Sanctus – Secretary for Homeland Security, Kathryn Stewart MP, today announced to the House of Deputies that Sanctaria had concluded negotiations with the Huenyan Federation to establish a naval base at Port Ixtenco for the Sanctarian Defence Forces.
The Fourth Fleet of the Sanctarian navy regularly conducts operations around the Promethean Sea and adverse weather conditions typical to that part of the world necessitate having a base for the SDF to conduct maintenance, as well as offer sailors in the navy an opportunity for on-shore leave, Stewart explained to the House today. She said that the Sanctarian government had agreed a nominal annual fee for leasing the base, and would be working with the Huenyan government on ensuring it was fit for operational use.
While the announcement was welcomed by many in the Sanctarian Conservative Party, some of the governing Democratic Left Party’s own backbenchers had a more muted response. One backbencher spoke about Port Ixtenco being in the “shadow of the totalitarian Xiomera”, a neighbouring country from which Huenya declared independence only a few short years ago. Some opposition members also mused aloud about if the move to establish a base was a front for the SDF to get involved in potential armed conflict in the years ahead.
In response to those criticisms, Secretary Stewart reconfirmed Sanctarian neutrality and said that while some of Sanctaria’s nuclear submarines would occasionally be docked in base, it was solely for maintenance and crew R&R and that the Divine Federation would not be getting involved in any potential conflict, armed or otherwise, between the Xiomeran state and the Federation of Huenya. “Sanctaria is neutral”, Stewart said, “and should Sanctarian citizens, military or otherwise, be put in danger, we will take steps to mitigate that danger through evacuation rather than entering open warfare. If at all possible.” Stewart continued that “the goal is to ensure the upkeep of our ships, and the welfare of those that crew them.”
When pushed by members of the opposition, and her own party, to commit to not entering armed conflict, Stewart said that “the constitution disbars the SDF from acting as a belligerent force, and only to act in self defence of the nation or her interests. If armed conflict breaks out, should Xiomera, or even Huenya for that matter, leave Sanctarian infrastructure and interests alone, Sanctaria would have no cause for intervention”. But, she did finish by saying that “should the opposite prove true and Sanctarian installations are targeted, the SDF will not hesitate to act in defense of her country and its citizens”.
BRIAN DeNOBLE, Defence & Security Correspondent
