Welcome to Liberland
The first citizens will arrive on Friday to populate the world’s newest self-declared country – Liberland, a tiny patch of woodland and fields on the sandy banks of the River Danube.
The establishment of the pocket-sized nation was declared earlier this month on land wedged between Croatia and Serbia which, its founders argue, was never properly claimed by either country.
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Liberland has its own flag, which features an eagle and a sun, a constitution, and a motto – “To live and let live”.
Its self-appointed ruler is Vit Jedlicka, a conservative, anti-EU Czech politician and admirer of Britain’s Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP.
The Liberland flag
Known officially as the Free Republic of Liberland, the country’s independence was formally declared on April 13.
Some 120 would-be citizens are expected to arrive on Friday for what has been dubbed the state’s first Liberty Day.
Prospective Liberlanders are encouraged to bring food, beer and “all necessary equipment for comfortable survival in nature”, including tents and sleeping bags.
As yet, there are no houses or other buildings on the no-man’s-land sliver of territory.
The first 100 people to turn up to the site, which lies at the end of a dusty road on the west bank of the Danube, will be granted honorary citizenship.
Liberland has not been recognised by any other country, least of all Serbia or Croatia, but that has not stopped 300,000 people around the world from applying for honorary citizenship.
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