They wanted a country that looked like them: they created Liberland.

And to think it's a true story. Let me sum it up for you: a few buddies find a piece of land between Croatia and Serbia that doesn't belong to any state. They decided to create a micronation based on their values of freedom, Liberland. That was barely ten years ago. Switzerland plays a small role. Hardly believable... But the story is real, and it's told in a journalistic style that has nothing to envy to fiction. A must-read. And a publishing house that specializes in the genre and deserves to be followed.

There are utopian dreamers. There are utopians who make demands. And the utopians who decide to make their model a reality in real life. I particularly admire those in the latter category. Those who simply say: «What if? What if we set off for this territory claimed by no nation? What if we created a state there? What if, finally, a political system corresponded to our ideals? These are the people the book is about. Journey to Liberland. And it's the story of Jirí Kreibich, Jaromír Miskovsky, Vít Jedlička, Radim Panenka and Jana Markovičova, young Czechs without whom this nation would never have come into being.

Do parents own their children?

So as not to disappoint anyone, let me put the church at the center of the village, liberalism at the center of prevailing values and despair at the center of my existence: Liberland is not a place for hairy men advocating horizontal hierarchy, self-management, free love, the overcoming of capitalism and the equality of all peoples. The micronation that the above-mentioned characters are trying to create is based on libertarian values. Instead of hippies, they are clean-shaven men in suits and ties, with only the word «taxation» on their lips.

Read also | Ferghane Azihari and his plea for an industrial society

No matter. Right-wing utopians are still utopians. And we can't even blame the book's authors for deliberately choosing these characters, since Journey to Liberland is a non-fiction novel, A journalistic investigation, faithfully reflecting reality, with a touch of script, and above all an extremely well-crafted narrative thread. A novel in its own right. I'm not afraid to say that the authors are the Londoners, Orwells and Hemingways of the 21st century.^th century. Fucking literary journalists.

The authors, Timothée Demeillers and Grégoire Osoha, have immersed themselves in this libertarian adventure to understand its foundations. The ideology is particularly well described around the Liberland slogan: live and let live. Private property guaranteed, money as the highest value, total liberalization of all areas of life, the abolition of the welfare state... In short, a form of radical anarcho-capitalism, from which a few questions remain unanswered on the various forums revolving around the micro-state project. Here are a few of them:

«Is pushing someone an infringement of the body's property? What should we do with criminals? Put them in prison? But who will pay for the creation of prisons? In that case, throw the criminals in the Danube? On the question of weapons, all libertarians agree on the right to bear arms to defend oneself in the event of aggression, but some would like to ban them from mentally unbalanced people, while others prefer to take the risk of unrestricted authorization. The question of minors is also thorny. Should we legislate an age of sexual consent? Do parents own their children? If so, does that mean they can beat them? Does a woman have the right to an abortion right up to the last day of her pregnancy?»

7 km² on the banks of the Danube

But let's perhaps pick up the thread of the story. It's 2015, and the aforementioned group of buddies - from libertarian associations and radical right-wing parties - discover that a piece of territory between Croatia and Serbia is claimed by no one. It would be enough to meet the four Montevideo criteria that define a sovereign state under international law to create their utopia: permanently populate the Gornja Siga region, control this defined territory, endow itself with a government and be able to enter into relations with other states. With a heart full of creative energy and revolutionary ideals, a president is appointed: Vít Jedlička, a politician from the Free Citizens Party. The expedition is launched.

7 km² on the banks of the Danube, a flag planted, four friends reading a declaration of independence, a photo and that's it. The announcement goes around the world. As you can imagine, the media love it. Applications for citizenship explode. In the countries of the South, Liberland is seen as an alternative migration opportunity to Europe. After just one week, there are already 200,000 passport applications. It's a buzz. A mess. Hopes. ’It's better to create your own country in an unhealthy swamp than to reform the system,« the book's authors say.

The 27^th Swiss canton

It's at this point in the story that Switzerland comes into the picture. Land of banking secrecy and tax underbidding, of course. A Zug-based entrepreneur gets involved. Niklas Nikolajsen, a Danish businessman specializing in the cryptocurrency market, has set himself the goal of founding the 27^th canton there. A colony. Power struggles, mistrust, alliances and negotiations. Before Liberland is even fully established, a first turf war begins.

«Drinking beers, eating sausages and dipping my feet in the Danube in the stateless land of Liberland. I'm finally moving to a country without government, my dear friends. And for the skeptics around me, know that I'll be building p****** of roads here. I'm turning my back on the violence of state control and going off to build a new voluntary society based on the market economy and private property», announced Niklas Nikolajsen, a few hours after planting his colony's flag on Dutch soil.

Somaliland and Miss Liberland

But in the meantime, the states recognized by the international community are waking up. They barricaded the territory. And so began the obstacle course to getting this new country recognized. From autumn 2015, Vít Jedlička will travel the world to present his micro-nation. Every two days, a new city, a new country. On September 22, 2015, he was in Bern. On the 25th in Rotterdam. He passes through Russia in May 2016. Joined Somalia in 2017. To end up in Somaliland, a self-proclaimed nation in the 90s.

Then there are the Liberland figures. Young people who have arrived to participate in their ideal. These characters are described in succulent detail by the book's two authors, who aptly represent the Liberland project: its dreams and its disappointments. We also learn how this micro-state is financed. How a Miss Liberland comes into play. And how ego, megalomania, social networks and women (often forgotten) have all played a part in the rise of this project.

A utopia in the former Yugoslavia

Let me conclude with a few words on the socio-political context of this epic. For this real-life story is all the more interesting as it explores questions of territory, ideology and nationhood in the former Yugoslavia. This utopia couldn't have taken place anywhere else than in a place where international borders have been redrawn in a turbulent contemporary era. Imagine Liberians arriving from all over the world in a country where, in some towns, schoolchildren of different «ethnicities» are still separated. Utopia confronted with certain realities on the ground.

Packed with detail, the book is a memorable example of what great reporting can do for us. A special mention, then, to this publishing house, where everything is meticulously thought out: the paper, the cover, the layout. And, of course, the editorial line.

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Timothée Demeillers (auteur), Grégoire Osoha (author) et Guillaume Guilpart (illustrateur)
Journey to Liberland. Glory and setbacks of a libertarian adventure in the heart of Europe
Marchialy 
2022
289 pages

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