[Interview] Ushlau of Denmark

Day 3,510, 15:37 • Published in Norway Denmark • by Joshua Morriseau


Authors Note: Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you an interview I have done with Danish legend himself Ushlau. The media is generally favoured towards larger nations (for good reasons) so I wanted to give the opportunity to shed some light on the issues taking place in the smaller nations. When international articles are done generally countries such as Denmark and Norway are left out for example which is why Im hoping to do a small series of interviews with the heads of states of eRepublik's smallest, but also most enduring nations. My next feature will be with Rusty D of Ireland.


1. For any peasants who dare not know of you, can you please introduce yourself.
I don't think I am particular well known outside of eDenmark so an introduction is in order. I am Ushlau. I am RL life Danish and have spent my entire elife in eDenmark. I have been part of the Danish government in one role or the other for several years, so if something is rotten in Denmark you can probably blame me...

In RL I am married, two kids and while educated in finance I work in the field of software development.



2. Is the ‘Germark’ union still in place? And if so why or why not?
Germark, the close union of Germany and Denmark, is indeed still alive. Germark is more than the paper that was signed more than 5 years ago. Germark is primary about loyalty and friendship. And while there have been disagreements - quite serious disagreements - and the friendship at times has been under pressure - I believe the loyalty has always been there. I believe Germark will remain as long as there are citizens in both countries than will still honour the promise we made that time long ago, regardless of any temporary feelings for each other. I for once will.


3. Denmark consistently ranks in the bottom in terms of population size. In recent times many countries have felt the squeeze put on by the amount of their citizens leaving the game. Has this affected Denmark as much as everyone else or would you say your population has held steady?
Denmark has indeed as all other countries also lost citizens.


4. You are currently running Training Wars with both Sweden and Germany. Are two TWs needed for such a small country, or is this something that is being done more so for the benefit of your TW partners?
Two TWs might seem at a lot for a country as small as Denmark and we could probably manage with just one. However, having two TWs also mean having pretty much 24/7 access to TP and all the other benefits of a TW - as we all know it is highly profitable. As said Denmark could be doing just fine with one TW, so obvious the TWs are also for the benefit of our neighbouring countries, Germany and Sweden. It cost Denmark very little to offer this service.


5. Denmark has for the most part largely been under the political sphere of Germany. Do you ever see Denmark venturing out on its own in pursuit of an independent foreign policy with the possibility of even perhaps joining an alliance?
Denmark has been having its own foreign policy for a while. We obvious coordinate with Germany so we are ofc not independent. An example of Danish foreign policy is the NAP between Denmark and Sweden. It involves only Denmark and Sweden - Germany is not part of that.

Denmark has at this time no real interest in joining an alliance. Not that we are against joining an alliance - it just does not seem relevant or beneficial at the moment.



6. In the past year you lost two very prominent citizens when Her Majesty Maine Coon and Zacharia Raven left Denmark. What kind of impact did losing two such highly valued citizens have on your small community? And what impact do you expect it will have now that the ‘Queen of Denmark’ has returned?
The incident resulting in Maine Coon and Zacharia leaving Denmark was a low point in eDanish history (and partly Germark history). However, while they changed citizenship, they did not really leave as such, so the impact was manageable. That said I am excited to have Maine Coon back as an eDane and hope that Zacharia will come home soon as well.


7. You currently only have 1 MPP which is with Belgium. Is it safe to say that Belgium is an important ally to Denmark? And who would you say are Denmark’s other closest allies?
The MPP we have with Belgium is of no real strategic importance - both side agrees about that. It is very much a result of a personal friendship with the current Belgium CP. However, it does provide MPP battles in the few situations where there are no Danish battles.

Denmark’s closest ally is ofc Germany. There can be no doubt about that. Other than that, it is not as much countries as it persons. The Danish foreign policy has always been built on personal relationship as we historically haven't been able to maintain MPPs given the union with Germany. Alliances and MPPs will change, but personal friendships are in my opinion much more relevant for the threats that historically has been against Denmark. Obvious we would have no chance if one of the bigger countries decided it to be worth the effort to wipe Denmark, but then again that has never really been Denmark’s biggest problem.


8. Denmark is really not that far away from filling up the needed cc to fund an Airstrike. Under what circumstances do you think Denmark would actually use an AS?
If someone want to pay for a Danish airstrike and ensure a safe landing, we will probably do it. Other than that, I see no situation currently where that would be relevant (or doable).

9. Plato has been consistently trying to bring different updates (not always successful or needed) to the game. Do you have any ideas that he could bring forward that would be solely for the benefit of smaller nations such as ours?
To be honest I don't think Plato should try to do a fix for the smaller countries, but rather do something more generic. Anywhere here goes my two cents.
Lowering the cost of MPPs substantial would be nice.

If a country decides to honour a MPP (they could also decide not to), there should be a cost depending on the population of that country (or country power). And if Plato could please put a stop to all this moving around - either by putting a limit on the allowed moves per day or by raising the cost of moving.

As long as people easily and cheap can move to another country and fight, the MPPs are less interesting. The day people can actually only fight if the country have a MPP and has decided to honour that MPP, there will in my opinion be much more focus on electing the proper politicians. Obvious that will hurt BH hunters so the chance of that happening is fairly slim.

10. And lastly, is there anything that I never asked that you would like a chance to speak about regarding yourself or your nation?
Though I, as pretty much everyone else in this game, from time to time bitch over the lack of innovation I still find enjoinment in this game. I believe I will stick around. It is a strange thing - though I have never met anyone from this game in RL and though I rarely discuss anything personal with anyone in this game, there is still quite a lot of people I would miss if I did not do my daily logon. I often wonder how that can be. The developers must have done something right at one point...

Thanks for doing this interview with me, I hope you didn’t find it to boring!

It has been a pleasure.