Liberland is a tiny new, self-proclaimed country sandwiched between Croatia and Serbia
Vit Jedlicka, a member of the conservative Party of Free Citizens in the Czech Republic, is the self-appointed president of Libe-rland, which he says sits on unclaimed terra nullius territory wedged between Ser-bia and Croatia. The 3 sq. mi. “country”, where taxes are optional and a military is non-existent, does not “interfere with the territory” of the two states, according to Liberland’s website.
“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,” reads a statement announcing the creation of the new country last week. The country’s motto is: “To live and let live.”
Jedlicka, speaking by phone from Prague, told TIME that the effort began as a political stunt to garner media attention. “It started a little bit like a protest,” Jedlicka (31), said. “But now it’s turning out to be a real project with real support.”
The project has already received roughly 20,000 applications for citizenship, according to Jedlicka, who estimated that the country will receive as many as 1,00,000 applications by the end of next week (Liber-land’s website has details of how to apply for citizenship, including sending an email of introduction, a C.V. is opt-ional). Jedlicka added that some people already have plans to relocate.
"The key idea is voluntary taxes, creating a state so small that there's almost no state," Vit Jedlicka, a 31-year-old Czech politician from the liberal right-wing Free Citizens Party exclaimed. To make his dream come true, Jedlicka used seven square kilometres (three square miles) of no-man's land by the Danube river between Serbia and Croatia to create Liberland on April 13.
While Croatia is an EU member, Serbia is not. "Croatia claims that the territory is Serbian but Serbia doesn't want it and this situation has lasted for 24 years," Jedlicka said about the new country, located some 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of the Serbian capital Belgrade.
"The land is now ours," he said. All Jedlicka had to do to claim possession of the land was make a declaration, which has now become part of a package Liberland is sending out to foreign ministries worldwide.
The politicians of this "constitutional republic with direct democracy features" will now have to negotiate free movement of goods and people across the border and other economic issues, Jedlicka said. He claims someone has already offered to invest in Liberland's telecommunications infrastructure. Solar panels will ensure energy self-sufficiency, though "it would be nice to have cross-border electrical wires", Jedlicka added.
Interest in the novel project is huge with its website (http://liberland.org/en/main/) registering 1.3 million visits in the past three days.
"This goes hand in hand with a huge interest in citizenship. We've received about 250,000 applications for citizenship in the past four days," Jedlicka said, adding that even diplomats worldwide are curious. "I think we'll have a million (applications) by the end of the week."
Liberland's website sets high standards for citizenship. Anyone wanting to acquire it must respect other people and their views, respect private property, have no criminal record and have no record as Communists, Nazis or other extremists.
(With Agency Inputs)
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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