Milomir I of Ongal dies aged 58

HH Grand Prince Milomir I of Ongal

News has broken that His Highness Grand Prince Milomir I, founder and sovereign of Ongal, died on Thursday 25th August.

The news was announced on Facebook by the official Ongal group and by the Prince’s godson.

On 25 November 2014, Milomir I became the founding monarch of the Danube Ecological Principality of Ongal, claiming ten uninhabited pockets of land on the western bank of the Danube which, due to an ongoing dispute between Croatia and Serbia over their precise border, were technically no longer claimed by either country.

The Principality claimed the land as a nature reserve, with the Grand Prince as its absolute monarch.

Before founding Ongal, Prince Milomir had a career as a decorated Bulgarian architect and was a well-known local dignitary. His existing connections helped Ongal to flourish, and at time of writing it claims a population of roughly 1,400 who have applied to become citizens.

Milomir charged the people of Ongal with keeping “a high honor, aristocratic spirit and patriotism and to be [a] model of nobility and dignity”. He was often pictured attending various ceremonies of a civic or religious nature, and was well-known for his promotion of Bulgarian culture and history.

Prince Milomir was an Orthodox Christian, and Ongal is an officially Orthodox state. Milomir I and Emperor Jonathan I made contact in June 2016, bonding over their shared faith, and a treaty of mutual recognition was signed between Austenasia and Ongal on 1 July 2016.

Soon after mutual recognition was established between Austenasia and Ongal, the two monarchs gave each other noble titles: Prince Milomir was made Baron of Arenberg by Jonathan I, and the Prince gave the Emperor the title Baron of Ongal. Furthermore, Milomir I was knighted into the Glorious Order of St. John by His Imperial Majesty in the 2016 Independence Day honours list, and Emperor Jonathan I was given an honorary degree from an academy set up for citizens of Ongal.

However, primarily due to the inability of either monarch to speak the other’s language without the aid of translation, communication between Austenasia and Ongal was never as frequent as it may otherwise would have been.

What the future holds for Ongal after this sad loss remains to be seen. Although its founding father has been lost, a nation of such great size will undoubtedly continue in some form.

Bradley of Dullahan appointed Deputy Prime Minister

Bradley of Dullahan, Representative of Helinium, was yesterday appointed Deputy Prime Minister following the resignation of Lord Hunter Prater from the position.

Lord Prater, who was appointed Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) in September last year upon Lord William Wilson’s victory in the general election, has announced his retirement from national government, although he remains Representative of New Flat Rock.

One notable legacy of Lord Prater’s time in office as DPM is his advocacy of weekly meetings of Cabinet, which previously tended to be held as required.

Bradley, Duke of Dullahan, also known by his title in the Holy Roman Empire as King of the Romans, was appointed yesterday to fill the vacancy. The position of Deputy Prime Minister is held by a Representative who is selected by the Prime Minister with the consent of the Monarch.

Duke Bradley – who also serves as the long-standing Prime Minister of Austenasian ally Wyvern – became an Austenasian national in March 2019. Earlier this year he was elected the parliamentary Representative of the new town of Helinium, which is inhabited by his sister and her partner.

New territory annexed from Poland

Saturday 30th July saw a new Territory annexed by the Empire of Austenasia from Poland.

The new land claim, Nervenston, was claimed by the now Lord Dominik Kądziołkais, who has been appointed Governor and Baron of the new territory.

Nervenston is uninhabited, and is comprised of the roughly 2,170 square foot garden of Lord Kądziołkais’ residence.

Nervenston was claimed from the south-west of Poland, and is the first Austenasian land claim to be annexed from that country.