Viktor Frans Tiranë

Viktor Frans Tiranë was the Minister-President of The Adriatic Republic for four terms in EMG-1, as well as a former mayor of Durrës, and was Minister of Foreign Affairs and secretary of the Treasury of Albania. Tiranë also had a cameo in EMG-2 being elected as secretary to the Governor of Monchegorsk province.

Early Life and Childhood
Viktor Frans Tiranë was born on the 7th of November 1975 to Johann, or Ioian Tiranë, an Austrian-Albanian politician, formerly the Albanian representative to Austria under Enver Hoxha, although he was staunchly in disagreement with Hoxha’s policy. His mother was Anna Aziz, an Egyptian immigrant to Albania during the war. Anna’s father was Muslim, however when Anna married Ioian Tiranë she converted to his religion, Catholicism.

Tiranë spent much of his younger years in the center of Tirana with the care of his loving parents and his older brother, Miakis. Eager to follow in the footsteps of his father, Tiranë was at a very young age interested in politics. Even in 5th grade he was recruited to his school’s high school debate team. Described then by Hoxha himself as “Eloquently spoken, but makes fiery points.” During the year that he was on the high school debate team as a 5th grader, their team won the national debate championship.

Although he was a Socialist even from a young age he was also against Hoxha’s authoritarian policies. When he was 15 years old he was arrested for “civil disobedience” while in a peaceful protest against Hoxha’s rule over Albania. He never got into such an incident again. Around that same age his father was given a mansion near Durrës in an eclectic 1700s style by Ramiz for his “great service for the betterment of the nation.” The family moved to the mansion, and Tiranë’s wife and son still live there.

Even though the family had lived in Hoxha’s Albania, they were all devout Catholics, so come Tiranë’s 16th birthday the family made a pilgrimage to the Vatican. Being a notable experience for Tiranë, he heartily considered becoming a bishop or a priest after meeting the Pope, but he decided against it.

Studies Abroad and early political career
When he was 16 years old as well, the University of Cambridge had noticed his growing political notoriety and offered him a full scholarship to study international law there. Having skipped a grade, he accepted and went to Cambridge in 1992 when he was just 16 years old. Eventually earning a Masters in international law, he went back to the University of Tirana to get a Masters in Albanian law in graduate school.

After a brief stint of being a public defender in Turkey, he came back home to Albania in 1999 to once again immerse himself into the world of politics. He ran for mayor of Durrës in 2000 and won, making it his first major political win when he was just 25. He only stayed there one term, because in 2003 he was offered the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. He accepted, and helped Albania’s relationship status with other nations, particularly the United States and United Kingdom flourish. He was given the Order of Skanderbeg and awarded the order of the British Empire for his deeds.

After this massively successful run as the Minister of Foreign Affairs he was appointed as the secretary of the Treasury, where he would prove his economic prowess as well. Making a series of long term investments in the people and slightly raising taxes, he caused an economic boom in the nation. However, one of his biggest fears was to become a “political elite,” out of touch with society and too blinded by greed to do the right thing. He worked his hardest to stay away and frown upon these people. He believed that the new president, Bair Topi was one of these “political elite” and made multiple statements against him. In September of 2008, he was fired from his position in the treasury. He then decided to take the next few years away from politics.

During this time he met his then-to-be wife, Marża Płodownica in Paris during vacation. They kept a long-distance relationship for a while with Viktor being in Tirana and Marza being in Olsztyn. In winter of 2009, Marza moved to live with Viktor, and they got married that summer. Later in 2015 they would have a son named Henry, and then a daughter in 2019 named Elizska.

During this time Tiranë also wrote a book, dubbed The Dangers of Compliance, documenting the horrors that went on in Hoxha’s Albania, and calling for justice and representation of the people. This book did quite well and was translated into 26 different languages, with the English version becoming a New York Times bestseller. Life was peaceful, but unimportant for Tiranë. Then, in 2020, everything changed.

The conception of the Adriatic Republic and the Revolution
Edi Rama was the centrist prime minister of Albania, and Tiranë was not pleased. Rama’s isolationist and discriminatory policies along with his corruptive political eliteness were “a disgrace to our own people and good nation,” said Tiranë. Many people, captivated by Tiranë’s honesty, morality, and oratory joined his cause and it grew. Protests were breaking out all over Albania with Tiranë acting as the movement’s de facto leader. Soon these protests became more demanding, and the government more angry, until this hotbed of racial and social tensions clashed in the main square of Durrës.

A small-level protest in the city of Durrës was met with police force. They were at a standstill and stayed in place until the police opened fire on the protesters. In the ensuing chaos the crowd dispersed, with 26 citizens dead and 13 injured. Later that day Tiranë declared an official revolution, citing this massacre as a justifiable cause.

Many of the Albanian military defected to join Tiranë’s forces. They also brought equipment from the military to Tiranë’s forces for a leg-up. Kosovo independence groups were in support of Tiranë, and so Kosovo decided to merge with Tiranë’s forces. Now having distinct areas they could attract from, Tiranë did not have to send in many troops as the people themselves led a successful rebellion, and along with Kosovan Aid, Tiranë was able to capitulate the Albanian government in just 23 days. At the end of the fighting Tiranë made arguably his most influential speech to date in the war torn ruins of Tirana, calling for a re-building of Albania and first uttering the phrase "the Adriatic Republic" in his Independence day speech. When this Adriatic Republic was set up, including the former nations of Albania and Kosovo, an election came. Tiranë was elected Minister-President with an overwhelming majority of 83%.

Tiranë worked quickly to set up this new nation, writing a constitution, forming a parliament and choosing his Vice Minister-President, Zledir Vëlo. He also had military goals. His eyes were set on Montenegro, whom Tiranë hated in many ways. He believed that the president of Montenegro was one of the Political elite that he hated so much, not only to add on to the fact that the military of Montenegro was sent to fight Tiranë’s revolutionary forces, so no less than a month after his election he began an invasion of Montenegro. A swift capture of the capital, Podgorica in less than 30 days was a sweeping military victory. Tiranë, closely following behind the advancing troops was met with a parade along with the Albanian troops when he came back home to Tirana. All the leaders in the world now recognized his Political, Economical, and Military prowess.

Wars in the Balkans
Serbia was causing trouble for the Adriatic Republic, due to the fact that they did not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign state so the Adriatic Republic could not invade Kosovo. However, Hungary at the same time was being attacked by Serbia, so Tiranë and the president of Hungary at the time, Duncan Turing met multiple times in Ghent, Belgium (the Ghent conferences), and decided to do a joint invasion of Serbia. However, Serbia wasn’t alone in this fight, as they had allied with Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia so a full on war was set to begin. The Adriatic Republic was to take care of and capitulate Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary would do the same of Serbia and North Macedonia. On August 7th, 11:29 AM 2020, the first shot was fired. Staying mostly at a standstill in the first few days, Viktor made his move.

Blockading the Croatian coast with his superior navy he took smaller boats to land at areas in the coast and surround towns and cities from behind the coast. Quickly capitulating the coast he moved inward to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a series of fast-paced almost erratic movements. The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, fell just 23 days after the beginning of the war. Then the troops focused on moving up north to Zagreb. Slovenia had also joined the fight against the Adriatic Republic, so due to the Adriatic Republic’s fast military success, Tiranë was put in charge of invading Slovenia.

Charging through the mostly rural northern area of Bosnia and Herzegovina he soon reached the Croatian heartland. With his troops taking the city of Split and Mostar in rapid succession, Croatia fell and Bosnia and Herzegovina surrendered and both nations were incorporated into the Adriatic Republic.

During the conferences in Ghent, Tiranë decided to declare war on Portugal and officially entered the Portuguese war and made significant gains on the Northern front due to heavy air support and guerilla tactics. In the Treaty of Miskolc that followed the war, the Adratic Republic gained control of an area in the North of Portugal containing the city of Porto. Tiranë made this an autonomous region, essentially giving it independence and named it Portugal-Patai, with Porto being made the capital.

Controversy and Alliances
Around this time Tiranë made multiple controversial decisions. One of those main decisions was his invasions of Italy and Slovenia. While it had reasoning, that reasoning was loose and many believed it wasn't worth war. However in the end they captured the city of Rome and Took the Mainland, giving Sicily to Turkey and Sardinia to France. Another controversial decision that was made was Tiranë's lending of ships to Dolgozó in their invasion of Crete, which was already a controversial invasion. Tiranë's popularity was slowly but surely going down, and he needed a way to boost it if he was to win the next election.

After having emergency heart surgery and recovering, Adriatic forces in Portugal-Patai were able to capture John Hersey, the dictator, (officially President for life, although commonly referred to as emperor) of former Portugal along with the vice-"president" and the general of the armed forces of Portugal. This along with some policy changes was a major victory for Tiranë and when the election came, his opponent was Gulo Paito of the Christian Democratic party (later the Democratic Constitution party). Tiranë won with a whopping 76% percent majority, solidifying his place as the next Minister-President of the Adriatic Republic.

With both military and technological advancements occurring, Tiranë's reign was fairly stable until Austria declared war on the Adriatic Republic out of pressure from the Swiss government to do so. They began defending against and invading Austria, while also supporting a socialist uprising in the former Benelux. This uprising succeeded and Benelux became part of the Adriatic Republic as another Patai in an effort to help set up a government. The Austrians were failing to defend their nation well, with Graz falling in under a month, and so they surrendered.

With even more war, the Adriatic Republic helps aid Iceland in their fight against Germany and begin invading from Austria and from Benelux-Patai, capturing the cities of Frankfurt and Nuremburg quickly. They soon met up in Nuremburg and incorporated Benelux-Patai along with the parts of Germany not owned by Iceland into their territory.

Assassination creating chaos
Then, with little warning, The Minister-President was shot at while driving through Swiss territory. He was rushed to the nearest hospital on Adriatic Soil. While it was still unclear whether or not the shot was fatal, there were visible entry and exit wounds right above his hip. The Vice-Minister-President Joanniq Elber Krest temporarily assumed control. The minister of finance, GianCarlo di Veruzzi was shot dead. The assailants were being tracked down, with Swiss police being very reluctant to help in the investigation. While Tiranë was unconscious, the Adriatic Coast guard spotted a ship full of Greek refugees fleeing Turkey, with a Turkish naval fleet behind. The Turkish naval fleet said "they had ties to Hungary," but the Adriatic Empire accepted them. While the refugees were being unloaded, one of the Turkish naval ships opened fire on the ship without warning, killing 257 and doing considerable damage to the ports of Durrës. This was known as the Durrës Massacre, and Krest demanded that Turkey pay reparations due to this.

Tiranë awoke from his unconsciousness awaiting a second surgery, and when he was briefed on the situation in Durrës, he said jokingly "I had the choice of death, or to move on. I forced my body to move on so I would live another day, and now you come in here with this news and I wish I were dead all over again."

It was discovered that the assassins had Swiss and Czech ties, and due to this Krest declared war on the Czech republic and the Kingdom of Switzerland. During this time, Tiranë went into a 7 hour surgery to repair the damage from the bullet. He had to be taken off life support for this surgery, so nobody knew if he would survive or not. The Minister-President reportedly still kept an optimistic and cheerful attitude and is did his best to stay calm and collected. When finished with the surgery, Tiranë didn't wake up and doctors said he was in a coma. A vigil was held outside of his hospital window as Krest was officially sworn in as President. However, a few days later Tiranë woke up and, while needing time to recover, he was alive and well. He woke up only 3 minutes before Switzerland fell to the Adriatic Republic.

Re-building and post chaos
With the Czech Republic having fallen and Adriatic territory secured, Tiranë signed the revolutionary PWA (Public Works Act), helping recreate and give resources to the citizens of the Adriatic Republic in war-torn areas. Along with this they started a refugee program, giving all families of refugees the equivalent of 4000 USD and a home to start, and also giving them either farmland or a secured job at a factory with pay.

Buying the territory of Nord-pas de Calais, Tiranë wrote a series of laws overall improving the quality of life in the Adriatic Republic. The life expectancy would raise to 81 due to this and the economy boomed to the third largest in the world. After this, an election occurred with Tiranë running again, this time against Blud de Varno of the Democratic Constitution party. During this time the Adriatic Republic began to invade Britain after multiple skirmishes were previously happening. Scotland quickly fell due to the fact that the majority of Scotland supported the Adriatic Republic as opposed to the UK. Finland also joined the fight and the Adriatic Republic peacefully took Finland. The only fighting that happened in the war was in mainland England, but over time it still fell to the Adriatic Republic. The Portugal-Pataise government voted to invade Meionorte and the Canary Islands, and took them with little resistance.

The Turkish incidents can be found here: Turkish-Balkan incidents

Terrorists who claimed to be working for Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia then killed the Vice-Minister-President after she came out of the closet as Lesbian. The Minister-President declared war on all three countries in retaliation. With little effort the Adriatic Republic was able to take over the two nations.

Spain and Controversy
During this time, Spain was in control of Norway, Sweden, and Finland due to invasion. With international pressure, Spain agreed to hold a referendum as to which nation wanted independence. The referendum was heavily in favor of Spain, with no districts of any nation in favor of leaving. People thought this was suspicious and began to investigate. This investigation found multiple instances of fraud and re-balloting in favor of Spain. Due to this, the Adriatic Republic and Dolgozó began to invade Spain. The reason this was controversial is instead of just making Spain hold another referendum with another nation as a mediator. Multiple nations condoned this, and in the end both nations decided to leave, with the only gains being a bit of Adriatic Territory in the north of Spain and Finland in exchange for 45 factories.

After this, Tiranë's good friend and the former leader of Dolgozó, Duncan Turing, was shot and killed. After this, Dolgozó and the Adriatic Republic became closer than ever, even considering to join into a one nation union. Dolgozó and the Adriatic Republic would stay allied until the Adriatic Republic was disbanded.

Siberian island developments and 3rd election.
Russia had sold the Adriatic Republic their Siberian Islands and 30 factories in exchange for areas of Finland, thinking that those islands did not contain too much importance. However, while Adriatic forces were setting up a military base in Kotelny Island, an abandoned mine containing rich Zinc, Tin, and Copper-gold deposits was found. The deposits were large, and immediately mines began to get set up with tools being shipped via the Artic Ocean. Residences were made for the workers, and the mines began to flourish. Post-prisoners were given the opportunity to work in the mines and earn money as a means of helping them enter the modern world again. Soon planes were arriving in Kotelny after the runway was finished and the mines would be a source of important minerals and ores for quite a while for the Adriatic Republic.

The 2027 election for the Parliament had finished and it turned out with the Socialist Party having the most members, with the United Territories Party, or UTP coming in second. The Socialist Party and the UTP decided to form a union where the Minister-President would be Tiranë from the Socialist party and the Vice-Minister-President would be Zëdlir Velo. His adversary would once again be Blud de Varno of the Democratic Constitution party. In the end the people voted in majority of Tiranë and the Parliament voted to swear him in again 312 to 98, thus launching his third term in office.

War in Israel
''Main article: France-Israel Conflict (EMG-1)

The "Death" of Tiranë
A member of the Adriatic Parliament from former Kosovo named Magdalena Abaza, and formerly a head of the Communist Party rose to prominence when her speech shaming Turkey for their "inability to accept people for who they are" was broadcast and gained popularity. Tiranë noticed this and requested she move to the Socialist party so she could be closer in line to the Minister-Presidency. She accepted, and only a few days later The Minister-President and the Vice-Minister-President were shot in the capital building while creating a joint speech denouncing and apologizing for their and others' willful splitting and colonization of nations. The Vice-Minister-President died shortly after, and Tiranë, while on life support, made Abaza his Vice-Minister-President. At five in the morning on that day, Tiranë's heart stopped beating and he was pronounced dead, with Abaza becoming the Minister-President. Tiranë was moved to a Mausoleum and he lay there for weeks. During this time he was named a saint by the pope.

Until 2 months later, banging and moaning was heard coming from inside the Tiranë mausoleum. Viktor Frans Tiranë was rushed to the hospital, with a faint pulse and rapidly loosing blood through coughing it up. Many people were confused as to how Tiranë had seemingly "risen from the dead." The hospital was able to get his vitals to normal and Tiranë was able to re-assume duty later that week. Tiranë said, about being 'ressurected:' "...you may notice something different about me. No, it isn’t that I got a haircut, or that I have new shoes or anything, but I seemingly “woke up from being dead.” This is not the case, however. When I was buried, I was not completely dead. My body was almost preserved, and unconscious. However I myself was not dead, and I lived on."

Due to the pope naming him a saint even though he was still alive, he was the first living saint.

International divide and chaos
Over time an international divide became prevalent, with that divide being put in the spotlight by the ACM. Each side of this international divide was scrambling to get materials and territory to be more powerful than the other. The Adriatic Republic took the four "free" German states and states in Africa after due to their showing an inclination towards joining the other side (for example, the Mauritanian bombing of Milan). While this decision may have been controversial in normal times, things were happening at an even more rapid pace and at an even more controversial level that this went by fairly unnoticed by the international eye.

Tiranë aided during Rothsen's downfall through all the ensuing chaos that occurred both in the north and south hemispheres, and was a central part of the invasion of Niger. They also founded the Socialist Republic of Nivalér in an effort to stop the war with Niger.

Artem Federova made a statement implying the possibility of a fourth world war throwing the Parliament into chaos, and Tiranë worked tirelessly in an effort to calm down the Parliament and work out a diplomatic solution with Federova. Them, being good friends, were able to avert the crisis for the time being. However, a declaration of war against Dolgozó vote was already being voted on in the Kremlin. The council entered a state of war and Adriatic troops mobilized along the Finnish border. Adriatic relationship with the imperialist Icelandic althing deteriorated, and Dolgozó's provocative public statements disgusted Tiranë, and he was at a loss as to what to do next.

Turn 25
Main article: Turn 25 incidents (EMG-1)

"Revival" and anti-monarch rhetoric
Although Tiranë was supposedly killed, he simply went into another one of his hibernation states along with his son, Henry, who was also supposedly killed in the incident. Viktor Frans Tiranë did something similar a few days later, however his sudden "revival" was not publicized for a while. The first weeks after he was conscious, his state of life was kept secret and he met with a few politicians including the leader of Dolgozó and the Celtic Empire.

During this time the Adriatic Republic had ceased to exist and was replaced with the kingdom of Adria, lead by it's king, Gottshalk Weiß-Schunger and it's Prime Minister, Braam Zuberg. Tiranë's relation with both leaders was complicated. While in some circumstances he felt the need to support them he generally had quite a negative view of their rhetoric and actions. He was, for all his life against the political elite, and he viewed the monarchy as the epitome of the political elite. He did not like Gottshalk's relaxed view on tyranny, going on regular hunting trips with Jeb Sherman, the dictator of NATA, and while Zuberg was less relaxed about this he was still too relaxed for Tiranë. Tiranë briefly escaped to Norway in an attempt to take over the Kingdom of Adria secretly but did so with little success, and so he returned to Adria soon after.

Declining health and final death
Having been "dead" for many times meant that some of his organs were dealing with failures, mainly his kidney. His kidney had failed and he was admitted to the hospital after giving a speech raising money for the Adriatic red cross, and a few hours later he died by the side of his wife and son. He was buried in the Tiranë mausoleum and his grave was marked with the words "Populus egebat ducem et ducit," translating to "The people needed a leader and he led."

Legacy
Tiranë was, as director Steven Spielberg said "one of the major shining beacons of freedom in this world." His economic view, commonly referred to as "Tiraneism," was used in nations all around the world, including but not limited to Nivalér and Collective Mali.