Its story is short, but bizarre. Liberland is a micronation which barely has any impact in the media because, among other reasons, Its existence is not recognized by any other state in the world nor does anyone manage to live there for more than a few weeks.. It is located in an area of 7.2 km² on the border between Serbia and Croatia and is part of a larger area, through which the Danube River crosses, which has been object of dispute between both countries since 1947. Cooled during the stage in which they were part of Yugoslaviabut revived after its disintegration in 1992. As a result, in some areas Serbian or Croatian sovereignty is not formally defined. It is the case of Gornja Followa circumstance that took advantage Vít Jedlickaof the Czech Party of Free Citizens, for proclaim there the micronation of Liberland in 2015.
Liberland is in the news these days because it has elected a new prime minister. It is about Justin Suncrypto tycoon and founder of cryptocurrency platform TRONdedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the Internet through blockchain technology, and which in 2017 Forbes included on its list 30 under 30 of the technology sector for Asia. The announcement, made on the micronation’s official website last week, follows the vote by the Congress of the Republic of Liberland. This is formed by 7 members who represent the little more than 1,000 citizens of the micronation.
Sun takes over from Vít Jedlička, the founder of Liberland who remains president of the republic. During the campaign, Sun shared his vision for the country stating that ‘just as Vatican City represents a central spiritual authority for Catholics, Liberland will be the heart of the libertarian movement‘.
Can you live in Liberland?
Liberland was created with the purpose of maintaining a small and efficient government. a tax free paradisewith an economy based on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Currently, 99% of its reserves are in Bitcoin. The state also has its own cryptocurrency called Liberland dollar token that can be traded on decentralized exchanges.
But it is one thing to proclaim a micronation and another to have it and be able to be in it. Since Gornja Siga was declared Liberland, Jedlička and other citizens They have entered on several occasions only to end up being expelled by the Croatian police.who has been in charge of keeping them away from Liberland over the years.
It must be taken into account that the micronation does not have infrastructure and that its extension, similar to that of Gibraltar, It is occupied by forests and the Danube River. In recent years, some wooden houses have been built, but they were demolished by Croatia.
The last time President Jedlička set foot in Liberland was in August 2023. He was able to stay, together with other Liberland supporters, just over a month until Croatia expelled him againthis time with a ban from entering Croatia and Gornja Siga for five years due to ‘extremist activities’.
Although no one is normally there, Liberland currently has 1,200 ‘citizens’ registered, who have paid up to 10,000 dollars to obtain Liberland passports, and 735,000 citizenship applications.