Norway | Message to France

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To: Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Zak
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From: Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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Good Morning Minister Lecornu, I write you this morning to congratulate your government on its most recent election win. We hope that Prime Minister Jordan Bardella and his cabinet can bring some much needed stability in what has been a troublesome time for France as of late. We would like to open up a line of communication between our respective governments in order to facilitate a better relationship between our two nations. In these uncertain times of the twenty-first century, we find it increasingly important to have a solid relationship with all of our European neighbors. Here in Norway, we are currently looking to refit our aging military hardware and seek out top of the line modern military hardware for which France is well known. Would your government be open to selling military equipment to Norway? If this is agreeable, I will put together a list of hardware we are looking to acquire with hopes receiving a price list. Another item I wanted to discuss with you would be the matter of visa applications between our two nations. We would like to help decrease the amount of red tape currently involved in getting a Study Visa, Work Visa, or even a Travel Visa. We can hammer out the details of this later but I wanted to first get your thoughts on the matter. Lastly, I would like to get a sense of what we should be expecting from your Government in regards to international matters. The middle east is seems to be settling down after the Turkish War, but instability seems to be lurking across the globe. We are hoping to make lasting partnerships that will form the foundation of a much more calm and stable world. Kind Regards, Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kingdom of Norway

 

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Government of France
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Dear Minister Jonas Gahr Støre,

On behalf of the French people, I would like to offer my sincere thanks for your kind remarks and hope that we can forge a wonderful working relationship between our two countries. I would be happy to extend an invitation to yourself to visit Paris for talks between our two countries where we can discuss the sale of potential military hardware and visa applications as mentioned in your email. In regards to our government, we are focussing on redeveloping the French Republic both domestically and internationally and we are ready to return our country back to the international stage after our country has been tarnished for so long.

Regards,
Sébastien Lecornu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
French Republic

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To: Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Zak
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From: Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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Good Morning Minister Lecornu, I am overjoyed at your willingness to work together in these matters. It would seem that your government is wasting no time in rejoining the international stage. We would like to help in proving to the rest of the world that France has indeed stabilized and is completely safe to visit. I would gladly accept your invitation to talks in Paris. I am available at the start of next week. Since your on the ground security situation is currently complex, I will leave the details up to your office. Unless otherwise noted, I should be arriving in a Falcon 900, call sign RNoAF Frosty. Accompanying me will be my personal secretary, Alice Oskarsen and a two man security team armed with Glock P80 handguns. Any changes that need to be made can be directed to my office and I will see to them personally. I eagerly await to once again set eyes on the lights of Paris and look forward to meeting you in person. Warm Regards, Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kingdom of Norway

 

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In preparation for the arrival of the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and his delegation, the National Police and National Gendarmerie had deployed extra officers to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport which had just recently reopened. Flights from around the world had started resuming their routes to Paris so officers had been tasked with scouting out any security threats and dealing with them appropriately. A motorcade would also arrive to escort the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and his delegation to the Hôtel du ministre des Affaires étrangères which was the headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the location of the meeting. The security arrangements would be passed onto the Norwegian Government to relay with their security services.

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The flight carrying the Minister of Foreign Affairs, his Personal Secretary and his two man security detail was boarded at 0530 hours on the morning of April 15, 2001. The plane departed Oslo Airport at 0545 heading towards Paris, France. The skies were clear that spring morning and the flight was without incident. The flight would take roughly two and a half hours. Once the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport was in sight, the pilot radioed the control tower and asked permission to land. Permission had been granted by Paris air traffic control and the plane landed flawlessly on its largest runway. The plane then taxied to the pre-arranged terminal where the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his delegation were to be received. The delegation would exit the plane leaving one of the two security personnel with the plane while the other would accompany Minister Støre and Secretary Oskarsen. The three of them would then load into the motorcade assembled by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs heading towards Hôtel du ministre des Affaires étrangères.

“There is something magic about the city of Paris, just the sight of it alone is enough to warm one's heart.” remarked Minister Støre while gazing out the window of the vehicle.

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The motorcade arrived at the Hôtel du ministre des Affaires étrangères which was the headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sébastien Lecornu stood outside pristinely dressed in a smart navy suit. He was one of the youngest ministers in the government led by Prime Minister Jordan Bardella who was also a young politician himself but they both held the confidence of the French President who had only been office a mere few days and this was the first official visit by a foreign government. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs and his delegation of advisors greeted the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and his team of advisors where they would hold a small photo reception to allow the press to capture the two Ministers together before they entered a behind closed doors meeting where security agents stood on the door.

"Well now that the formalities have been, Minister Støre, welcome to Paris. I hope your flight was great from Oslo. Can I get you a drink?" He enquired, gesturing for the Minister and his team to sit as Minister Lecomu and his team sat opposite.

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As Minister Støre was ushered into the private meeting room, the lone security agent gestured silently to Minster Støre that he would be waiting just outside the room. There he made small talk with the other guards present while in the room behind him, closed door talks were set to begin. He made a point to check his watch. He pretended to check his perfectly pressed onyx suit for any hint of lint. “This might take a while.” he thought aloud.

Inside the conference room, Minister Støre and Secretary Oskarsen both eased onto the ornately cushioned office chairs. “Two coffees would be wonderful” exclaimed Minister Støre. Secretary Oskarsen flared her nose, and glanced directly at Minister Store. “Just the one coffee perhaps. Double cream, double sugar.” the Minister sighed.

Secretary Oskarsen had brought along a black leather suitcase, containing information regarding the various topics that were on the agenda. She placed it on the wooden conference table and sorted out a few labeled folders whilst the Minster was still making small talk. With his trademark charm, Minister Støre commented, “Our flight was wonderful. Just a hop, skip and a jump really. When I stepped off the plane and was welcomed by the warm Paris breeze, I nearly wept. How are things in Paris? To look outside, there seem to be no signs as at all of the trouble some months ago.

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One of the senior advisers made her way out of the room for a few seconds to place an order with one of the junior staffers who brought in an order of coffees for the two delegations. Once the meeting was underway, Minister Lecornu took his seat opposite his Norwegian counterpart and opened his briefcase whilst he discussed his flight, taking in the details before he shared a smile.

"Things in Paris are excellent, as across all of the Republic, things are starting to look up. People are starting to return to work, the economy is stabilizing. How are things looking in Oslo? I recently spoke to Ambassador Gaël Mazet who has just took his first Ambassadorial post in Norway but I am looking forward to him representing the French Republic in your country and building on our strong relationship."

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"Oslo is just starting to warm up with the arrival of Spring air. The population is always busy this time of year." Minister Støre explained. He stopped a moment to take his coffee from the young staffer and took a small sip. He thanked the young man and turned to Secretary Oskarsen who was already handing him a file.

“Speaking of the residents of Oslo brings me neatly to the first order of business I wanted to discuss. Visas and Immigration. We have been brainstorming the idea of much easier travel throughout Europe. The thought of free travel between our two nations with only citizenship as a passport is an intriguing one. Obviously, we would need to create a cooperative administrative division that would be able to quickly identify and reject undesirables such as suspected terrorists and known criminals. Our peoples would become citizens of Europe as well as their home country. The proposal is still in its infancy obviously, but I would like to get your thoughts on the matter.”

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"We think this is an excellent idea to highlight the strong cooperation between our two governments. I'm not sure if you're aware but Oslo is home to the Lycée Français René Cassin d'Oslo which is an international school and the Lycée Français de Stavanger in Stavanger and I recently held discussions with the school principals to highlight the desire for a strong French and Norwegian relationship. Your idea would be beneficial not just for students but also for tourists, those on business and more. The cooperative administrative division you suggest will allow the French Directorate-General for External Security, General Directorate for Internal Security, French National Police and the French Gendarmerie to cooperate with their Norwegian counterparts."

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"This is wonderful to hear. Think of Europe without borders, where citizens are free to live and work wherever they pleased. Obviously, we would need to work with other European nations and get a sense of where they stand on this issue. But our nations could help set the framework for the future of Europe, ushering in unheard-of levels of intra-European cooperation.

Setting aside discussing physical borders for a moment, I would like to change course to focus on monetary borders. We would like to become a major supplier of petroleum and oil to France. We can offer the stability of a European partnership along with Northern Atlantic proximity. We would be willing to remove all tariffs whilst setting up a free trade agreement between our two nations. I’m quite confident that both of our economies would see a tremendous surge in exports were we to remove these monetary borders.

We could even work both of these agreements into one treaty. In hopes that one day, other nations of Europe would follow our example and become signatories. We could begin on a rough draft of the agreement here before taking it back to our respective parliaments for further approval. Not to mention, I’m sure both of our Prime ministers would relish the chance to be in the spotlight of a public treaty signing."

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"I would be delighted to view a draft if you have one with you? The idea of visa free travel but with the security behind it as discussed earlier is a wonderful idea but we would also be interested in becoming an importer of Norwegian petroleum and oil that doesn't come from a major supplier such as Russia or Saudi Arabia for example and it allows us to cooperate on a wonderful European framework with our counterparts in the Kingdom of Norway."

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“Our office hoped to work out some of the finer points of the treaty before we set creation of a first draft. What ever is drafted, should not only be made with only our two nations in mind. I would like to see this treaty formed as the framework for a European Economic Community. An agreement between European nations that would accomplish four goals. The First being freedom of movement between European nations, and creation of a multinational police force to assure safety. Second would be the removal of all tariffs between member nations and an agreed upon tariff for business with nations outside of Europe to encourage local investment in member nations. Third would be a military alliance between these nations ensuring that Europe would stand as one to meet any threat that is faced. The forth and final goal would be the creation of a European Central Bank that would offer loans to developing member nations and be funded through bonds that could be purchased by other members.”

“If we both can find some common ground here and can together put together a rough draft of ideas on the initial treaty, I would propose that we call together a formal summit of leaders from across Europe to get a sense of how much interest there would be in such a treaty. We could be standing at the precipice of a new European Union.”

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"Well if we do form the European Union then I do believe that we should incorporate the elements of the relaxation of European borders and the policing of them behind the scenes as previously mentioned. I would also like to incorporate your ideas of the trade and I further like to incorporate the idea of a Council of Ministers which will be a forum whether it be digitally or in person and it will bring together foreign ministers and/or leaders together to highlight key areas for cooperation and where we can further turn our focus to. The key point I want to get across to prospective member states that this is far from a military organisation but the aims of the European Union within its borders are to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its citizens. offer freedom, security and justice without internal borders, while also taking appropriate measures at its external borders to regulate asylum and immigration and prevent and combat crime.

The name we have given said organisation at the moment is the European Union but this is obviously your idea and we are open to discussing names given."

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“I feel like we have made great progress here towards this new European Union. I will have our treaty authors set to work on this immediately. Secretary Oskarsen has been taking down the information we have discussed and will inform them of the things we have agreed on. They should be able to fax a drafted version of it to your office in a few hours.”

“With that topic taken care of, I had hoped we could move on to the matter of the rebuilding of the Norwegian armed forces. We are currently looking for a close partner to supply our military with modern equipment. We have had the commanders of all three major branches of the military submit lists priority lists detailing which equipment has the greatest need for replacement. These lists are extensive. But what Norway is looking for is a partner for which we have a catalog of available hardware and can make decisions based on what's offered. With the excellent reputation of French Military equipment, our Ministry of Defence had hoped France could become that partner.”

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"We would be proud to become a supplier of the Norwegian Armed Forces and would be willing to sell certain things, can you present me with a list of what you may have your eyes on. Certain things we would be willing to sell and certain things we wouldn't be willing to sell to protect the national security of the French Republic."

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I understand the need to review these purchases regarding French National Security. Here is a short list prepared I have prepared listing the most pressing items.

Maritime Container Carrier Vehicle (VPCM)
Renault MPG Ecomat Wheel Loader (France)
TRF1 Artillery (France)
Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé and its various variants.
AMX-10 RC
CAESAR self-propelled howitzer
EFA Amphibious Float Bridge
Panhard ERC 90, F4 Sagaie 2
TRM 700-100 Tank Transporter
Dassault Mirage 2000 D/N
Dassault Rafale B F1-R

Our Minister of Defence, Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, will be the point of contact for all purchases made. Who might I instruct her to contact within the French Ministry of Defense? We would also like the chance to work on building a joint Military exercise between our two nations. We are looking to test our new Motorized Infantry Brigade Combat Team concept. This is going to be one of our main deployable units that should be completely self-sufficient as a stand-alone unit. They are currently still being equipped at the moment, but once they are ready is this something that France would interested in?

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Maritime Container Carrier Vehicle: $90,000.00
Renault MPG Ecomat Wheel Loader: $72,000.00
AMX-10 RC: $593,000.00
Panhard ERC 90, F4 Sagaie 2: $1,350,000.00
TRM 700-100 Tank Transporter: $50,000.00
Dassault Mirage 2000 D/N: $41,000,000.00

"These are the only things that our government is willing to sell at the moment due to a number of factors such as previously stating national security risks but also lack of pricing at the moment. This security risk will be evaluated and we will contact your government when this risk can be overridden. I would be over the moon to support a joint exercise between the French and Norwegian armies and I would like to hear more information such as what environments you would like to train in whether this be in Norway in the arctic environments or in France in one of our overseas territories to increase your warm weather capabilities. I will pass this information onto General Thierry Burkhard."

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These prices are well within reason. I will inform Minister Strøm-Erichsen of the pricing structure and have her contact your Ministry of Defense with the orders her department will want to make. I do completely understand the hesitancy to offer some of the more advanced equipment. We do not currently offer much in the way of domestically made military hardware, but if there is anything your Ministry of Defense would be interested in, I can see if we can devise a way of supplying it to you.

I do feel like I have done much of the talking this morning Minister Lecornu. Is there anything you wanted to discuss with me about the relations between our two nations?

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"The French Republic has territory across the world and Norway does own some very good equipment that would benefit boosting our overseas defence capabilities. Would you be willing to export the Skjold-class corvette or the Svalbard-class offshore patrol vessel so that we can consider either of these vessels in our overseas defence plan. We would like to cooperate in the area of intelligence sharing with the Norwegian Government and I do believe that this would also benefit us further in the long run."

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