Vít Jedlička

Vít Jedlička
Born	(1983-09-06) 6 September 1983 (age 40) Hradec Králové, Czechoslovakia
Alma mater	University of Economics, Prague, CEVRO Institute
Political party	Civic Democratic Party (2001–2009) Svobodní (2009–present)

He was the chairman of the Party of Free Citizens in the Hradec Králové Region and currently serves as the founder and chairman of the Czech voluntary association Reformy.cz. On 13 April 2015, he founded the self-declared libertarian micronation of Liberland, claiming a disputed patch of land between Croatia and Serbia, and has been "president" since the micronation was founded.

In 2008, Jedlička received a bachelor's degree in international relations and affairs from the University of Economics, Prague. He gained his master's degree in political science at the CEVRO Institute in 2014.

Jedlička's father was removed from his office job at the Institute of Weights and Measures in Prague after losing favour with the authorities for resisting the Communist Party membership and was sent to work as a mechanic. During the 1997 Czech financial crisis, his family nearly went bankrupt when the Czech central bank raised interest rates to 25 percent. Jedlička's working career ranges from sales and management to financial analysis and IT. From 2006 to 2009, he was the managing director of HKfree.net, a civic network and internet service in his hometown of Hradec Králové. From 2009 to 2014, Jedlička was the regional chairman of the Party of Free Citizens. In 2011, he co-founded Reformy.cz, a community news service of libertarian roots, and became its chairman.

From 2001, Vít Jedlička was a member of Civic Democratic Party. Since 2009 he has been a member of the Free Citizens Party. In 2009 he was elected the first regional president in Hradec Králové Region of the Free Citizens Party.

As an independent, Jedlička was the leading candidate of the coalition of the Free Citizens Party, Liberland, and Radostné Česko - ODEJDEME BEZ PLACENÍ for the 2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic.

Views

Jedlička considers himself as libertarian with liberal views on individual freedom and the least state intrusion possible. A Property and Freedom Society attendee in 2015, his views are similar to that of American politician Ron Paul. He has described himself as a Bastiat-influenced anarcho-capitalist in a podcast. Jedlička is a Eurosceptic who alleges there is a democratic deficit in the institution of the EU and abuses of basic moral rules by EU institutions and EU member states. Jedlička described the European Stability Mechanism as a protectorate. He opposes socialism.

Liberland

On 13 April 2015, Vít Jedlička proclaimed the Free Republic of Liberland on what he considered unclaimed land, (terra nullius) known as Siga, between Serbia and Croatia. The Preparatory Committee, appointed by Jedlička, named him as president that same day.^{[better source needed]}