That evening, Jedlička hosted a welcome dinner near a Liberland outpost in the Serbian farming town of Apatin, a bumpy ride from Belgrade airport, past fields of crops and stalls of fruits. Few locals know what Liberland is, and those who do are more interested in the spectacle than anything else. “It’s something new,” says Aleksandra Vrančić, manager of a nearby gas station. But animosity between Croats and Serbs, the result of bitter conflict during the Croatian War of Independence, means that borders, in general, are a sensitive issue. A resident of Apatin, Savo Vojinovic, had recently been brutalized by a group of Croats and, on another occasion, chased from the Croatian half of the river by police. He would like to see a nation based on freedom and open borders succeed, he said, even if the odds are low.
The dinner crowd was white, male, and middle-aged, but international (by Štern-Vukotić’s own admission, Liberland events are often “sausage fests”). There was a strong Scandinavian contingent, as well as supporters from countries including Italy, Spain, Germany, Libya and Tunisia.
Jedlička worked the room, striking up conversations with Liberland delegates, members of his cabinet and others who had come to celebrate the anniversary. They exchanged stories of their previous efforts to access Liberland, sneaking aboard small boats when the police weren’t looking. “It’s a game of cat and mouse with the Croatian border forces,” said Frode Borge, Liberland’s delegate for Norway. “It’s the president’s favorite sport.” An Italian man called Davide, whose wife and young twins joined him for the birthday, said he capsized a kayak in 2021 while trying to cross the river at night. “It was so dark,” he said. “There were only the stars to light the way.”
This is a watershed moment for Liberland. In January, neighboring Croatia joined the Schengen area, a zone of open borders and free movement that spans most of Europe. In the past, entering Liberland from Serbia or downstream from Hungary meant crossing the Croatian border illegally. But today, even though crossing from non-Schengen Serbia remains illegal, there are no border controls between Croatia and Hungary, creating, according to Jedlička, a weaker legal basis. for the arrest of settlers who use this route. (The Croatian Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.)
Since Croatia entered the Schengen area, settlers managed for the first time to occupy the territory of Liberland for more than a month, says Jedlička, thereby building a small house. He calls it a “great success” after eight years of impasse. “We are taking this opportunity to prepare a permanent installation. We finished our homework. I don’t think we can fail. The only question is how quickly things will grow. I don’t even consider the other option.
As Freedom and the Liberland boat convoy was moving along the river, the first police boat broke away, handing over to the next patrol stationed along the line. Jedlička was not perturbed: “They are our security escort,” he joked. But in reality, they are there to prevent anyone from making landfall in Liberland, regardless of the Schengen loopholes.