20-year-old says he has built 400-citizen country
A young man claimed to have built his own country, with him as its president, in the disputed patch of land between Croatia and Serbia.
Multiple outlets, including Fox News, New York Post, and News18, reported that Daniel Jackson, a 20-year-old who originally hails from Australia, claimed to be the founder of the so-called Free Republic of Verdis, a 0.5-square-kilometer (less than 125 acres) sliver of forest along the Danube River. He said it's the world's second smallest country after Vatican City.
"Verdis was an idea I had when I was 14," he shared. "It was just a bit of an experiment at first with a few mates. We have all dreamed of creating something crazy."
Jackson, a digital designer earning money by creating virtual worlds on the platform Roblox, said he made Verdis a "reality" when he was 18 "by forming some laws and a flag."
"We have now built up a government and have a great cabinet," he added.
Verdis' "official" languages are English, Croatian, and Serbian. It also has the Euro as its supposed currency.
Beginning with just four people, it now claims to have nearly 400 citizens out of over 15,000 applicants.
Each citizen has a passport, though Jackson warned against using it for actual international travel.
"It is a very small country so we have to be careful who we let in," Jackson said. "When it comes to approving people, we look for in-demand skill sets such as experience in medicine or policing."
As its supposed president, Jackson "officially" declared its independence on May 30, 2019.
Verdis can only be reached by boat from the Croatian city of Osijek, although efforts to establish a settlement there have faced considerable opposition.
In October 2023, Croatian police detained several settlers, including Jackson, before deporting them and issuing him a lifetime ban from entering the country.
"They deported us but couldn’t give a reason why," Jackson said. "They said we were a threat to homeland security."
With Verdis as a so-called "government in exile," Jackson accused Croatian authorities of installing surveillance along the shoreline to block access from Serbia.
"We have had a lot of problems with Croatian authorities, but we do want a good relationship with them in the future," he said. "They haven’t taken to us kindly and have been aggressive."
Jackson reportedly travels frequently to the Serbian capital, Belgrade, where officials, he claimed, have been more receptive.
Amid the ban, Jackson is still campaigning for the right to access Verdis and remains optimistic about returning and living there one day.
"It is a matter of when, not if, we get back on the land," he said. "Croatia doesn’t claim the land, so we have the right to it, and we believe that we have a good chance."
Jackson said that if successful, he's willing to step down as president and call for an election.
"I am not interested in power at all," he said. "I just want to be a normal citizen. It has been eye-opening, and I am quite proud of what I have achieved."
