An Interview with Cove
Talking to a former deputy minister about their time in Europeia
Written by Seva
“They're no stranger to our region, having served long ago as a Minister, as well as being the Delegate of The North Pacific when we signed our Treaty of Friendship. Since their homecoming, Cove has been an active participant in a number of our Ministries, especially World Assembly Affairs, and as they alluded to, they have also been very active welcoming new players to our region gameside. Cove has been a wonderful (re)addition to Europeia, and I cannot wait to see what they do in Europeia going forward.” Those were the words of then-Vice President UPC when he introduced Cove in a citizen spotlight four months ago. Since then, Cove has become a senator and spent some time as deputy minister of World Assembly Affairs (WAA), which was a logical continuation of their steady involvement in Europeia. The Europeian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) sat down with them to talk about their journey in Europeia and how they view the Ministry of WAA.
Cove has not only been World Assembly Delegate of The North Pacific, they also served as Delegate of The Rejected Realms from January to May 2021. They re-joined Europeia in November 2021. When asked why they decided to re-join, they explained simply that “Europeia […] has fascinated [them]”, particularly the “unique” system of government that “makes [Europeia] very accessible to get involved within”.
Cove immediately got involved in the Ministry of WAA: “WA Affairs is always part of the game that has always appealed to me - even in my previous regions WA has always been something that I've held closely to my NS heart, when I saw that Europeia had a WA Ministry I knew straight away that I wanted to get involved [sic] in it! I became deputy minister recently [as of March 25] after being approached by Gem due to my WA knowledge and willingness to help with anything required.” Cove has since stepped down from their role as deputy minister, but when they did hold the position “[their] tasks as a Deputy [were] to act in [sic] an advisory capacity as required as well as keep an eye upon the SC/GA queue to ensure we carry on [posting] proposals efficiently and discuss[ing] them on the forum.”
It has recently been a point of heated debate whether the ministry is relying too much on the WALL (World Assembly Legislative League) instead of focusing more on internal discussion, with Senate conducting oversight on Minister Gem and the minister initiating a policy discussion, both of which happened after the interview was conducted. We inquired what Cove’s opinion on that dilemma is, and they gave a twofold response. “I have a middle of the road opinion here. There are both immense benefits as well as some potential downsides to being in WALL - the views of Europeia on the WA should always come first. However, being in WALL grants us extensive new insights as well as assistance in drafting IFV's - it also assists in keeping track of the proposal queue. We should always first and foremost have discussions on our forums - if staffers of course wish to participate in WALL discussions as well (like myself, Gem and many others do) they should also have that ability. We should not be afraid to diverge from the WALL voting line if the region thinks otherwise - I'd point to the current GA [General Assembly resolution "Regulating The Sex Industry"] being an example of differences of opinions. Difference is good, being in a voting block does not restrict us it just enhances the WA office experience and expertise as well as allowing us to pursue programs like the Heroes of Valhalla more closely and gain expertise/advice from others.”
To summarise, we asked Cove about the main issue facing the Ministry of WAA and the thing they most enjoy about the ministry. They highlighted “maintaining momentum and activity” as the main issue, stating we “need to make sure we keep people involved”, something many ministries might relate to. As for their favourite part Cove named proposal discussions: “I find it fascinating to see the differences of opinions on proposals - I find it useful as it helps evaluate your own perspectives as well as broaden understanding of varying types of proposals, that perhaps myself, would not be so familiar with - for example I'm much more familiar with the SC as opposed to the GA but I am learning through my experience!”
As for their plans in the World Assembly, Cove would like to “[improve their] understanding of different elements of the WA even further, [and as] an aspiring SC author, […] would love to be able to author something that we as a region worked on together.” As an “open-minded politician”, Cove’s Europeian interests span across multiple government branches, as they are “loving being a senator” but also “[would] love to be a minister someday.”
Cove got excellent approval ratings in the recent midterm Senate satisfaction poll, so the EBC decided to ask them what their favourite thing about this term is, and whether they will be running for re-election. They found it "really fun and interesting getting to learn about the different laws of the region in more detail". They hope to "decide in a week or two" whether they are running for re-election.
Everyone has different reasons to like Europeia, but many would relate to Cove’s favourite thing about the region: “I can summarise that plainly - the community. Europeia has such a wonderful mixture of individuals - from veterans of the region (and the wider game as a whole) to newer members. Europeia is a region where members both new and old have a chance to succeed and that is my favourite aspect of the region - Europeia is a region for everyone.” We thank Cove for their time and cannot wait to see where their Europeian journey goes next!
