As we were talking last Wednesday on #HHHlive about the various Meetups and the Hivefest that just ended in Kuala Lumpur, I remembered the Hive Meetup in Apatin, where I met some of my Hive friends back in July.
Then I heard the story of Liberland, which I would like to share with you now.
As of 2012, there are 195 recognized sovereign states in the world. But since 2015, although it is still not recognized, there is another one, the Liberland.
With the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, and the division of territory between Croatia and Serbia, a large part of the territory on the border between these two countries remained disputed for division.
Croatia considers its territories to be the land defined along the old Danube, while Serbia places the border in the middle of the present-day Danube. And so these two countries still have a dispute over these territories today.
And what about the piece of territory, known as Gornja Siga, which is located to the right of the old course of the Danube (Croatia does not consider it its territory), and to the left of the middle course of the current Danube (Serbia does not consider it its territory either).
Those 7km² became no man's land. And it was nobody's business, until one Czech, Vit Jedlička, found it on the map and came up with a purpose for it.
While listening to the story about him and Liberland, I remembered a movie I saw a couple of years ago, the Italian movie from 2020, Rose Island (L'incredibile storia dell'Isola delle Rose).
Based on a true story, the film follows the events of 1968, when engineer Giorgio Rossi, burdened by bureaucracy, built a platform in the international waters of the Adriatic Sea (outside Italian territorial waters), which he declared an independent state, the Republic of Rose Island. Not long after its foundation, in 1969, the platform was dismantled and the newly formed state abolished. Watch the movie, it's interesting. It's on Netflix
Wit Jedlička declared Liberland a state on April 13, 2015. Although the motto of the newly founded state is: "Live and let others live", by declaring it, Vit enters into a series of diplomatic skirmishes with the Croats, who today control the waters around this island, thus preventing the approach of anyone who would approach the coast by boat.
The idea of Liberland was to establish a state where tax payment will be on a voluntary basis, where all citizens will enjoy the same political and civil rights, where there will be minimal state interference in their lives and where there will be maximum economic freedom.
So far, more than 700,000 people have applied for citizenship, and a few already have passports of this country. If anyone from Hiver has a passport, it would be interesting if they could show it to us with a photo 🙂
Applying for citizenship is provided by voluntary contributions, so the "authorities" of Liberland currently have over $1 billion, which they are ready to use to expand diplomatic relations and work on the recognition of the new state by the rest of the world.
Some countries have accepted the existence of Liberland while some are seriously opposed (Croatia and Serbia).
Due to the impossibility of access to Liberland, on the banks of the Danube, near Apatin, a camp was formed, ARK Village Liberland, which represents base, logistics center and gathering place for Liberlanders, their supporters and visitors who want to know more about the project.
Since Vit Jedlička is an advocate of crypts, and donations are made in Bitcoin, the logical sequence is that in addition to the physical location (Liberland state and ARK village), a digital Liberland Metaverse location should also be designed. Liberland metaverse (Liberverse), is a place where Liberland citizens can buy virtual plots using BTC. They can socialize, collaborate, hold meetings as avatars. They can test and promote the ideals of the free market, without physical and bureaucratic constraints.
Touring the Danube canals with a small but selected team, during the Apatin Hive Meetup, we drove to the ARK village Liberland site and entered the camp for a short while, although it was written at the entrance that entry was only allowed for members.
The lake, the area for hanging out by the fire, the barbecue and the adorable camping houses look more like a place to enjoy than a base, but from the story I learned during the tour, it is clear that it is really a place where all Liberlanders gather who at the moment cannot reach their country.
I don't know what the idea was, but the placement of this crocodile certainly wouldn't attract me to wash my feet in this lake. Perhaps it was placed there with the intention of driving away all uninvited guests, as we were 🙂
But I would gladly spend the weekend in this camp, enjoying nature and the company of free-thinking people.
Through research, I found out that there is also a raft on the Sava quay in New Belgrade, also an outpost of the Liberland state, where like-minded people gather. Maybe when it warms up, I'll walk to this facility and meet a resident of Liberland there 🙂