Crosses, Pacha and Poddel'nyye Novosti: Update 1 - November 13, 2015 to December 25, 2017
I will hereby continue the lovely, Turtledove nominated timeline Hammer's, Sickle's and Mushroom Clouds: The Story of the Reverse Cold War by @Kaiser K who sadly passed away in February 2016. After the actual Reverse Cold War, @TPL99 and then me, at that time with permission by Kaiser K, took over the timeline and wrote a few updates. The TL thread got locked due to necroing...
I have also made some retcons to my own updates at the end of the TL.
"Make Russia Great Again!"
"Build a wall and make the Iranians pay for it!"
- famous or infamous campaign slogan by Gennadiy Timchenko
Crosses, Pacha and Poddel'nyye Novosti
November 13, 2015 (Berlin, German Empire)-December 25, 2017 (Kielce, Kingdom of Poland)
November 13, 2015 was a day of worldwide shock as 130 people died in clubs and cafés on the streets of Berlin - the terrorists, CI-aligned, had tried to enter the Olympiastadion, but were prevented from doing so by security guards. Nevertheless, 8 CI-aligned terrorists managed to shoot and blow up 130 people. Many acts of solidarity took place worldwide, even the French Eiffel Tower was lit up in the colours of the German flag.
The Eiffel Tower in the national colours of Germany, as a move of solidarity for the victims of the Berlin terrorist attacks.
On November 24, a hefty crisis erupted between America under Mitt Romney and Egypt when an American fighter yet was shot down by the Egyptian air force while coming back from a mission in eastern India to combat CAIA. Worldwide, Egypt was accused of suppressing its Coptic minority already and of exploiting the general opposition against Christian fundamentalist terrorism in order to paint the Copts as terrorists of their own. In late 2014, peace talks with the Christian Workers' Party - branded an illegal terrorist organisation even by the West, but with quite a bit of sympathy among the population - under Girgis-Girgis Charobim, and war started again.
But another event in Berlin fueled hope in another area: Worldwide, and with the express consent of Rustam Minnikhatov and Michel Temer and other big polluters, the 2 degree target was fixed in a binding treaty and everybody agreed to reduce national carbon footprints. The Berlin Accords were celebrated worldwide by environmentalists while it was loathed by corporations.
Another controversial treaty - still negotiated as of late 2017 - was the TBTP (Trans-Baikalian Trade Partnership) between Russia, Manchuria, Mengjiang, Mongolia, Uyghurstan, and the ECU as many in the ECU, mainly lower-class people and environmental activists, feared the lowering of environmental and consumer protection levels to the Russian ones (percieved as far too lax for example in France, Germany and the Czech Republic)
A demonstration against the TBTP free trade agreement, also sometimes percieved as destructive or damading to democracy (among other things, because of the International Trade Courts which should have been open only to big international corporations)
On New Year's Eve 2015, events in Aix-en-Provence massively played into the hands of EPCADO and other right-wingers, and of course into the hands of the right-wing populist AF (Alternative Francaise): Young men, suspected mostly to be of South Asian and East African progeny, sexually harassed, assaulted, sometimes even raped, or stole from a lot of women on the famous square in front of the Aix-en-Provence Cathedral. What was even worse, the police of Aix-en-Provence only communicated after several days had passed and then used the term Niakré (for "Niakoué recidive") and Bamboulac (from "Bamboula" and "acteur") in an official Shcheb. Les Verts claimed this to be a racist slur and attack, pointed out that "French men could also have committed such crimes" and accused police of "racial profiling". While it is naturally correct that Europeans also commit such crimes, many citizens (citoyens soucieux) were concerned and/or blamed the open border policies of Rachida Dati.
The cathedral of Aix-en-Provence, in front of it, the events of New Years' Eve 2015 unfolded. Afterwards, the term "Niakré" became known all over France.
Shortly after the sexual assaults of New Years' Eve, rumour in France had it that "Lisa", some South French teenager, had been raped by South Asian migrants. EPCADO once again staged large-scale demonstrations in Montpellier, Marseille and other South French cities against migrants, against Rachida Dati ("Dati dégage!" and "Traîtresse au peuple!" were popular slogans) and for their only hope left, the AF party. But after a few days, it was proven that Lisa was safe and had just escaped from her home, and that the rape was blatantly invented by American or at least pro-American media.
Frauke Petry (centre-right) with some members of her cabinet, namely Minister of the Environment Leif-Erik Holm (centre-left), Minister of Economiy Konrad Adam (right) and State Secretary for Bavaria Jörg Meuthen (left).
Iñigo Urkullu, one of the most important negotiation participants in the German Austritt negotiations
CI terrorism resumed on March 22, with the Vilnius attack. It left 32 civilians dead near the airport and at a metro station in the European "capital city" of Vilnius. But worse, on July 14, having become Victory Day in the Ottoman Empire in remembrance of the end of World War II, a dreadful terrorist attack occurred in Latakia - 86 died as a lorry ran over celebrating people at the main beach promenade. This finally highlighted the danger of CI, who have overrun many parts of East Africa - some of the poorest regions in the world which have always felt suppressed by Israel and its European supporters - in 2013-2015, and who are unscrupulous enough not only to hijack aeroplanes, but also to use any object available as a weapon to kill infidels. This includes knives, cars, and, as in this case, a lorry.
Throughout the years 2015 to 2017, another major theme in French and other European media were the manipulations regarding nitrogen oxide emissions of VG cars, first uncovered in Primorye, Russia, but leading to Diesel car sales plummeting and a renewed debate about electric mobility - together with percieved incompetence and time-wasting on an ineffective Péage étrangère on the part of Breton Minister of Traffic Bruno Quivillic (CAS) that was more likely than not contradictory to ECU laws against discrimination of foreigners. Altogether, these factors yielded a lot of dissatisfaction with traffic policy in France. VG (Voiture Generale) is for now still associated with the emissions scandal, and there have been incarcerations and trials in France and Russia. Diesel cars are also to be blamed for the threat of driving bans due to far too high particulate matter counts (especially in Caen) at least partly, and for the introduction of emission stickers (officially pastilles écologiques, but mostly called éco-pastilles) which have to be green in order to drive into many French inner cities (the system, despite its hotly debated effect, was replicated in many countries in Europe), but it was also "only" the Diesel sales that plummeted. VG made just as much or even more money on petrol and other cars as ever.
Refugees and a Pharao
Meanwhile in most other parts of Europe, the refugee crisis - and elections in 2017 - were the big theme. Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia and Armenia closed off the "Caucasus Route" and "Balkan Route" for refugees. Authoritarian far-righters Serzh Sargsyan and Grigori Kvirikashvili cooperated closely and defied the EU quotas for refugee distribution systematically, as did Silvio Berlusconi in North Italy (but the latter was thought to be more understandable with the constant - if only latent - threat from Bari looming...
And soon enough, all the burden was on the Ottoman Empire. While its policies were humane and quite liberal, at some point, even an Ottoman Empire is at some point overtaxed. And thus, the ECU, in autumn 2016, had agreed with Egypt that Egypt stops boats from reaching the Ottoman Empire and, for every refugee Egypt took back, the ECU will allow one handpicked refugee into its territory.
North Italy was very different. Silvio Berlusconi, a relatively authoritarian PM who closed Italy and Italian borders to refugees and didn't take any Africans in - and refused to fulfil the ECU quotas just like Grigori Kvirikashvili and Serzh Sargsyan - was term-limited and aging and the elections of 2013 yielded a victory for charismatic Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini. But the Prime Ministership, as was already the case so often in North Italy, was marred by a scandal. The first female, democratically elected PM of Southern Europe got a lot of flak in 2016 - and in the end, she had to resign. Corruption and cronyism, well-known to be prominent in North Italy, was only one of the causes. But the main cause was one relatively uncommon one: Alessandra Mussolini was under the influence of the Neo-Roman cult leader Tomasio Cataldi aka Iovi Terrae. In late 2016, she began to remove herself from power and new elections led to a victory of the more left-wing (and some say: more diplomatically inclined towards South Italy) Matteo Renzi becoming PM.
However, the Egyptian President, El-Sayyid el-Badawi, became ever more demanding, likely as he felt that Europe depended on him and was thus liable to be held to ransom. The most pressing demand was for visa-free travel of Egyptian citizens into the ECU. This authoritarian streak got much worse after an attempted military coup on July 15, 2016 for which the Islamist preacher movement of Mohammed Badie - who was living in exile in an undisclosed location in Russia - was made responsible. After this, repressions of journalists, lawyers, judges, teachers, civil servants, police officers, but most importantly a full-scale repressive action against the press, begun. And it continues to this day.
In early 2017, things got a lot worse when Egyptian politicians wanted to campaign in the United Baltic Duchies, not neutrally catering to the - quite large - Egyptian minority in the United Baltic Duchies but with the aim of getting them to vote for the constitutional referendum in April which was to grant el-Badawi even more autocratic and authoritarian powers, for example he himself being able to dissolve parliament and bypass the - then figurehead - Prime Minister. Egypt should be transformed into a presidential system.
Baltics, having long been used to democracy and some also being xenophobic (under the "Freedom Party" of Arvids Ikaunieks) did not like foreign heads of state campaigning for an undemocratic measure and diplomatic relations escalated when, first, Egyptian ministers were barred from entry into the country and, when some ministers nevertheless flew to Riga, Tallinn and Tartu, the Minister of Family was detained at the Riga airport. This move was very popular among Lithuanians not of Egyptian descent or citizenship and also among other European states, as Mohamed Samy was increasingly percieved as a "Pharao".
El-Sayyid el-Badawi
The referendum in Egypt was very close with only just over 50 % of the population agreeing to the constitutional reform, despite the "No" campaign having steadily been hindered and the "Yes" campaign massively supported with regards to campaign finance. Nevertheless, suspicions of the referendum being rigged were floating around.
The Balto-Egyptian diplomatic crisis came together with the United Baltic Duchy election campaign. Elections were going to take place in three important pro-European countries in 2017, and, after the victory of Gennadiy Timchenko in Russia, everybody was scared that right-wing populists might make major gains or even get a Head of Government into positions. The first election in the year was for the parliament in Riga. And although the "Patriotic Freedom Party" did gain in votes, pro-European parties like the Liberal Democrats and D77, and especially the Green-Left Party, clearly won out. Nevertheless, coalition talks between the Liberal Democrats, D77, the Christian Lutheran Union and the Christian Democrats took until autumn to conclude, with the result of Juri Ratas remaining in office.
But that was - more or less - considered a "test run" for elections in the Ottoman Empire and, later in the year, in France. In late May and early June, everybody looked towards Istanbul - some with fear, some with hope, and many with a mix of the two. The ultra-nationalist right-wing populist and anti-Christian MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) under their leader Devlet Bahceli, however, luckilly got soundly defeated by pro-European parties, among them the relatively new movement "Yürüyen Devlet" ("Empire, Forward!" or "Empire in March!" under Murat Cetinkaya. And this movement, promising sweeping reform despite (or even because) Murat Cetinkaya had been a big boss of the Ottoman Central Bank, decisively won the elections. Bashar al-Assad's Socialist Party was the biggest loser as he had not managed to fulfil a lot of his promises, among them sweeping labour reform. Even Selahettin Demirtas of the far-left Communist Party of the Ottoman Empire nearly got more votes.
And in the runoff between Murat Cetinkaya and Devlet Bahceli, Murat Cetinkaya, the pro-European reformer, emerged victorious with a nearly two-thirds majority over the far-right nationalist. Thus, the Ottoman Empire could for the foreseeable future be counted on in the reform process that Europe so urgently needed after the Austritt.
Murat Çetinkaya, the new, charismatic vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
This secured the Ottoman Empire, a much more important power than the United Baltic Duchies, for pro-European parties and Europe was once again hopeful that reforms could be started.
The third election of the year, however, was just as or even more important.than the second one. It was the election to the Federal Assembly of France, more important though was the question who was to become Chancelleur of France. After all, EPCADO and similar right-wing groups had continuously shouted out "Dégage Dati! Dégage Dati" throughout Southern (and in some cases even in northern) France, and the right-wing populist AF party - the Alternative Française - had entered all regional parliaments to which there had been elections since 2015. Notably, in early 2016, the AF had entered several regional parliaments with comfortable double-digit figures and even became second strongest party in Euscare-Aquitaine and Bourgogne (Burgundy) with a whopping 20,8 % and 24,6 %, respectively.
Results for AF had steadily decreased and in early 2017, France experienced quite a surprise: The "Hamon Effect" nearly brought the PS, thought doomed, up to the level of the DCA/CAS. Unfortunately though, by March and at the latest after the first loss of regional elections in Champagne, the Hamon Effect had been proven to be nothing but hot air. The PS steadily fell in the polls, lost elections in Ile-de-France and Loire-Atlantique - which, to make things worse, cost them two minister-presidents - and September 24 ended in their worst result ever in the history of the French Federal Republic.
The AF on the other hand, despite their results decreasing in the North French elections in 2017 down to single-digit numbers, were nearly universally considered the winners. But, as is usual for right-wing populist parties, they also attracted the occasional scandal: Bruno Gollnisch, the chairman of AF in Poitou, called the Holocaust memorial in Paris, somewhat ambiguously, a "memorial of disgrace" and claimed that "other countries put reminders of their glory into their capitals. It is only France which has a memorial of disgrace as a central element in Paris.", which brought heated debate about an exclusion of Gollnisch into the party.
Even during 2016, a scandal was never far when an AF politician was around. Jean-Claude Martinez, one of the future candidates for Chancellor of France, offended national football team player N'Golo Kanté and many French citizens, independent of ethnicity or progeny, as he said that N'Golo Kanté was percieved as "foreign" and "people don't want N'Golo Kanté for their neighbour".
N'Golo Kanté, "victim" of an AF-provoked scandal.
This as immediately refuted by the actual neighbours and many people professed that they would rather not have Jean Claude Martinez for their neighbour and would prefer Kanté, this xenophobic "skcandal" remained in French Media for several days. Other scandals included Joelle Mélin demanding that "refugees must, in emergency cases, be shot when trying to illegally cross the border".
And the hithertho biggest ruckus within AF came when the co-founder and party chairwoman, Marine Le Pen, was "ousted" at the party conference in April 2017 in Aix-en-Provence. Although the worst she feared, exclusion from the party or having to resign and exit the AF, did not come true, she was not elected to be supreme candidate for the federal elections. Instead, a duo of Jean Claude Martinez and Mylène Troszczynski was nominated for this post to represent the economic and the nationalist populist wing of the party.
The AF did not embroil themselves in too much scandal after Martinez/Troszczynski had been selected as the federal supreme candidates - despite several statements becoming quite controversial, for example Martinez's claim that Bariza Khiari should be "disposed of in the Atlas mountains" - but the election was not nearly as insecure as some had feared.
DCA/CAS: 32,9 %
PS: 20,5 %
AF: 12,6 %
PRL: 10,7 %
GAUCHE: 9,2 %
Entente 90/Les Verts: 8,9 %
And the months after September 24 became extremely controversial. The PS under Benoît Hamon, as soon as the first prognosis appeared on TV, precisely at 6 p.m., categorically ruled out another GraCoa. And thus, the only viable alternative was a Coalition Jamaicaine. Two months of talks yielded no result, the Brittany-specific CAS and Les Verts continued arguing about migration and traffic, environment and domestic security. The hottest irons were the Regroupement familial which had been suspended in March 2016 by the somewhat hawkish Minister of the Interior of the Dati government, Bernard Accoyer, and which was to take effect again automatically in March 2018, but DCA and more importantly CAS wanted to keep it suspended, the sortie du charbon which was demanded by the Greens in order to fulfil climate protection goals until 2030 and the attempt on the part of the Greens to plan banning internal combustion engines for vehicles until 2030. But in the end it was neither CAS nor Les Verts who made the coalition talks fail, but Emmanuel Macron of the PRL. To this day, there is debate about why Macron walked out. Les Verts claim that "unification was painstakingly close", while the PRL claims that their goals and policies were not at all represented in the paper.
And then, French President Francois Hollande came into play. DCA/CAS-Verts, another GraCoa, and a minority government were debated. And by the end of the year, Benoît Hamon - asking his party members on the base - declined a GraCoa, and a DCA/CAS-Verts minority government could be successfully inaugurated on December 18.
Several smaller-scale terrorist attacks, mostly by radicalised CI-affiliated "lone wolves", occurred in Stockholm, Berlin and Boston, with the heftiest attacks being a suicide bomb attack on May 22 in Gelsenkirchen where youth idol and star singer Lena had just given a concert on her tour Gefährliche Frauen - 22 people, including the bomber, died. And the second-biggest, and likely even more appalling than the Gelsenkirchen attack, was August 17 where a rented van was abused to run over pedestrians on Piazza San Marco in Venice.
Piazza San Marco, minutes before the van, driven by Tegegne Birara, kills 15 pedestrians and injures another 50.
That was until, on December 25, 2017, CI-led terrorism returned big-time to Europe. To an open, but staunchly Catholic nation which had hand-picked its (quite good) share of refugees via an immigration law. To the nation of Prime Minister Eligiusz Przerwa-Tetmajer. Several CI terrorists managed to get into a church full of people for Christmas mass, and it was not some village or small town church, but the cathedral of Kielce. Full to the brim, several suicide bombers blew themselves up during mass (at around 12:45 a.m.). The result was heavy damage to the Cathedral and 1,087 people dead with about as many more injured. The remainder of the year was spent with mourning, the celebrations marred but also intensified in the eyes of some by de-emphasizing the commercial and highly emphasizing the religious and reflective aspect.
This should be the worst terrorist attack in Europe and the worst worldwide since the 20/7 attacks of 1999 in St. Petersburg. And it should be the real beginning of international efforts to combat CI and finally root out the Christian fundamentalist extremist terrorist militia headed by a certain Norbert Mao.
Norbert Mao, leader of the CI terrorist militia
Russia: Make Russia Great Again - but with the help of Poddel'nyye Novosti?
2016 was also a Russian election year. Rustam Minnikhatov was term-limited, and so, fields were wide open on both parties, on the National Republican and on the Social Democratic side. The Social Democrats have no truly good candidate, especially nobody as charismatic as Rustam Minnikhatov. The primaries and caucuses were not too much of a fight and so, Boris Borissovich Zolnerovich, the husband of former President Alina(?) Zolnerovich, cruised to the nomination.
Much more interesting were the National Republican primaries and caucuses: The first Korean-Russian candidate, Kim Jae-Ri, ran against billionaire, steel, energy and sports magnate Gennadiy Timchenko. And from the very beginning of the campaign, Gennadiy Timchenko spread propaganda. He outed himself as a climate change denialist, wanted to "build a wall on the Iranian border and make the Iranians pay for it", claimed that due to his fame and wealth he could grab any woman "by the pussy" without any negative consequences, and most importantly, he wants to "Make Russia Great Again".
During the campaign trail, the phenomenon of Poddel'nyye Novosti - cooked-up stories on social networks like Shchebet and Lizhokniga (commonly known as LK). The most infamous piece of Poddel'nyye Novosti was "Cevapcicigate" where millions upon millions of voters should be made to believe that Boris Zolnerovich should be jailed and convicted as quickly as possible for being part or having been part of a major drug and pornography trafficking ring operating top-secretly in a Cevapcici restaurant in Leningrad.
All polling institutes expected a landslide win for Zolnerovich, and most people in the world did so, too. But come November 8, Gennadiy Timchenko won the election - and on November 9, the world was in shock.
Gennadiy Timchenko, new President of Russia - here not sending out one of his dangerous Shchebs.
Scandals abounded throughout the campaign, and it was not to become any better after Gennadiy Timchenko was elected. During the campaign and after the election, allegations of suspicious contacts between the Timchenko team/cabinet and America were always in the air. Sergey Naryshkin, Timchenko's handpicked National Security Advisor, had to resign only three weeks after Timchenko's inauguration because he had had contact with the Ambassador to America, Jon Huntsman Jr. - a close friend of Mitt Romney. He was replaced by Oleg Olegovich Salenko.
Several of Timchenko's nomations for cabinet posts failed to be confirmed by the Duma, which is otherwise rare. Among those not confirmed were Secretary of Labour Yevgeniy Atilakov, a former CEO of the Zinoviev fastfood chain who would have had a full-fledged CEO-friendly and worker-hostile agenda, who was replaced by similarly controversial Yuriy Troshkin.
And most others were extremely controversial from their very beginnings: Ramzan Kadyrov, although not having an official cabinet-level post, had been Timchenko's closest advisor and before, lead controversial news agency Pogrebnyak Novosti - a far-right site which had been revealed to publish Poddel'nyye Novosti, lies, and conspiracy theories (anything from 7/20 "truthers" who believe that the 7/20 attacks were an inside job to climate change denialists).
Ranzan Kadyrov, closest advisor of Gennadiy Timchenko. He resigned on April 5, 2017 and some claim that Pogrebnyak News is now trying to undermine the Timchenko administration, especially new National Security Advisor Oleg Olegovich Salenko.
Secretary of Health Grigoriy Nikolaevich Proskuryakov, along with Timchenko absolutely bent on abolishing "Minnicare", the state-funded health insurance program initiated by Rustam Minnikhatov for which he was loved, but also harshly criticised as a "Bolshevik" or "Brusselsite", resigned in September after controversy surrounding travel costs and private use of military aircraft. He was replaced on November 29, 2017 by Viktor Vladimirovich Kharitonin, the former Chairman of major drug company Pharmastandard.
Some of the few non-controversial Cabinet members of Gennadiy Timchenko include Minister of Defence Sergey Shoygu, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Lisin, and to some extent Minister of Finance Mikhail Fridman.
Several other prominent members of the Timchenko administration, despite not (yet?) having resigned, were just as controversial as those that did resign. Mainly, this included Vagit Alekperov, the President of the Bureau for Environmental Protection and Control (BEPC). He had been CEO of LUKOIL and is a known climate change denialist. Some believe he is behind the decision of Gennadiy Timchenko, announced on June 1, 2017, to withdraw from the Berlin Climate Accords. Timchenko claimed that "the Berlin accords will undermine the Russian economy" and "put Russia at a permanent disadvantage", anyway, he and Alekperov are convinced that climate change is nothing but a "Brazilo-European conspiracy to destroy the Russian economy" by demanding regulations, switching to regenerative energy sources etc.
All the while, relations with South Italy were deteriorating. Gianluigi Gramsci steadily tested new missiles and also performed some nuclear tests, but while Rustam Minnikhatov handled the test with UN sanctions and resolutions and otherwise by diplomatic means, Gennadiy Timchenko was no longer prepared to do so. Gramsci III. continued his usual "behaviour" of ignoring UN resolutions and continuing testing, but from March to September 2017, Timchenko reacted undiplomatically to say the least - more often than not by Shcheb - threatening South Italy several times with "total annihilation" (UN Assembly) or with "fire and fury the likes of which the world has never seen". However, South Italy could not be deterred and threatened to attack Crete. Corsica and South France, and many others, were touted as mediators, but to this day, the crisis - although it has not worsened - remains unmediated.
Mexico - The PORU makes a difference even an ocean away:
While Minnikhatov had negotiated the milestone "atomic accords" with Mexico, basically allowing Mexico peaceful nuclear use under strict controls, Timchenko castised the deal as "the worst deal possible for Russia". However, unraveling the deal is just beginning as of December 2017.
Africa: How to fight flight - and a helpful coup for once?
Africa became a central focus for Europe, especially for those states who did not want to cope with wave after wave of refugees. A deal with Egypt had been concluded to hold back refugees that wanted to flee into the Ottoman Empire and thus into the ECU, and many - especially of DCA/CAS and other right-wing parties - advocated concluding such agreements with other states in Africa, even those with a dubious political system or countries with clearly ultra-authoritarian dictatorships. Some of these countries include Somalia and Eritrea, the latter called the "South Italy of Africa" under its dictator Isaiah Afewerki.
And in late 2017, Africa was in focus - the first time in a long time - for something not refugee- or climate-change-related. Namely, a coup ousted long-time Cameroonian dictator Paul Biya. Once celebrated for making Whites and Blacks equal and liberating the nation from the grip of German-imposed white supremacists, he himself had become corrupt and totalitarian and the Kamerunmark had experienced some of the highest inflation rates worldwide in 2009 and was still nearly worthless. The economy had suffered immensely, HIV/AIDS was a major problem, a low life expectancy prevailed, and generally, Cameroon was one of the poorest nations on Earth. Aging Paul Biya was either unable or unwilling to deal with the issues and thus, on November 14, 2017, the military staged a relatively bloodless coup, bringing media stations and other important points in Yaounde under control. After several days, the KANU (Kamerunisch-Afrikanische Nationalunion) started the process of removing Biya from the party and from all offices, guided by the military, and a week after the coup, Biya's former vice President, Ephraim Inoni was inaugurated as President of Cameroon. Despite many Cameroonians celebrating and being very hopeful, few in the West believe that barely younger Ephraim Inoni will really start Cameroon anew. However, hope does still glimmer at the end of the year, contrary to Europe which is occupied with the Kielce terrorist attack...
I have also made some retcons to my own updates at the end of the TL.
"Make Russia Great Again!"
"Build a wall and make the Iranians pay for it!"
- famous or infamous campaign slogan by Gennadiy Timchenko
Crosses, Pacha and Poddel'nyye Novosti
November 13, 2015 (Berlin, German Empire)-December 25, 2017 (Kielce, Kingdom of Poland)
November 13, 2015 was a day of worldwide shock as 130 people died in clubs and cafés on the streets of Berlin - the terrorists, CI-aligned, had tried to enter the Olympiastadion, but were prevented from doing so by security guards. Nevertheless, 8 CI-aligned terrorists managed to shoot and blow up 130 people. Many acts of solidarity took place worldwide, even the French Eiffel Tower was lit up in the colours of the German flag.
The Eiffel Tower in the national colours of Germany, as a move of solidarity for the victims of the Berlin terrorist attacks.
On November 24, a hefty crisis erupted between America under Mitt Romney and Egypt when an American fighter yet was shot down by the Egyptian air force while coming back from a mission in eastern India to combat CAIA. Worldwide, Egypt was accused of suppressing its Coptic minority already and of exploiting the general opposition against Christian fundamentalist terrorism in order to paint the Copts as terrorists of their own. In late 2014, peace talks with the Christian Workers' Party - branded an illegal terrorist organisation even by the West, but with quite a bit of sympathy among the population - under Girgis-Girgis Charobim, and war started again.
But another event in Berlin fueled hope in another area: Worldwide, and with the express consent of Rustam Minnikhatov and Michel Temer and other big polluters, the 2 degree target was fixed in a binding treaty and everybody agreed to reduce national carbon footprints. The Berlin Accords were celebrated worldwide by environmentalists while it was loathed by corporations.
Another controversial treaty - still negotiated as of late 2017 - was the TBTP (Trans-Baikalian Trade Partnership) between Russia, Manchuria, Mengjiang, Mongolia, Uyghurstan, and the ECU as many in the ECU, mainly lower-class people and environmental activists, feared the lowering of environmental and consumer protection levels to the Russian ones (percieved as far too lax for example in France, Germany and the Czech Republic)
A demonstration against the TBTP free trade agreement, also sometimes percieved as destructive or damading to democracy (among other things, because of the International Trade Courts which should have been open only to big international corporations)
On New Year's Eve 2015, events in Aix-en-Provence massively played into the hands of EPCADO and other right-wingers, and of course into the hands of the right-wing populist AF (Alternative Francaise): Young men, suspected mostly to be of South Asian and East African progeny, sexually harassed, assaulted, sometimes even raped, or stole from a lot of women on the famous square in front of the Aix-en-Provence Cathedral. What was even worse, the police of Aix-en-Provence only communicated after several days had passed and then used the term Niakré (for "Niakoué recidive") and Bamboulac (from "Bamboula" and "acteur") in an official Shcheb. Les Verts claimed this to be a racist slur and attack, pointed out that "French men could also have committed such crimes" and accused police of "racial profiling". While it is naturally correct that Europeans also commit such crimes, many citizens (citoyens soucieux) were concerned and/or blamed the open border policies of Rachida Dati.
The cathedral of Aix-en-Provence, in front of it, the events of New Years' Eve 2015 unfolded. Afterwards, the term "Niakré" became known all over France.
Shortly after the sexual assaults of New Years' Eve, rumour in France had it that "Lisa", some South French teenager, had been raped by South Asian migrants. EPCADO once again staged large-scale demonstrations in Montpellier, Marseille and other South French cities against migrants, against Rachida Dati ("Dati dégage!" and "Traîtresse au peuple!" were popular slogans) and for their only hope left, the AF party. But after a few days, it was proven that Lisa was safe and had just escaped from her home, and that the rape was blatantly invented by American or at least pro-American media.
Sports and Politics - Did Europe stabilise or destabilise?
In June and July of that year, the European Cup was held in the German Empire - under high-security conditions, but few football fans were truly frightened of a CI terrorist attack. And it turned out that the worst thing that happened during the European Cup were several badly injured supporters after Russia had played the UK. Russia got a suspension on probation, and then, the remainder of the European Cup was peaceful. Everybody - except the English, of course - was delighted by the advance of Iceland into the quarter-finals, and the German Empire, having won against France in the semifinal, narrowly lost against Albania 1-0 a.e.t (Goal: 109' Xhaferi)
Shqelkim Xhaferi in the dress of his club, PK Vantaan 35. After the European Cup victory, Bundesliga newcomers Flugzeuge Stolp (Stolp Aeroplanes), sponsored by the Reichs-Lufthansa AG, purchased the talent for RM 29 million (approx. €33 million)
Beyond South France - Insecurity and the right wing:
But in the middle of the European Cup, a shock hit Europe. The long-anticipated #Austritt referendum, whether the German Empire should exit the European Cooperative Union (ECU), took place on June 23. One week prior, Heike Brehmer, MP for the Harz constituency, had been murdered by a radical pro-Austritt far-righter, but nevertheless, despite pollsters expecting an, albeit narrow, victory for the Europa Bleiben! campaign, the Austritt! vote proved to be 51,89 %. For the case of Austritt! winning, Angela Merkel had promised to resign. A year earlier, Oskar Lafontaine had become Shadow Chancellor in the SPD cabinet, but Angela Merkel picked one Frauke Petry as her successor. Despite Frauke Petry at some point having opposed Austritt and having clearly distanced herself from the Reichsunabhängigkeitspartei - Alternative für Deutschland (RUP-AfD), she, known as a pretty hardline Minister of the Interior, should now manage Austritt. And for nine months, she beat around the bush a and made at best half-hearted moves. Until March 29, 2017, when she officially "filed for divorce" in Vilnius. But ever since the Austritt option won, Europe and Germany are majorly concerned about what Austritt will entail. Germany's economy has tanked and the lack of skilled labour (Fachkräftemangel) have already become much worse as, from Sligo to Simferopol, would-be-migrants are concerned about their future rights in the German Empire and whether they would be illegalised, maybe even deported. Companies are concerned about the Common Market remaining (even if Germany had never introduced the Euro in the first place and remained with its Reichsmark), and especially financial companies are moving to Angers en masse. Another point of insecurity is that all borders of the German Empire will then become outer borders of the ECU again - how shall they be policed, or shall passport-free travel be retained?
Even by December 2017, the ECU and the German Empire haven't really achieved much. The German Empire demands assurances as to future relations beyond March 29, 2019, while the ECU, especially Rachida Dati and President of the ECU Comission Iñigo Urkullu, demand assurances that the German Empire would fulfil financial obligations agreed to before 2017 and that it will respect the rights of its non-citizen ECU residents. In June and July of that year, the European Cup was held in the German Empire - under high-security conditions, but few football fans were truly frightened of a CI terrorist attack. And it turned out that the worst thing that happened during the European Cup were several badly injured supporters after Russia had played the UK. Russia got a suspension on probation, and then, the remainder of the European Cup was peaceful. Everybody - except the English, of course - was delighted by the advance of Iceland into the quarter-finals, and the German Empire, having won against France in the semifinal, narrowly lost against Albania 1-0 a.e.t (Goal: 109' Xhaferi)
Shqelkim Xhaferi in the dress of his club, PK Vantaan 35. After the European Cup victory, Bundesliga newcomers Flugzeuge Stolp (Stolp Aeroplanes), sponsored by the Reichs-Lufthansa AG, purchased the talent for RM 29 million (approx. €33 million)
Beyond South France - Insecurity and the right wing:
But in the middle of the European Cup, a shock hit Europe. The long-anticipated #Austritt referendum, whether the German Empire should exit the European Cooperative Union (ECU), took place on June 23. One week prior, Heike Brehmer, MP for the Harz constituency, had been murdered by a radical pro-Austritt far-righter, but nevertheless, despite pollsters expecting an, albeit narrow, victory for the Europa Bleiben! campaign, the Austritt! vote proved to be 51,89 %. For the case of Austritt! winning, Angela Merkel had promised to resign. A year earlier, Oskar Lafontaine had become Shadow Chancellor in the SPD cabinet, but Angela Merkel picked one Frauke Petry as her successor. Despite Frauke Petry at some point having opposed Austritt and having clearly distanced herself from the Reichsunabhängigkeitspartei - Alternative für Deutschland (RUP-AfD), she, known as a pretty hardline Minister of the Interior, should now manage Austritt. And for nine months, she beat around the bush a and made at best half-hearted moves. Until March 29, 2017, when she officially "filed for divorce" in Vilnius. But ever since the Austritt option won, Europe and Germany are majorly concerned about what Austritt will entail. Germany's economy has tanked and the lack of skilled labour (Fachkräftemangel) have already become much worse as, from Sligo to Simferopol, would-be-migrants are concerned about their future rights in the German Empire and whether they would be illegalised, maybe even deported. Companies are concerned about the Common Market remaining (even if Germany had never introduced the Euro in the first place and remained with its Reichsmark), and especially financial companies are moving to Angers en masse. Another point of insecurity is that all borders of the German Empire will then become outer borders of the ECU again - how shall they be policed, or shall passport-free travel be retained?
Frauke Petry (centre-right) with some members of her cabinet, namely Minister of the Environment Leif-Erik Holm (centre-left), Minister of Economiy Konrad Adam (right) and State Secretary for Bavaria Jörg Meuthen (left).
Iñigo Urkullu, one of the most important negotiation participants in the German Austritt negotiations
CI terrorism resumed on March 22, with the Vilnius attack. It left 32 civilians dead near the airport and at a metro station in the European "capital city" of Vilnius. But worse, on July 14, having become Victory Day in the Ottoman Empire in remembrance of the end of World War II, a dreadful terrorist attack occurred in Latakia - 86 died as a lorry ran over celebrating people at the main beach promenade. This finally highlighted the danger of CI, who have overrun many parts of East Africa - some of the poorest regions in the world which have always felt suppressed by Israel and its European supporters - in 2013-2015, and who are unscrupulous enough not only to hijack aeroplanes, but also to use any object available as a weapon to kill infidels. This includes knives, cars, and, as in this case, a lorry.
Throughout the years 2015 to 2017, another major theme in French and other European media were the manipulations regarding nitrogen oxide emissions of VG cars, first uncovered in Primorye, Russia, but leading to Diesel car sales plummeting and a renewed debate about electric mobility - together with percieved incompetence and time-wasting on an ineffective Péage étrangère on the part of Breton Minister of Traffic Bruno Quivillic (CAS) that was more likely than not contradictory to ECU laws against discrimination of foreigners. Altogether, these factors yielded a lot of dissatisfaction with traffic policy in France. VG (Voiture Generale) is for now still associated with the emissions scandal, and there have been incarcerations and trials in France and Russia. Diesel cars are also to be blamed for the threat of driving bans due to far too high particulate matter counts (especially in Caen) at least partly, and for the introduction of emission stickers (officially pastilles écologiques, but mostly called éco-pastilles) which have to be green in order to drive into many French inner cities (the system, despite its hotly debated effect, was replicated in many countries in Europe), but it was also "only" the Diesel sales that plummeted. VG made just as much or even more money on petrol and other cars as ever.
Refugees and a Pharao
Meanwhile in most other parts of Europe, the refugee crisis - and elections in 2017 - were the big theme. Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia and Armenia closed off the "Caucasus Route" and "Balkan Route" for refugees. Authoritarian far-righters Serzh Sargsyan and Grigori Kvirikashvili cooperated closely and defied the EU quotas for refugee distribution systematically, as did Silvio Berlusconi in North Italy (but the latter was thought to be more understandable with the constant - if only latent - threat from Bari looming...
And soon enough, all the burden was on the Ottoman Empire. While its policies were humane and quite liberal, at some point, even an Ottoman Empire is at some point overtaxed. And thus, the ECU, in autumn 2016, had agreed with Egypt that Egypt stops boats from reaching the Ottoman Empire and, for every refugee Egypt took back, the ECU will allow one handpicked refugee into its territory.
North Italy was very different. Silvio Berlusconi, a relatively authoritarian PM who closed Italy and Italian borders to refugees and didn't take any Africans in - and refused to fulfil the ECU quotas just like Grigori Kvirikashvili and Serzh Sargsyan - was term-limited and aging and the elections of 2013 yielded a victory for charismatic Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini. But the Prime Ministership, as was already the case so often in North Italy, was marred by a scandal. The first female, democratically elected PM of Southern Europe got a lot of flak in 2016 - and in the end, she had to resign. Corruption and cronyism, well-known to be prominent in North Italy, was only one of the causes. But the main cause was one relatively uncommon one: Alessandra Mussolini was under the influence of the Neo-Roman cult leader Tomasio Cataldi aka Iovi Terrae. In late 2016, she began to remove herself from power and new elections led to a victory of the more left-wing (and some say: more diplomatically inclined towards South Italy) Matteo Renzi becoming PM.
However, the Egyptian President, El-Sayyid el-Badawi, became ever more demanding, likely as he felt that Europe depended on him and was thus liable to be held to ransom. The most pressing demand was for visa-free travel of Egyptian citizens into the ECU. This authoritarian streak got much worse after an attempted military coup on July 15, 2016 for which the Islamist preacher movement of Mohammed Badie - who was living in exile in an undisclosed location in Russia - was made responsible. After this, repressions of journalists, lawyers, judges, teachers, civil servants, police officers, but most importantly a full-scale repressive action against the press, begun. And it continues to this day.
In early 2017, things got a lot worse when Egyptian politicians wanted to campaign in the United Baltic Duchies, not neutrally catering to the - quite large - Egyptian minority in the United Baltic Duchies but with the aim of getting them to vote for the constitutional referendum in April which was to grant el-Badawi even more autocratic and authoritarian powers, for example he himself being able to dissolve parliament and bypass the - then figurehead - Prime Minister. Egypt should be transformed into a presidential system.
Baltics, having long been used to democracy and some also being xenophobic (under the "Freedom Party" of Arvids Ikaunieks) did not like foreign heads of state campaigning for an undemocratic measure and diplomatic relations escalated when, first, Egyptian ministers were barred from entry into the country and, when some ministers nevertheless flew to Riga, Tallinn and Tartu, the Minister of Family was detained at the Riga airport. This move was very popular among Lithuanians not of Egyptian descent or citizenship and also among other European states, as Mohamed Samy was increasingly percieved as a "Pharao".
El-Sayyid el-Badawi
The referendum in Egypt was very close with only just over 50 % of the population agreeing to the constitutional reform, despite the "No" campaign having steadily been hindered and the "Yes" campaign massively supported with regards to campaign finance. Nevertheless, suspicions of the referendum being rigged were floating around.
The Balto-Egyptian diplomatic crisis came together with the United Baltic Duchy election campaign. Elections were going to take place in three important pro-European countries in 2017, and, after the victory of Gennadiy Timchenko in Russia, everybody was scared that right-wing populists might make major gains or even get a Head of Government into positions. The first election in the year was for the parliament in Riga. And although the "Patriotic Freedom Party" did gain in votes, pro-European parties like the Liberal Democrats and D77, and especially the Green-Left Party, clearly won out. Nevertheless, coalition talks between the Liberal Democrats, D77, the Christian Lutheran Union and the Christian Democrats took until autumn to conclude, with the result of Juri Ratas remaining in office.
But that was - more or less - considered a "test run" for elections in the Ottoman Empire and, later in the year, in France. In late May and early June, everybody looked towards Istanbul - some with fear, some with hope, and many with a mix of the two. The ultra-nationalist right-wing populist and anti-Christian MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) under their leader Devlet Bahceli, however, luckilly got soundly defeated by pro-European parties, among them the relatively new movement "Yürüyen Devlet" ("Empire, Forward!" or "Empire in March!" under Murat Cetinkaya. And this movement, promising sweeping reform despite (or even because) Murat Cetinkaya had been a big boss of the Ottoman Central Bank, decisively won the elections. Bashar al-Assad's Socialist Party was the biggest loser as he had not managed to fulfil a lot of his promises, among them sweeping labour reform. Even Selahettin Demirtas of the far-left Communist Party of the Ottoman Empire nearly got more votes.
And in the runoff between Murat Cetinkaya and Devlet Bahceli, Murat Cetinkaya, the pro-European reformer, emerged victorious with a nearly two-thirds majority over the far-right nationalist. Thus, the Ottoman Empire could for the foreseeable future be counted on in the reform process that Europe so urgently needed after the Austritt.
Murat Çetinkaya, the new, charismatic vizier of the Ottoman Empire.
This secured the Ottoman Empire, a much more important power than the United Baltic Duchies, for pro-European parties and Europe was once again hopeful that reforms could be started.
The third election of the year, however, was just as or even more important.than the second one. It was the election to the Federal Assembly of France, more important though was the question who was to become Chancelleur of France. After all, EPCADO and similar right-wing groups had continuously shouted out "Dégage Dati! Dégage Dati" throughout Southern (and in some cases even in northern) France, and the right-wing populist AF party - the Alternative Française - had entered all regional parliaments to which there had been elections since 2015. Notably, in early 2016, the AF had entered several regional parliaments with comfortable double-digit figures and even became second strongest party in Euscare-Aquitaine and Bourgogne (Burgundy) with a whopping 20,8 % and 24,6 %, respectively.
Results for AF had steadily decreased and in early 2017, France experienced quite a surprise: The "Hamon Effect" nearly brought the PS, thought doomed, up to the level of the DCA/CAS. Unfortunately though, by March and at the latest after the first loss of regional elections in Champagne, the Hamon Effect had been proven to be nothing but hot air. The PS steadily fell in the polls, lost elections in Ile-de-France and Loire-Atlantique - which, to make things worse, cost them two minister-presidents - and September 24 ended in their worst result ever in the history of the French Federal Republic.
The AF on the other hand, despite their results decreasing in the North French elections in 2017 down to single-digit numbers, were nearly universally considered the winners. But, as is usual for right-wing populist parties, they also attracted the occasional scandal: Bruno Gollnisch, the chairman of AF in Poitou, called the Holocaust memorial in Paris, somewhat ambiguously, a "memorial of disgrace" and claimed that "other countries put reminders of their glory into their capitals. It is only France which has a memorial of disgrace as a central element in Paris.", which brought heated debate about an exclusion of Gollnisch into the party.
Even during 2016, a scandal was never far when an AF politician was around. Jean-Claude Martinez, one of the future candidates for Chancellor of France, offended national football team player N'Golo Kanté and many French citizens, independent of ethnicity or progeny, as he said that N'Golo Kanté was percieved as "foreign" and "people don't want N'Golo Kanté for their neighbour".
N'Golo Kanté, "victim" of an AF-provoked scandal.
This as immediately refuted by the actual neighbours and many people professed that they would rather not have Jean Claude Martinez for their neighbour and would prefer Kanté, this xenophobic "skcandal" remained in French Media for several days. Other scandals included Joelle Mélin demanding that "refugees must, in emergency cases, be shot when trying to illegally cross the border".
And the hithertho biggest ruckus within AF came when the co-founder and party chairwoman, Marine Le Pen, was "ousted" at the party conference in April 2017 in Aix-en-Provence. Although the worst she feared, exclusion from the party or having to resign and exit the AF, did not come true, she was not elected to be supreme candidate for the federal elections. Instead, a duo of Jean Claude Martinez and Mylène Troszczynski was nominated for this post to represent the economic and the nationalist populist wing of the party.
The AF did not embroil themselves in too much scandal after Martinez/Troszczynski had been selected as the federal supreme candidates - despite several statements becoming quite controversial, for example Martinez's claim that Bariza Khiari should be "disposed of in the Atlas mountains" - but the election was not nearly as insecure as some had feared.
DCA/CAS: 32,9 %
PS: 20,5 %
AF: 12,6 %
PRL: 10,7 %
GAUCHE: 9,2 %
Entente 90/Les Verts: 8,9 %
And the months after September 24 became extremely controversial. The PS under Benoît Hamon, as soon as the first prognosis appeared on TV, precisely at 6 p.m., categorically ruled out another GraCoa. And thus, the only viable alternative was a Coalition Jamaicaine. Two months of talks yielded no result, the Brittany-specific CAS and Les Verts continued arguing about migration and traffic, environment and domestic security. The hottest irons were the Regroupement familial which had been suspended in March 2016 by the somewhat hawkish Minister of the Interior of the Dati government, Bernard Accoyer, and which was to take effect again automatically in March 2018, but DCA and more importantly CAS wanted to keep it suspended, the sortie du charbon which was demanded by the Greens in order to fulfil climate protection goals until 2030 and the attempt on the part of the Greens to plan banning internal combustion engines for vehicles until 2030. But in the end it was neither CAS nor Les Verts who made the coalition talks fail, but Emmanuel Macron of the PRL. To this day, there is debate about why Macron walked out. Les Verts claim that "unification was painstakingly close", while the PRL claims that their goals and policies were not at all represented in the paper.
And then, French President Francois Hollande came into play. DCA/CAS-Verts, another GraCoa, and a minority government were debated. And by the end of the year, Benoît Hamon - asking his party members on the base - declined a GraCoa, and a DCA/CAS-Verts minority government could be successfully inaugurated on December 18.
Several smaller-scale terrorist attacks, mostly by radicalised CI-affiliated "lone wolves", occurred in Stockholm, Berlin and Boston, with the heftiest attacks being a suicide bomb attack on May 22 in Gelsenkirchen where youth idol and star singer Lena had just given a concert on her tour Gefährliche Frauen - 22 people, including the bomber, died. And the second-biggest, and likely even more appalling than the Gelsenkirchen attack, was August 17 where a rented van was abused to run over pedestrians on Piazza San Marco in Venice.
Piazza San Marco, minutes before the van, driven by Tegegne Birara, kills 15 pedestrians and injures another 50.
That was until, on December 25, 2017, CI-led terrorism returned big-time to Europe. To an open, but staunchly Catholic nation which had hand-picked its (quite good) share of refugees via an immigration law. To the nation of Prime Minister Eligiusz Przerwa-Tetmajer. Several CI terrorists managed to get into a church full of people for Christmas mass, and it was not some village or small town church, but the cathedral of Kielce. Full to the brim, several suicide bombers blew themselves up during mass (at around 12:45 a.m.). The result was heavy damage to the Cathedral and 1,087 people dead with about as many more injured. The remainder of the year was spent with mourning, the celebrations marred but also intensified in the eyes of some by de-emphasizing the commercial and highly emphasizing the religious and reflective aspect.
This should be the worst terrorist attack in Europe and the worst worldwide since the 20/7 attacks of 1999 in St. Petersburg. And it should be the real beginning of international efforts to combat CI and finally root out the Christian fundamentalist extremist terrorist militia headed by a certain Norbert Mao.
Norbert Mao, leader of the CI terrorist militia
TPL99 said:Credit for this part of the update goes solely and explicitly to @TPL99 .
Wir können nur hoffen2017 was a crazy year for Doktor Wer fans around the globe. In January 2017, Tobias Moretti announced on Deutschlandradio his intention to quit the series after Serie 10 finale in Christmas. Along being the 12th Doktor, he was the third Austrian to play the most famous Zeitherr in the world, along with Klaus Brandauer (the 7th Doktor) and Michael Ostrowski (the 10th Doktor, considered by many fans as the 'best Doktor ever').
The rumors of rebooting the series for 2018 few by few came true, with exit announcements of Sophie Rois (The Fräuleinchen, the female incarnation of Doktor's arch-enemy Der Meister), Antoine Monot Jr (who played the alien Nardohl) and Fahriye Evcen (who played the companion Mina Pötter), fans entered on state of worry about Serie 11. But the biggest surprise then was on 1 July, when an almost-regenerating 12th Doktor faced the original Zeitherr, the 1st Doktor played by Jürgen Prochnow (and originally played by Curd Jürgens).
But history was there to made. On afternoon of 16 July 2017, after Kaiserreich Cup enter Bayern München and FC Wolfsburg, wasn't frontrunners to take ZURDIR's keys (Zeit und relative Dimensionen im Raum) like Jürgen Vogel or Boris Kodjoe to be announced as 13th Doktor. When taken off the hood of that black coat, there's a new and surprisingly face appear on the screen. Sandra Hüller was Das Doktor.
Russia: Make Russia Great Again - but with the help of Poddel'nyye Novosti?
2016 was also a Russian election year. Rustam Minnikhatov was term-limited, and so, fields were wide open on both parties, on the National Republican and on the Social Democratic side. The Social Democrats have no truly good candidate, especially nobody as charismatic as Rustam Minnikhatov. The primaries and caucuses were not too much of a fight and so, Boris Borissovich Zolnerovich, the husband of former President Alina(?) Zolnerovich, cruised to the nomination.
Much more interesting were the National Republican primaries and caucuses: The first Korean-Russian candidate, Kim Jae-Ri, ran against billionaire, steel, energy and sports magnate Gennadiy Timchenko. And from the very beginning of the campaign, Gennadiy Timchenko spread propaganda. He outed himself as a climate change denialist, wanted to "build a wall on the Iranian border and make the Iranians pay for it", claimed that due to his fame and wealth he could grab any woman "by the pussy" without any negative consequences, and most importantly, he wants to "Make Russia Great Again".
During the campaign trail, the phenomenon of Poddel'nyye Novosti - cooked-up stories on social networks like Shchebet and Lizhokniga (commonly known as LK). The most infamous piece of Poddel'nyye Novosti was "Cevapcicigate" where millions upon millions of voters should be made to believe that Boris Zolnerovich should be jailed and convicted as quickly as possible for being part or having been part of a major drug and pornography trafficking ring operating top-secretly in a Cevapcici restaurant in Leningrad.
All polling institutes expected a landslide win for Zolnerovich, and most people in the world did so, too. But come November 8, Gennadiy Timchenko won the election - and on November 9, the world was in shock.
Gennadiy Timchenko, new President of Russia - here not sending out one of his dangerous Shchebs.
Scandals abounded throughout the campaign, and it was not to become any better after Gennadiy Timchenko was elected. During the campaign and after the election, allegations of suspicious contacts between the Timchenko team/cabinet and America were always in the air. Sergey Naryshkin, Timchenko's handpicked National Security Advisor, had to resign only three weeks after Timchenko's inauguration because he had had contact with the Ambassador to America, Jon Huntsman Jr. - a close friend of Mitt Romney. He was replaced by Oleg Olegovich Salenko.
Several of Timchenko's nomations for cabinet posts failed to be confirmed by the Duma, which is otherwise rare. Among those not confirmed were Secretary of Labour Yevgeniy Atilakov, a former CEO of the Zinoviev fastfood chain who would have had a full-fledged CEO-friendly and worker-hostile agenda, who was replaced by similarly controversial Yuriy Troshkin.
And most others were extremely controversial from their very beginnings: Ramzan Kadyrov, although not having an official cabinet-level post, had been Timchenko's closest advisor and before, lead controversial news agency Pogrebnyak Novosti - a far-right site which had been revealed to publish Poddel'nyye Novosti, lies, and conspiracy theories (anything from 7/20 "truthers" who believe that the 7/20 attacks were an inside job to climate change denialists).
Ranzan Kadyrov, closest advisor of Gennadiy Timchenko. He resigned on April 5, 2017 and some claim that Pogrebnyak News is now trying to undermine the Timchenko administration, especially new National Security Advisor Oleg Olegovich Salenko.
Secretary of Health Grigoriy Nikolaevich Proskuryakov, along with Timchenko absolutely bent on abolishing "Minnicare", the state-funded health insurance program initiated by Rustam Minnikhatov for which he was loved, but also harshly criticised as a "Bolshevik" or "Brusselsite", resigned in September after controversy surrounding travel costs and private use of military aircraft. He was replaced on November 29, 2017 by Viktor Vladimirovich Kharitonin, the former Chairman of major drug company Pharmastandard.
Some of the few non-controversial Cabinet members of Gennadiy Timchenko include Minister of Defence Sergey Shoygu, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Lisin, and to some extent Minister of Finance Mikhail Fridman.
Several other prominent members of the Timchenko administration, despite not (yet?) having resigned, were just as controversial as those that did resign. Mainly, this included Vagit Alekperov, the President of the Bureau for Environmental Protection and Control (BEPC). He had been CEO of LUKOIL and is a known climate change denialist. Some believe he is behind the decision of Gennadiy Timchenko, announced on June 1, 2017, to withdraw from the Berlin Climate Accords. Timchenko claimed that "the Berlin accords will undermine the Russian economy" and "put Russia at a permanent disadvantage", anyway, he and Alekperov are convinced that climate change is nothing but a "Brazilo-European conspiracy to destroy the Russian economy" by demanding regulations, switching to regenerative energy sources etc.
All the while, relations with South Italy were deteriorating. Gianluigi Gramsci steadily tested new missiles and also performed some nuclear tests, but while Rustam Minnikhatov handled the test with UN sanctions and resolutions and otherwise by diplomatic means, Gennadiy Timchenko was no longer prepared to do so. Gramsci III. continued his usual "behaviour" of ignoring UN resolutions and continuing testing, but from March to September 2017, Timchenko reacted undiplomatically to say the least - more often than not by Shcheb - threatening South Italy several times with "total annihilation" (UN Assembly) or with "fire and fury the likes of which the world has never seen". However, South Italy could not be deterred and threatened to attack Crete. Corsica and South France, and many others, were touted as mediators, but to this day, the crisis - although it has not worsened - remains unmediated.
Mexico - The PORU makes a difference even an ocean away:
While Minnikhatov had negotiated the milestone "atomic accords" with Mexico, basically allowing Mexico peaceful nuclear use under strict controls, Timchenko castised the deal as "the worst deal possible for Russia". However, unraveling the deal is just beginning as of December 2017.
Africa: How to fight flight - and a helpful coup for once?
Africa became a central focus for Europe, especially for those states who did not want to cope with wave after wave of refugees. A deal with Egypt had been concluded to hold back refugees that wanted to flee into the Ottoman Empire and thus into the ECU, and many - especially of DCA/CAS and other right-wing parties - advocated concluding such agreements with other states in Africa, even those with a dubious political system or countries with clearly ultra-authoritarian dictatorships. Some of these countries include Somalia and Eritrea, the latter called the "South Italy of Africa" under its dictator Isaiah Afewerki.
And in late 2017, Africa was in focus - the first time in a long time - for something not refugee- or climate-change-related. Namely, a coup ousted long-time Cameroonian dictator Paul Biya. Once celebrated for making Whites and Blacks equal and liberating the nation from the grip of German-imposed white supremacists, he himself had become corrupt and totalitarian and the Kamerunmark had experienced some of the highest inflation rates worldwide in 2009 and was still nearly worthless. The economy had suffered immensely, HIV/AIDS was a major problem, a low life expectancy prevailed, and generally, Cameroon was one of the poorest nations on Earth. Aging Paul Biya was either unable or unwilling to deal with the issues and thus, on November 14, 2017, the military staged a relatively bloodless coup, bringing media stations and other important points in Yaounde under control. After several days, the KANU (Kamerunisch-Afrikanische Nationalunion) started the process of removing Biya from the party and from all offices, guided by the military, and a week after the coup, Biya's former vice President, Ephraim Inoni was inaugurated as President of Cameroon. Despite many Cameroonians celebrating and being very hopeful, few in the West believe that barely younger Ephraim Inoni will really start Cameroon anew. However, hope does still glimmer at the end of the year, contrary to Europe which is occupied with the Kielce terrorist attack...
Last edited:
