Daniel Jackson is a 20-year old Roblox developer from Dover who styles himself “President of the Free Republic of Verdis”. He first contacted me over a year ago to suggest I make a video about his new country, but I turned him down. I cover genuine independence movements, not people who proclaim their own internet-based country.
But after a few minutes of online digging, I realised Daniel’s story was not what I had assumed. What started as friends having an adventure in the Balkans is now a movement which, against all odds, is a significant actor in a geopolitical dispute. When Daniel invited me to attend a protest outside the Croatian embassy in London, I agreed.
The day before the protest, a boat carrying a Serbian journalist and Verdis’s “minister of foreign affairs” had tried to cross the Danube to the tiny patch of land Verdis claims as its sovereign territory. A Croatian police patrol blocked their access and, according to passengers, nearly rammed them.
“We’re not going away,” Daniel told me. “We have the resources to last as long as we need to.”
That isn’t just bluster. In the past month alone, Verdis has raised over $65,000 in donations and fees. Daniel supports himself through Roblox, so everything Verdis earns is reinvested. It’s enough money to keep the dream of a small independent nation alive.
This unusual independence movement is a serious headache for Croatian officials, ever since Daniel first landed on a deserted bend in the Danube in 2021. There, he and a small band of adventurers planted a blue and white flag in the swampy soil and declared the surrounding half square kilometre the Free Republic of Verdis.
It sounds ridiculous. And yet, the land Daniel landed on, also known as “Pocket Three”, is one of four areas which Croatia says are part of Serbia, but Serbia says are part of Croatia. In other words, nobody wants Pocket Three. Daniel argues it should be available to anyone who wants to claim it. Which he has done.
The mere existence of Verdis puts the Croatian authorities in a bind. If they attempt to control activities in Pocket Three they are exerting sovereignty over it, which undermines their argument that it’s nothing to do with them.
Perhaps for this reason Croatia ignored Verdis’s unilateral declaration of independence.
During a visit in October 2023, Daniel and seven other Verdisians arrived with boatloads of supplies with the intention of constructing a permanent settlement. Prefabricated buildings were being assembled across the border in Serbia, and dozens more settlers were making plans to join them. Verdis was suddenly a reality.
After a few days, the Croatian authorities finally intervened. Despite claiming no jurisdiction, police entered Pocket Three and compelled the settlers into Croatian territory. There they were detained and deported.
Soon after we arrived outside the Croatian embassy, a crew from Turkey’s TRT World television asked for an interview. Daniel calmly looked down the camera lens and answered questions for a full 20 minutes without any hesitation.
Throughout the protest I wondered if anyone from the Croatian embassy would venture outside. No one did. It was a Saturday and the designated diplomatic parking space was empty, so I figured there was no one in the building.
After the protest, I joined Daniel and the other Verdisians in a nearby pub before returning an hour later when I noticed that the diplomatic parking space was now occupied.
Had staff, maybe even the ambassador himself, waited out the protesters before returning to the embassy?
That’s certainly how it looked. And who can blame them? When it comes to the public relations battle, it seems that Daniel Jackson, leader of Verdis, has Croatia on the run.
Fredo Rockwell is a YouTuber, freelance copywriter, communications adviser and journalist
