United Nations honors man who declared self president of a Balkan ‘country’

By Isobel Williams

A Brit who declared himself president of his own country after claiming land in the Balkans has now received an award from the United Nations.

Daniel Jackson, 21, first thought up the idea of starting his own country with a group of friends aged just 14.

The pals noticed that, following a border dispute, several patches of land along the Danube River were unclaimed by Croatia or Serbia.

So, on May 30, 2019, he declared one of these land pockets - officially known as Pocket-3 on the map - as the Free Republic of Verdis.

Daniel, who has made himself president, has been working hard since to establish his country, recently being given an award for his humanitarian work at a United Nations (UN) gala in New York.

The event at the UN delegates dining hall in their headquarters saw Daniel presented with an award for aid provided by Verdis on the Ivory Coast.

It was presented by the Institute of Public Policy and Diplomacy Research, and Daniel was able to give a speech upon acceptance.

The president from Dover, Kent, said: "It definitely was intense. It was a very interesting experience. There were quite a lot of high-end people there. It was very nerve wrecking.

"Being only 21 years old I am still sort of getting used to this experience of turning up to these events with such interesting and influential people."

Verdis was then invited to speak at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Youth Mobilization Segment on Oct. 9.

Their Humanitarian Affairs Minister Jeffrey Li took on the responsibility, telling the room about Verdis' past efforts and future plans.

Daniel added: "Every time we go to New York we always get a decent amount of dialogue and connections.

"Having the opportunity to have my colleague speak directly at the UNGA youth forum was amazing.

"It allowed him to open up more connections for Verdis particularly around youth involvement, aid, and things like that."

Verdis' total area is 0.501 square kilometers, around 125 acres, which would make it the second-smallest country in the world - just behind Vatican City.

The land is only accessible via boat from Osijek, and attempts at settling there have so far been unsuccessful - with their president now banned from Croatia.

Daniel claims the Croatian authorities have also "installed cameras along the Verdisian coastline" to stop them accessing it from Serbia, making them a "government in exile."

However, headway has been made with Serbian officials, with Daniel being accepted for citizenship.

He said: "We are still thriving. We are making a lot of progress, but we are still blockaded.

"We are carrying out Verdis' values even while we continue to operate in exile.

"Croatia are still quite tough on us. They have really cracked down regarding Verdis government officials being able to enter Verdis. They are very much watching us.

"We are really hoping that the blockade could be lifted soon. We are still working towards it."

Daniel, who identifies as both British and Australian, has created passports, a flag, merchandise, a full cabinet, laws, and even a coat of arms.

They have also opened two embassies, one in Dover and one in Novi Sad, Serbia.

The official languages of Verdis, which has 400 official citizens, are English, Croatian, and Serbian with their currency being the euro.

Since he started the country, it has gained a huge following on social media, with over 1,000 emails every month from people asking to become citizens.

But, they need to stay restrictive on who they can accept due to the small amount of land.

Daniel, who had to give up his day job designing Roblox worlds to take on Verdis full time, said: "Verdis was an idea I had when I was 14, it was just a bit of an experiment at first with a few friends.

"To the naked eye it is just a lot of forest, but when you realize that you are in a country you have created it is magical.

"I am very amazed by it but I am not surprised by how well it is pushing because there is an amazing team behind us and the support has not stopped."