[colour=gold][u][h1][centre]Empire of Violette[/centre][/h1][/u][/colour]
[centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/fRiTWvK.png[/img][/centre]
[hr]
[colour=gold][centre][h2][i]Le Patriote[/i][/h2][/centre][/colour]
[i][centre](June 8th)[/centre][/i]
[centre][h3][u]Violette to Host Marnish Royal Family as Zello-Osladian War Continues[/u][/h3][/centre]

With the failure of the recent Liubeth Conference to end the war in the Smaragd Sea, authorities in Confluence have made arrangements for King Sven IV of Marnland and his family to officially obtain temporary shelter in the Palais Violette, as formal guests of Empress Tsirine. They shall remain as legal residents of the imperial palace until the formal end of hostilities in the east, at which point they shall be returned to Mjarnik to rebuild their nation in the aftermath of the destructive conflict. The Marnish King and his accompanying family have been awaiting official Veletian acceptance of asylum since late April, but have already been welcomed into the Palais Violette by the Empress as informal extended visitors. The ad hoc nature of the King of Marnland's presence in the capital raised eyebrows among the Empire of Violette's most conservative traditionalists, who opposed any officially unrecognized presence of foreign sovereigns on Veletian soil. Now that the issue of their legal status has ended, many dignitaries from the People's Assembly have visited the Palais Violette to welcome King Sven IV to Confluence. Topics such as trade between the two countries and potential Veletian involvement in the war in some capacity have reportedly been brought up in these talks, but no agreement is expected to be reached on either matter; Violette is committed to peace and Marnland is only a minor trading partner of the Empire.

Foreign Minister Augustin Batteux had hoped that the eventually unsuccessful negotiations at Liubeth could bring the conflict to a peaceful resolution, and had withheld the formal acceptance of King Sven IV's asylum to avoid disturbing the crucial debates in the major Kalpian port-city. Once the Liubeth Conference had concluded, less quickly and drastically less successfully than hoped, the king's paperwork was completed by the very next day. Minister Batteux did not comment on any matters involving the Marnish king, but did offer a more general statement on the Zello-Osladian War as a whole.

"The grounds for the Kingdom of Zellonia's continued insistence on exclusive sovereignty over the Zello-Osladian Strait are spurious at best. By all accounts of the events, this was the sole subject of virulence in the talks at Liubeth, and the reason for their failure. However, while it is true that this matter in particular is so discordant largely as a result of Zellonian intransigence, it cannot be understated the importance of both the Osladian Empire and Kalpian Republic in continuing to stride for peace. Terms on issues unrelated to the Zello-Osladian Strait—the raison d'être of the entire war—must be made of secondary importance, and concessions are necessary on both sides. It is my sincere hope, and I think also the hope of all Veletians, that the people of Zellonia and the armed forces of Oslad and Kalpia may soon know peace; the best route to peace is always dialogue."