In an era when almost all land on Earth belongs to a recognized state, the idea of founding a new country can seem almost impossible. However, Daniel Jackson, a 20-year-old with British and Australian citizenship, insists he has done exactly that. Jackson is the self-proclaimed president of the Free Republic of Verdis, a small stretch of forest and sand along the Danube River between Serbia and Croatia that he claims qualifies as null land — lands claimed by no country. Their project has attracted thousands of online followers, a voluntary government and even their own passports. But Jackson himself cannot enter the territory he claims to govern. After attempting to colonize the land in 2023, he says Croatian authorities deposed him and imposed a lifetime ban, leaving the would-be president to run his micronation from exile.
The land in dispute between Serbia and Croatia
The legal argument behind Verdis begins with a technical dispute over borders along the Danube River, which forms much of the border between Croatia and Serbia. Historically, the border followed the course of the river. However, over time, the Danube channel changed, causing both countries to interpret the border differently. Croatia maintains that the border should follow historical cadastral maps, while Serbia considers the border to be the center line of the Danube. Due to this disagreement, several small areas of land remain outside the claims of both countries. Under international law, such places can sometimes be described as “terra nullius,” a Latin term meaning “no man’s land,” territory unclaimed by any sovereign state. In this way, two areas have been described along this disputed stretch. One of them is Gornja Siga, where Czech politician Vít Jedlička proclaimed the libertarian micronation Liberland in 2015. The other is Pocket 3, the sandy, wooded strip that Jackson considers Verdis. Jackson explains the logic behind the statement simply: “This land was not claimed, since neither Croatia nor Serbia wanted it,” he says. “Croatia insists that this piece of land is part of Serbia, while Serbia considers its border to be the center line of the Danube. “That allowed the oldest active claimants under international law, which is Verdis in this case, to have a right to the land.”
A teenager’s experiment in nation-building
The idea started years earlier, when Jackson was still in school. Born in Australia to British parents, he spent his childhood in Melbourne and attended Waverley Christian College, a private school in the city. He was just 14 years old when he and a group of friends began searching online maps for unusual geographic oddities. “It was kind of an experiment: we wanted to do something unique. And I thought, let’s make it happen,” Jackson later said. Some of his collaborators were friends from school; others were people from southeastern Europe I had met online. Together they discovered the uninhabited territory along the Danube and decided to try to turn it into a country.
The self-proclaimed Free Republic of Verdis is located in Pocket 3 along the Danube River, near Pocket 1 where Liberland is located.
The group called it Verdis, derived from the Latin word “viridis”, meaning green, reflecting its emphasis on environmental protection. The land itself is small, about 124 acres, about half a square kilometer. In size, it is only a fraction larger than Vatican City, the world’s smallest internationally recognized country, and is approximately the size of 75 football fields. Apart from the forests and river banks, the territory has never been permanently inhabited.
Declaring the Free Republic of Verdis
Jackson formally declared the Verdis Free Republic in 2019, when he was elected president by his fellow supporters. From there, the group began to build the symbols of statehood. They created a flag, with horizontal stripes of pale blue and white, and designed a coat of arms that combines symbols of Serbian and Croatian culture. The emblem includes a white stork as the national bird, oak trees representing unity and strength, wavy lines symbolizing the Danube, and symbols reflecting Serbian and Croatian heritage. A government was also formed, which included ministers responsible for foreign affairs, internal affairs, infrastructure and defence, along with ambassadors and volunteer officials. Two offices were established, one in the UK and one in Serbia, staffed by volunteers who helped run the project. The micronation also drafted basic laws, drafted a constitution, and began issuing passports and identity cards, although none are internationally recognized.
Citizenship, electronic residents and followers of Generation Z
Much of Verdis’ growth has occurred online. Jackson says the project has attracted thousands of supporters, particularly among younger internet users interested in alternative governance and digital citizenship. So far, around 3,000 people have applied to become Verdisians, many of them through an electronic residency route that allows their followers to participate digitally in state institutions.
Daniel Jackson at his Verdis embassy in Dover, Kent. Credit: Gary Stone via The Sun
According to Verdis officials, the number of physical citizens – people with passports and identity cards – amounted to around 400 by the end of 2025. The e-Residency program has its own application process. Prospective members must first purchase an e-Resident Plus plan which costs €50 a year, maintain it for at least 11 months and then apply for citizenship. Applicants must obtain the support of two existing Verdis citizens or provide a DBS background check, remain active on the Verdis forums, commit to moving to the territory in the future and pay a €300 processing fee. Applicants may also be given fast track if they make significant contributions to the project or are considered “extremely beneficial to the development of the country.”
The first attempt to colonize the earth.
For several years, Verdis existed primarily online. But in October 2023, Jackson and a group of followers attempted to physically occupy the territory. They traveled along the Danube and planted their blue and white flag at the site, beginning what they described as the “settlement phase” of their nation-building effort. A schedule had been planned for different groups of green citizens to rotate through the territory during the following months, ensuring a continuous presence. But the effort lasted just one day. “It was short-lived,” Jackson later told CNN Travel. According to him, the Croatian police arrived the next morning, dismantled the camp and detained the settlers for questioning. “They broke camp,” he said. The group claims they were held for about 12 hours before being deported. Most participants received three-month bans from Croatia, but Jackson and his vice president, Hector Bowles, who divides his time between Dover and Bulgaria, received lifetime bans because they were considered “a threat to national security.”
Croatia’s response
Croatia’s government has rejected the idea of land qualifying as terra nullius. In a statement to CNN, Croatia’s Foreign Ministry described the Verdis project, along with the nearby Liberland claim, as “provocative actions without any legal basis.” The ministry said Croatia was simply fulfilling its obligation to protect its external border and the Schengen Area, Europe’s passport-free travel zone. Officials also rejected the idea that disputed borders automatically create unclaimed territory. Both Croatia and Serbia, the ministry said, “share an understanding and respect for a fundamental principle of international law: the fact that a pending delimitation does not convert any space into a terra nullius (‘no man’s land’) open to occupation by a third party.”
Life in exile
Today Jackson runs Verdis from the UK and describes himself as effectively “in exile”. He lives with a family friend in Dover and works remotely as a freelance game developer for the online platform Roblox while continuing to organize the Verdis government. Funding for the project comes from a combination of donations, merchandise sales and a citizenship by investment scheme. In one case, cryptocurrency enthusiasts raised more than $37,000 through an unaffiliated digital token known as $Verdis. The government also pays ministers’ travel expenses when they attend meetings or attempt to visit the territory. But getting to Verdis has become increasingly difficult. Jackson says Croatian authorities have installed cameras along the coast and patrol boats quickly intercept ships approaching land. “With just 10 minutes of floating in territorial waters, a Croatian police boat will be on its way very quickly,” he says. Some of Verdis’ ships also disappeared following the 2023 deportation, which Jackson suspects were confiscated by Croatian authorities.
Continued protests and tensions
Verdis supporters have also organized demonstrations. Members of the micronation organized protests outside the Croatian embassy in London, accusing authorities of blocking access to the territory. Jackson says nationalist groups in the Balkans have also posted videos online showing the burning of the Verdis flag. Despite the setbacks, he insists the project is far from over. “I still believe that sooner or later we will return to that land and Croatia will have to respect international law, including the territorial integrity of Verdis,” he told CNN Travel. “We will never give up on our goal. We hope to have positive relations with Croatia in the future. We want to work with them.”
A country that exists mainly online, for now
For now, Verdis operates under a temporary government while Jackson remains unable to access the territory he claims. The group recently opened a second embassy in Novi Sad, Serbia, hoping to build support among younger Serbs and Croats interested in the idea of a neutral microstate that promotes peaceful coexistence. Jackson himself says he has no intention of remaining president forever. His long-term plan is to resign and become a citizen of Verdis, leaving leadership to someone else once the country is established. “They have not tried to annex us and I think they are irritated that we have not given up our claim to the land,” he said of the Croatian authorities. “Maybe they’re worried we’ll become a lawless state.” For Jackson, the question is not if Verdis will exist, but when. “We have held protests in front of the Croatian embassy, they are trying to ignore us as much as possible,” he says. But he remains convinced that the experiment will continue. “It’s a matter of time.”