-eUK's relations with eUSA have always been strained, especially in more recent years when they attacked and occupied UK multiple times with impunity. They called it a training war when they felt like it, but their fighters continued to fight for USA even in RWs we were supposed to win; UK governments used to have to spend money on CO to free their own regions. Comparing their conduct as "training war" partners with the Croatians now, who are helpful and cooperative with us, it shows you how awful and arrogant eUSA used to be. I think the world knows my opinions on previous American administrations, but I try to let go of past grudges, and wish them the best. 🙂

I don't like long term occupations of countries, so I'd like to see some kind of deal with USA at some point. The occupying countries should negotiate as a bloc though, so if not all of them are ready to make a deal, forget it.

Finally, in this state of affairs Pacifica is not a viable alliance to help their founding member. Their situation is entirely dependent on staying in the good graces of Asteria, so they have to go along with whatever Asteria and Bg/Mkd decide to do with USA.


6. Continuing on that topic, after the wipe eUSA seems to have awoken in the international affairs. We've seen them once or twice actually sending soldiers and helping their little allies left, something that couldn't have been even imagined few months back. Why do you think this is, and do you think it will change anything?
-I guess people are learning lessons from the mistakes previous American governments made. I haven’t had much to do with any of the players in the current government, but they seem ok.

7. How do you see the relations between eUK and eMacedonia? Anything to improve, or work on?
-Traditionally Macedonia has been one of the first (and only?) countries willing to help UK directly, with airstrikes and direct wars. The leaders of your country also wanted to include UK as a partner in any alliance that they founded, which is kind of rare for big countries to give a s--t about smaller ones. I appreciate that in an ally.

8. What do you know about our country, anything that pops right into your mind.
- I think of homemade ajvar, of Ohrid, and of this weird town called Gegejvejgelija. 🙂

9. Thank you for your time answering these questions, if you have some finishing words for our community, now is the time to say it.
-Thank you for the questions and to people who are interested enough to read! Thanks also to my many friends in the community who have helped me over the years, whether I was eCroat or eBrit. I hope you know who you are.




Kind regards,
MoFA eMacedonia
Severrus Snape