[Netherlands] Call to the United States

[Dutchy]

The Ministry of General Affairs would place an encrypted call to the White House switchboard. The aide would explain that the Prime Minister of the Netherlands was hoping to speak with President Gore to congratulate him on his electoral victory. The aide inquired whether the President was currently available or whether it would be possible to find a brief moment in the President's schedule in the coming days where such a call could be placed.

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Secret​

The White House switchboard quickly transferred the encrypted call to the President's chief of staff who was on another encrypted line. He informed the aide that the President was available to talk. If the Dutch Prime Minister was ready, then things would be set in motion over the next few minutes for the leaders to speak to each other. On another encrypted line an aide would tell the Dutch Prime Minister, "I'm transferring you now to the President, Prime Minister."

President Gore picked up his encrypted line in the Oval Office. He and the Vice President had just concluded a meeting about some pending legislation in the Senate. Vice President Sinclair was taking a break, laying back on one of the sofas in the Oval Office by the fireplace while President Gore was sitting behind his desk with his feet up.

"Prime Minister, thank you for calling," he said.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

The Secretary General of the Ministry of General Affairs would confirm to the President's Chief of Staff that the Prime Minister was currently available. The line would be forwarded to the Prime Minister's office where Jaap de Hoop Scheffer would patiently wait for the call to be forwarded to the President.

"Mister President, I wanted to take this opportunity to personally congratulate yourself on your electoral victory. I look forward to working with you and your administration for the coming years. I furthermore wanted to voice my personal approval of the initiatve to establish a Coast Guard Establishment in Rotterdam. I also found the idea of the construction of a lighthouse ot be quite quaint."

"Might I also use this call to briefly inquire into your foreign policy plans for Europe?"

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"I look forward to working with your government as well. Ambassador Kennedy told me that your Foreign Minister was very level-headed. And I'm happy to hear that you approve of the establishment of a Coast Guard station in Rotterdam. I have to admit, it was Vice President Sinclair's idea, but it's a perfect way for us to work together and establish a relationship," he said as he gave a nod to Sinclair who nodded back from across the room.

"Your questions sounds a bit open-ended, but I can give you a rundown of where we currently stand," Gore said. "The United Kingdom has been, and remains, our closest European and global partner. We are the midst of establishing much closer relations with the Swedish government as well, so it looks like we should be moving past our previous disagreements with them. The foreign policy objective of the United States in Europe is to encourage peaceful cooperation between neighbors, ensure that outside powers do not meddle in European affairs as Turkey tried to do, and to foster strong partnerships with willing governments, such as yours. What is your government's foreign policy plans for Europe?" he asked in return.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"I purposely leave it open-ended to allow for an answer that may go in any direction," the Prime Minister would say which a soft chuckle, "I was eager to hear your position without any influence from myself."

"At the moment my government's focus is on increasing cooperation on the European continent. We are currently in talks with partners on whether there is an appetite for the establishment of an European Forum, an organisation which will seek to promote intra-continental dialogue and offer opportunities to collaborate in multilateral initiatives. Furthermore, we are slowly reaching out to nations in Asia and Africa to expand our diplomatic network with the hope of laying the foundation for future cooperation in business and trade."

"Militarily, we are currently expanding our capabilities to ensure our national defence. The Ministry of Defence should have reached out to the Department of Defence regarding this topic and the matter of the Coast Guard Station. We are also looking at organising exercises with partners in the short-term. Perhaps there may be opportunities for training exercised between the Dutch and US armed forces."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"I wish you the best in your diplomatic endeavors in the Old World... I have spoken with the Defense Department and the State Department. I wanted to specifically ask about some alterations that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made to the proposed arms agreement. Namely, Article 5, Section 2. A one-time three-billion dollar penalty for such a violation is not enough, but I realize that you may see the original version as punitive. I offer a compromise: the language could read something along the lines of, 'If the Kingdom of The Netherlands violates this agreement by either violating Article 3.4 or Article 5.1.a.i then it will incur a $10,000,000,000 penalty that they must pay to the United States, or, The Netherlands must pay a $3,000,000,000 penalty and scrap all of the remaining equipment listed under Article 3. In either case, the United States is no longer held to abide by Article 3 or Article 4 of this agreement.'

"I can send that over to you in writing, but would that be acceptable instead? Also, the grand total for the items listed in the treaty would be: $3,519,059,637. What do you think, Prime Minister?" he asked.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"Thank you for the kind words Mr President."

"There are multiple concerns I hope to adress regarding the punitive damages. Firstly, as far as I have been informed, American Defence Sales, which manages LPLs does not have any clauses regarding punitive damages. We feel that at this moment this treaty goes beyond any precedents we are aware of. Will your government be amending the LPL programme to adjust for a change in policy which incorporates penalties such as those in the American-Dutch Arms Agreement? Secondly, the cabinet is concerned that in times of war we cannot guarantee that equipment may not be abandoned. I wish to suggest an amendement, wich removes any penalties for abandoning equipment during conflict, only if every effort is made to destroy the equipment to ensure that valuable technology does not fall into the hands of the enemies of the Netherlands or the United States. This offer a greater opportunity to have this agreement approved, if the penalty can be paid in quarterly installments so it does not create a scenario where during times of economic hardships the Dutch treasury could be bankrupted."

The Prime Minister would pause at the suggested price, he quickly grabbed some pen and paper and calculated the profit margin the US was working with. "The suggested total seems slightly excessive, I believe you're working with a margin of 45%, please do correct me if I am wrong."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Well, the United States has suspended the use of American Defense Sales until further notice. This is, in part, due to the war with Turkey where weapons and vehicles from all over the world, including the United States, were used against us and our allies. We are reevaluating how arms are sold from the United States to other countries. The current mood is that the United States Senate must approve all of these arms deals. However, I can assure you that the ADS Terms of Service had punitive terms as well," he said.

2. Resale of Products
The customer agrees to never resell products that are obtained either through a LPL with American Defense Sales, or products bought directly through American Defense Sales, without the written permission of the United States Secretary of Defense. Furthermore, the customer accepts that if they attempt or succeed in selling any products that they obtained directly or indirectly through ADS, they will be liable to fine of up to twenty-times the value of the products sold, and they agree to pay this fine in-full. However, the customer reserves the right to "scrap" equipment purchased from ADS, either directly or indirectly, at any time.

"I would be comfortable with the changes that you mentioned, regarding the loss of equipment in battle and allowing The Netherlands to split up penalty payments. In regard to the pricing... the margin looks like 75% to me, if my math adds up correctly," he said as he thought for a few moments. The President stood up from his desk and looked outside as he pondered.

"We would be willing to drop the price to $3,260,503,000, as a sign of good faith. Please keep in mind that for a LPL like this, the United States has historically had a profit margin of one-hundred percent. But because of the relationship we will be fostering, I would be willing to guarantee The Netherlands a margin of 45% on all future purchases that exceed $1-billion if your country goes forth with this purchase," he said.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"Mr President, those are very kind terms and I am willing to present them to the Cabinet once a finalised version is sent over. I do not expect any opposition and can sign the document once the United States Senate has approved to the terms."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"I'm happy to hear that. I look forward to getting the revised version from your government as soon as possible. Once I sign the agreement, I will send it to the Vice President's office as a top priority for the Senate to review," he said. If there was nothing else to discuss, President Gore would wish his Dutch colleague a good day and end the phone call. President Gore would then go back to working on his inauguration speech.

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"I am very pleased that we managed to have this talk. I shall discuss it with the cabinet and forward it to your office as soon as possible. I hope you have a wonderfull afternoon Mr President."