What truly put East Africa in a difficult position was that its relationship with the Ottoman Empire was currently quite good. In order to secure Ottoman Empire support in the occupation of the Persian Gulf colonies, East Africa had carried out considerable cooperation with the Ottoman Empire. As things stood, the Ottoman Empire was undoubtedly a country friendly toward East Africa.
East Africa's relations with the countries of the Balkan Peninsula, meanwhile, were somewhat complicated. Of them, Romania had the best relationship with East Africa, but Romania was not a major participant in this round of the Balkan crisis.
Romania lay in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula and was in fact separated from the Ottoman Empire, so the conflict between the two countries was less acute than the Ottoman Empire's conflicts with other nations.
The Balkan country with the second-best relationship with East Africa was Bulgaria. Bulgaria could be considered a minor military powerhouse on the Balkan Peninsula; in the First World War of Ernst's previous life, it had unleashed combat power far beyond its national strength.
Thus, East Africa had always maintained a good relationship with Bulgaria, especially in military cooperation, where East Africa was an important supporter of Bulgaria.
Moreover, from the perspective of economic interests, East Africa's trade with Bulgaria ranked second among the Balkan countries, behind only Romania.
Serbia lay in the Balkan interior and lacked a seaport, while Greece was practically Britain's lending ground, its economy entirely controlled by Britain. Thus, Bulgaria possessed an inherent advantage in trade with East Africa.
Of course, compared with Romania, an important oil-producing region, Bulgaria was certainly nowhere near its equal.
After summing up everyone's views, Ernst said, "In handling relations with the Balkan countries, according to everyone's recommendations, we should avoid offending them whenever possible. As