ALGOGILLE - In a joint statement released by the Office of the President and the Federation Navy this morning, the Federal administration offered an official response to the leak of details from the Operation Highlander after-action dossier regarding a number of illegal breaches of the Caldari Border between the dates of October 6, YC110 and March 10, YC115.
In the statement, Grand Admiral Anteson Ranchel confirmed that "a number of missions were planned and executed outside the Federation Navy's usual sphere of operations between these dates. All action was solely for intelligence gathering purposes, and all operations were both passive and observatory in nature, with no offensive orders issued to the personnel deployed."
The Office of the President also added that "these operations were vital to Federal security in the wake of Caldari aggression during the YC110 invasion of Luminaire, and the subsequent invasion of Ratillose by forces under the command of Amarrian heir Uriam Kador." The Navy release reiterated that "the Federation Navy and Federal Intelligence Office will continue to take every action within its power to keep its borders secure from breach by hostile military forces, and will continue to work with the Directive Enforcement Department to halt in its tracks any threat to the people of the Gallente Federation and their homes. We now consider this matter closed, and have no further comment to make."
Less than thirty minutes after its release, the statement was met with a charged response from Odo Hakaalen, Corporate Relations Director for the Chief Executive Panel, who reiterated that "any potential intelligence gathered by these unlawful border breaches has no tangible use for tactical advantage, and was accrued during the years that the Caldari State was under Provist administration". Continuing, he also stated that the Caldari Navy "would like to make our position expressly clear for reasons of transparency and offer caution that any further unauthorized breach of the Caldari border will be met with the use of full lethal force."
Despite being mentioned in the initial statement from the Federal administration, sources within the Amarr Empire appeared to brush aside requests for comment.