To my fellow Federation citizens, dearest friends, and esteemed allies,
Forgive me for the late delivery of my annual address to the Summit. Events have otherwise precluded me from putting my thoughts to paper, as it were.
As we reach the two-hundred and thirty-eighth anniversary of the signing of the Federal Charter, a symbol of our unity across an incredibly diverse and vibrant Union, it is my desire that the Federation, forever advancing the human spirit and our ideals that drive our union ever into the future, continues to redefine itself as a land where one can find their home, as I have done. Its ideals and strengths lending hope and happiness to those that find themselves without either, as it has given me in the two and a half years that I have been resident in the Federation.
The Federation’s success in connecting Solitude to Placid was a historic event in the Federation and is indicative of this Presidency’s promise to further the ties between our fellow citizens in Solitude and the rest of the Federal regions. I am proud to have taken part in the construction of the Kenninck stargate, as I am of everyone that contributed. However, this must not come at the expense of the people that this Federation represents.
I refer of course to the imperilled nature of the so-called ‘Bellaron Bill’, which is in danger of being vetoed by President Aguard if one is to believe the rumours floating about Libertopolis. If these rumours are true, I will exhort Senator Bellaron to continue the struggle to ensure that this Bill, having passed both levels of the Senate and with significant public support, is signed into statute. As I stated in YC121, at the Federal level capital punishment appears fundamentally incompatible with the principles of the Federal Constitution. For those member states that express a desire to retain capital punishment, they can do so, but with stricter regulation to ensure that the condemned at least receives the dignity they are afforded under the Constitution. A failure here, would be a moral failure for the entire Federation. And as a good friend of mine has said, the failures of the Federation must be laid bare for any improvement to be made in the future.
How we act in the name of the Federation is just as important to the survival of the Union as the need for continuous reform. As you may already be aware, my corporation, the Nadire Security Consultants, recently suffered a great crime committed against two hundred and seventeen of its employees. My men and women, who gladly understood the risks of interstellar warfare and were at the mercy of their captors in Pochven, were savagely murdered in the most barbaric and odious manner in violation of established laws of warfare. Their slain bodies violated in means too graphic to describe. Some amongst my colleagues have called for retribution to be delivered in a swift, righteous fury.
I would appeal to all that may wish to dispense frontier justice unto our enemies, these criminals that are rightfully the target of our anger. Do not carry out your desires. The Collective sympathisers have shown their true colours, but that does not mean we must emulate their example. We will win the war against the Collective, but we cannot allow ourselves to succumb to their depths of depravity. If we do so, if we forsake the principles and values which we fight in defence of, then we will disgrace the memory of those that the Kybernauts murdered. To honour their legacy, we must ensure that we comport ourselves to the high standard expected of anyone in the Federation’s service. To that end, let it be known that our love for our fellow man and woman, not our hatred, will define us.
A recent episode on these very forums gives me cause for concern for the future, which I would like to take time to address. In the forum thread established by my esteemed colleague Alain Colcer, there were individuals that made statements along the lines that Caldari could not ever be considered ‘model’, or upstanding Federal citizens. Considering my own identity is that of a Federal Deteis Caldari, I must express my sheer disappointment that individuals that were raised in the good graces of the Federation would state such a thing. The millions of Caldari in the Federation that have no association with the State, honourable and forthright individuals that they are, would vehemently disagree.
I would therefore wish to remind those that would sympathise with such disgraceful views that the Federation is a place where all can find their place, regardless of their culture or identity, on the condition that it does not negatively harm the Union or their fellow citizen. To paraphrase a statement that President Arlette Villers once said – the Federation is a vision. A vision that I can stand on the street anywhere on a member state in the Federation and see another individual and greet them as my brother or sister, united by our shared principles of liberty, tolerance, and justice. Where an individual is not constrained by their birth, identity, or caste, so that they may rise and develop into greatness, whatever form that may take for that person. So that they may find their home to belong to and cherish, wherever that may be. So that they find their hope that sustains them through their darkest hours. And that they may find their happiness, everlasting amongst the citizens of the free systems of New Eden.
I am therefore humbled to announce that my application to become a citizen of the Northern Colonial Commonwealth in the Nadire District has been approved, and I have been invited to formally accept Commonwealth citizenship, and by extension, citizenship of the Federal Union.
For Liberty and Justice. Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit.