To Her Majesty Queen Natalya of Lodja

In 2011 our nation ended the monarchy and at that point it was noted that your nation withdrew your ambassador as your nation had been on exceptionally friendly terms with our former monarch King Yaroslav VI. Now some 12 years on our two nations still do not share one of the most basic diplomatic ties. This is something I hope we can remedy. We have never had any ill will towards Lodja and I myself was at one point fiercely loyal to the former monarch. In much the same way as you have begun large scale changes to your own nation we too have had a significant shift in our nations approaches to our own. I hope that you will accept our invitation to visit the Republic and come to Velesgrad on the southern coast of Albion. It is our duty as continental neighbours to seek to be friends and good neighbours and I believe our meeting can re-establish this common diplomatic courtesy and allow us to move on from our previous decade of ill communication.

Best Regards

Field Marshall Oto Krall

OOC- The Gazette is a government controlled media outlet

Agents from the Internal Security Division (ISD) have today arrested Ladislav Jankovic the 51 year old internet businessman. Jankovic was at home when agents burst into his home and charged him with a range of crimes stemming from what an official government spokesman has described as "blasphemy". Agents have evidence that among his many streaming businesses he had been responsible for taking drone footage of rituals and ceremonies from with the sacred grove at Chlumek. The grove there is considered the most sacred site to followers of the Order of the Divine and only invited women are permitted within its palisade. Footage spread last month of a "Full Moon" initiation ceremony that took place at the grove where a 19 year old graduate of Druidess training was undertaking the ceremony. The footage was the first time the ceremony was seen by those outside the faith and in addition to breaking the sacred bond of the ritual Jankovic also streamed female nudity without consent and without controls over age regulation. The buisnessman has also been accused of endangering the Sacred Grove at Chlumek by his actions of entering restricted airspace with an unlicenced drone. One of the crimes he has been accused of is "Violating the divinity of the Sacred Grove" and if found guilty the crime still carries the death penalty. Despite this being on the statute books the Lady of the Moon is required to sign all death warrants and has not signed one for this crime since 1708 despite three guilty verdicts in that time period. It is more likely if found guilty Jankovic will have his property and businesses seized and likely face time in prison.

There are calls already among many of the public that Jankovic be severely punished. One commentor on social media stated, "The Druidesses are as close to Veles as a person can be. To disrespect their most sacred moment is unbelievable. Veles will, I am sure, torture Jankovic for eternity for what he has done to that poor girl and for me that torture can not come quick enough." Others meanwhile have called for the ISD to use their powers to place someone in protective custody. "It is clear Jankovic is a marked man and clearly guilty. Why waste time with a trial for such a horrid man. The ISD should just lock him up and let the girls father spend five minutes with him."

The girl involved has not been named and any individual discovered sharing the footage of her ceremony has been warned that they could face charges similar to Jankovic.

---

His Excellency Field Marshall Oto Krall has today asked the Ministry of Education to review the existing school curriculum. The request comes as the Field Marshall stated last week that he believed the Republic risked being left behind globally in certain fields. Based on reviews of other nations educational standards the Field Marshall believes the nation is falling behind in science and maths in particular. Speaking to students of the recently graduating class of the Officer Training College he stated "I'm saddened that as I stand here before those of you who have made the brave decision to dedicate your life to the service and protection of your homeland we have seen so few of you come into the College with degrees in maths, science, engineering and medicine. While the dedication and bravery of these new Officers is, like with all members of the Republics military, never in question my fear is in five, maybe ten years time, we will lose vital skills that we need to maintain a state of the art military." The Field Marshall believes that the reason for this downturn is largely due to the fact that more technical subjects are not compulsory past the age of 16 and as such many more students are choosing options closer aligned to social science and in particular Theology.

It is believed that should the Ministry recommend changes it will be a relatively simple matter to pass new laws to change the curriculum. Lady of the Moon, Her Holiness Ilona Kohout, has always been a strong supporter of "Practical education" saying that "Knowledge that has no application either for a spiritual or practical well being is often wasted knowledge." meanwhile word for the ISD is that any move that would strengthen the military is welcome and so therefore "The Guardian" is likely to vote in favour of any reforms.

The Field Marshall also celebrates his 70th birthday on Sunday and celebrations across the nation are being prepared.