Liberland is a micro nation located between Croatia and Serbia, close to Hungary.
Website: http://liberland.org
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About Liberland
The Free Republic of Liberland is a sovereign state located on the banks of the Danube River, known as Gornja Siga.
It is a constitutional republic with elements of direct democracy that allows direct engagement of citizens. The founder and head of state is President Vít Jedlička. The official language is English and the national currency is the Liberland dollar.
Liberland’s motto: To Live and Let Live
Liberland Key Takeaways
There is no legal tender in Liberland. Everybody in Liberland is able to pay with whatever currency, barter, favours or other means of exchange the seller will accept, without any government interference.
Inflation
The maximum coded inflation is 10 percent per year, subject to reduction by governance.
Path to deflation
Inflation is expected to decrease as LLD price and adoption(and with it, gas fees income) increase.
Liberland Merit (LLM)
Liberland Merit (LLM) is the governance token representing a share in the State and nationhood of Liberland. LLM is not a security created with the expectation of revenue; instead, it is legally close to shares in joint ownership, like in case of housing cooperatives; LLM represents one’s share in the country. Governance power is connected to LLM, and there is no possibility of other governance and no separating of this power from the token.
Citizenship on the Blockchain
Liberland, as a country, acknowledges the importance of citizenship. Only Citizens with 5000 PolitiPooled (a.k.a. staked) LLM have full political rights associated with citizenship in Liberland. In this way, Liberland replaces the usual requirements proving a personal connection to the country through vesting. Where one should gain “honorary citizenship” for their contributions, they won’t be able to vote in elections or referenda unless they also PolitiPool. We can expect those who commit their funds to Liberland long-term to have a provable bond with the land and a stake in the country’s success.
Formation of Liberland
The Free Republic of Liberland (hereinafter “Liberland”) is a sovereign state located between Croatia and Serbia on the west bank of the Danube River. On some maps, this area is referred to as “Gornja Siga”. The nearest towns are Zmajevac (Croatia) and Bački Monoštor (Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia).
This parcel of land came into existence due to a border dispute between Croatia and Serbia. This area is not claimed by Croatia, Serbia, nor any other nation or private entity. Furthermore, it remained unclaimed since the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991. In fact, for many decades, it has been uninhabited and no claim was ever made to this piece of land. It was therefore terra nullius – a no man’s land – until Vít Jedlička and Jana Markovicova proclaimed it as the Free Republic of Liberland on 13 April 2015. Liberland has set its boundary with ample margin from neighbouring countries to ensure that it does not infringe upon the territory of Croatia or Serbia. The total area is approximately 7 km² and is now the third smallest sovereign state, after the Vatican and Monaco. (For more information regarding the border dispute between Croatia and Serbia, see the article on Wikipedia.)
Border dispute
Hydroengineering efforts around the 1900s changed the course of the Danube river. Some historical parts of Croatia ended up on the Serbian side and vice versa. However, Croatia lost much more territory to Serbia due to the change of the course of the river. Since then, Croatia claims that the border should be historical, while Serbia claims the border should be the modern river Danube. As Liberland is a piece of historical Serbia on the Croatian side, both countries are claiming it belongs to the other one, so it remains unclaimed by either country. This situation has been unresolved since 1945.
Ever since then, “temporary agreements” exist between Croatian and Serbian forestry services to maintain the areas on their side of the river. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, under the Erdut Agreement, the agreement between the two countries is—to paraphrase—“everything stays the same as in Yugoslavia, until a permanent solution can be reached.” This means that Croatian forestry services and border police sometimes operate in part of the Liberland area with restrictions. For example, when a group of 20 Liberlanders set up a camp in September 2023, border police and forestry services demolished their camp, but had to do it under the guise of “forest cleanup for the purposes of fire safety”. Diplomatic notes were exchanged between the foreign ministries of Croatia and Serbia, in which Croatia claimed the actions are purely to maintain the forest and protect it from fires as per the temporary agreement and cannot in any way be interpreted as Croatia claiming the land. None of the Liberlanders have been charged, and most simply returned and set up another camp in the Liberty Island area, which is not included in the “temporary forest management deal” where they remained undisturbed for months on end.
Since Liberland has been permanently inhabited, mostly by campers, adventurers, and people living on ships since August 2023, Croatian police have attempted to fine the settlers for “illegal camping” and other misdemeanours, but so far the Croatian courts have dropped all such charges due to these misdemeanours not happening inside Croatia. Since then, various events have been held in Liberland; namely, a wedding and some Liberland sport competitions.
Path to recognition
A few Croatian and Serbian politicians, including members of parliament, have publicly supported Liberland. Media coverage in Serbia is mostly positive, partially due to Ark Liberland village and Liberland representative offices in Belgrade evolving into popular event and community spaces. Media coverage in Croatia is mixed, ranging from derisive to positive. Internationally, Javier Milei (president of Argentina) and Ron Paul (US congressmen) have publically supported Liberland. Memoranda of understanding about Liberland recognition have been signed with the governing political parties of Argentina, El Salvador, and Somaliland.
Liberland is a relatively small organization, with around 1000 citizens and around USD 1 million yearly government budget (even though citizens also contribute by leasing assets for free; for example, the representative office in Washington, DC). Despite its size, Liberland is “punching far above its weight” diplomatically, in the media, in sports, and private international aid.
Much more can be achieved simply by growing the Liberland project, number of citizens, adoption of the Liberland Blockchain and the voluntary contributions to funding.
The current strategic objectives of Liberland are:
- Continuation of the permanent settlement
- Adoption of the Liberland Blockchain
- Liberland jurisdiction and courts for smart and traditional contracts
- Liberland companies
- Expanding international recognition
- Expanding presence in Croatia and Serbia
What defines a state?
According to Article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States, the canonical definition in international law reads: The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications:
- a permanent population;
- a defined territory;
- a government;
- the capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
The Free Republic of Liberland has fulfilled all these criteria and principles set out in the Montevideo Convention ever since its inception. See our news section for updates.
Additional international legal considerations in Liberland’s favour:
- The formation of Liberland as a state is based on self-government of its own people, i.e. its citizens.
- Liberland was proclaimed with the tacit consent of its parent state Serbia, which has waived claim to the territory.
- Liberland does not violate the territorial integrity of any other country.
- Liberland was not claimed by the use of force.
- Liberland is not a coup or takeover of an existing state.
- There is no applicable counterclaim to that of Liberland on the indicated territory.
Liberland brochure
You can learn more by downloading our latest brochure: https://liberland.org/assets/documents/brochure.pdf
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