Southern Balkan Republic

Flag of the SBR

 Commonwealth of America
 (diplomatic support)

 Fourth Hungarian Republic
 (diplomatic support)

 Donetsk People's Republic
 (sometimes)

 National Resistance Army

 The Sultanate

 Ukrainian Reich

 Donetsk People's Republic
 (sometimes)

 Confederation of Carpathian Basin

 Olympus

The **Southern Balkan Republic,** also known as **SBR** is an unrecongized state in Southern Europe created in 2085 by a group of former soldiers and survivors. It has an official population of over 690.000 people, of whom 2,000 live in its capital Podgorica. It consists of three former Yugoslav Republics, Albania and two regions of Greece as well as Corfu Island.

The SBR is best known for its farming industry, drone production, and strict environmental laws which are being enforced to prevent a similar catastrophe of humanity after the Third World War. It is the only nation which has banned the development of nuclear weapons and tries to maintain a strict diplomatic neutrality, trying to avoid involvment in future wars, although it did become involved in a few border incidents with Greek, Serbian, Bosnian and Hungarian remnant forces.

Currently, the SBR is focusing on the production of solar panels and wind turbines, seeking to become a green nation while also developing its own drone industry for the defense of its borders and airspace.

## History

The story of the Southern Balkan Republic dates back to 2075, after the end of World War III, when groups of soldiers and scientists who had gone underground in nuclear bunkers and underground airfields, seeked to rebuild civilization, turning the bunkers and airfields into small cities and accepting other survivors who were seeking refuge. With the assistance of those survivors and refugees, the communities managed to expand even further, creating trades routes between each other, both by land, air and sea and securing important supply bases that were abandoned prior to the war. This didn't come without its difficulties though, as various bandit groups that were formed after the war were controlling most of those bases. Nevertheless, the communities managed to either eliminate or drive away the bandit groups, thus expanding their territories. As the years passed, the idea for the creation of a new nation came to light by the survivors' descendants and political successors.

Following a meeting between the leaders of the communities in 2083, it was decided that a provisional government would be created to secure the territory for the new nation and its people. A year later, the Southern Balkan Republic was formed with the former capital of Montenegro being chosen as the nation's current capital. Immediately after that, following an election between the people, it was decided that instead of having one president or prime minister, there would be a council which would consist of represantors from the newly created regions and divisions.

### Border conflicts

Hostilities between the SBR and the surrounding nations broke out in July of 2084, when a few groups of renegade soldiers from Greece, Serbia, Hungary and Bosnia attacked the outposts at the borders of the SBR, killing several guards and destroying a few vehicles. In response, the SBR mobilized its volunteers and uniformed 'Republican Guard', and proceeded to push back the renegade military forces. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the Republican Guard and the volunteers managed to puash back the hostile forces, gaining back control of their outposts, capturing several soldiers and equipment. By mid-August, SBR forces had managed to capture several cities in Bosnia, Hungary and Serbia while they had also taken over Albania's former capital Tirana. Hostilities ended in Octorber of the same year, when SBR forces took over Southern Epirus in Greece and the former capital of Sarajevo and reached the Serbian region of Moravica. A week later, a ceasefire was signed between all the combatants and it is still held to this day.

## Administrative regions

The Southern Balkan Republic is divided into 15 administrative regions, each with its own government, capital, police and military. Each region is represented by a government official at the council of 15 which is based at the nation's official capital Podgorica. Since Corfu island has no official representator, it is officially represented by the gonvernor of the region of South Eprius as an autonomous municipality, since it is under the control of SBR authorities.

## Government and politics

While considered a presidential republic, the SBR follows a combined policy of capitalism, socialism and environmentalism. National elections take part every five years while regional elections can be decided by the people of each region. If the majority of the people in one region is not satisfied with their governor, they can hold an election sooner to replace the governing body. If the vote surpases 51 percent, then the people can hold a three day election for the governor's successor.

There have been a few accusations of rigged elections often, but none of that has ever been confirmed.

## Economy

See also: Southern Balkan Defense Industries

The economy of the SBR comes mostly from agriculture, trade, fishing and weapons manufacturing.

Due to most industries being wiped out during the nuclear holocaust, the SBR's community had to turn to more traditional means to create a stable economy if they wanted to survive as a nation. For that reason, they turned towards agriculture and farming, cultivating fruits and vegetables, and increasing the population of any survinving farm animals. They also turned towards fishing as most of the animals and other edible plants were infected by the radiation caused from the nuclear blasts.

The SBR has one of the largest fishing fleets which consists of mostly wooden boats, pre-war trawlers, and tugboats. Because the seas were also infected, the crews of local fishing boats had to be trained to analyze each fish they would catch and verify whether it's infacted or not. Currently, the local governments in Corfu and other coastal cities are seeking to expand their fleets by building newer and larger fishing vessels which will be able to run on solar and wind power and will be able to be loaded with a bigger number of fish.

The SBR also has a very large fleet of merchant ships which have been conducting journeys across Africa, America, and Asia. Those ships are mostly pre-War container ships, oil tankers, catamaran and trimaran yachts, all of which have been converted to cargo vessels and run on either solar or wind power. Due to the fact that there are no stable governments remaining, most of the import goods come from the American Commonwealth, which is the only diplomatic ally from the American continent. Currently, there are three new cargo vessels under construction at the nation's main shipyards at Sveti Stefan near the capital, while at the same time, the local governmets are building their own fishing vessels at their own shipyards.

Another economic source come from the defense industry of the SBR, which produces military weapons and equipment for the nation's security and police forces. The most common products made are the M880 helmet, which is a copy of the PASGT helmet and the M1014 shotgun. Because most of the factories were either wiped out during the war or were looted by bandit groups after the nuclear fallout, all helmets and weapons are made of steel, plastic and wood, which reduces their effectiveness on the battlefield, but still manage to do their job in protecting their wearers just fine.

## Culture

### Media

The SBR has three television channel, Central TV, which is controlled by the state, Balkan Cinemas and Balkan Sports, which are both private channels. It also has its own radio station, Podgorica Radio, which transmits news and music 24/7 while newspapers and magazines are published electronically.

### Sport

Each region in the SBR has its own football and basketball teams, both of which are considered national sports and very popular among the youth. There are also rowing clubs at Corfu and the coastal regions of the country, but are very limited because of the increased dangers of piracy in the Ionian sea. For that reason, races among the clubs are done under heavy security and armed escorts.

## Religion

According to the recent census 40 percent of the population are Eastern Orthodox while another 40 percent are Roman Catholic. There is also a 4 percent of the population that adheres to Islam while there is also another 6 percent that adheres to Hinduism. The remaining 10 percent have declared atheism, but there have been reports of other paganist religions on the rise.

## Military

See also: Southern Balkan Republic Security Forces, Southern Balkan Defense Industries

The SBR has no standing army except the Republican Guard which consists of 70,000 officers who are responsible for the protection of the council members and 1,500 civilian volunteers who are responsible for law enforcement duties.

The Security Forces of the nation consist of the National Guard, the Air Force, the Navy, the Gendarmerie, the Coast Guard, the Intelligence Service, and the Peacekeeping Forces.

The nation also has its own defense industry, the Southern Balkan Defense Industries, which produces its own combat gear, weapons and vehicles for the nation's security forces.

## Law Enforcement

While law enforcement is conducted by the Republican Guard, regional laws are enforced by the Self-Defense Fire Brigade which also acts as a police force. The Self-Defense Fire Brigade is divided into squads of 20 officers and firefighters, which are all deployed to their respective ares of operation. For regular patrols, the SDFB uses old pre-war vehicles which have been converted to electric while for emergency missions, they use armored fire trucks and fire engines. The SDFB also has a diplomatic section with its personnel being deployed to embassies and using more advanced rescue gear.