Federation and Republic join forces in fight against smuggling
The Gallente Federation and the Minmatar Republic have joined hands in their struggle against smuggling cartels, most notably the Intaki Syndicate and the Angel Cartel. A brief statement released from the office of Sark Martek, the head of a new task force to fight smugglers in both empires, stated that “the safety and prosperity of the citizens of these two great empires demanded a tough stance against those aiming to undermine their economical strengths.”
While more detailed explanation of what this new policy would entail was not immediately released it can be surmised that greater cooperation in tracking and battling criminal elements is to be expected in the near future. It is understood that the new task force lead by commander Martek will have full access to both the intelligence and military resources of both empires.
This development should come as no great surprise to those closely following the politics of the Federation and the Republic. The relationship between the two empires has always been strong and has only grown stronger in recent, turbulent, times. A joint effort such as this is thus an expected evolution, rather than a revolution, of their relationship. More mysterious are the motives for doing this at this particular time. While the smuggling cartels are a constant pest to their neighbors, there has been no noticeable increase in their activity.
Political analysts are already speculating that this move is prompted by the Federation’s military forces in the belief that Mentas Blaque will be the winner of the upcoming presidential elections, as Blaque is an outspoken enemy of the Syndicate. Or perhaps this just the Navy’s way of throwing their support behind Blaque in a circumspect manner, as an open declaration of support would be a blatant breach of political protocol and likely to backfire.
Said analysts are more excited about the Republic’s motives, as they see this is an abrupt change of course for Prime Minister Karin Midular. Midular has been a strong advocate for improving the relations with the Amarr Empire, which has thrown her in conflict with the more militant elements of the Republic on more than one occasion. By throwing its lot in with the Federation, the Republic seems to be changing tack and reasserting its ties with their oldest ally. While any official statement is yet to come out of the Amarr Empire, it is widely expected that this move by the Republic will severely sour the budding relations of the Empire and the Republic, even scuttling whatever hope there was of a peaceful co-existence between the two of them once and for all.
