In response to the announcement by the Xiomeran government on January 14th that it would place missiles on an island it controls near Milintica, Milintican Communist Party premier and presidential candidate Neina Arana has said that Milintica should restart its long-abandoned nuclear program.
“The unrestrained aggression of the Xiomeran Empire is a threat to the world. But with the tyrant Calhualyana deciding to park ballistic missiles right off our doorstep, Xiomera is now an existential threat to Milintica’s very survival. For this reason, Milintica must do everything it can to defend itself. This includes the development of nuclear weapons for deterrent purposes,” Arana told supporters at a rally in the city of Wairarapa. “If the world will not stop Xiomera, then Milintica must be prepared to do everything it can to fight for its life. It it frankly an act of malfeasance for President Matōchmizalo and his administration to not pursue every possible way that we can protect ourselves from the Xiomeran menace. It appears that only the threat of obliteration will stop Calhualyana and her minions, so Milintica must develop the ability to blast Xiomera off the map if need be.”
The declaration by Arana was quickly seized upon by Matōchmizalo and his Milintican Peoples’ Party. “Neina Arana must be insane. Weapons of mass destruction, and their proliferation, are a far greater threat to the world than Xiomera,” Prime Minister Tupai Tapihana told MPP supporters at a rival rally in Wairarapa. “Milintica must take the lead in encouraging nations to get rid of their WMDs, not simply join in their proliferation.” President Matōchmizalo, when asked about Arana’s comments, told reporters that “it boils down to a simple choice – would you trust Neina Arana with a big red ‘smite’ button? I certainly wouldn’t.”
When asked by XIN about Arana’s remarks, Prime Minister Toquihu of Xiomera warned that his country “would not allow Milintica to develop the ability to threaten Xiomera with nuclear attack.” XIN asked the Prime Minister if that meant Xiomera would intervene should Milintica restart its nuclear program, he said that “absolutely no option is off the table should Arana become Milintica’s leader.”
