Inside Verdis: The Young “President” Who Founded a Nation from Nowhere

In a small, unclaimed patch of land between Croatia and Serbia, 20-year-old Daniel Jackson is pursuing an audacious dream — to build his own country from scratch.

Known in Latin as terra nullius, or “nobody’s land,” the disputed territory along the Danube River inspired Jackson to declare the “Free Republic of Verdis,” where he crowned himself president and formed an online government complete with a flag, passports, and a cabinet.

The young Briton-Australian claims his micronation meets three of the four international criteria for statehood.

But Croatia swiftly intervened, dismantling Verdis’ encampment and expelling Jackson, calling his actions “provocative and illegal.”

Despite operating in exile, Jackson says Verdis now has hundreds of digital “citizens” and aims to serve as a humanitarian hub and model of youth-led governance.

Critics, however, see it as another example of the legal and political limits of terra nullius, where the dream of sovereignty collides with the power of real nations.