Liberland: Open Letter to Croatian Officials

By taking these steps outlined in this letter to Croatian officials, Croatia and Liberland can begin to build a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship that respects both parties’ interests and fosters long-term collaboration.

Liberland: Open Letter to Croatian Officials

Liberland offers to bring international capital, jobs, and the attention of the entire Western world to the Osijek-Baranja region — something we alone are positioned to do. We have a truly global audience and a unique selling point.

To Whom It May Concern::

Croatia is our most important international partner. We seek to close any tensions between the Liberland community and Croatian authorities. This is a unique moment where those who have the necessary historical insight can resolve the situation at hand, which I suggest we do.

We would first like to thank the police for their humane stance towards us and their professionalism, as evidenced by the fact that through all those years and now months of active settlement, with no serious injuries or loss of life. This is, in my opinion, a great basis for further improvement of relations, which is the object of this letter.

As we’ve observed some friction with law enforcement within the territory of Croatia, my intention is to ensure this stops. However, these issues often stem not from any malicious intent, but from individuals being forced into impossible situations by a well-documented campaign of suppression mainly operated by the Border Police. Surely this is as burdensome for the hard-working officers of the Border Police as it is for us.

We have observed the pattern in which our people are being targeted. Consequently, the actions they are often forced into appear on expulsion orders and misdemeanour charges. This pattern of backing individuals into a corner, provoking them into unintended actions and then portraying them as offenders constitutes “defamation.”

Most of these cases remain unadjudicated, with no fewer than twelve being dropped. Yet, the supposed misdemeanours attributed to “Liberland” continue to increase in police logs. It seems the presumption of innocence is a concept lost on PGP Beli Manastir and also the concept of individual responsibility for misdemeanours: all get lumped under collective punishment with no possibility of exculpation.

We must point out that our community is also targeted by Hrvatské Šume d.o.o. (the state-owned forest company), which has repeatedly stolen or destroyed the belongings of the members of our community, often assisted by the police.

For most of Liberland’s existence since 2015, the area was closed for no discernible reason. That it was only Croatia’s entry into Schengen and the physical abuse of a YouTuber (Niko Omilana) and his friend that put it into the spotlight and requiring more transparency.

In any case, we are now in the land. Our people are at the mercy of Croatian authorities, and their daily question is, “What trickery will the Border Police visit upon us today?” They have a long history of reasons to be concerned:

• On September 21 and 22, a nascent, well-functioning settlement was dismantled by Hrvatské Šume, d.o.o., in an act of mass robbery, larceny, and mayhem. It is clear that Šume has no jurisdiction there, as there is no legal basis for their presence. It’s not even on their maps. They occupy the area as if they own it. Šume abuses the provisions of the Croatian Law on Forestry regarding cleaning trash to cover up stealing private and actively used property. Solar panels, quads, an entire functioning kitchen, and personal effects were taken from those who pleaded with you to desist. Hardly trash, don’t you think? We filed a criminal report, and charges will be pressed to ensure the return of the goods and effect restitution.
• A number of EU citizens have been expelled on the grounds of being a “threat” to national security. This is usually reserved for the most serious of criminals, but has been used against us, when none of these persons are a threat of any kind. The actual basis for these expulsions is a report classified as secret, which the accused weren’t allowed to read or examine; they had no way to properly defend themselves against these charges. This lacks transparency and undermines the fundamental principles of justice and fairness we all value.
• The settlement on Liberty Island, before the flood, was visited by multiple inspectors from Croatia demanding permissions, ordering cessation of camping, etc. The inspectors’ jurisdiction is generally limited by the borders of municipalities. Liberland is not within a Croatian municipality, so there is no place to ask for such permissions and no jurisdiction to demand them, as would be the case in Croatia. Many such cases were filed and later used on expulsion orders (the number of “active misdemeanours” jumped from 90 to 120, an impossible number since, as stated above, all those individuals are innocent until proven guilty). About half of the inspector-originated cases have been dropped so far, indicating our approach is correct.
• To survive the winter, which was very challenging, we utilized the houseboat Swan. The Border Police were even surprised by our resilience and dedication. The majority of their interactions were professional, courteous and cordial. Šume later took the Swan.
• Our captain of the boat Freedom was also harassed senselessly. The Freedom was detained and sent to Vukovar for a needless inspection. The settler’s captain’s license was confiscated, he was made to jump through administrative hoops, intimidated, and then all was returned. This was another completely needless activity on the part of Croatian officials just to cause us difficulty.
• On February 14, the Swan was taken from us by Šume. This was not the most shining moment for the border policemen, as they acted like street ruffians rather than guardians of order. They forced our settlers not to even film the event as their home was taken from them along with their personal effects, including a piano. How an inhabited houseboat with solar panels, a heater, sleeping bags, and provisions can be considered trash, I have no idea.
• We would like to make our intentions clearer: we are here to build a good community, not to litter the forest ground. To that end, we have started building using bricks. Using bricks seems to be a line even Šume is unwilling to cross, as we all agree these are not trash. We are pleased about that; let the bricks be a literal foundation for our good relations. However, they continue to confiscate other items like tents, provisions, tools, phone chargers and building materials.
• Recently, we encountered the most absurd misdemeanour charge yet. A settler who stood firm and defended our flagpole was accused of “entering the personal space of a forest worker” (by simply standing and holding on to the pole?). Later, when another forest worker tried to run him over with a tractor, damaging his bike, the settler was accused of “making erratic moves most brazenly,” while the intentional destruction of his bike was described as “placing the bike in the way of the tractor to hinder the forest worker in the performance of his duties.” The official English translation from you only stated that the settler was ordered to pay a fine without any reason given.
• The latest suppression takes place on the roads, where we are increasingly hindered from using normal means of transportation. In response, we have employed more novel approaches, such as self-made carriages, which the Border Police then find ways to suppress. We are also experiencing an alarmingly frequent number of spot technical inspections of our cars.

I trust we can all see the pattern here and the urgent need to address these irregularities. If anything, the millions of euros so far wasted on needlessly suppressing a peaceful group of people speaks for itself. We could be working together with beneficial outcomes for all.

We can operate normally and live together in peace. I assure you, on behalf of all Liberland, that our intention is not, nor has it ever been, to take any land away from Croatia. Currently, our nascent community has laws in place that grant Croatian citizens — and exclusively Croatian citizens, not citizens of any other countries on this or the other side of the Danube — special rights to enter, exit, and reside at will, to own real estate and other forms of property. We, of course, patterned this on Schengen rules and the Four Freedoms of the European Union.

We are willing to include Croatian as an official language besides English and not to dispute the operation of law enforcement while entering our territory, as if they were in Croatia. We are prepared to take additional steps to ensure a fruitful and long-lasting partnership, perhaps similar to the relationship between France and Monaco, particularly regarding tax treatment and other fiscal issues. In this way, we set up a Western-aligned, peaceful and family-friendly community of enterprising individuals at your doorstep and compliant with the law.

Some concrete steps to take at this point:

• We would like to land boats in Liberland at a spot where the police would have full oversight and pending our prior registration of the boat and the captain with the responsible organs (Border Police or the Harbor Master).
• Permit us to register vehicles and crews, as well as cargo as being local to the area and necessary to the residents, and thereby allow us to enter and exit Liberland using the road from Zmajevac-Batina.
• Help stop the raids and the “trash cleaning operations” and instead, facilitate dialogue with Šume. We can ensure we stay out of the way when they need to perform their duties and make sure the trees and natural resources are protected to the highest degree. When we see that this works, we will ensure no charges are pressed against Šume for their past activities against us.
• Please allow routine movement in and out of the land of persons who register themselves with the Border Police as settlers and visitors so that we can dispose of trash ecologically, bring in necessary supplies, and start a small economy, which we then expand to benefit the entire region.
• Permit us to build basic infrastructure and homes where this does not disturb any legitimate parties, and allow us to have our colors fly alongside Croatian colors.
• Remove the bans on all EU citizens who have been forced out of Croatia due to their interest in Liberland, and stop banning non-EU citizens such as Americans, British and Canadians — countries that are Croatia’s friends and allies. We will ensure that non-EU citizens who come comply with Croatian law and, notably, will not stay longer than they would be permitted to stay in Croatia. We will, in turn, drop legal suits related to this matter and forgive whatever past expulsions might have taken place. Please let this return of our exiled be the first sign of the normalisation of our relations.

By taking these steps, we can begin to build a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship that respects both parties’ interests and fosters long-term collaboration.

We offer to bring international capital, jobs, and the attention of the entire Western world to Osijek-Baranja — something we alone are positioned to do. We have a truly global audience and a unique selling point. We could resolve the international dispute for Croatia in an elegant fashion, allowing the land to be fully and completely accessible to you without making any unreasonable concessions to other countries.

As we end this letter, we are thankful for Croatia granting de-facto recognition to Liberland as a ‘parastate.’ I know that this was likely not meant as a compliment. However, we do appraise it for the commonly understood meaning of the word — a state fulfilling the necessary functions of a country, in fact, but lacking recognition. It is our aim to prove to Croatia why we are worthy of the privilege of recognition in due course.

We are also thankful that Croatia has allowed us to grow to the extent we have in the last couple of months, despite the setbacks. We learn and implement what we have been taught by our neighbors, and strive for order, peace and good relations..

We are going to run our first elections this or early next year, becoming ever-closer to the ideals which we all hold dear. Our community is growing and organizing itself well and in innovative ways. We hope this will generate enough positive response in especially the entrepreneurial community to quickly become a great benefit to the region’s economy.

Let us leverage our respective positions to create a solution that benefits both parties. If you feel you are not the appropriate authority to decide this matter, we kindly ask you to connect us with the branches of the Croatian government or administration that possess such power. We have been attempting to do so for the past ten months without success. Nevertheless, we will persist until this solution, ensuring our mutual prosperity, becomes a reality.

Yours sincerely,

Vít Jedlička

https://liberland.org/news/564-liberland-open-letter-to-croatian-officials