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Paraduin
| Sovereign State of Paraduin (micronation) | ||
| ||
| Flag | ||
| Motto | Freedom in solidarity | |
| Administration | Rotterdam | |
| Official languages | Dutch | |
| Demonym | Paraduinese | |
| Government | Monarchy | |
| Founder | Prince Ogidius | |
| Established | 1 April 2015 | |
| - | Siga (5 March 2015) | |
| - | Rotterdam (1 April 2015) | |
| Area | 7 km2 | |
| Population | 1 (residents) | |
| - | 5 (all citizens) | |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| - summer | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Patron saint | Saint Jut | |
| National holiday | Saint Zena (April 12) | |
| Official website | ||
The Sovereign State of Paraduin (parallel world) is a micronation established 1 April 2015 as a monarchy by Prince Ogidius (Dutch: Prins Ogidius).[1]
It consists of two areas: a house in Rotterdam, and a patch of land on the Danube, known as Siga.[2] The nation's activities are mainly cultural.[3]
Location
The territorial claim of Paraduin consists of two distinct locations. The administrative centre is a house within the borders of the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands. The second location, Siga, is an uninhabited parcel of contested land on the right bank of the Danube between Croatia and Serbia, which neither of them covets.[1]
Rotterdam
The house in Rotterdam, not far from the river Rotte, is the residence and property of the prince. According to Prince Ogidius, who is suffering from the debilitating neuroimmune disease myalgic encephalomyelitis, international law gave him the right to secede from the Netherlands after he was denied welfare and the Dutch court refused to hear his case. This left him without means to survive.[4][5] Although ME has been recognized by the World Health Organization as early as 1969, its existence is still denied by the Dutch government.[6] Many patients have no or little income, and 25% wish to leave the country.[7]
Siga
Siga's status became disputed after Yugoslavia fell apart and the new independent states of Croatia and Serbia could not agree on the location of their border. According to Serbia, the current location of the Danube is where the border lies, while Croatia claims it's where the river used to run at an earlier date. As a consequence, some larger areas on the left bank of the river are claimed by both macronations, while each maintains that a few smaller pockets of land on the right bank belong to the other.[2]
One view is that these smaller pockets, of which Siga with about 7 km2[2] is the largest, became terra nullius to be claimed by anyone. Paraduin was the first of several micronations to do so. The macronations Serbia and Croatia maintain that Siga did not become a terra nullius, but is disputed land that will some day belong to one of them, depending on the outcome of negotiations.[8]
Siga includes a floodplain forest, known locally as Gornja Siga (Upper Siga), and a river isle, Siga Szeget (Siga Island). The area is uninhabited, and international treaties regarding the Danube require it to keep its ecological function. Part of the land is privately owned by a logging company, while the beach and the sandy river island allow for occasional tourism.[9][10]
History
Although Paraduin claimed Siga on 5 March 2015,[11] the micronation's official founding day is 1 April 2015, when it added the Rotterdam headquarters and called itself a sovereign state. With permanent residence guaranteed, the nation presumes to satisfy the Montevideo criteria for statehood,[12] a right reserved to the first entity to make claim.[8]
Several other micronations intended to acquire Siga, specifically South Maudlandia (18 March),[13] Liberland (13 April),[14][15] and Âûtia (17 April),[9][16] but arrived later.[17] A flag ceremoniously raised by representatives of Liberland was removed within days,[18] which led some journalists to expect 'the world's smallest war'.[19][20][21] [22] [23] New attempts by Liberland representatives to access the area were thwarted by the Croatian police.[24]
The Principality of Ongal claims the remaining, smaller pieces of disputed territory on the Danube's right bank, about 1,5 km2 in total.[24][25]
In October 2015, Liberland was heavily criticized for demanding a fee of € 10,000 from Syrian refugees to settle in Siga. Prince Ogidius replied that Paraduin would welcome the refugees for free, but that the area lacked the necessary infrastructure. The author of the article describes Liberland as an outcast among micronations.[26]
Economy
Paraduin is mainly a cultural nation. Ongoing activities include the administration of the free online encyclopedia Wikisage, with versions in Dutch and English, and the writing and promotion of a novel called Bellerophon and other stories that play on a parallel world, also named Paraduin.[3] June 2017, The Dutch version of Wikisage contained over 42,000 articles.[27]
In December 2016, Paraduin announced its participation in a film project, the horror thriller The Russian Bride, starring Kristina Pimenova, Oksana Orlan and Corbin Bernsen, directed by Michael S. Ojeda. The micronation is represented by an executive producer.[28] Production on location was carried out in March 2017 at the Scripps Mansion in Lake Orion, Michigan.[29][30][31]
Motto and constitution
The micronation's motto is 'Freedom in Solidarity',[1] and it supports the idea of a basic income.[16]
The constitution of Paraduin, published on April 1 2015, consists of 11 articles. The first article promises fair treatment to all citizens, while the third guarantees freedom of thought. These are viewed as basic human rights from which other rights are derived.
The constitution furthermore establishes the nation as a monarchy, with Ogidius as its first ruler. The ruler's title is Prince (or Princess) of Paraduin, but the ruler is also considered a citizen. Although the legal power of the monarch is in every other aspect absolute, the right to fair treatment is unalienable. Other constitutional rights can only be limited if fair treatment requires it.[32]
See also
External links
- Official website of Paraduin
- Paraduin on micronations.wiki
- The Russian Bride at the Internet Movie Database
- Wikisage
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