On April 13, 2015, the Free Republic of Liberland declared independence, started a website and a Wikipedia page that’s about to be erased because it fails to comply with Wiki’s editorial standards. Oh, and it has established Bitcoin as the national currency. And its national moto is “To live and let live.”
Beats “Live free or die” in my book.
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Liberland’s declaration of independence reads: “The objective of the founders of the new state is to build a country where honest people can prosper without being oppressed by governments making their lives unpleasant through the burden of unnecessary restrictions and taxes.”
According to news sources, a Czech national named Vít Jedlicka, 31, member of the Conservative Party of Free Citizens—the Czech libertarian party—declared himself the president of Liberland, a country he says is located on the west bank of the Danube river, between Croatia and Serbia, a piece of land that has been in dispute for many decades, which, according to Jedlicka, makes it “terra nuillius, ” or no man’s land. So now, as of last Monday, it’s his homeland.
President Jedlicka is working on a constitution, which, “significantly limits the power of politicians so they could not interfere too much in the freedoms of the Liberland nation.”
Liberland is accepting applications for citizenship, and to qualify you must “have respect for other people and respect the opinions of others, regardless of their race, ethnicity, orientation, or religion, have respect for private ownership, which is untouchable, do not have communist, nazi or any other extremist past, and were not punished for past criminal offences.”
Liberland has already received around 20, 000 applications for citizenship.
Jedlicka told Time magazine that if Croatia or Serbia opposed the creation of his new country, he would only put up “passive resistance.”
The Bitcoin news service NEWSBTC noted that the official acceptance of Bitcoin as the national copin “will not only allow the new country to avoid spending money on launching of state typography, but will also will prevent a lot of funds being spent in designing and producing the bank notes and protection means.”
One aside: Al Ahram contacted Egypt’s foreign ministry, asking about possible relations with the new micronation, and a spokesman told them he never heard of European self-proclaimed state Liberland, warning Egyptians of possible embezzlements while seeking to immigrate.
“I’ve never heard of it, ” Badr Abdel-Atti told CBC channel on Saturday when asked if there is a country of that name.
He stressed that some people excel at conning possible immigrants out of their money through scams that people must show caution in order not to fall victims of embezzlement.
Abdel-Atti urged Egyptian citizens to get information regarding traveling and immigration only from the foreign ministry.
So, does that mean that Liberland will now be filled up with Egyptian immigrants? Time will tell.
Also, if Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu picks up Avigdor Lieberman as his foreign minister again, a Lieberman visit to Liberland would be just too wonderful to resist.
