Norway | Emergency Call to Sweden

[Vaka]

Office of the Prime Minister​

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Classified and Encrypted

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With his most recent post on a popular social media website often used for semi-official information, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden, Stefan Löfven had left many in the international community perplexed. With the already heightened state of caution in light of recent events in Paris, Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway decided to end the confusion once and for all placing a secure call to the Swedish Prime ministers office.

He gathered his senior staff including Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, Minister of Defence, and General Eirik Kristoffersen, Chief of Defence along with General Lars Lervik Chief of the Army in anticipation of the outcome of the phone conversation.

A secure call was made to the Office of the Swedish Prime Minister, by the Prime Minister of Norway. He tapped a pen in between his fingers while considering switching from coffee to scotch. With every ring of the secure line, another bead sweat appeared on his brow.

Connor

 

[Connor]

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven would be sat, on his lonesome, in the comfort of his black leather arm chair in his office. Over the past six years of his tenure the wheels of the chair had almost burrowed their own military trenches into the underlay of the carpet beneath but equally decorating the large glossed wooden desk on-which he worked on a daily basis. His commitment to the traditions of ensuring the realm, or kingdom, was strong was for the most part seen as a core strength of his personality moreover his political ideology thus it was no surprise that behind him rest the bright red and blue of the Swedish flag hanging from a well polished brass-coloured flagpole.

The Prime Minister's phone had been ringing consistently since his recent tweet made it to the masses, to the point it had almost become ambient noise. This call caught his eye however. A red light flickered from his desk phone indicating that this call had been forwarded from his assistant, something that did not happen often... as he picked up the handset in his left hand, he'd drop the pen he were working with from his dominant right before pressing the receiver to his ear.

"Carmen?" he asked perplexed.
"Prime Minister, I have the Norwegian Prime Minister on the line for you, should I put him through?" she pondered in response.
"Yes, yes, put him through my dear, please!"

A short dialling tone was heard by the three of them as Carmen allowed Prime Minister Stoltenberg into the call, she introduced him before hanging up her own handset, allowing them to speak in privacy: "Mr Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stolenberg".

"Thank you, Carmen. Prime Minister, what an enormous pleasure it is to hear from a brother! What on earth brings you to my ear?"

Vaka

 

[Vaka]

“Prime Minister Löfven! So nice of you to take my call. There seems to be some confusion regarding a tweet made earlier today from your Twitter account. References to authorization of the Royal Swedish Air Force to quote, “Begin immediate and strategic aerial bombardment of eight capital cities.” end quote. We would have assumed any attack made on or by another Nordic Council would have at least led to an emergency meeting of member nations. This being a covert operation, I understand a level of secrecy would need to be maintained but this seems very out of the realm of normal Nordic Council foreign policy. I ask you as a head of state and as a friend, should we be preparing for war, or has your Twitter handle been hacked?”

He took a deep breath, after the long uninterrupted statement. He fumbled the pen he had been tapping and took a sip of a now lukewarm tea that sat at the edge of his desk. He listened intently to what the Swedish Prime Minister had to say next. No one likes cold chai.

Connor

 

[Connor]

"I am always free for a call, you know that!... You see Prime Minister our region has long been disrespected by the globe; and Sweden in particular has seen two terror attacks in the past few years resulting in the deaths of at least two senior foreign diplomats. It's about time that we start to project our strength. I won't sit by to allow the reputation of my great kingdom to be washes through the dirty hands of foreign governments, manipulated as if we don't have our own capabilities. Enough is enough. The Swedish Armed Forces is one of the most technologically advanced on the planet and by far has the furthest outreach. I understand this should have been brought to your attention sooner but I don't believe there's any cause for concern from your end."

Vaka

 

[Vaka]

His shoulders slumped. He had been sitting up with the receiver against his ear. But now he fell deeply into his chair as he searched for what to say next.

“I do believe that the destinies of both of our nations are inextricably intertwined, Prime Minister. I also believe most of the international community is not blind to that fact. I do fear that any action taken by Sweden will undoubtedly be seen as an action taken by the Nordic Council as a whole. Sweden itself is in a total position of power and unfortunately, Norway in its current state is totally unprepared for a prolonged engagement with a hostile nation. We have taken steps to remedy this obviously. However, they will not be completed for at least a few years.”

He felt a slight twinge in his chest. He paused a moment before steading his resolve for his next statement.

“Let me clear on this. We fully stand behind the ideals set by the Nordic Council and will support it completely. If your feel this course of action is necessary, we will fully support you. If these strikes will make Scandinavia and Europe as a whole safer, please let us know how we can help.”


Connor

 

[Vaka]

Office of the Prime Minister​

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Classified and Encrypted

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Some time had passed since Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg had spoken with his counterpart from Sweden. With the situation at the Norwegian Embassy in Kinshasa, Congo quickly getting out of hand, he felt the need to ask for help in dealing with the situation. The Norwegian government was moving too slowly in rebuilding its military and now had Norwegian diplomats trapped in a warzone with no real way to rescue them. With every minute, the situation would become direr. He assembled his senior staff including Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, Minister of Defence, and General Eirik Kristoffersen, Chief of Defence along with General Lars Lervik Chief of the Army to attend the conference call he was placing to the Swedish Prime Minister.

The call was placed on a secure line.

Ring. Ring.

Connor

 

[Connor]

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven had become swamped with intelligence briefings, phone calls, prompts and meetings as the situation in Africa not only began to directly effect allies of the kingdom but also began posing a greater and greater security risk to Swedish overseas territory. Nonetheless, despite his busy schedule, the Prime Minister remained committed to an open line of communication with senior officials from allied states and the call is answered immediately from the privacy of his personal office. Amongst his desk remained various briefing documents pertaining to the ongoing situation. The call was similarly encrypted.

"Prime Minister, I was due to give you a call myself, I can only apologise for my delay. How are you?"

Vaka

 

[Vaka]

“At the moment Prime Minister, I am currently exceedingly worried about the welfare of our Embassay staff in Kinshasa, Congo. We very recently opened an embassy there in hopes of extending our partnerships into the African Continent. But the sudden outbreak of hostilities between the two neighboring nations seems to have poured over into the capital of the Congolese Empire. We were in contact with staff on the ground shortly after the first shots were fired. But communications were completely lost after what was described as an explosion was heard. We have not been able to contact the Congolese Government since.

Jon-Åge Øyslebø is our Norwegian Ambassador to the Congo and the person in charge of the embassy. He along with 12 Diplomatic Staff, 15 Mission Staff, and 20 Security Personnel are unaccounted for. We have been trying to reach them via any means necessary but it seems that all communications are down. What I am about to tell you has not been released to the press yet and is strictly for the people in this room only. We did for a short time have a video feed from one of the main office security cameras running. It showed most of the staff being led away from the building by unmarked cars and military vehicles. Also, the back half of the embassy was engulfed in flames. We have since lost that video feed.”

I understand that Sweden holds substantial military sway in South Africa. We do not have the current military strength required to enter The Congolese Empire and extract our people on the ground. I am personally asking you for help in getting these Norwegian citizens back home safely. We are entirely out of our depth when it comes to the situation in Africa. With Sweden having been in South Africa for some time now, we take any advice you would have in dealing with this situation.”

Connor

 

[Vaka]

With the embassy staff now back in contact with the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, the situation in the Congolese empire was now much more under control. The new information was relayed to the senior staff who then informed the Prime Minister who was still at this time on a secure call with the Swedish Prime Minister.

“Prime Minster, it would seem that we now have confirmed reports of the safe removal of our embassy staff from Kinshasa, Congo. We have been told that the embassy has been completely burned to the ground but we suffered no casualties. They will be transported back to Oslo aboard a Shaanxi Y-8 piloted by the Congolese Air Force.”

“I would like to thank you for taking my call and assisting us throughout this situation. I hope that we can soon meet in person in a much more relaxed environment.”

Connor

 

[Connor]

"Prime Minister, you are full of kind words but I don't think I have been much use to you during this call and for that I can only apologise profusely. Norway remains one of our strongest allies and whilst over the next few months the Swedish government is going to undergo some substantial changes, I have had the opportunity to speak to the incumbent Leader of the Opposition who has similarly expressed his commitment to a stronger Nordic region. I am committed to ensuring that you, your government and any of your overseas interests remain secure and protected - we have historically been brothers in the world of international politics, something I hope we can continue with.

Allow me to express how relieved I am to hear of the safety of your diplomatic staff abroad.

Although my response to you has been luckluster, please be rest assured we are working with our allies abroad to conduct highly covert intelligence-gathering operations to properly aid the battlefield with realtime intelligence so we can properly establish any credible threat to civilian infrastructure. There is absolutely no doubt that this war has violated international law and seen to the deaths of thens of thousands of civilians needlessly... we will continue to monitor the situation and will keep you in the loop should there be any established threat to your national security."

Vaka