But there is no question that in recent months, this relationship has been in doubt. This has been a time of change for us all. Mandalore has strayed from some of its values, it is true, but so too has the Republic and, no longer bound by a common enemy, it appears that we have strayed in opposite directions. We do have differences. Some of them cannot be reconciled, but some of them—many of them—can. I will discuss these, briefly. And since this is a time of change, it requires that we change with it. I will discuss then, also, some of the changes that I am making as Manda'lor which have been discussed and agreed to by my people.

Mandalore's first and foremost concern is for peace in its Sector. We do not seek to "rule" the Mandalore Sector, as certain Senators have said, but rather to protect it. We have communicated this to the government of Kalevala, and they have agreed to a permanent peace with us; we have recognized Kalevala as a free and independent world, and invited it to discuss with us the founding of a formal Sector government, and in exchange, Kalevala has joined with us and with its neighbors in signing a treaty legitimizing the Mandalorian Protectors as the guarantors of peace, security, and stability in the Mandalore Sector.

The "crisis," Senators, is over.

And so is slavery on Mandalore. Slavery is reprehensible. It was wrong when the Empire did it to my people, and it is wrong now and always. However, it must be clarified; what has happened on Mandalore over these last decades was not "slavery." It has not been at all how it is portrayed in a certain, recent work of fiction. Mandalore captured many Imperial soldiers in its war of independence. These soldiers were held as prisoners of war, and prisoners of war can be employed for the purposes of labor. However, it is very true that these soldiers have been held for far too long. Years too long.

Many of them have already been released. As of now, there are fewer than one thousand. I have ordered that these, too, shall be released. Now, twenty years after the Empire enslaved the Mandalorian people, or Mando'ade, we can say once and for all that there is no more slavery on Mandalore.

Some things, however, will not change. There is a phrase in my language—Mando'ad draar digu—that means "a Mandalorian never forgets." We are not willing to forget what the Empire has done to us, and we are certainly not willing to forgive it. The Republic has made peace with the Empire, and while we do not agree with this, we respect it. We will not make peace with the Empire, and we ask that you respect this though you may disagree with it. You have offered to mediate "discussions" and "negotiations" with the Empire. We respectfully decline this mediation; Mandalore will speak on its own behalf, Senators.