Daniel Jackson tried to 'settle' on the Free Republic of Verdis but authorities from neighbouring Croatia deemed him a threat to national security. Abby Hook has been down to meet him.
00:00Why is this 20-year-old from Dover making headlines 1,200 miles away in Serbia and Croatia?
00:09Well, it's all over a piece of unclaimed land where Daniel claims he's the president.
00:16He's named it Verdis, set up a flag, government, citizenship and even cabinet members.
00:23But it's not a recognised nation state. It's not deemed a country.
00:29It's land left behind from a messy border drawn between Serbia and Croatia after the Yugoslavia wars.
00:36Everything on this side of the river is claimed by both Croatia and Serbia and the pockets on this side, such as Verdis there, are not claimed by either.
00:45What would you say to those people who just think that this is one big joke?
00:48Well, I'm sure it's not a joke or a prank. We have loads of legal experts that support it in our favour.
00:53We issue documents. We spend loads of our own money to get to where we are today.
01:00We provide humanitarian aid. It's a costly thing to do.
01:04So here I have the three different identifications for the Republic of Verdis in three different languages, English, Croatian and Serbian.
01:14But if you took any of these to an airport, you wouldn't actually be able to fly.
01:19None of them would be recognised in any kind of meaningful way because the state they claim to represent is a fictional creation.
01:27It's not something that would meet any kind of recognised diplomatic protocol and all the associated regulations with them.
01:35But at the end of the day, it needs a lot more than just kind of setting up house and setting up shop and declaring yourself king or emperor or president or whatever for a real state to exist.
01:46But even being detained, banned and deemed a national security threat in Croatia after he tried to start a settlement on Verdis hasn't put Daniel off his mission.
01:59We find it funny that they refer to us as this title because, again, we don't see ourselves as a threat to Croatia.
02:05We're open for cooperation with them and most Croatian and Serbians have been positive towards us.
02:10It's really not something every 20-year-old in Dover is doing. So just tell me why.
02:15I mean, the world is boring without something like this happening. I think it's something that's taught me a lot.
02:21It's something that I believe in. And, you know, I'm happy doing all of this.
02:25You know, it's been an unimaginable and amazing journey so far.
02:31We did reach out to the Croatian and Serbian authorities but had no response.
02:36So the verdict on Verdis may not be international recognition.
02:41But Daniel hopes one day governments across the world will start speaking his language.
