Daniel Jackson turned a forgotten patch of land on the Danube River into his own tiny nation with citizens , passport, flag and government
Forget the G7 — Meet the 24-Year-Old President of Europe’s Newest (and Tiny) Country . Move over, world powers — there’s a new flag on the map. Daniel Jackson, a British digital designer best known for creating virtual worlds on Roblox, has crowned himself president of the Free Republic of Verdis, a 125-acre slice of forest along the Danube River. This isn’t just any patch of land — it’s “Pocket Three,” a sliver of disputed territory that neither Croatia nor Serbia officially claims.
While most 18-year-olds were busy gaming, Jackson was busy starting a country. On May 30, 2019, he declared Verdis independent with just four citizens. Today, the population has grown to over 400, with more than 15,000 eager applicants hoping to join.
Despite being the world’s second-smallest nation after Vatican City, Verdis dreams big — it has its own flag, laws, cabinet, passports, and three official languages: English, Croatian, and Serbian. It uses the Euro, and the only way in is by boat from Osijek, Croatia.
But last year, Jackson’s presidency hit rough waters. Croatian police detained him, deported him, and issued a lifetime ban, calling him a “threat to homeland security.” Now running what he calls a “government in exile,” Jackson accuses Croatian authorities of installing shoreline surveillance to block entry from Serbia — a country he says has been far more welcoming.
Still, he refuses to give up. Jackson is campaigning for the right to live in Verdis and promises to call an election if he returns. “I’m not in this for power,” he says. “I just want to be a normal citizen… in my own country.”
For now, Verdis continues to issue passports (some have even been used to enter other countries), recruit citizens with valuable skills like medicine and policing, and prove that sometimes, building a nation can be just as fun — and a lot more complicated — than building a video game.