British Youth Who Founded Self-Declared Micronation 'Verdis' Exiled by Croatia
A British-Australian youth who founded the self-declared micronation 'Verdis' between Croatia and Serbia at age 14 now operates as a president in exile after being banned from the territory by Croatian police.
At the age of 14, while most of his peers spent their time on computer games and social media, Daniel Jackson decided to do something a little different: establish his own country. Seven years later, the British-Australian youth commands a flag, a constitution, passports, and a government with hundreds of registered citizens. However, there is one small problem: the authorities forbid him from entering the territory he claims as his nation.
The unusual story began in 2019 when Jackson and his friends spotted a forested, uninhabited tract of land spanning about half a square kilometer along the Danube River, between Croatia and Serbia. Due to a border dispute between the two countries, the status of the territory is contested. The teenagers decided to seize the opportunity and announced the establishment of the "Free Republic of Verdis."
What started, according to Jackson, as a kind of joke among friends, evolved into a genuine enterprise. Jackson appointed himself president, formed a government, drafted laws, and began issuing passports. Today, the project boasts around 400 registered citizens and some 2,000 digital residents, while also operating representative offices in the United Kingdom and Serbia. Nevertheless, Verdis is not recognized as an independent state by the international community, and its passports are not valid for international travel.
A President in Exile
In 2023, Jackson decided it was time to turn the dream into reality, arriving with a group of supporters at the territory he declared sovereign. However, Croatian police were unimpressed by the initiative. Officers evacuated the group, and Jackson was expelled from Croatia and banned from entering the country permanently.
Since then, he has been running his government from the town of Dover in England, presenting himself as a president in exile. Despite the obstacles, he continues trying to promote international recognition for Verdis, even quitting his job in game development to dedicate himself entirely to the project. Recently, Jackson gained renewed exposure after participating in a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York on October 9, receiving an award for humanitarian activities related to aid in Côte d'Ivoire. The award was presented by an external organization and did not constitute official UN recognition of his self-proclaimed state.
