Jessica Brigan

Jessica Brigan (born 23 October 1993) was the first Minister of Defense of New Europe. It was her idea to reform the Ministry of War into a minstry focousing on defense rather than preëmptive measures for the New European military. Her role in imperial politics, though short, is seen as extremely prgoresssive for the New European military as well as its government. She became the first female to run for the office of Imperial Chancellor, of which she lost the election to Eric Perez. During her term as Minister of Defense she became engaged to Emperor Wilhelm to much international acclaim. She was made Empress of New Europe by Imperial Decree and remained so until another decree revoked this and all other titles she held in March 2013. This was done due to her breaking off her engagement in February of that year.

Early life
Jessica grew up in North Augusta, South Carolina. The city was a quiet one that did not have many young children in the city limits. Due to the older population of the city and in her own family, Jessica became a mature child that had to occupy herself with an overactive imagenation. Many of her male relatives were in the U.S. military, giving her a respect for the armed forces. Her interest for foreign cultures and the human mind grew from her spending time with her older sister that is ten years older than her.

Political career
Jessica Brigan became part of a new generation of politicians in New Europe. She has no prior affiliation with New Europe before it was reestablished in June 2011. Initially she was a simply citizen to help maintain the County of Aiken under her personal friend Caroline Kalayjian. In a meeting with Alexander Huber she was offered to become the fourth Minister of War and join the reformed New European Nationalist Party. She initially refused the offer of Minister of War as she felt to inexperienced to take on any role in a reforming government let alone one that had to do with military. Early into the time known as the White Revolution she helped organize Aiken into a centralized government under Kalayjian, then styled as President of Aiken. Aiken and Falia border each other and as such they are the de facto capital territory of New Europe. This consentration of top political leadership for the country led her to meet with Kaiser Wilhelm regularly and in a meeting of the cabinet with Wilhelm she was once again offered to join it. She suggested renaming the office to Ministry of Defense of which was approved by the cabinet followed by the formal pledge of loyalty to Emperor. As Minister of Defense she worked closely with Juan Carlos, General Field Marshal of the Imperial Army, who proposed a resuming of plans he made while in the North American Army to produce uniforms and banners for the Empire. The plans were denied due to a lack of funds for projects for the military as Chancellor Huber focused on maintaining a conservative New Europe while the New European Socialist's were pushing for rapid reforms. Brigan became outspoken against the Chancellor's unwillingness to create a budget that would enable projects not just for the military but for all the ministries. In a session of the Imperial Diet a Budget Bill she and Foreign Minister Anders Jorgen put together was defeated and that the Chancellor was responsible for the financial issues of New Europe. This got her noticed by the Imperial Court. In October 2011, she was created Countess of Aiken by Imperial Decree of the emperor. Initially this caused outrage in Aiken as they felt themselves a democracy but the title was cerimonial and would only be legal if Aiken recognized it. On October 23, the Aiken Parliament voted to recognize the title and declared itself a constitutional monarchy in tradition with the old Kingdom of South Carolina. Durring this time she was running for the office of Imperial Chancellor. Brigan was not the original candidate as the party had hoped that the incumbent chancellor Huber would be able to achieve re-election. Events unfolded that prevented Huber from seeking his re-election and Party chairman Anders Jorgen refused nomination allowing her to become the party's nomaniee. Brigan ran on the the hopes that her being a woman could rally the citizens behind her party for another term as she intended to implement a budget to establish a New European economy. Although she lost the election she was re-apointed Minister of Defense in Perez's Socialist and Centrist dominated cabinet.

Countess of Aiken
According to family law of Aiken, which was formally established in August 2012, the senior family patriarch would reign over Aiken. This required Jessica to step down in favor of her grandmother. Unfortunately events in her personal life prevented her grandmother from accepting the crown which has now passed to her mother Rita. Rita of Aiken has since been proclaimed Duchess of Aiken, while the title of Countess would be reserved for the heir apparent.

Engagement
In April 2011, she met Wilhelm at her family owned store in Augusta, the couple began dating on 15 April. In July she was introduced to members of the imperial family who formally approved of the match. On 31 December 2011 they became engaged while on a visit to the imperial capital. Micronationally this proved to be widely popular among the community as no reigning micronational monarch has married while ruling, until the wedding of Niels of Flandrensis. Jessica was proclaimed Empress of New Europe on the same day as her engagement. The couple were expecting to be married on 25 May 2013 but events prevented that as the engagement were broke off in February 2013.

Titles and honours

 * '23 October 1993 – 1 October 2011: Ms. Jessica Ashley Brigan''
 * 1 October 2011 – 1 January 2012: Her Highness the Countess of Aiken
 * 1 January 2012 – 5 February 2013: Her Imperial and Royal Majesty The New European Empress
 * 5 February 2013 - present: Ms. Jessica Ashley Brigan