diskusbooks Chapter 227 Summit (8)
Chapter 227 Summit (8)
Alice stood on the huge terrace. The Continental Hotel wasn't the tallest building, but it still made people feel the insignificance of life on the ground.
With two moons high in the night sky, the city of Porto Carlos was ablaze with neon lights, and the building facades shone with an unusual brilliance, illuminating the advertisements posted on them. The Crystal Palace, true to its name, shone brilliantly.
A cold wind blew across the balcony, and Alice shivered slightly, but then a warm feeling enveloped her from behind as a pair of hands wrapped around her neck and hugged her.
"Thank you for today."
The emotions she had never felt in thousands of years made her very awkward. When Alice stood in front of her during the day to help her out of the predicament, her heart was struck by a different kind of force and tightened for the first time.
Alice's hair fell like willow branches, and she still leaned against the railing. Raffarin Loe held a wine glass in one hand and drank it all in one gulp. The two were silent. Alice suddenly realized that there seemed to be a lot more girls around her now.
No way, we're all just colleagues, yeah, definitely.
Alice turned around, raised her hand and patted Raffarin Low's head: "Of course, we'll keep going, won't we?"
The tall woman paused, a flicker of joy crossing her eyes, but also a hint of something else. She nodded: "Let's do it together, at least for now."
Alice nodded, raising her glass: "To the future!"
The nights in Brittany are dazzling and beautiful, but when Alice wakes up, she is shocked to find that there is more than one person sleeping in this bed.
Beside her, a tall woman breathed softly, and a petite girl clung to her arm. Alice suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the bed, which was bearing a number of people it shouldn't have been carrying at this time.
As the sun rose high in the sky, after a full day of sightseeing, a real problem lay before everyone: the situation in the Balkans and the idea of building a united international community.
The concept of a United Nations was proposed by Alice, and this proposal spread to every country with the Amelansi Global Navigation Fleet. Almost all countries supported this proposal—to build a credible organization capable of handling and reconciling conflicts between countries and delivering humanitarian aid to conflict zones.
However, there were disagreements among the countries regarding the details. Alice and Raffarin Loh had a long debate with several countries over a few clauses, especially some regional countries, some of whom did not fully understand the role of this so-called United Nations.
However, Alice firmly believes that humanity will one day be united as one. This is a small step, and perhaps in the future, this international organization can truly resolve disputes for humanity. In Raffarin Lo's account, it was the United Nations that prevented several humanitarian disasters, including the humanitarian disaster in the Red Sea region, and avoided the situation from escalating.
The meeting ended amidst the noise. Alice let out a long sigh and almost collapsed into her seat. At this level of meeting, discussion and compromise had become the norm. However, Raffarin Lo, as the main force, ultimately guided the countries to recognize the international organization and support the United Nations, agreeing to become its founding member states.
In exchange, the United International could not become too dependent on the Federal Republic of Emelansi. After a series of clashes, the countries reached an agreement: the United International would set up a temporary headquarters in Brittany and must relocate to a neutral country within five years.
However, the current Brittany Conference does have a bit of a futuristic international feel to it. Countries raise their hands to speak and speak on equal footing at a huge round conference table. In any case, at least when participating in the conference, the dignitaries representing their countries are satisfied with this format.
Regardless of their national strength, at least they can sit here. Alice copied the arrangements of the UN General Assembly and Security Council meetings, and it seems to be working very well; everyone is satisfied.
Alice took a sip of water, and a hand reached out to wipe the beads of sweat from her forehead. There was no time to waste. Raffarin Loewe, standing beside her, refilled his perfume. In this meticulously decorated rotunda, attendees came and went, but the only ones who remained still were three countries.
Ironically, the Britannian Conference, which determined the fate of the Balkans, did not involve any legitimate Balkan governments. Neither the current Western Balkan Emergency Control Zone, the Kingdom of Seville, nor the Holy State of Bonnia are considered legitimate regimes.
"Saints," Asman Ben Lovan, Alice Delalaye, the three giants of this era sat at three directions around the round conference table. Raffarin Lovan vaguely recalled the concept of permanent members of the Security Council, and she realized that at this moment, the Security Council was discussing this.
"Regarding the situation in the Balkans, our country, in view of the inhumanity of war, expressed its sympathy for the people of the Balkans. Our country established the Balkan Emergency Control Zone entirely in accordance with the wishes of the local people."
"The representative of the Federal Republic of Emelianen proposed a motion to achieve a ceasefire and truce in the Balkans, urging all parties to stop the conflict and contribute to peace, security and stability in the Balkans."
Alice's opinion was simple: ceasefire. She had already taken away many of the new generation from the former Balkan Empire, including Crown Princess Lilivia and the son of Grand Duke Zastava. If they returned after completing their studies and were able to take control of the Balkans, it would inevitably lead to Amelansi.
Alice didn't want to waste her forces on this place; the church still had considerable strength left, and Alice didn't want a dagger by her side to distract her.
"That's easy for you to say. It's the Balkans' own decision, and we have no right to interfere."
Asman ibn Lovan didn't think so. For the Caliph, the territory on the map was as vast as it could possibly be. The Empire originally intended to take over the former church's territory, but for some reason, the people of Dehoran rose up and established a Republic of Dehoran. And these Westerners even sold them warships, fearing that Dehoran wouldn't have the strength to compete with the Caliph's navy.
"Of course, so I propose that our three countries each station troops in the area to act as peacekeeping forces and monitor the local ceasefire, what do you think?"
Raffarin Lau's proposal attracted the interest of others. The idea that each of the three countries would station troops there was an admission of their respective spheres of influence. The presence of troops meant that the three countries could fully influence the local situation.
Currently, with the three major powers focused on this area, apart from the troops led by Alice, the other countries' troops have not yet entered the region. Moreover, Amelansi's military strength is very powerful. Due to the constraints of air warships, the Caliph ordered the Desert Legion to halt at the edge of the steppe. The Church itself does not have much strength, and its navy is afraid of Amelansi's naval power, so it only has two warships and two regiments of infantry, and dares not openly station itself there.
Now, Amelansi's proposal to maintain troop presence in the three countries is essentially a division of territories. The ultimate winners in the Balkans will be the three parties, which will be the areas supported by each of them.
The church now feels that the newly established Holy Kingdom is somewhat hypocritical, and this is a good opportunity to suppress it and collect some taxes.
The paper proposal was sent to the three countries. Asman Ben Lovan looked at it and found it to be very simple and within his acceptable limits. In his opinion, Amelansi had made a huge concession. If it were him, there would be no need to do this.
First, the three countries agreed to maintain the status quo in the Balkans, with all parties ceasing hostilities and using the name of the United Nations to enter the Balkans and maintain local peace and stability.
Second: The Balkans are being demilitarized, and the three countries are urging local armed forces to disarm and maintain a minimum level of armed forces.
Third: Establish a joint international Balkans affairs group, composed of the three countries, to monitor the demilitarization and ceasefire process in the Balkans.
Fourth: The Balkans will be demilitarized and garrisoned for ten years. After ten years, a national referendum will be held under the supervision of the United Nations International Balkan Affairs Group to decide whether to restore the Balkan states or establish independent nation-states.
Ultimately, the three signatures were handed over to the almost temporarily established International Joint Provisional Committee. The head of the provisional committee was an elf from the Republic of Lanfen, a newly established country in the East, which Alice had learned was "the most industrialized and socially revolutionary country among the elven nations."
For the first time, United International played its part, and contrary to Raffarin Lau's expectations, this meeting did decide something.