Belgio-Yarphei

Belgio-Yarphei is a state formed on 8 June 2010 as a union of the Grand Yarphese Republic and the Kingdom of Belgium. It is the first long-distance federation of two sovereign states to occur, and because of this many doubt its stability.

History
The Grand Yarphese Republic, normally frowned upon in the western world since formation, experienced an interesting revival in Belgium in 2007 after its conversion to a military junta. Maurice Clement, pro-Yarphei politician decided to form a party dedicated to good relations with Yarphei. At a young age, he spread his ideas and eventually the Grand Party of Belgium was the main party of Wallonia, soon spreading to Flanders and eventually becoming the majority party of Belgium. This phenomenon remains unexplained. Soon Belgium and Yarphei had extremely good relations, but were not suited to form an organization so they took a direct action to unify into a federation. In order not to disrupt the political system of the two sovereign states in the middle of World War III, the idea was to create a higher government supreme to both governments. However, both were not willing to give up power, so it was decided that the two heads of state, Tranh Chup-yar and King Albert II would be able to co-exert power over the whole area. Meanwhile, Tranh Chup-yar would continue to maintain control over the Grand Yarphese Republic, and Albert II would still be the King of Belgium.

Government
The government of the new state is simple and straightforward. Maurice Clement, the prime minister, exercises executive power while Tranh Chup-yar and Albert II lead the unicameral parliament, which exercises legislative power. The parliament contains one hundred members, one from each administrative division, and the rest are chosen by the prime minister. The Judicial branch may at any time call for judicial review of an action. The government was made simple due to the current governments of the countries already being complex enough.

Opposition
While the unification called for and passed by legislative and popular vote in both countries, there nevertheless has been some opposition, mainly in some areas of Brussels and near Bangkok. In Belgium, there was an attempt to bomb the Yarphese embassy in Brussels, while in Yarphei, several protesters in Bangkok were arrested for torching a government building. In Saigon, a man attempted self-immolation in protest, but he was put out by Yarphese firefighters, hospitalized, and subsequently jailed. A leading figure in anti-unification in both Yarphei and Belgium is VLA member Vǒ́ Aı-trǎm, who, because of his political power, was unable to be arrested. He published several pamphlets opposing unification but this did not have a profound affect on the voter turnout.

One specific barrier to the unification was xenophobia. In Yarphei, many were taught to disapprove of foreigners, and while the VLA never included Belgians as foreigners, severe mistrust still exists. In addition, many supporters of the mostly western organization Planetary Alliance for Freedom, of which Belgium was a member, found Yarphei as an eastern imperial menace.