The Liberland
The Liberland
I heard this morning on the radio station of the Free Republic of Liberland. It is actually an unrecognized micronation, self proclaimed on April 13, 2015 by Vít Jedlička, a 31-year-old politician, on a seven square kilometer territory located on the west bank of the Danube, between Serbia and Croatia.
The motto of the Free Republic of Liberland is "Live and let live", I like it as a motto I must say, Vít Jedlička takes the example of countries like Monaco or Liechtenstein to explain his project.
This micronation aims to create a society where honest citizens can prosper without laws, regulations or state taxes. It's nice as a concept, especially when you want to recover its cryptocurrency without being taxed or hunted by the state!
According to the founder and self-proclaimed President of the Republic, Vít Jedlička, the basic idea is that taxes are optional, which should allow him to reduce the role of the state to a minimum. Some media have already described the Liberland as a new tax haven.
Vít Jedlička is a member of the Party of Free Citizens and claims to have received 250,000 citizenship applications from around the world. To be accepted in Liberland, one must respect one's neighbor and one's opinions as well as private property and have a clean criminal record. Communists, as well as neo-Nazis and other extremists will not be admitted to the Republic either. It is a tax haven but a paradise as well, it is the country of Bisounours 🤗
The capital of this micro state is called Liberpolis, it stretches over seven square kilometers of woodland between Serbia and Croatia, on the banks of the Danube. This land has not officially belonged to any country since the wars in Yugoslavia. Indeed, Croatia claims that the territory belongs to Serbia but Serbia does not want it and this situation has already existed for 24 years.
The official languages spoken at Liberland are Czech and English. Its national flag represents a sun and a bird on a yellow background with a black line.
The new, self-proclaimed republic wants to open informal embassies in Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic and Serbia.
History
The official website of the Liberland explains that the state could be created in an unclaimed territory because of the legal problem posed by the border dispute between Croatia and Serbia.
https://liberland.org/en/about/
After the wars in Yugoslavia, the current thalweg (line that joins the lowest points of a valley or the bed of a river) of the Danube has become the Serbo-Croatian border but Croatia claims as border the old trough of the Danube before regulation.
Thus, some territories, such as Vukovar Island or Šarengrad Island, were disputed.
In the area of the Danube upstream from the confluence of the Drava, eight large territories on the left bank, delimited by the former course of the Danube, are claimed by Croatia from Serbia and four smaller territories on the right bank are considered as according to the Croatian point of view, but Serbia does not recognize them as its own because it does not recognize the border claimed by Croatia.
The largest of these Serb territories according to Croatia, but Croatian according to Serbia, is that of Gornja Siga invested by the Liberland. In addition, the navigable channel of the Danube is classified as international waters.
According to Vit Jedlička, since neither Croatia, nor Serbia nor any other nation claims this territory, it is a land without a master (terra nullius) whose border is bordered by the international waters of the Danube and which does not interfere with any sovereignty .
Neither Croatia nor Serbia accept Vít Jedlička's view that the disputed territories are terra nullius, as each considers these territories as belonging to the other, Croatia referring to the former bed of the Danube and Serbia by referring to the current one.
Already media in both countries accuse Vít Jedlička of wanting to create a tax haven on their borders and Croatian border guards patrol the Danube and border airspace to prevent access to Gornja Siga (which is on the shore Croatian).
Vít Jedlička was arrested on the afternoon of May 9, 2015 by Croatian police while traveling in Croatia near the Liberland but without crossing the border.
On May 10, 2015, after a meeting with a Beli Manastir judge and Croatian police, Vit Jedlicka was released without prosecution. The Liberland President described the arrest as an opportunity to clarify diplomatic relations with Croatia. The steps will be continued by Vit Jedlicka to complete his project to create the Liberland.
Structure
The Liberland administration has suggested that their government be composed of ten to twenty members maximum. An electronic voting system will be used to elect members. The power is provisionally administered by three project founders, including the president.
The Liberland will operate on a policy of open borders.
The goal of the state is to create a society where honest citizens can prosper without ineffective and burdensome laws, regulations and state taxes. The founders are inspired by countries like Monaco and Liechtenstein.
Vit Jedlička accepts applications for citizenship and according to the official website, only communists, neo-Nazis and extremists are not eligible for citizenship in that state. At the end of June 2015, more than 300,000 citizenship applications were registered.
A first cooperative drafting of the Liberland Constitution has been posted on the official Liberland website.
The official currency will be based on a cryptocurrency system but all other currencies will be allowed as well.
Politicians will have the constitutional obligation to ban the indebtedness of the Nation.
Pierre-Louis Boitel was appointed ambassador of the Liberland in France on May 23, 2015 by Vít Jedlička. Since then, he has formed the team at the Liberland Diplomatic Mission with advisers in international diplomacy, press relations, cryptocurrency specialists and several interpreters.
On 11 January 2016, Pierre-Louis Boitel is appointed Vice President of the Free Republic of Liberland by Vít Jedlička. He is in charge of setting up the merits system and the internet form allowing candidates to apply for citizenship to the official authorities of the Liberland.
On June 20, 2015, Vít Jedlička, at the invitation of Aurélien Véron, President of the Liberal Democratic Party, made his first private visit to France. He opened the party's annual conference with a detailed exhibition on the Liberland in front of PLD members, candidates for citizenship and journalists. After several interviews, he chaired a private dinner gathering some fifty guests from the Liberland. He ended his stay in Paris with a cruise on the Seine before leaving for Prague the next day.
News
The Liberland is not giving up hope of gaining international recognition. And to achieve this, its leaders decided to start with Washington.
Twenty representatives of the mico-State have recently visited the United States to attend the inauguration ceremony of Donald Trump. They believe that the new vision of Washington's foreign policy embodied by the Republican president increases the chances of the micro-nation being recognized.
Jedlicka says he has connections with potential members of the new US administration...
In writing this article, it made me want to go for a ride in this micro-state and being of a rebellious nature and that does not support too much being a sheep that obeys the Government, taxes, ...
I find Vit Jedlicka's project very interesting and attractive.
I understand that many people are interested in the idea of becoming a citizen.
So nice, let's go !! :p it's very small, it will not take too many people! :)
wonderful post i hope you w’ll give great response to all steemians
surprisingly, for the first time I learned about such an "independent" place as Lieberland. Another interesting fact is that despite such a small territory, there are a lot of applications for citizenship. I am also attracted by the fact that radical members of society can not become citizens of this free republic.
A beautiful and memorable motto: "Live and let live" creates in the head the impressions of a place in which there is exceptional kindness and love for human freedom.
But most of all I'm attracted to the very idea of this state - the opportunity to flourish without laws and taxes. If a person has a certain wit - he can use such opportunities for good.
They are a bit vague about who they consider extremists though. Personally I think it's an extremist idea to create a nation with no laws and optional taxes. Do the founders bar themselves from becoming citizens? Or do they not realise what extremists they themselves are?
Sadly I believe more citizens would suffer than flourish. The majority of people need laws to protect them from themselves and others. They also need social services, and the state would need money to operate those. I highly doubt optional taxes would create enough revenue.
Liberland could be an interesting experiment, if it gained some international recognition, but it would be more than just a social experiment. It would also be yet another tax haven for criminals to launder their illicit gains and for multinational companies to evade their social responsibilities.
I honestly can't believe that this made up country is getting so much attention. The island in question is a part of the undisputed land left from the war which happend after the break up of Yugoslavia. I just cant belive that people like Vit want to put both of these countries through more arguments about land, as both countries suffered from the war that was purely political an the topic of Liberland only bring up bad blood between the inhabitants of these countruies. As a Serbian i am glad that Vit was arrested and i hope he drops the entire idea.
Hmmm.....quite a nation.I have never heard of them though.....Its awesome you shared
Wow!! Awesome piece.
great to share..
mind blowing nature....
Awesome
just Upvoted
Lost but found. But I still can't locate it on the map
Love the art work tree looks great thank you
Nice and Educating post, keep it up!!