[EDEN] Fresh Winds

Day 822, 03:05 • Published in Romania Finland • by avec


Greetings to all! I'm Avec, the newly elected Supreme Commander of Erepublik Defence and Economic Network. Two meetings were held between EDEN member countries this week, and we all mutually agreed on a few outlines and principles which to follow now on. I'm confident that we can start functioning as an alliance the way we used to, and to heal the wounds left open by past mistakes. You can read the official EDEN announcement about the new HQ from this article.

As a Supreme Commander, I want to stress out some points about the alliance and the principles of EDEN. I offer you nothing new, simply the principles and the foundation EDEN was built upon. As time passed, people forgot those principles of mutual Respect, Loyalty, Valour, Unity, Friendship and Sacrifice. There has been talk about reforming EDEN, about creating a council of Presidents to oversee that the alliance serves its members' needs, and there have been some disputes between member countries and the alliance. I have been approached by various people from all across the globe to discuss matters the former HQ left behind, and I thought a public article would be a better way to convey my thoughts.


The idea of having an HQ

In the recent months, the former HQ became rather non-communicative and passive with regard to its member countries. Some countries felt they were not listened, and an idea was thrown that a council of Presidents should be used to outline the short-term and long-term priorities for the alliance, and to diminish the power of the HQ. The idea behind a council is not that bad in itself, of course member countries need to have a say in alliance matters, and they do. But, there's a fundamental error in the idea of decentralizing decision-making and moving power from the HQ to the Presidents only.

The core idea of having a HQ is that there is one centralized body to rule and organize the 13 member countries and their governments. It's the definition of having a military alliance - to have one central command that is not tied to individual countries, but one that represents the alliance as a whole. The HQ must remain as the decision-making body for the alliance. That the old HQ may not have communicated enough with some member countries and that it seemed non-responsive towards certain members, does not mean there is something wrong in the foundation of the alliance. EDEN only needs a shake-up, that came with the new HQ.

Still, to assure you EDEN has not become an authoritarian alliance that does not listen to its members. We, with the HQ and Presidents of EDEN member countries, decided that from now on we'll keep meetings with the Representatives of each member country regularly to discuss the alliance priorities and things to be done, so everyone can express their opinions openly. Still it will be so that the HQ remains the final decision-making authority that makes plans based on mutually agreed principles and priorities, and makes the calls.



Becoming a Member

Following the end of World War III, several countries wanted to join the winning side and applied for EDEN membership. Some were accepted, while some were rejected. Today, the situation remains the same. Countries wish to join EDEN, and they come to me, or they present their case to someone in the HQ. This was one of the principles in founding EDEN in the beginning too – who are accepted as members and who are not. Allow me to present that view again:

EDEN does not take new members simply because they want to join. Membership is decided on if EDEN needs a new member, and if the new member is worthy of an EDEN membership. I may talk of EDEN as an alliance, but primarily EDEN is a Brotherhood of friends, built on mutual friendship. Picking countries as members solely on their strategic or economic values is not a way to build a lasting and functioning alliance, members need to trust each other and they need to have a motive to help each other. This is not meant as an insult towards any country, but the point is that there is no need for EDEN to take a new member just for the sake of it. Regardless of membership, EDEN can still be friends with individual countries as said in the treaty.


Welcome back Romania!

I'm proud to finally welcome Romania back in the ranks of EDEN. The breakup between Romania and EDEN was an unfortunate event, one that hopefully won't occur again. From now on Romania can expect the full support of EDEN in response to Romania's involvement in EDEN. The same applies for all members, as outlined in the treaty.




Update:

For your information I've got a flu so I don't think too directly, especially in a foreign tongue. Some of the wordings I used above were misinterpreted, so allow me to clarify. Regarding the role of the EDEN HQ - what has happened with the change in leadership is that the HQ's role is to coordinate the military leadership of the member countries, as it was meant to be. The HQ is still the primary administrative body in the alliance, however. Priorities are decided upon with member country Representatives in meetings, as outlined in the treaty. There is indeed a positive change in the communication inside the alliance.



United we stand, divided we fall!
Long live EDEN!




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Avec, the Supreme Commander of EDEN