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<\/p>\nLike many 21-year-olds, Daniel Jackson is often asked to verify his age when trying to enter bars and clubs.<\/p>\n
But Daniel never hands over his Australian passport to bouncers.<\/p>\n
Instead, he produces an ID with a name and a coat of arms most people have never seen.<\/p>\n
“I use my Verdisian passport all of the time,” he tells triple j hack.<\/p>\n
“It’s never been a problem.”<\/p>\n
“Verdesian” refers to residents of the country Daniel invented as a 14-year-old \u2014 the Free Republic of Verdis.<\/p>\n
Daniel is the president of the micronation, which is sandwiched between Croatia and Serbia on a piece of disputed land on the Danube River.<\/p>\n
At just half a square kilometre in size, the territory is tiny \u2014 but still larger than Vatican City, Daniel is quick to point out.<\/p>\n
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Daniel Jackson and Du\u0161an \u00d0ur\u0111evi\u0107 opening an office in Serbia. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
He declared independence in 2019 after noticing the uninhabited area, known as Pocket 3.<\/p>\n
“This piece of land was unclaimed, as neither Croatia nor Serbia wanted it,” he says.<\/p>\n
“Croatia insists this piece of land is part of Serbia, whereas Serbia considers its border to be the central line of the Danube.<\/p>\n
“That allowed the oldest active claimants under international law, which is Verdis in this case, to be rightful to the land.”<\/p>\n
Gen Z rallies behind Verdis<\/p>\n
What he admits started as a joke with his friends has now turned into Daniel’s full-time job.<\/p>\n
Apart from Daniel himself, Verdis boasts 400 “citizens” and about 2,000 “e-residents”, who pay at least 25 euros per year ($42) for the privilege.<\/p>\n
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The Verdisian government also includes a foreign minister and an internal affairs minister, and the micronation has two offices based in the UK and Serbia staffed by volunteers keen to grow the project.<\/p>\n
Verdis \u2014 from the Latin word for green, viridis \u2014 has its own flag and constitution, issues passports and sells itself to a mainly gen Z following online as a haven of humanitarianism, democratic values, and protection for the environment.<\/p>\n
“There’s definitely a lot more younger people involved in Verdis,” Daniel tells hack.<\/p>\n
“Some want to be part of building history \u2026 or maybe they would like to settle down there eventually.”<\/p>\n
Making a settlement<\/p>\n
While essential for the future of his aspirational nation, Daniel admits settling Verdis has been a challenge.<\/p>\n
While Croatia may not claim the land, it considers anyone trying to settle there to be acting illegally and breaching its border security.<\/p>\n
In 2023, Daniel and a group of supporters were forcibly removed from the land by Croatian police, and he’s since been permanently banned from Croatia.<\/p>\n
“The Croatian border police are illegally blockading Verdis,” Daniel tells hack.<\/p>\n
“But at the same time, they’re protecting Verdis from anyone else entering.<\/p>\n
“We’ve had protests outside of the Croatian embassy in London \u2026 and I think it’s only a matter of time until Croatia lifts its blockade.”<\/p>\n
‘Terra nullius’<\/p>\n
Verdis’s claim to the land rests on the legal concept of “terra nullius” or “nobody’s land”, something used by European powers historically to justify colonising countries around the world, including Australia.<\/p>\n
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Daniel Jackson claims to be the youngest president in the world. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
Asked whether he feels comfortable citing the controversial term as part of his argument, Daniel insists it’s warranted.<\/p>\n
“There’s no evidence of a settlement previously existing in Verdis,” he says.<\/p>\n
“It’s never historically been part of Croatia \u2026 and we have good relations with our locals.<\/p>\n
“Most of our citizens are from the neighbouring countries.”<\/p>\n
Currently “living in exile” in the UK, Daniel now pays himself a wage, citing crowdfunding, income from residency fees, and even a donation from cryptocurrency meme coin sales as examples of ways Verdis is able to fund its political and diplomatic missions.<\/p>\n
Does Verdis stack up?<\/p>\n
According to law professor at the University of New South Wales and micronations expert Harry Hobbs, there are four conditions that a breakaway country needs to be able to meet in order to become a state.<\/p>\n
“You need to have a territory, you need to have a permanent population, you need a government, and you need the capacity to enter relations with other governments,” Dr Hobbs tells triple j hack.<\/p>\n
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Harry Hobbs is an expert in micronations. (Supplied: University of Technology Sydney)<\/p>\n
Dr Hobbs says Daniel can argue he’s achieved three of those conditions, but still needs a presence on the land to prove his point.<\/p>\n
“If he can settle there and can get a group of 50, 60, 100 people, that might be enough to say, ‘I’ve got a permanent population, I’m a state.'”<\/p>\n
But even then, Dr Hobbs concedes it’s unlikely to mean much.<\/p>\n
“Even though he might meet the international legal criteria for a state, the next question is: so what?<\/p>\n
“You can declare yourself a state, but if other countries don’t treat you as a state, it doesn’t really help.<\/p>\n
“If there’s nothing in it for the bigger countries, they won’t recognise it.”The micronation hype<\/p>\n
It’s not known how many micronations there are in the world, but it’s thought there could be several hundred.<\/p>\n
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