一名英国男子在巴尔干半岛声称拥有土地，并宣布自己为自建国总统，如今他获得了来自联合国的奖项。
A British man who declared himself president of his own country after claiming land in the Balkans has now received an award – from the United Nations.
现年21岁的丹尼尔·杰克逊（Daniel Jackson）在年仅14岁时，就曾与一群朋友萌生了建立自己国家的想法。
Daniel Jackson, 21, first thought up the idea of starting his own country with a group of friends aged just 14.
这群朋友注意到，由于边界纠纷，多瑙河沿岸的几片土地未被克罗地亚或塞尔维亚声索。
The pals noticed that, following a border dispute, several patches of land along the Danube River were unclaimed by Croatia or Serbia.
于是，在2019年5月30日，他宣布将其中一块在地图上官方称为“3号口袋地”（Pocket-3）的土地建为“韦尔迪斯自由共和国”（Free Republic of Verdis）。
So, on May 30, 2019, he declared one of these land pockets – officially known as Pocket-3 on the map – as the Free Republic of Verdis.
丹尼尔自封为总统，此后一直在努力建国，最近他在纽约举行的联合国（UN）晚会上因人道主义工作而获奖。
Daniel, who has made himself president, has been working hard since to establish his country, recently being given an award for his humanitarian work at a United Nations (UN) gala in New York.
在联合国总部联合国代表餐厅举行的这场活动中，丹尼尔被授予表彰韦尔迪斯在科特迪瓦提供援助的奖项。
The event at the UN Delegates dining hall in their headquarters saw Daniel presented with an award for aid provided by Verdis on the Ivory Coast.
该奖项由公共政策与外交研究研究所（Institute of Public Policy and Diplomacy Research）颁发，丹尼尔在领奖时发表了演讲。
It was presented by the Institute of Public Policy and Diplomacy Research, and Daniel was able to give a speech upon acceptance.
这位来自肯特郡多佛尔的总统表示：“这绝对非常紧张。这是一次非常有趣的体验。那里有很多高端人士。这非常令人紧张。”
“It definitely was intense. It was a very interesting experience. There were quite a lot of high end people there. It was very nerve wrecking,” the president from Dover, Kent, said:
“我年仅21岁，还在慢慢适应这种出席此类活动的体验，能见到这么多有趣且有影响力的人。”韦尔迪斯随后受邀在10月9日举行的联合国大会（UNGA）青年动员环节上发言。
“Being only 21 years old I am still sort of getting used to this experience of turning up to these events with such interesting and influential people.”Verdis was then invited to speak at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Youth Mobilization Segment on October 9.
其人道主义事务部长杰弗里·李（Jeffrey Li）承担了这一职责，向全场介绍了韦尔迪斯过去的努力和未来的计划。
Their Humanitarian Affairs Minister Jeffrey Li took on the responsibility, telling the room about Verdis’ past efforts and future plans.
丹尼尔补充道：“每次我们去纽约，总能进行大量的对话并建立联系。
Daniel added: “Every time we go to New York we always get a decent amount of dialogue and connections.
“有机会让我的同事直接在联合国大会青年论坛上发言，这太棒了。”
“Having the opportunity to have my colleague speak directly at the UNGA youth forum was amazing.
“这使他能够为威尔迪斯开辟更多联系，特别是在青年参与、援助以及诸如此类的事情上。”威尔迪斯的总面积约为125英亩，这将使其成为世界上第二小的国家——仅次于梵蒂冈。
“It allowed him to open up more connections for Verdis particularly around youth involvement, aid, and things like that.”Verdis’ total area is about 125 acres, which would make it the second smallest country in the world – just behind Vatican City.
这片土地只能从奥西耶克乘船到达，迄今为止在那里定居的尝试均告失败——其总统现在被禁止入境克罗地亚。
The land is only accessible via boat from Osijek, and attempts at settling there have so far been unsuccessful – with their president now banned from Croatia.
丹尼尔称，克罗地亚当局还在“威尔迪斯海岸线沿线安装了摄像头”，以阻止他们从塞尔维亚进入该地，这使他们成为了一个“流亡政府”。不过，他们与塞尔维亚官员的接触已经取得了进展，丹尼尔已被接受加入该国国籍。
Daniel claims the Croatian authorities have also “installed cameras along the Verdisian coastline” to stop them accessing it from Serbia, making them a “government in exile.”However, headway has been made with Serbian officials, with Daniel being accepted for citizenship.
他说：“我们仍在蓬勃发展。我们取得了很大进展，但我们仍然遭到封锁。”
He said: “We are still thriving. We are making a lot of progress, but we are still blockaded.
“我们正在践行威尔迪斯的价值观，尽管我们继续在流亡中运作。”
“We are carrying out Verdis’ values even while we continue to operate in exile.
“克罗地亚对我们依然相当强硬。他们对威尔迪斯政府官员能否进入威尔迪斯进行了严厉打击。他们一直在密切监视我们。”
“Croatia are still quite tough on us. They have really cracked down regarding Verdis government officials being able to enter Verdis. They are very much watching us.
“我们真的很希望封锁能很快解除。我们仍在为此努力。”具有英国和澳大利亚双重国籍的丹尼尔已经创建了护照、国旗、周边商品、完整的内阁、法律，甚至还有国徽。
“We are really hoping that the blockade could be lifted soon. We are still working towards it.”Daniel, who identifies as both British and Australian, has created passports, a flag, merchandise, a full cabinet, laws, and even a coat of arms.
他们还开设了两个大使馆，一个在多佛，另一个在塞尔维亚诺维萨德。
They have also opened two embassies, one in Dover and one in Novi Sad, Serbia.
威尔迪斯拥有400名正式公民，其官方语言为英语、克罗地亚语和塞尔维亚语，官方货币为欧元。
The official languages of Verdis, which has 400 official citizens, are English, Croatian, and Serbian with their currency being the Euro.
自从他创立这个国家以来，它在社交媒体上获得了巨大的关注，每月收到来自1,000多名要求成为公民的人发来的电子邮件。但是，由于土地面积狭小，他们必须对可以接受的人员保持限制。
Since he started the country, it has gained a huge following on social media, with over 1,000 emails every month from people asking to become citizens. But, they need to stay restrictive on who they can accept due to the small amount of land.
丹尼尔不得不放弃原本设计罗布乐思（Roblox）世界的日常工作，转而全职投入威尔迪斯，他表示：“威尔迪斯是我14岁时的一个想法，起初只是和几个伙伴一起做的一点小实验。”
Daniel, who had to give up his day job designing Roblox worlds to take on Verdis full time, said: “Verdis was an idea I had when I was 14, it was just a bit of an experiment at first with a few mates.
“肉眼看去，这里只是一大片森林，但当你意识到自己身处一个由你创造的国家时，这种感觉十分神奇。
“To the naked eye it is just a lot of forest, but when you realise that you are in a country you have created it is magical.
“我对此感到非常惊叹，但对于它能推进得如此顺利，我并不感到意外，因为我们身后有一支了不起的团队，而且支持从未停止。”
“I am very amazed by it but I am not surprised by how well it is pushing because there is an amazing team behind us and the support has not stopped.”