Man forms his own country!
Vit Jedlicka, 31, has formed his own European nation on a three-square-mile territory located between Serbia and Croatia.
The piece of land technically does not belong to either country, so he decided to use the space to fulfil his own political ambitions.
Vit, who is an active member of the conservative Party of Free Citizens in the Czech Republic, has long since wanted to live in a country that doesn't have an army, and where taxes are optional.
When he realised that his ambitions may never be fulfilled in his own country, he decided to found a new one instead.
He revealed that while his initial intention was just to protest against his own country's policies, he later realised that he and those who share his libertarian views would probably never succeed in changing things in the Czech Republic.
So he founded 'The Free Republic of Liberland', a nation that functions with a single motto: 'Live and let live'.
The new nation has a new flag, new national anthem, and a provisional government, which is currently collecting donations to assist in drafting the constitution.
According to an official statement, “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.”
Vit currently serves as the president of Liberland, and will be granting citizenship to about 3,000 to 5,000 people in the next few weeks.
The nation's immigration office, consisting of seven employees, is currently sifting through applications.
Surprisingly, a whopping 1,60,000 people have applied for citizenship! Vit said that he expects the Liberland to eventually have about 35,000 citizens.
It is still not clear whether Liberland is officially recognised as a real nation, or how it might even become one. With no army to defend its boundaries, there's always the threat of either Croatia or Serbia threatening them with force.
In such a scenario, Vit says that Liberland will only resort to 'passive defence'. “We will move, but we will keep our claim to the country,” he explained.
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