Republic of Uzupis
The Republic of 'Užupis' is an unrecognised micronation in a neighborhood in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, largely located in the Vilnius old town.
History
On 1 April 1997, a group of local artists declared the Republic of Užupis, along with its own flag, unofficial currency, president, cabinet of ministers, a constitution written by Romas Lileikis and Tomas Čepaitis, an anthem, and an army of approximately 11 men. The army has since been retired.The residents of the self-declared republic celebrate this independence annually on Užupis Day, which falls on April 1.
Artistic endeavours are the main preoccupation of the Republic; the President of the Republic of Užupis, Romas Lileikis, is himself a poet, a musician, and a film director. Tomas Čepaitis, the micronation's foreign minister, is himself a translator and artist.
Legal status
It is unclear whether the statehood of the Republic, recognised by no government, is intended to be serious, tongue-in-cheek, or a combination of both. The decision to place Užupis Day on April 1 may not be coincidental, emphasising the importance of humor over "serious" political decisions.The Republic has granted honorary citizenship to several notable individuals, including the 14th Dalai Lama, who first visited the Republic in 2013. He later returned in 2018 to plant a tree in the Republic's "Tibet Square" to mark 100 years since the Council of Lithuania proclaimed the restoration of an independent state of Lithuania.
Artūras Zuokas, a former mayor of Vilnius, lives in Užupis.
Public image
The flag of the Republic features the palm of a hand on a white background. The colour of the palm emblem changes seasonally, in the sequence blue, green, yellow, and red.Ambassadors
The Užupis Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appointed more than 500 ambassadors worldwide. The ambassadors have the task to build bridges between people.Some ambassadors represent the republic and its constitution in a certain state or geographic region while others share the republic's spirit in various realms of life like the ambassador among humming birds, the ambassador of knowledge for humanity or the ambassador for whistling in the streets.
The Embassy of the Republic of Užupis to Munich builds bridges between arts and AI technology to make artificial intelligence more ethical and more accessible to society. Well-known ambassadors include the experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas, the art critic Konstyantyn Doroshenko, and the designer Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun.
Every year the ambassadors meet for their world conference in Užupis on the day before national day celebrations on April 1.
Representatives of the Republic of Užupis have met with the President and Foreign Minister of Liberland to discuss mutual recognition.
Constitution
Copies of the 38 articles of the Republic's constitution and 3 mottos - "Don't Fight", "Don't Win", "Don't Surrender" - in 23 languages, can be found affixed to a wall in Paupio street in the area. Sanskrit and Hindi versions of the constitution were added on 25 May 2017.Some of these articles would be unremarkable in a constitution; for instance, Article 5 simply reads "Man has the right to individuality."
Others are more idiosyncratic; a typical example can be found in Article 1, 12 and 37, which can be seen as unusual compared to fundamental rights set out by the EU.
There are a number of paired articles, such as Articles 16 and 17 which declare people's right to either do or not do something, according to their desire.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Thomas Chepaitis, Ambassador H. E. Max Haarich, AI-Expert Alex Waldmann and humanoid Roboy formulated an additional article for the Munich Embassy:
"Any artificial intelligence has the right to believe in a good will of humanity."This makes the Užupian constitution the world's first constitution to mention artificial intelligence.
In September 2018 the constitution was blessed by Pope Francis during his visit to Vilnius.
Infrastructures
The Republic of Užupis does not house internet-cafes, markets, shopping malls, or governmental institutions, and there is no embassy to Lithuania.In creative works
The Republic of Užupis, a 2009 novel by the South Korean author Hailji, chronicles the journey of an Asian man named Hal visiting Užupis to inter the ashes of his father, believing the "Republic" to be his ancestral homeland.Užupis was the topic of a 2015 piece of music by Matt Howden's The Mighty Sieben, featuring the three mottos, "Don't Fight", "Don't Win", "Don't Surrender". The track was written in celebration of, and first performed at, the Mėnuo Juodaragis Festival held in Lithuania.