MIDAS
| Agreement on the Mutual Imitative for Development, Association and Subsidization between the Collective Purity of Kæra'zna and the Imperial Vistari Confederation | |
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| Type | Preferential trading agreement |
| Context | Heilen Plan |
| Drafted | 24 February 2022 |
| Signed | 5 March 2022 |
| Location | Ankbhaja Concession, Rohyca |
| Effective | 31 March 2022 |
| Condition | Ratification by Marium I of Vistaraland and the K-RAD Foreign Trade Board |
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MIDAS, officially the Mutual Imitative for Development, Association and Subsidization (Vistarian: Wederzijdse Imitatie voor Ontwikkeling, Associatie en Subsidiëring, WIOAS) is a preferential trade agreement signed between Vistaraland and Kæra'zna as an adjacent program to the Heilen Plan. Both during and following the agreement's negotiation, MIDAS incurred significant controversy both within Vistaraland itself and amongst its strategic partners - many of which having currently active sanctions against Kæra'zna made difficult to remain effective due to interference by Vistari businesses working as middlemen.
MIDAS was signed on 5 March 2022, and announced by the Kæra Government in a Codexian language address by International Forum Ambassador Ryz'alf Tsøka'fla the following day. After an extended period of debate within the Imperial Parliamentary Council, MIDAS was ratified by Empress Marium I on the 3`st of that month, allowing the agreement to come into affect by April 2022.
While many parallels can be drawn between MIDAS and the Heilen Plan, including stipulations which limits positive economic interactions between signatories and Packilvania, there are a number of notable points of differentiation. Most notable of these is the bilateral nature of the agreement, rather than the multilateral Heilen Plan. This is, for the most part, due to the coordination of the latter by the North Concordian Economic Forum. While Vistaraland, as a member state, contributes considerably to the direction taken in agreements that include the organization as a whole, the NCEF includes a number of member critical to the Vistari trade policy regarding Borea. As such, outside observers point to conflicting desires on which countries can be included within Heilen Plan's framework of economic cooperation as to the main reason MIDAS was signed as a separate agreement between Vistaraland and Kæra'zna.
Background
MIDAS and similar agreements to it can be viewed as stemming back to the 1839 Fætsyk Accord, which outlined a basic framework for the exportation of Kæra raw materials, extracted via the system of collective service to the state, to Vistaraland. These materials would then be utilised by the emergent Vistari industrial sector in order to produce a variety of goods that could then be exported abroad. In this, the Kæra gained access to the global market through the vast trade networks established by the Vistari Empire, whilst Vistari businesses gained access to necessary resources without incurring the rising cost of manual labour, as well as the ability to more cheaply create goods using some materials not readily available in Vistari-owned territories.
Negotiations
Negotiations between the two parties began formally in mid-February 2022, with Vistari diplomats presenting the draft to members of the Kæra Government on the 24th. A considerably short negotiation period, it is considered that the reason for such a quick turnover was the adaptation of previously in-negotiation agreements between the two nations, as well as aspects copied over from the Heilen Plan.
The formal negotiation period included a statement to the Imperial Parliamentary Council by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, outlining the broad intentions of the agreement, focusing on its benefits for Vistari businesses and the extending of measures against Packilvania. Despite criticism from many members within the Formal Opposition, as well as a number of minor parties taking stances against it, the Vistari Government pushed forward with closed-door negotiations, appointing Lennard Daaner to lead negotiations on the Vistari side, with Reiner Wever - Lord Minister of Vorpest - taking an evaluative role as the leading figure of Vistari economic affairs in Borea.
Despite reasonable success in negotiating the treaty, calls made by members of the Chamber of Representatives to vote against the treaty in its current form as having failed on its supposed goals caused a debate to be held on what was previously considered the finalized document. However, after 20 days of discussion culminating in an unwhipped vote on the notion of bringing the treaty back into the negotiation stage, it was decided the version signed on 5 March would be the one to which the Government would attempt to ratify - which was passed on the 31st.
Provisions
As stated explicitly in the title of the agreement, the majority of MIDAS focuses on the range of preferential trade measures on goods regularly traded between Vistaraland and Kæra'zna. While falling short of entirely free trade due in part to the Kæra Government's use of import duties as a key source of income over a traditional system of taxation, the agreement makes trade between the two states easier than ever, and facilitates investments into Kæra industries and domestic services by Vistari companies.
However, MIDAS additionally asserts a number of measures which primarily focus on the coordination on foreign policy decisions in key world events, seen as an effort to almost bring Kæra'zna in line with the direction taken by member states of the Vistara Commonwealth. In addition, more minor clauses were put in place that generally focus on the region's sustainability of resources, an issue vitally important to the Kæra Government, as being especially reliant on what can be extracted domestically.
Packilvania
As eluded to within the stated purpose of the agreement illustrated by its preface, MIDAS takes a number of steps to encourage action taken against Packilvania. The agreement stipulates a formal condemnation of Packilvanian intervention in Rodenia, giving implicit support to the efforts of Axdel and the Union of Commonwealth Alliances in the region. Additionally, MIDAS includes the prohibiting of the sale of arms to Packilvania and members of the Packilvania-ran Foreign Military Assistance Program (FMAP).
Critics of the agreement have made notice towards the stipulation not including purchase of munitions from sanctioned states, though a lack of complete information on Kæra munitions imports creates uncertainty on if such a missing measure was an intentional loophole or a mistake that would be rendered inconsequential if such purchases are not made regardless.
Differences with Heilen Plan
While both agreements maintain an underlying purpose of allowing states to take a stance against Packilvania following their support of Rodenian actions in Puntalia, the provisions of MIDAS differ significantly to the Heilen Plan regarding the extent in which efforts are taken to achieve this goal. Unlike the NCEF-backed agreement, MIDAS comprehensive programs to oppose Packilvanian intervention abroad, with no mechanism for the allocation of funds for sapientarian aid that have been attacked by a member of the Foreign Military Assistance Program. Additionally, while some consider such a notion irrelevant to Kæra'zna, MIDAS makes no mention of limiting investments between Packilvania and Kæra'zna - limited prohibitions to solely munitions.
Suvania
The agreement stipulated the gradual withdrawal of Kæra military personnel collaborating with the unrecognized Elven State of Suvania (ESS) in the Third Suvani War, as well as prohibiting the Kæra National Collective Forces from sanctioning any operations within Suvania for the duration of the conflict. All Kæra forces involved in conflicts within Suvania were redeployed to fulfil non-combat roles at the start of April 2022, with all forces withdrawn from the country by the 5th of June. The agreement coincided with significant losses of territory for the ESS regardless, which led many to assume a departure of Compact troops was inevitable regardless. Such a notion was proven by July, in which restructuring measures supported by Kæra'zna saw the removal of the ESS from the Compact, as well as withdrawal of all official support.
Conservation of marine life
MIDAS included a number of measures for both parties to cooperate in the conservation of fish in the waters surrounding Kæra'zna and Rohyca in the event of an ecological crisis which could lead to depopulation of marine life to a degree with could make fishing an unsustainable industry. Such a provision can be assessed as an effort to protect Kæra resources, as well as allow the continuation of domestic fishing to provide a considerable portion of the average person's diet in Kæra'zna. Such a focus additionally comes within the context of a broader interest in Rotantic fishing seen most prominently in the recent acquisition of Twin Penguin Seafoods.
Unwritten agreements
While denied by Vistari officials, included those involved in the negotiations surrounding the agreement, a number of political analysts and critics of Vistari foreign policy have expressed belief in a number of unwritten agreements included within later parts of the negotiation regarding collaborative foreign policy efforts. While no substantive evidence has been found to grant credence to such allegations, some have pointed to actions taken following the agreement from both sides, as well as inconsistencies within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade report on the agreement as a reason to raise suspicions on the foreign policy goals of Vistaraland in relation to East Borea.
Kæra condemnation of Rodenia
On 6 April 2022, the Kæra Government issued an official statement regarding the division of Puntalia and the failings of the Puntalian Compromise Treaty in regards to the facilitation of self-determination in the region. While doing so only a few months following the withdrawal of Axdel from the settlement, the statement became notable in regards to MIDAS due to the lack of response to the 2020 Puntalian Crisis by the Kæra Government, as well as a lack of efforts made to condemn the agreement in the two years prior. Because of this, a number of political commentators have pointed towards the change in Vistari policy towards Rodenia which facilitated the MIDAS agreement as to the real cause for this statement. Some scholars, whilst agreeing the foreign policy of Vistaraland influenced the action, suggest the statement was more-so a proactive measure by Kæra'zna to further assure positive relations with the Vistari, rather than any form of secret or implicit agreement.
Kæra-Rohi Arms Treaty
Preceding the negotiations that would bring about MIDAS, Kæra'zna had reportedly underwent an extended period of negotiations with the neighbouring nation of Rohyca, in which to purchase a proportionally large number of armaments from the military government. Despite considerable evidence implying a preliminary draft had been written for such an agreement, Kæra'zna withdrew from negotiations on 18 February 2022, only 15 days prior to the signing of MIDAS. As such, it has been theorized that Vistari pressure had forced the agreement to be scrapped, with several members of the New Abolitionist faction in the Phòng tư vấn calling for the demand of reparations from Vistaraland for their interference in Rohi trade. Expectedly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade denied all allegations, and the Rohi government refused to pursue the matter further.
Syrtænzna
Following the 2022 Tripartite invasion of Syrtænzna, the vast majority of nations that engaged diplomatically with the regional affairs of Eastern Borea took a stance of denouncing the involved parties. Opinions amongst member states of the North Concordian Economic Forum, though mixed, presented broad support for opposing the precedent set by the actions taken to engage and in conducting the conflict. Despite this, and the NCEF approving the removal of Blaskog on this very matter, official responses by the Vistari Government heavily juxtaposed the interpretation of events accepted by Vistari allies. According to Vistari officials, the escalation of war was brought about by Syrtæn’at refusal to properly accommodate the desires of its constituent groups - painting the actions of Kæra’zna and Blaskog as ones brought about concerns for their former expatriates.
With this stance taken in the context of MIDAS and suggestions of collusion between its signatories, the governmental response was mired in allegations. Critics, both domestic and abroad, asserted the notion that trade deals such as MIDAS underpin unwritten collaborative actions that direct the course of Kæra-Vistari relations. Some, including several members of the Popularist party, have made the suggestion that these talks could have extended to a point in which Vistaraland had been previously aware of the Kæra plan - though this has been regarded as conjecture or conspiracy by most reporting on it.
Controversy
While trade agreements with East Borean statess have previously been brought forward and ratified by governments of Vistaraland, none had been without considerable controversy following actions deliberately taken by the Kæra state resulting in genocide. While many point to the approach of New Weverism when justifying the positive trade relationship with Kæra'zna, those already unconvinced by the framework tend not to find such a reasoning sound. Such a vocal opposition to actions taken by Vistari officials to facilitate trade without regard for social factors within other nations have been bolstered following the increase in democratic representation following the Second Vistari Constitution. As such, a considerable amount of opposition has been voiced inside and outside of the legislature.
The opposition also extends beyond domestic politics however, with a number of nations taking issue with the agreement as a granting of economic pathways for a country which stands opposed to what is considered many of the fundamental sapient rights. This includes other member states of the North Concordian Economic Forum, believed to have been the reason such a plan was created instead of the extension of the Heilen Plan. One of the significant concerns with the agreement includes the facilitation of Kæra evasion of sanctions placed upon them by a number of states by using Vistaraland as a go-between, justifying it via the addition of value through the processing of materials bought from K-RAD in Vistaraland.