Liberland Responds to Croatian Foreign Ministry

Ministry of Foreign Affairs 7 November 2023
https://liberland.org/en/news/522-liberland-responds-to-croatian-foreign-ministry

Because of the harsh treatment of Liberlanders by the Croatian authorities, Liberland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Liberlanders to write letters of protest to Croatian embassies worldwide. The campaign was successful and elicited a response to Liberlanders from the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP) via their respective embassies, which we will reprint below and respond to point-by-point. We appreciate that the Croatian Foreign Ministry took the time to respond - clearly, we disagree with what they write and the arguments they present. Nonetheless, it is the beginning of dialogue between Liberland and Croatia.

Since August 6, access to Liberland has been possible, leaving from the towns of Batina or Zmajevac in Croatia. Liberlanders first set up a base camp at Jefferson Square. They started restoring the old hunting lodge there and erected three buildings at Mateos Marina. On September 21 and 22, Croatian authorities - both police and employees of the state forestry company - entered Gornja Siga (Liberland) from Croatia and destroyed the Liberland settlement, demolishing the buildings and taking the property, equipment, bicycles and food supplies of the settlers.

The settlers are still on the ground at the marina as well as at a new settlement on Liberty Island, and we have been steadily rebuilding under the circumstances.

In addition to the attack on the settlement and theft of our property, Croatian Border Police as well as local police have been constantly harassing visitors to the area, both inside and outside of Liberland. While many individual officers have acted professionally and civilly, their actions as a whole - following orders from the top - have created a very hostile environment for travelers and tourists, particularly for those visitors from outside the EU or Schengen Zone. They have even stopped people from riding bicycles on an EU-funded designated bike path and later stole their locked bicycles.

In protest of this treatment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Liberlanders to write letters to Croatian embassies worldwide. The campaign was successful and elicited a response to Liberlanders from the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP) via their respective embassies, which we will reprint below and respond to point-by-point. We appreciate that the Croatian Foreign Ministry took the time to respond - clearly, we disagree with what they write and the arguments they present. Nonetheless, it is the beginning of dialogue.

Croatian Foreign Ministry’s response to letters of protest:

In response, we wish to draw your attention to the fact that the present case involves Croatian police officers’ legitimate treatment of foreign nationals who were not only staying in Croatia illegally, but also disrupting its legal and public order.

The so-called Liberland is not and cannot become a subject of international law. It is a fictitious project of a handful of adventurers who, knowingly violating the legislation of the Republic of Croatia and completely contrary to international law, have ever since 2015 been trying to falsely portray the area along the right bank of the Danube River as no man's land (terra nullius), claiming that as such it can be subject to possession or occupation by the so-called Liberland.

Since the dissolution of the former SFRY, the land areas located on the left and right sides of the Danube River belong either to the Republic of Croatia or the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with international law and as confirmed by the Badinter Commission. Due to the area’s specific history and geographic features including the meandering course of the Danube River, it remains for the two neighbouring countries to reach a final decision on the precise course of the border line. Pursuant to the international law, this can under no circumstances be interpreted as that the area can be considered no-man's land, let alone be subject of occupation by any third party.

In conclusion, we stress that access to the area is not prohibited. Anybody who wishes to visit areas in the immediate vicinity of the border between Croatia and Serbia, which are in possession and under the surveillance of competent Croatian authorities, must abide the laws of the Republic of Croatia and EU legislation. First and foremost, this includes provisions governing border crossings and movement in the proximity of the state border, which is now also the external border of the EU and Schengen area.

Embassy of the Republic of Croatia

Our response:

“In response, we wish to draw your attention to the fact that the present case involves Croatian police officers’ legitimate treatment of foreign nationals who were not only staying in Croatia illegally, but also disrupting its legal and public order.”

This is wholly incorrect. Liberland visitors do not come to Croatia illegally. They enter Croatia legally by air, at land border crossings and by vessels on the Danube. They then enter Gornja Siga/Liberland under supervision of personnel of the Croatian Border Police. Since Croatia’s accession to the Schengen Zone, there have been many hundreds such entries and exits, fully supervised, and not once have we been accused of illegally crossing the border.

We also strongly disagree with the libelous assertion that the people of Liberland supposedly disrupt the legal and public order of Croatia. To the contrary, they are making friends, spending money, buying supplies, food and equipment from Croatian stores in the area, using Croatian services, hotels and BnBs and much more. Liberlanders are entirely peaceful.

If there exists any disruption to public order, it is attributable to the actions of the Border Police officers who impose extrajudicial punishments on local Croatian citizens and their families when they associate with us, thereby endangering their personal safety and economic well-being (we know of many such cases!). Croatian nationals - including many young people - who are curious about Liberland are also harassed and intimidated by the police.

“The so-called Liberland is not and cannot become a subject of international law. It is a fictitious project of a handful of adventurers who, knowingly violating the legislation of the Republic of Croatia and completely contrary to international law, have ever since 2015 been trying to falsely portray the area along the right bank of the Danube River as no man's land (terra nullius), claiming that as such it can be subject to possession or occupation by the so-called Liberland.”

It is our position that Liberland is a subject of international law and possesses international legal personhood. It has a government, a population, a defined territory and the capacity to conduct relations with other governments. Liberland is certainly not fictitious; otherwise Croatia would not be spending the considerable resources it does to complicate the matter. In official documents, Croatian authorities have referred to Liberland as a “parastate,” which is defined as "institution or body which takes on some of the roles of civil government." We seem to be getting somewhere!

However, the debate over Liberland's status as a full-fledged subject of public international law or about its recognition by Croatia detracts from the central concern: whether Liberland, as a collective of individuals, as a concept, as a political movement, and as a set of objectives, does not violate Croatian or international law and conducts itself ethically. This is the paramount question. In adherence to the principle of "presumed innocent until proven guilty," we maintain that Liberland constitutes a lawful and legitimate assembly of individuals, predominantly composed of EU, EEA, US and British Commonwealth citizens in terms of visitors to the territory. Nonetheless, the treatment we receive is unjustifiably discriminatory. A consistent pattern of persecution is evident, as authorities illegitimately and often illegally shut down our legal avenues of operation, pushing us towards a gray area of semi-legality, only to then accuse us of operating outside the law. Such systematic defamation is an all too common tactic of oppression.

Again, no legislation is being violated by the people of Liberland, nor do they seek to violate any Croatian laws, and we object to their characterization thus. Police reprisals against us are wholly unjustified.

“Since the dissolution of the former SFRY, the land areas located on the left and right sides of the Danube River belong either to the Republic of Croatia or the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with international law and as confirmed by the Badinter Commission. Due to the area’s specific history and geographic features including the meandering course of the Danube River, it remains for the two neighbouring countries to reach a final decision on the precise course of the border line. Pursuant to the international law, this can under no circumstances be interpreted as that the area can be considered no-man's land, let alone be subject of occupation by any third party.”

We acknowledge that that is the official Croatian position, but we ask you to consider the following: The territory of Gornja Siga was never part of Croatia and does not exist on any Croatian maps; it has essentially been abandoned since the breakup of the former SFRY (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) - over 25 years and essentially became bona vacantia. Serbia has issued a quitclaim to the land and has clearly stated that the formation of the new state does not infringe upon their territory. **Croatia is not the continuation state of the former SFRY and has no feasible claim on territory that exists outside of its borders or on territory that existed outside of its borders as a federal unit during the time of the SFRY. **

Perhaps the reason Croatian authorities are devoting such vast resources to complicate the matter is that they realize the Liberland claim - which has been public since April 13, 2015 - does have merit, and is a tenable, defendable claim in international law.

“In conclusion, we stress that access to the area is not prohibited. Anybody who wishes to visit areas in the immediate vicinity of the border between Croatia and Serbia, which are in possession and under the surveillance of competent Croatian authorities, must abide the laws of the Republic of Croatia and EU legislation. First and foremost, this includes provisions governing border crossings and movement in the proximity of the state border, which is now also the external border of the EU and Schengen area.”

Liberland recognizes and supports the right and duty of Croatia to protect its borders. We also understand the border is a sensitive area and would like to cooperate with Croatian authorities in ensuring there is no illegal entry by anyone.** Yes, people can visit the area but only if they are EU or Schengen Zone nationals. Nationals of the US, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and others - countries which are allied with and provide considerable support to Croatia - are discriminated against and essentially treated as guilty until proven innocent by Croatian officials.** This treatment is also given to Serbian nationals, which is especially ironic as Croatia considers Gornja Siga to still be Serbian territory.

Currently these individuals, who are not coming to Croatia illegally, are apprehended by Croatian police, taken to the police station at Duboševica and given a 30 or 90 day ban from Croatia and in some cases the EU. Some are put on a travel blacklist. They are typically given a paper that states they have no legitimate reasons for entering Croatia. The reasons they do state are consistently ignored. They are then “assumed” to be coming to commit such “misdemeanors” as “lighting fires and illegal camping”. This is predictive punishment, punishing people based on assumptions of what they might do in the future. Solely based on this and their association with Liberland, these individuals are given travel bans from entering or staying in Croatia. These prior-restraint bans are issued by the police and not by any court or judge. We can only speculate that Croatia is doing so because non-EU, non-Schengen nationals do not have the same recourse through European institutions and are therefore easy targets to pick off.

These people could be bringing a huge amount of money into the Croatian economy, yet they are having their travel documents defaced with a ban sticker and their right to travel compromised just for wanting to visit the area.

We of course acknowledge the prerogative of the Croatian government to recognize or not recognize an entity as a state under international law. However, Croatia would benefit greatly from allowing Liberland to operate as an independent zone which can rejuvenate an economically moribund area -- and in which Croatian people can also live, work and visit in peace.

Leaders on the Croatian side who make moves toward a workable solution will be doing the Croatian people - and especially the communities of beautiful Osijek-Baranja County - a huge service. Let's work together.

Live and let live. Bold