Welcome to another installment of Liberal Agenda, where we’re going to explore potential alternatives to current political or economic systems, and hopefully get a conversation started. This week’s topic is:
The Free Republic of Liberland
Nestled between Croatia and Serbia, on an uninhabited parcel of (disputed) land on the western bank of the Danube lies the micronation of the Free Republic of Liberland. The tiny country was first proclaimed on 13 April 2015 by Czech right-libertarian politician and activist Vít Jedlička. According to the official website of Liberland;
“Liberland came into existence due to a border dispute between Croatia and Serbia. This area along the west bank of the Danube river is not claimed by Croatia, Serbia or any other country. It was therefore terra nullius, a no man’s land...”
The city-state is 2.4 sq miles (7 km²) wide, roughly the same size as Gibraltar, but so far hasn’t been officially recognised by any country from the UN, although it has established relations with similarly unrecognised Somaliland.
Leadership and Governance
Liberland has no full government or administrative body as of yet, although a government with ten to twenty members has been suggested. There is currently a provisional government in place that is made up of Vít Jedlička is the self-proclaimed President of Liberland, along with his Minister of Interior Ondřej Příhonský, Minister of Foreign Affairs Monika Chlumská and Minister of Finance Jan Purkrábek.
This at first may sound like a bit of a dictator-ish situation, but as part of “The Articles of the Provisional Government of the Free Republic of Liberland”;
“The Provisional Government shall disband once the Assembly is sworn in following the first General Election.”
There is a draft version of a codified constitution, which outlines how the Liberland legislative process will work. It states that the country should be governed under a three-power system with executive, legislative and judicial sectors that seek to promote individual rights, including property rights, freedom of speech and the right to keep and bear arms.
Economy
Mr Jedlička’s vision for Liberland is for it to be a haven, protected from government regulation and virtually free from all taxation. Tax would be on a voluntary basis, and there are plans for there to be just five laws, so you’re free to do basically what you want, so long as you don’t hurt anyone (and you’re not a Nazi).
There has been talk of Liberland launching its own Cryptocurrency called Merit, but so far this is still just in the planning stage. The provisional government currently has holdings in Bitcoin, and they seem very keen to incorporate Blockchain/Cryptocurrencies into their country from the start, although maybe they could do with some help there seeing as far as I can tell, none of them are Blockchain engineers.
The main exports are expected to be Financial Services (most likely, in my opinion, to be cryptocurrency orientated) and national beer, with a hearty 14% proof.
Citizenship
Liberland is currently accepting applications to become a Citizen, and they are particularly looking for people who share their libertarian views. Applications who also make a sizable donations seem to be the priority at the moment. I can’t see why you would make a large donation at this point in time, as neighbouring countries still consider the whole thing little more than a joke, but in my head at least, they might find more success if they focused on building a good team to launch their Merit cryptocurrency, hold an ICO and go from there. Even 3 years after first being founded, there still seems to be a lot of dreaming and not very much problem solving going on.
Geography
Liberland mostly consists of boggy wetlands, with just one dilapidated building at present. There are currently no residents of Liberland, including the provisional government. Croatian border police have increased their efforts to prevent people from crossing their border into the disputed (or abandoned) territory. It certainly doesn’t sound like a homesteaders dream to me.
There is so much more that I'd like to discuss about the project, but it's still early days. Liberland is hosting a conference about Decentralisation later this month, with all attendees being granted Citizenship. If something interesting comes out of this conference, I may do a follow up post on the subject. I'll be curious to see how the Croatian and Serbian Border Police handle the situation.
Overall I love the concept, but I have to say I’m somewhat skeptical as to whether they can really pull this off. I am all for trying new political or economic models, and there is definitely potential here, but I’m not 100% convinced just yet. I like the attempt at simplifying their law system, trying to address today’s inequalities with the justice system and the idea of incorporating Cryptocurrencies into a countries economy from the get-go.
It’s still early days for this fledgling project, with some calling it frivolous, and others holding it up as a symbol of #libertarian ideals. What are your thoughts on this topic? Would you consider applying for Liberland citizenship? Let me know your thoughts and feelings in the comment section down below, and as always make sure to follow me for the latest Cryptocurrency, Internet and Pop Culture updates. Until next time, Peace!
Sources:
Liberland Official Website (https://liberland.org/)
Liberland Draft Constitution (https://liberland.org/en/constitution/)
D10e (http://d10e.biz/liberland-2018/)