BalderBoard

This Speech was originally given by the King, in the Storting of Balder, but is reproduced here for all Nations and Friends of Balder

"I am here today to first of all appoint Linkin Maximus, the Jarl of Nordland, as Statsminister, under The Instrument of State and Government Act. He has been an instrumental driving force in some of the major reforms achieved this term, including establishing the University of Balder, and the new Justice for the Realm Act. His experience in this role from his term as Statsminister in 2018, gives me confidence in his ability to serve diligently and competently, and he also holds the unanimous confidence of both Chambers of the Storting. His agenda for the term should further our ambitions as a region, and I look forwards to its implementation.

Going back in review of the last term I will mention a few areas. The signing of the Treaty of Skandia, with The Pacific, has cemented our friendship with a new key ally, reviving the historic partnership we shared with them in the GCR Sovereignty Accords and providing us with mutual opportunities to push our shared values of sovereignty forwards on the global stage. Incidentally the name, which is Latin for Scandinavia, reflects the crossover between the 'Norse' geocultural base of the Realm of Balder, in combination with the Roman-themed governmental system in The Pacific.

Our military, the Jomsvikings, have seen another active term, even busier than the last, with more or less continuous major deployments in operations led by our allies and partners, reaching double figure deployments on more than one occasion. For now multiple terms, Vamperiall has served as Minister of War, in charge of the administrative aspects of the Jomsvikings, and so for his service in this arena, I bestow upon Vamperiall, the Chivalric Order of Tyr and thus I name him Sir Vamperiall (Knight of Tyr). The most dramatic operation was probably the recently concluded one in South Pacific. We are though equally pleased to have aided our allies in TEP in their delegacy transition. However the operation I am personally proudest of was the Balder-TWP led attempted refound mission in region=the_popular_front_for_a_united_balder - a region created by a self-declared dissident, who sought to coup us. Although the Founder returned in time to spoil the party - just before we would have completed the operation, both the organisational work of the joint Balder-TWP Command, and the 60+ endos rapidly deployed through our trusted allies in TWP, LKE, NPO, TEP, Europeia and the UK, was impressive. In the end, we have taken control of the region anyway, once again proving the most powerful weapon in NS history: brute military force simply outlasting your opponents. That's something I'm fairly familiar with now! The fantastic flag created for the mission now flies above it in perpetuity;

Meanwhile, in the Storting, significant new laws have been implemented. The new Justice for the Realm Act is the most constitutionally significant, replacing the old (2013) but somewhat peculiar Arbiter based "dispute system" with an appointed judicial bench, in common with established legal practise in most Regions nowadays. This is supplemented with a legal educational aspect called the Bar, which will serve as a register of qualified legal advocates. Those admitted to the bar may use the post-nominal letters KC (King’s Counsel). No less importantly though, the University of Balder has been established, and Linkin appointed as its first Chancellor. I also hope this institution will become an important asset for Balder in the future. For his service as Deputy Talman of the Odelsting, stepping in to keep the Chamber's business moving for most of the term, and his vision and skill in implementing the new laws discussed above, I hereby bestow upon Linkin Maximus, the Jarl of Nordland, the Chivalric Order of the Knights of Forseti.

Going forwards, we remain committed to reform where necessary, and Balder will remain ever changing and adapting - I am sure there will be discussions in this next term about what we can do to improve further, possibly in the governmental organisation aspects. The development of talent, must be a main priority for the Government, and if there are ways to optimise the system to facilitate that, we should explore them. We can only all do our best, and I am proud of what we have achieved in Balder, even if not all others in the game want to acknowledge our achievements. The perception of Balder, among a narrow but overly-vocal segment of gameplay society, particularly on the so-called extremes of R/D, is very negative. But we cannot let that influence our strategy and resolve, because a lot of the negativity is merely jealousy over our success, by those who had banked on us to fail.

We ranked bottom in a recent GCR survey of 'perception'; albeit a somewhat dubious one, having been closed early after being stacked with voters, many of whom were from the minority of GCRs who regard us unfavourably, such as TSP & TRR. They voted TNP top, which gives the survey a modicum of credibility, but other than that its difficult to make much sense of it. We were perceived by this subsect of voters to have the lowest military presence in the GCRs. But the reality is the Jomsvikings were deployed on multiple missions for the majority of the past term, whilst some other GCRs ranked above us barely appear to have deployed at all over that period. We also have the lowest perceived value as an interregional partner and for diplomacy, yet our embassy is listed in the top three, in 4 of the 5 Feeders. What other region could say that? None. The worst overall delegate performance, yet we have consistently ranked top of the Sinkers for delegate endorsements for at least the past year. I could go on about the more abstract criteria and rankings, but clearly the reality does not match the perception. The hard facts don't tally up with the narratives. This might go on for a while yet, especially given how rigged the system governing 'perception' that surrounds us is, but nonetheless its only a matter of time, before the consequences of these realities catch up with those who are trying to hold us down.

Lastly but not least, I want to pay tribute to the outgoing Statsminister, Fuzzy, Prince of Ribe, for his service over the last term. His service, all these years after he served as the First Statsminister in 2014, was once again exemplary. Therefore I bestow upon Fuzzy in respect of his demonstration of regional leadership this term and before, the Chivalric Order of Odin. I'd like to also thank all the other Ministers and Officials who served throughout the term whom I have not already mentioned above. And so I hereby officially open the Storting for the next Term, and may we once more go proudly;

Fram!"

North East Somerset

King of Balder

Dear Loyal Residents of the Realm of Balder,

I'd just like to point out that this Dispatch is False; page=dispatch/id=1419904

I'm not stepping down and there is no delegate transition. Please continue endorsing me.

The individual involved in spreading this misinformation has been banned from the Region.

Many thanks,

North East Somerset

King of Balder