Carry on up the Danube: President Daniel, 20, stakes claim for ‘new’ country

2 hours ago 4

Daniel Jackson, an Australian, is 20 years old and also the president of the Free Republic of Verdis (derived from the Latin word for “green”), situated on the Danube between Croatia and Serbia. He has quite the tale to tell.

Fitz: Mr President, it’s an honour and a pleasure. You were born and raised in Australia, so what path took you to where you are now?

Daniel Jackson, 20, is the self-appointed president of Verdis.

DJ: I grew up in Upwey, Victoria, near Ferntree Gully, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and went to Waverley Christian College. When I was 14 years old, I noticed that on the official website maps of both Serbia and Croatia, there was a tiny sliver of land about as big as Vatican City – roughly 50 hectares – right by the Danube, that had not been claimed by either country after the break-up of Yugoslavia.

Fitz: But how could that be? How could two neighbouring countries, already having border disputes, overlook 50 hectares in the bottom drawer?

DJ: It’s complicated. But it is because the river line was changed deliberately by the Austro-Hungarian Empire about 150 years ago. And Croatia considers its borders to be defined by where the Danube used to run, whereas Serbia considers its borders to be the current centre line of the Danube. So Verdis is the bit left over, between the old Danube river line and the new river line. For Croatians to be consistent in claiming their border as the old river line – which gives them more land in claims higher up on the Danube – they had to leave this bit behind.

Fitz: Land, Cap’n! I see land off our starboard bow!

DJ: So the idea of claiming it, and starting our own country with our own constitution and system of government started to take hold. My mates and I gave it a name, Verdis. We designed a flag. The bottom blue bit represents the Danube River. The white in the middle represents peace, modernisation and unity, because those are our key values. The top piece represents clear skies, so that, too, is blue. For currency, we stayed with the euro, and established our three official languages as English, Croatian and Serbian. The next step, obviously, was to create a government, and put up a permanent settlement.

Fitz: How did the last part go?

DJ: By 2022, I had moved to Dover, England, and popped over to plant the flag. And then in February 2023, I went over with three mates to plant the flag properly.

Fitz: Hang on, as an Australian-born man, you’ll recall learning about Captain Cook, in 1770, planting the Union Jack on Possession Island and saying “dib-dib-dib, dob-dob-dob, I claim this land and these people as British possessions”. We can now call that for the absurdity it was. Why is it any better, or more legitimate, when you did it?

DJ: Because this is genuine terra nullius. There is no historical evidence of inhabitants in this area, neither country claims it, and in that way that almost makes us the native people.

Fitz: And so, how did you decide you were president? Did you have a vote?

DJ: Yes, we had a bit of a mutual decision about who would be best suited to which position, and because I was the one that initially brought up the idea back in 2019 and because I had been spearheading it since then, everyone agreed that it was best for me to take the position of president. However, that being said, I don’t plan to be president for life or anything. Once we’re established, we will have elections, and I plan to step down and just be a normal citizen.

Fitz: Mr President, I want to put to you a respectful question. Is this just a bit of fun between mates, or is this serious?

DJ: [A little shocked] No, we’re genuinely serious. We’ve done a lot. We even tried to inhabit the land in October 2023.

Fitz: How did that go?

DJ: Not very well, to be honest. I mean, we had done a lot of work on the land beforehand. We had finished surveying and so forth, but when we actually officially claimed the settlement and started publicly announcing its creation, the Croatian authorities quickly came in, detained a lot of us, took us into Croatia and deported us.

Fitz: So even when you found yourself in a Croatian prison cell, you didn’t think, “OK, time to go home”?

DJ: No, it’s our country.

Fitz: But the Croatians don’t see it like that.

DJ: No, but in the border police station where we were detained, it even showed up on their maps that Verdis was not part of Croatia, so they had no right to invade us, and detain us. Worse, they’re now occupying our country. The other day, Verdis’ foreign minister and a group of Serbian journalists went down to try and film Verdis from the Danube, and showed that the Croatians have police permanently stationed there now. And if you try and even land or hover around the waters, they will chase you onto the Serbian side of the Danube. We have condemned their hostile actions.

Fitz: So now you’re a government-in-exile?

DJ: Yes, and I’ve just come back from a protest at the Croatian Embassy in London. We’re not giving up. We’re holding on to this because they are quite genuinely violating international law.

‘President’ of Verdis shows off his passport.

Fitz: Who turned up at your protest?

DJ: Many of our citizens.

Fitz: How many of them have you got?

DJ: About 400, who we have selected from 15,000 applicants. We are looking for people with the right kind of different skills, who share our values, from which we can build our nation.

Fitz: What’s in it for those citizens? Why do they want to join you?

DJ: Many reasons. Some people get involved because they align with the values of Verdis and its humanitarian background; others because they want to do something crazy and potentially make history.

Fitz: Which brings us to the good news. While Croatia wants you wiped off the face of the earth, I gather Serbia supports you? Is that because you and your country give Croatia the shits, so they like you on principle?

DJ: Serbia just doesn’t care, as we are on the other side of the Danube to them, and there is nothing on that side that Serbia claims. And we think Croatia will come around, when we’ve made it clear to them that we will maintain a very tight border control with them, and won’t be a security risk.

Fitz: But when you say you want to have “tight border control”, surely you’re up against it. Croatia must have many thousands of service people in their army, navy and air force. How many do you have, combined, in the armed forces of Verdis, and what’s her name?

DJ: We do, of course, have a small “defence force” on paper. However, we see ourselves as operating like Monaco. They have the public service military in Monaco, but when it comes to large-scale defence, they would have to rely on their neighbours, such as France. We would hope that Croatia will consider doing that with us in the future. But we will, of course, have general border controls, such as making sure that the people coming in and out of the country are stamped in and out.

Fitz: So, you really think there is a chance that Croatia will recognise you?

DJ: We believe that it’s a matter of when, not if, they recognise us, because at the moment they are uncertain of us, but we believe we have the right to the land under international law. The problem is that they are violating international law, at least in our eyes. We believe that the reason they’re violating it is because they can get away with it.

Fitz: Any chance, once you’re up and running, you’ll declare war on Donald Trump?

DJ: No, we’re a strictly neutral state. In fact, we want to be a place where global NGOs can set up and be an actual hub for humanitarian organisations. Verdis can be a neutral place for world leaders to talk. And we can test out more ideas of different systems of governance. In the future, there’ll be a lot of opportunities for us.

Fitz: Has Australia recognised you yet?

DJ: Unfortunately not. For now, it hasn’t been a large priority, as our main focus is to gain recognition from our neighbours such as Croatia and Serbia. But we are, of course, open to discussion with Australia if it ever wants to consider it.

Fitz: That’s mighty big of you, Tex! Good luck with it. As a matter of interest, do you have a first lady or a first man, none-of-my-damn-business-I-know-but-still?

DJ: Unfortunately, we don’t have a first lady yet, but I’m working on it.

Fitz: Well, good luck with that, too.

DJ: Thank you!

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