Our Relationship with Lehmark

As of the 24th of August, 2025, the Foreign Ministry of Versmark has sent notice to the Imperial Government of Lehmark, declaring their intention to end the Treaty of Mutual Recognition between the two states.

This comes after many months of tensions, with many of Versmark’s citizens and members of government also being members of Lehmark’s government after the nation was refounded. All of the people who were in both governments at different times, for different reasons, and of their own accords, left the government of Lehmark, and now continue to serve in Versmark.

A culture issue in Lehmark was prevalent; those who left the government overwhelmingly cited pressure to perform, and the lack of ability to freely choose projects and the methods to complete said projects. Many individuals also felt pressured to work on these projects more than expected when taking up their position.

These concerns all came to a breaking point when one remaining younger Versmarkian who also held a position in the Imperial Government voiced his concerns about how HIM William was consistently trying to pressure him into completing projects. He also specifically didn’t want to leave.

This is compounded by the fact that William said to HSM Wald in private messages that he was essentially too soft on his government and needs to learn to be more manipulative.

Alongside these issues, Count Ford, Minister of Foreign Affairs, alleged violations of various international treaties. In an interview with His Lordship, Count Ford cited the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (1933) and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) as two treaties, commonly adhered to by micronations, that Lehmark was not in compliance with.

“They didn’t have a foreign minister, so I felt that they didn’t have a capacity to enter into relations with foreign states. As well, they had neglected to appoint us an Ambassador, despite us doing so very quickly after our treaty went into effect.”

Its also relevant to note that Minister Ford has been banned from Lehmark’s Discord server for several months for a misconception that was later sorted out by Versmarkian Ambassador Christina Nowell.

William was privately messaged about these issues, with the hope that he could recognise the issues, improve his conduct, and get the Empire to a better place. He responded, and in that same response, he said; “that person will be removed from the Imperial Government and Versmarkian Citizens will no longer be permitted to hold posts from here on”, seemingly assuming that the entire source of these was from that one specific individual.

There was no public announcement about this, and there seemingly was no intention to make this new policy public.

Then, on the 24th of August, 2025, HIM William I, in the place of the Foreign Minister, was sent a notice of treaty severance, which, as per the treaty (that was written by Lehmark), is only a notice and the actual severance takes place in two weeks. The treaty also included this paragraph at the end;

“However, recognizing the unique historic and cultural ties between our Governments, we’d like to offer a proposal. If Your Imperial Majesty’s Government is so willing, we’d like to host a delegation from the Empire of Lehmark, to come to the table to examine ways to come to a mutual understanding, in order to preserve our treaty.”

William responded by saying; “Thanks for the letter. I agree with the severance, this will be enacted immediately.”

Did he read it? Their treaty specifically says that the treaty can be severed with two week’s notice from either side. When he was questioned further, his response was;

“Sure. From our side, it is dissolved immediately, however, please follow your procedures. While I applaud Versmark’s approach to this, I would like to decline any future negotiation. This severance is final.”

Versmark started as a group of people who were members of the Imperial Government before Lehmark dissolved. Ever since the nation was formed, the thought “What would William think?” always lingered. Could we live up to the name that was Lehmark? Could we do better?

And now, William has made it exceedingly clear; he doesn’t really care what we think. So maybe, with courage, we can now move into a new era, one that doesn’t ignore the past, but doesn’t care about it that much.

The only way from here is up.

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This edition was authored by the Editors and Contributors of the Versmark National.