Man forms tiny European nation, 160,000 sign up to become citizens
By Matthew Humphries Apr. 21, 2015 3:30 pm
With the advent of modern communication and means of travel, it seems unlikely there is any area of the world left unclaimed by one nation or another. But such land does, or in fact did exist within Europe, and one man has just made his claim to it and created a brand new European nation.
The man in question is former Czech Vit Jedlicka. He is now the president of the Free Republic of Liberland, which is a 7km[SUP]2[/SUP] stretch of land on the west bank of the Dunube river between Serbia and Croatia. It is actually disputed land by the Serbian and Croatian governments, neither currently own it, and therefore it was classed as no man’s land.
Liberland already has a website, a flag, a coat of arms, and a moto: “To live and let live.” It’s also proving very popular. Jedlicka and his team of volunteers put out the call for 5,000 people to become a part of the new nation, but registrations for those limited citizenships have surpassed 160,000. Now a team of seven volunteers are slowly sifting through those registrations attempting to select the best candidates.
The idea of a new nation came into existence originally as a political stunt and protest because Jedlicka was a member of the Party of Free Citizens in the Czech Republic. At some point, however, it became real and support grew to the point where it made sense to go ahead and form the nation. As to the reason for its popularity, it’s probably down to Jedlicka stating that anyone living there won’t be oppressed by the government. It sounds like a great tax haven already, doesn’t it?
Liberland, although young, isn’t without its problems. Apparently the land was already claimed by another new nation called Paraduin. It’s unclear how this will be worked out, but two of the smallest nations in the world may actually be at war soon over a few kilometers of land nobody had really heard about until last week.
Man forms tiny European nation, 160,000 sign up to become citizens | News | Geek.com
By Matthew Humphries Apr. 21, 2015 3:30 pm
With the advent of modern communication and means of travel, it seems unlikely there is any area of the world left unclaimed by one nation or another. But such land does, or in fact did exist within Europe, and one man has just made his claim to it and created a brand new European nation.
The man in question is former Czech Vit Jedlicka. He is now the president of the Free Republic of Liberland, which is a 7km[SUP]2[/SUP] stretch of land on the west bank of the Dunube river between Serbia and Croatia. It is actually disputed land by the Serbian and Croatian governments, neither currently own it, and therefore it was classed as no man’s land.
Liberland already has a website, a flag, a coat of arms, and a moto: “To live and let live.” It’s also proving very popular. Jedlicka and his team of volunteers put out the call for 5,000 people to become a part of the new nation, but registrations for those limited citizenships have surpassed 160,000. Now a team of seven volunteers are slowly sifting through those registrations attempting to select the best candidates.
The idea of a new nation came into existence originally as a political stunt and protest because Jedlicka was a member of the Party of Free Citizens in the Czech Republic. At some point, however, it became real and support grew to the point where it made sense to go ahead and form the nation. As to the reason for its popularity, it’s probably down to Jedlicka stating that anyone living there won’t be oppressed by the government. It sounds like a great tax haven already, doesn’t it?
Liberland, although young, isn’t without its problems. Apparently the land was already claimed by another new nation called Paraduin. It’s unclear how this will be worked out, but two of the smallest nations in the world may actually be at war soon over a few kilometers of land nobody had really heard about until last week.
Man forms tiny European nation, 160,000 sign up to become citizens | News | Geek.com
