Vit Jedlička - President of the Free Republic of Liberland: I'm Creating a Country for Free People

Vit Jedlička, FOTO: Marko Divjak

Liberland's motto is: "Live and let live." Liber Beer is already being produced, and to obtain citizenship, you need to move to Liberland for 25 days.

On a piece of formally unclaimed land between Serbia and Croatia, on the western bank of the Danube River, an area of only seven square kilometers-locally known as "Donja Siga"-was "claimed" by a Czech citizen, Vít Jedlička, on April 13, 2015. He arrived, raised a flag, and declared: "This is Liberland". He chose the date because it is the birthday of Thomas Jefferson. The official name is the Free Republic of Liberland, and its sole guiding principle is its motto: "To live and let live," which is enshrined in the Liberland Constitution.

The first and so far only president of Liberland states that this country has everything any other nation in the world has - territory, population, institutions, and diplomacy.

According to him, Liberland has official representatives in about 100 countries around the world. In Serbia, the representative is Mr. Daniel Dabek, a software developer; in Montenegro, it is Mr. Vladimir Laban, an IT expert. In neighboring Croatia, however, Liberland currently has no representative.

Perhaps even more attention than the diplomacy and political activities of Liberland and its representatives has been drawn by the beer produced near Sombor, called Liber Beer, considered the first official product of Liberland.

Croatian politician and diplomat Miro Kovač once said that Liberland is “a provocative idea that has taken on serious proportions”,  a quote that now appears on the first page of a brochure presenting information about this state.

Since its founding, many people who have found themselves in this territory have had problems with the Croatian police, who have confiscated property, detained individuals, and even arrested Jedlička himself.

What is the situation now, following the most recent entry or intervention by the Croatian police and the detention of some Liberland residents?

-It’s a process; nothing is finished. That’s how it is when you're building a country in the Balkans.

After that incident, you went to the United States. Did you have any official meetings there regarding the recent events?

- We have very good connections in the U.S. with the Republican Party and with representatives in the government. We are working to establish the best possible relations in order to explain our plans for our country, Liberland.

Did they show understanding? What are your impressions?

- The visit went very well, because we met with high-ranking officials within the U.S. government, and we established long-term cooperation with congressmen from the Republican Party. I had meetings with them even five years ago. This time, I received an official invitation, as they were celebrating their 50th anniversary. During our latest meetings, we managed to accomplish quite a few interesting things. I had talks with people who will very likely be key figures in the next U.S. administration.

What is the current situation on the territory of Liberland? During the mentioned police action, some of the houses you had there were demolished.

- Some may have thought that we no longer have people there after that incident. But we have many people - we're building new houses, we've resumed work on our Jefferson Square, and we've also started the construction of the first hotel in Liberland. The project was designed by the Bianchi Architecture  studio from Rome. At the moment, we have three active construction sites. A lot of people are coming. Just last week, we had our first big party and celebration - the first wedding in Liberland.

Was that the first Liberland wedding?

- Yes, it was. We had quite a few guests.

How many people are currently considered residents of Liberland?

- Around 20.

I saw information that Liberland has a large number of citizens. How does one become a citizen?

- Over 700,000 people have submitted applications and expressed interest in obtaining Liberland citizenship.

What are the requirements? How do you approve citizenship?

- People need to reside in Liberland for 25 days, and then they receive citizenship.

So, if I want to become a citizen of Liberland, I need to move there for 25 days?

- Yes, and if you help us out a little, you’ll easily get citizenship. In addition, you also receive Merits -these are our state shares. That’s something quite interesting about us.

What do you mean by shares of the state? What exactly do I get?

- You receive shares of the state. We are the first country to issue shares.

Does that mean the citizens are also the owners of the state?

- It's a normal, new kind of democracy. We are both a state and a corporation. That also means that more than half of the citizens can change the laws. However, new laws can only be created by more than half of the people who hold Merits - our state shares.

You mentioned you're currently building new houses and a hotel. How have you protected yourselves from the Croatian police or any other intrusions and damage to your property?

- Now that the media visit us more often and see what's happening, that offers us some level of protection. Also, we've insured everything we're building, so there’s coverage in case something unexpected happens.

What institutions does Liberland have? We know you are the President.

- We have a government, a Minister of Foreign Affairs, a Minister of Finance, and other ministries that have existed for several years. We’ve structured everything to be decentralized - everything operates on the blockchain.

Who will have the right to vote?

- All citizens who hold Merits and pay taxes.

Who has recognized Liberland so far?

- Many countries have recognized us. For example, Liberia recognized us recently. Previously, we were recognized by Haiti and the Dominican Republic…

And how are relations with your neighbors?

- We have good friendships within the Hungarian government. Just recently, the Danube Institute, founded by Viktor Orbán, published a very positive article about Liberland. They referred to us as the state of Liberland that is having issues with Croatia - not as some made-up story or a “micro-nation.”

Have there been any meetings with Croatian authorities regarding the repeated incursions by their police into Liberland?

- We are in daily communication.

And what do they say?

- They’ve now offered us the possibility of establishing a Liberland Special Economic Zone. But we can talk about that later - for now, we are building a sovereign state.

Has anyone from the Croatian authorities ever explained their actions or perhaps even apologized?

- We would be very happy if we could come to an agreement in which they no longer enter in that manner or steal things from Liberland - that would be great.

We Attract Young People with Cultural Events: Vít Jedlička

You are currently in Belgrade. The first information was that you are opening a Liberland representative office?

- No, right now we are opening a business office for adventures and tourism. We have a lot of major adventure projects in Serbia. In the future, we want to have an office for the Liberland embassy as well.

Do you have communication with Serbian authorities?

- Yes, we do.

With whom?

- We have several friends, for example Ivan Đoković, who served as the Minister of Economy for Vojvodina. He has visited Liberland several times and helped us. We have many other good friends in the authorities, but I can't say now that they help Liberland - it would be a bit controversial for the Serbian state.

How did you even come up with the idea to create Liberland, and why? What do you want to achieve with it?

- I tried for 10 years to make some changes in the Czech Republic - to reduce taxes a little and improve regulations, but I eventually realized it wasn’t possible. You cannot create a free state if people don’t like to be free. You can create a free state with people who love to be free.

Are there people who don’t like to be free?

- Yes, there are. In the Czech Republic, we had communism for decades, and you cannot make complete changes overnight. You know, people create the system and the state. You shouldn’t vote for the government but for the people who vote. We will have a voting system based on the principle: “I don’t choose my government, I choose my voters.”

What do you do outside of Liberland?

- For years, I haven’t done anything except Liberland. I’ve done a little with cryptocurrencies and some business related to Liberland.

How did you choose this particular territory as the location for Liberland?

- We went there, put up a flag, and said: Welcome, this is Liberland.

How did you find and select that place?

- First, we conducted academic research to be sure that this land had no owner. I have a huge amount of documents proving that this territory is neither Croatian nor Serbian land - literally nobody’s. The only cadastre (land registry) for that area belongs to Liberland. We created our own registry; we are a sovereign state. We register ownership in Liberland.

Does Liberland have any cultural institutions, schools…?

- We have a school, currently online, but we have big plans to build a physical school - first at our resort Arka in Apatin. The plan is for it to be a real school where children come every day to learn. This will be the first elementary school of Liberland. Later, as soon as possible, we plan to build a school on Liberland’s territory. The plan is for the school to be located at Jefferson Square 2.

You’ve already mapped the streets and given them names even though there are no buildings in Liberland?

- Yes, we have, and our streets already exist on Google Maps. You can see and find them. Many companies are registered at Liberland Street addresses, and we have one wine cellar there.

I noticed that visitors to Liberland are mostly very young people. What attracts them?

- Every week we have some cultural event. We had the first wedding of two wonderful Liberlanders - Ana and Kristijan got married - and now we are preparing an MMA fight for women.

Do you have a suitable venue and preparations for such an event?

- We have a great venue for the fight - a beach. The competitors are some of the best female fighters in Europe.

What else do you have planned?

- To build the first Liberland clinic for medical treatment.

Looks like you’re a serious state.

- Yes, we are. 

 We can increase Serbia’s GDP

- Liberland has opened its first trade office in Belgrade, through which business will be conducted in several sectors - maritime industry, tourism, and blockchain technology. The goal is to create a free trade zone, said Thomas Walls, Liberland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the office’s opening presentation.

-It is especially important for us that Liberland has a formal representation, so that people can get information about everything related to Liberland. Our situation is similar to Taiwan’s, which operates trade and cultural offices around the world without embassies. The message is that we are open for business,  he added.

Walls stated that Liberland representatives have had dialogues and meetings in recent years in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, the UAE, and India, with the idea of bringing business to the region, especially to Vojvodina.

Thomas Walls, FOTO: Marko Divjak

-We are very interested in Serbia’s Free Trade Zone program and invite investors and companies from all industries to consider partnering with us, said Minister Thomas. He claims that Liberland can contribute to the GDP of neighboring countries, as well as to blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors.

In response to the observation that there have been similar attempts to create a state throughout history and none have succeeded, Thomas Walls is confident that Liberland will succeed. And if it doesn’t, he won’t regret it because they had a good time trying.