00:06A strip of land along the Danube, an unsettled border dispute and a handful of crypto millionaires with a radical
00:13vision.
00:14Welcome to Liberland.
00:16In the border region between Serbia and Croatia, a group of people are planning to create a new state that
00:22may one day look something like this.
00:24A political experiment attracting more and more supporters and challenging traditional democracy.
00:49Antonella is excited. It's her first time visiting the country she hopes will one day become her new home.
00:56Her guide is already a citizen of Liberland and knows how to get there.
01:02Antonella, an Italian national, feels increasingly trapped in her job as a project manager at a software company.
01:09Too many taxes, too many regulations, she says. The government simply has too much control.
01:14You really have delusion to own things, but you are not in charge of anything.
01:22Antonella recently applied for citizenship in Liberland, a state with about 1,300 people, even though no one lives there
01:30permanently yet.
01:31Right now, the only way to get there is by bike.
01:34Croatian authorities make it as difficult as possible to gain access.
01:39At a checkpoint, we get thoroughly searched. Filming is prohibited.
01:44The area is located on the Danube between Serbia and Croatia. The countries have been in a dispute over exactly
01:51where the border lies since the breakup of Yugoslavia.
01:54As a result, both view Liberland as the other's problem.
01:58In 2015, Vit Yedlicka, then a financial analyst, took advantage of the unresolved border dispute and declared himself president of
02:08the Free Republic of Liberland.
02:09When he and his team aren't travelling on official Liberland business, they live in Prague, the capital of the Czech
02:16Republic.
02:17Jedlicka's vision is a libertarian state that largely leaves its citizens alone, with as few government regulations as possible.
02:25He thinks wealth and productive output should grant greater political power.
02:29He says those who produce or own more should have a greater say in government.
02:36Democracy, what it does, it averages out opinions in the society.
02:40So every smart decision is outweighed by some stupid decision by somebody else on the other side of the spectrum.
02:47And we believe that, you know, this idea of meritocratic society really will perform better.
02:54And we are testing it and we are not asking for much.
02:56We just want to be self-governing territory of seven square kilometers to prove that concept.
03:03Antonella, who prefers not to give us her last name, and her guide have arrived.
03:08After a thorough security check, they find themselves on a small beach along the Danube.
03:15Two tree houses are the only permanent structure in Liberland for now.
03:20For Antonella, it's an emotional moment.
03:27It means a step forward to a possible different future.
03:35Not just for this land, but this land can be an example for other countries.
03:43And, yeah, this makes things very special.
03:49Back in Prague, at a start-up conference with a theme, Disruption,
03:54Vicky Adliczka is pitching his vision.
03:56This is the kind of place where he hopes to find people ready to challenge established systems
04:01and eager to explore alternatives.
04:04In Liberland, there are no taxes.
04:06All contributions to the community are voluntary, and the administration is entirely digital.
04:11Most importantly, he wants the economy to be able to flourish freely.
04:16Citizenship costs 10,000 US dollars.
04:19However, it can also be earned through volunteer work.
04:22The conference attendees are intrigued.
04:25Many are hearing about the start-up nation for the first time.
04:29We decided back in 2015 to create a new society, a new country.
04:34We were looking hard for the best possible place to make it.
04:37We found a beautiful no-man's land.
04:40And we have pretty big plans for the upcoming season,
04:43not just expanding our diplomatic offices and building something beautiful in Liberland,
04:49but also, for example, launching stock exchange in Liberland.
04:53But these renderings have little to do with the reality on the ground.
04:56The seven square kilometer flood plain along the Danube still has hardly any infrastructure.
05:06Wasim Al-Sindi, a British researcher, studies blockchain, cryptocurrencies and digital models of governance.
05:13He's been closely following groups promoting alternative utopian visions of governance and their supporters for years.
05:20They're disaffected with the world around them.
05:23They feel that their freedoms or their sovereignty is being encroached upon in the societies that they live on.
05:29That their taxes might be too high.
05:31Or that certain fields like defense and biotechnology are over-regulated.
05:35Very often it's people that are in the business of doing enterprise.
05:41It's very often entrepreneurs and they're looking for a regulatory arbitrage.
05:46Liber Pulko is an annual gathering for kindred spirits, held at a private resort known as Ark Village,
05:52near the Serbian city of Apatyn, about 10 kilometers from Liberland.
05:56It's a place where very different people come together.
06:00Hippies, people living alternate lifestyles, even a Holocaust denier who refused to be filmed.
06:06Very few are willing to speak with journalists, believing we'll take whatever they say out of context.
06:13But one retired British man proudly shows us his Liberland passport.
06:18Colin Wood has been living in Ark Village for two years.
06:23He'd much rather live directly in Liberland, but Croatian authorities are still preventing that for now.
06:29Colin says permanent development and settlement are only a matter of time.
06:34I haven't given you a timeline for this.
06:37I think it will change because there are more and more Liberlanders all the time.
06:43How many police can they afford to keep us out?
06:47Croatian authorities would prefer not to comment on Liberland at all.
06:52The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to us that the so-called Liberland project
06:56is little more than provocations lacking any legal basis.
07:00A few years ago, Vit Jedlička was arrested while attempting to enter Liberland
07:05and was barred from entering Croatia for five years.
07:08These days, he usually observes the area from a safe distance.
07:12Yet he remains defiant.
07:15This is this situation when a new country is created and it's about who is actually in control of what,
07:22right?
07:23And yes, like if they don't have anybody, if Croatia doesn't have anybody living in Liberland
07:27and they're only Liberlanders, then of course they're in control.
07:31But this flip at some stage, this is the creation of statehood, right?
07:37When the control actually flips from one entity to another.
07:39And it can be sometimes difficult, it can be dramatic or it can be also very peaceful.
07:45In many ways, these people are hopeful for the collapse of everything that we understand
07:50to be the societies and the nation states, the federations that we live inside.
07:56They willfully bring about the destabilization and collapse of those.
08:00That's where their hope comes from.
08:05For well-heeled visitors to the festival, Jedlička organizes exclusive boat trips to Liberland.
08:12On board, besides the DJ, are many anarcho-capitalists who reject any form of government.
08:19But there are also scientists who hope to conduct research free from regulation.
08:24The ship is not allowed to dock.
08:26Separating the guests from Liberland is an EU external border with no official crossing.
08:31All they can do is wave from the sundeck.
08:33We love you guys!
08:35Love you guys!
08:37The 10 or so people on the beach cycle to Liberland just for the day.
08:41No one can live there permanently, but that doesn't stop Liberland supporters from firmly believing in their vision of creating
08:47their own state.
08:49Building a country doesn't work overnight.
08:52Well, if you want to see everybody, you would do it every day.
08:55Exactly!
08:56So, I mean, we're in for the long haul.
08:59I have no doubts in my mind that we will succeed in this.
09:02First comes the dream, then the reality.
09:05You know how it is.
09:07Back in Liberland, Antonella and her guide meet Roland, who is here to keep watch.
09:18The retired German regularly spends days and nights here, even though camping is officially prohibited.
09:26We just show our presence.
09:27We're a team that says Liberland is permanently settled, even if it's only been me for the past two days.
09:35A lot of people are coming back now, and there were times when there were a few more of us.
09:39It's not like I'm just some crazy hermit or something.
09:44He shows us what happens when nobody is here.
09:47A homemade shower with a filtration system destroyed.
09:53This was really upsetting.
09:55Someone must have used a winch or a heavy vehicle.
10:02There used to be drinking water.
10:04You can still see the tank back there.
10:07There was a sink, but now it's also just trash.
10:11There was a water heater, but they stole it.
10:17It's really too bad.
10:21For Liberland's president, it's clear who's behind the destruction.
10:24The Croatian authorities and his message is clear.
10:28Stop robbing us.
10:29That's the only thing that we need from our neighbors.
10:32Leaving us alone, really.
10:35To date, no sovereign nation has recognized Liberland.
10:39For Jedlička, however, the problem lies with those who have not yet understood the project's potential.
10:44Not with the project itself.
10:48We want to be friends with everybody, we want to trade with everybody, and we want to attract all these
10:53billionaires.
10:54And yet, it's a fact that the top 10 richest people of Liberland are actually richer than the top 10
11:00richest people of Croatia.
11:02It's not some illusion, it's like that.
11:06Antonella's support of Liberland is unshaken.
11:09But as long as its legal status remains unclear, this project in the sands of the Danube is unlikely to
11:15attract billion-dollar investments.
11:17To date, Liberland has more in common with a makeshift encampment than a state.
11:22It's taking a lot of energy.
11:25Being independent from everything and everybody.
11:31Being able to do things your own, and if anything happens, it's your fault, you can't blame anybody.
11:45After a good hour, we head back.
11:47We're not allowed to spend the night.
11:49The Croatian authorities wouldn't allow it.
11:53Two days later, Antonella is a few thousand euros poorer, but happy, having finally received her Liberland passport.
12:00It's professionally printed, but essentially useless.
12:04The document wouldn't be accepted by any actual countries.
12:07But of course, she still has her Italian documents too.
12:12For those who believe in it, Liberland holds the promise of a better, freer future.
12:16However, more than ten years after its proclamation, that future is still nowhere in sight.
12:22To be continued...
12:24To be continued...
12:31To be continued...
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