State on an oil platform. Unrecognized states

Principality of Sealand(English: Principality of Sealand) - a microstate located on an offshore platform in the North Sea 10 kilometers from the coast of Great Britain, according to some sources, meets all the criteria for statehood specified in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, and is an unrecognized state

Background of Sealand

Rafs Tower platform English. Roughs Tower on which Sealand is located
The physical territory of Sealand emerged during the Second World War. In 1942, the British Navy built a series of platforms on the approaches to the coast. One of them was Roughs Tower. During the war, anti-aircraft guns were stationed there and a garrison of 200 people was located there. After the end of hostilities, most of the towers were destroyed, but the Rafs Tower, being outside British territorial waters, remained untouched.

Capturing the platform and establishing Sealand

In 1966, retired major british army Paddy Roy Bates and his friend Ronan O'Reilly chose the Roughs Tower platform, by then long abandoned, to build an amusement park. However, after some time they quarreled, and Bates became the sole owner of the island. In 1967, O'Reilly tried to take over the island and used force to do so, but Bates defended himself with rifles, shotguns, Molotov cocktails and flamethrowers, and O'Reilly's attack was repulsed.

Roy did not build an amusement park, but chose the platform to base his pirate radio station, Britain's Better Music Station, but the radio station never broadcast from the platform. On September 2, 1967, he announced the creation sovereign state and proclaimed himself Prince Roy I. This day is celebrated as the main public holiday.

Conflict with Great Britain

In 1968, British authorities tried to take over the platform. Patrol boats approached her, and the princely family responded by firing warning shots into the air. The matter did not come to bloodshed, but an attack was launched against Prince Roy as a British subject. trial. On September 2, 1968, an Essex judge made a historic ruling: he found the case outside British jurisdiction.
In 1972, Sealand began minting coins. In 1975, Sealand's first constitution came into force. A flag and coat of arms appeared.

Coup attempt

In August 1978, a putsch took place in the country. It was preceded by tension between the prince and his closest ally, the country's prime minister, Count Alexander Gottfried Achenbach. The parties differed in their views on attracting investment to the country and accused each other of unconstitutional intentions. Taking advantage of the absence of the prince, who was negotiating with investors in Austria, Achenbach and a group of Dutch citizens landed on the island. The invaders locked young Prince Michael in a basement and then took him to the Netherlands. But Michael escaped from captivity and met his father. With the support of the country's loyal citizens, the deposed monarchs managed to defeat the usurpers and return to power.

The government acted in strict accordance with international law. The captured foreign mercenaries were soon released, as the Geneva Convention on the Rights of Prisoners of War requires the release of prisoners after the end of hostilities. The organizer of the coup was removed from all posts and convicted of high treason in accordance with Sealand laws, but he had a second - German - citizenship, so the German authorities became interested in his fate. The British Foreign Office refused to intervene in this matter, and German diplomats had to negotiate directly with Sealand. The senior legal adviser of the German embassy arrived on the island in London Dr Niemuller, which became the pinnacle of the actual recognition of Sealand by real states. Prince Roy demanded diplomatic recognition of Sealand, but in the end, given the bloodless nature of the failed putsch, he agreed to verbal assurances and generously released Achenbach.

The losers continued to insist on their rights. They formed the government of Sealand in exile (FRG). Achenbach claimed to be the chairman of the Sealand Privy Council. In January 1989, he was arrested by the German authorities (who, of course, did not recognize his diplomatic status) and handed over his post to Minister for Economic Cooperation Johannes W. F. Seiger, who soon became prime minister. Re-elected in 1994 and 1999.

Expansion of territorial waters

On September 30, 1987, Sealand announced the expansion of its territorial waters from 3 to 12 nautical miles. The next day, the UK made a similar statement. There was no reaction from the British government to the expansion of Sealand's territorial waters. From the point of view of international law, this means that the maritime zone between the two countries should be divided equally. This fact is considered by supporters of Sealand's independence as a fact of its recognition. Although the lack of a bilateral agreement regulating this issue has caused dangerous incidents. Thus, in 1990, Sealand fired warning salvoes at a British ship that had unauthorizedly approached its border.

Fake Sealand passports

Unbeknownst to the government, Sealand's name was embroiled in a massive criminal scam. In 1997, Interpol came to the attention of an extensive international syndicate that had established trade in fake Sealand passports (Sealand itself never traded passports and did not provide political asylum). Over 150 thousand fake passports (including diplomatic ones), as well as driver's licenses, university diplomas and other fake documents were sold to citizens of Hong Kong (during its transfer to Chinese control) and of Eastern Europe. In several European countries attempts were recorded to open bank accounts and even purchase weapons using Sealand passports. The attackers' headquarters were in Germany, and their area of activity covered Spain, Great Britain, France, Slovenia, Romania and Russia. Silenda appeared in the case as Minister of Foreign Affairs Russian citizen Igor Popov. In the United States, a connection was discovered between this case and the murder of Gianni Versace (the killer committed suicide on a yacht whose owner had a fake Sealand diplomatic passport). The Government of Sealand provided full cooperation to the investigation and thereafter unpleasant incident canceled passports.

Cooperation between Sealand and HavenCo

In 2000, the HavenCo company hosted its hosting in Sealand, in return the government pledged to guarantee the inviolability of freedom of information legislation (everything is allowed on the Internet in Sealand, except spam, hacking attacks and child pornography). HavenCo hoped that being located on sovereign territory would save it from the restrictions of British internet law. HavenCo ceased to exist in 2008

Fire on Sealand

On June 23, 2006, the state of Sealand suffered a terrible disaster throughout its history. A fire broke out on the platform, the cause of which was said to be a short circuit. The fire destroyed almost all buildings. As a result of the fire, one victim was taken by a British BBC rescue helicopter to a UK hospital. The state was restored quite quickly: by November of the same year.

Selling Sealand

In January 2007, the country's owners announced their intention to sell it. Immediately after this, the torrent site The Pirate Bay began collecting funds for the purchase of Sealand.
In January 2009, Spanish real estate agency Inmo-Naranja announced its intention to put Sealand up for sale for €750 million. But soon the prince decided not to sell the “state”

Legal status

Sealand's position compares favorably with that of others virtual states. The Principality has physical territory and has some legal basis for international recognition. The requirement for independence is based on three arguments. The most fundamental of these is the fact that Sealand was founded in international waters before the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force, prohibiting the construction artificial structures on the high seas, and until the extension of the UK's sovereign maritime zone from 3 to 12 nautical miles in 1987. Due to the fact that the Rafs Tower platform on which Sealand is located was abandoned and struck off the British Admiralty lists, its occupation is considered as colonization. The settlers who settled on it believe that they had every right to establish a state and establish a form of government at their discretion. Sealand meets all the criteria for statehood specified in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. According to international standards, the size of a state cannot be an obstacle to recognition. For example, the recognized British possession of Pitcairn Island has only about 60 people.

Second important argument is a 1968 British court decision that Britain had no jurisdiction over Sealand. No other country has claimed rights to Sealand either.

Thirdly, there are several facts of de facto recognition of Sealand. The Montevideo Convention states that states have the right to existence and self-defense regardless of official recognition. In modern international practice, tacit (non-diplomatic) recognition is a fairly common phenomenon. It arises when a regime does not have sufficient legitimacy, but exercises actual power on its territory. For example, many states do not recognize Republic of China diplomatically, but de facto they view it as a sovereign country. There are four similar pieces of evidence regarding Sealand:

Great Britain does not pay Prince Roy a pension for the period when he was in Sealand.
UK courts refused to hear the 1968 and 1990 claims against Sealand.
The Foreign Ministries of the Netherlands and Germany entered into negotiations with the Sealand government.
The Belgian Post accepted Sealand stamps for some time.

Theoretically, Sealand's position is very convincing. If recognized, the principality would become the smallest country in the world and the 51st state in Europe. However, according to the constituent theory, more common in modern international law, a state can exist only insofar as it is recognized by other states. Therefore, Sealand cannot be accepted into any international organization, can't start his own mailing address, Domain name. None of the countries established diplomatic relations with him.

Sealand is trying to achieve recognition of independence somehow large state, but did not try to achieve independence through the UN.

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The self-proclaimed state of Sealand is located in the North Sea and is a platform from the Second World War, each support of which has 8 rooms.
Sealand can only be reached by helicopter or boat.
The platform was built for air defense and remained abandoned after World War 2. Since the platform was located outside the three-mile coastal zone and was deserted, it could well be considered a disputed territory, and Roy Bates hastened to officially occupy it. Having taken ownership of a rectangle 30 meters long and less than 10 meters wide, Roy Bates declared it a monarchy, himself a prince and, accordingly, his wife a princess. The Royal Family and all loyal subjects of the newly formed principality declared absolute sovereignty. The new state was named the Principality of Sealand.
In 1975, His Majesty Prince Roy declared the constitution. Later the flag, anthem, stamps, silver and gold coins - Sealand dollars. And finally, Sealand’s state and international passports were accepted.
The physical territory of Sealand emerged during the Second World War. In 1942, the British Navy built a series of platforms on the approaches to the coast. One of them was the Roughs Tower (literally “hooligan tower”). During the war, anti-aircraft guns were stationed there and a garrison of 200 people was located there. After the end of hostilities, most of the towers were destroyed, but the Rafs Tower, being outside British territorial waters, remained untouched. In 1966, retired British Army Major Paddy Roy Bates chose the site to base his pirate radio station, Britain's Better Music Station. To avoid prosecution by the British authorities, Bates declared the platform a sovereign state and proclaimed himself Prince Roy I. The proclamation of Sealand took place on September 2, 1967. This day is celebrated as the main public holiday.
In August 1978, a putsch occurred in the country. It was preceded by tension between the prince and his closest ally, the country's prime minister, Count Alexander Gottfried Achenbach. The parties differed in their views on attracting foreign investment to the country and accused each other of unconstitutional intentions. Taking advantage of the absence of the prince, who was negotiating with investors in Austria, Achenbach and a group of Dutch citizens landed on the island. The invaders locked young Prince Michael in a basement and then took him to the Netherlands. But Michael escaped from captivity and met his father. With the support of the country's loyal citizens, the overthrown monarchs managed to defeat the usurpers' troops and return to power.
Sealand territory with territorial waters The losers continued to insist on their rights. They formed the illegal government of Sealand in exile (FRG). Achenbach claimed to be the chairman of the Privy Council. In January 1989, he was arrested by the German authorities (who, of course, did not recognize his diplomatic status) and handed over his post to Minister for Economic Cooperation Johannes W. F. Seiger, who soon became prime minister. Re-elected in 1994 and 1999

September 2, 1967, one Paddy Roy Bates is a retired British Army colonel who chose Fort Rough Sands (or HM Fort Roughs, literally “hooligan tower”) in 1966 to base his pirate radio station “Britain's Better Music Station” ", announced the creation of the sovereign Principality of Sealand on the territory of the sea fortress and proclaimed himself Prince Roy I.
In 1968, the British authorities tried to occupy the young state. Patrol boats approached the platform of the sea fortress, and the princely family responded by firing warning shots into the air. The matter did not come to bloodshed, but a trial was launched against Prince Roy as a British citizen. On September 2, 1968, a judge in the English county of Essex made a historic ruling: he recognized that the case was outside British jurisdiction - that is, he de facto recognized the sovereignty of the Principality of Sealand.

Sealand was established in international waters before the entry into force of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which prohibits the construction of artificial structures on the high seas, and before the extension of the UK's sovereign maritime zone from 3 to 12 miles in 1987. Based on the fact that the Rafs Tower platform , on which Sealand is located, was abandoned and deleted from the lists of the British Admiralty, its occupation is considered as colonization. The settlers who settled on it believe that they had every right to establish a state and establish a form of government at their discretion.
The Principality of Sealand has only five people, but it meets all the criteria for statehood specified in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. Sealand is a constitutional monarchy, headed by Prince Roy I Bates and Princess Joanna I Bates, although since 1999 he has exercised direct power in the principality crown prince Michael I. The principality has its own constitution, flag and coat of arms; Sealand mints its own coin - the Sealand dollar and issues stamps. The smallest state in the world even has its own football team.

The Principality of Sealand went down in history as the first state in the world to burn to the ground - on June 23, 2006 due to short circuit A serious fire started in the generator, which was extinguished thanks to assistance provided by the UK. Restoring the artificial island requires big money and the Silendian monarch, who had been connected with the island for 40 years of his life, decided that the time had come to part with it. The state is up for sale - the starting price is 65 million pounds sterling.

In an attempt to circumvent international copyright laws, the world's largest BitTorrent tracker, The Pirate Bay, which has more than three million registered users downloading pirated torrents for free software, music, films and other copyrighted materials, recently launched a campaign to raise funds to purchase the state of Sealand. “Help us and you will become a citizen of Sealand!” - say the pirates.

The “royal family” is already too old - Roy and Joanna Bates are already over eighty (and he died), their heir is over fifty. A couple of years ago they moved to Spain - it’s not so easy for older people to live on the open sea, on a windswept couple of hundred meters of concrete and iron.

Sealand has long been a legend, and legends never die.

On October 9, there was one less monarch in the world: in a nursing home in English county Essex died at the age of 92, Prince Roy I Bates, founder of the state of Sealand, located on an abandoned sea platform off the British coast. A war veteran and fearless adventurer, DJ of a pirate radio station and founder of the dynasty, he left his principality as an inheritance to his eldest son.

Over the almost half-century history of its existence, Sealand survived the threat of an attack by the Royal Navy of Great Britain, an attempted coup and the capture of the heir to the throne, and was involved in a criminal scam involving the issuance of false passports. It was targeted by freedom-loving copyright infringers from the Swedish torrent site The Pirate Bay and by the Argentines during the 1982 Falklands War with Great Britain. Despite all the vicissitudes, Sealand retained its independence. True, not recognized by anyone, but its rulers, apparently, never particularly cared about this fact.

Retired British Army Major Roy Bates chose the platform back in 1966, when he was thinking about where to transfer the broadcast of his underground radio station Essex, which the British authorities had declared illegal. The war veteran was an active participant in the pirate boom of the mid-1960s, when numerous stations broadcast music that the BBC did not play, and generally had a lot of fun on air, unlike their mainland counterparts. One of the four offshore platforms built 13 kilometers off the coast of Great Britain in 1943 was perfect for these purposes. During the war, a garrison of 150-300 people was stationed on such a platform; its task was to warn about German air raids and German attempts to mine strategically important sea routes, including the approaches to the mouth of the Thames. In the mid-1950s, the platforms were abandoned, and ten years later Bates appeared on one of them with his children and household.

Despite his previous plan, the major did not place a radio station on the Roughs Tower platform. Instead, he came up with a better idea. He decided that the radio room was, of course, a good option, but his own state was much better. After consulting with a lawyer, Bates took advantage of the fact that the platforms were built outside British territorial waters - they stood seven miles from the coast, while British jurisdiction then extended only three miles. During the war, this circumstance worried few people - there was no time for that, but after 20 years England no longer had the right to dispose former fort.

It was a small matter. Bates proclaimed himself Prince of the independent state of Sealand on September 2, 1967 - he decided to give his wife Joan a birthday present, and from that moment she became Princess Joanna I. The state was small - area offshore platform is only 550 square meters, but the gesture turned out to be broad. His son and heir Michael, then 14, and 16-year-old daughter Penelope took part in the celebrations. Together with a group of companions, they raised their flag over the platform, and thus Sealand appeared.

Without thinking twice, the British government decided to blow up the other three forts out of harm's way. The Sealand website claims that the empire feared the appearance of a second Cuba close by, but this comparison is still not entirely correct - only a small cottage by Moscow standards can be accommodated on the platform, but not Fidel with his five million (according to then estimates) builders of communism. During the destruction of the forts, the crew of one of the Navy ships, sailing past Raf's Tower, threatened the aborigines that they would be next in line for eviction. To this, the inhabitants of Sealand responded by firing shots into the air, and since the prince did not renounce British citizenship, he was prosecuted for illegal possession of weapons as soon as he set foot on English soil.

And then a significant event occurred, which would certainly have been included in the history books of Sealand, if anyone had bothered to write one. The judge threw up his hands and ruled that he had no right to make a verdict, since the incident occurred in international waters, over which the jurisdiction of the English court does not extend. It was a complete and unconditional victory for the principality and its inhabitants. From now on they decided that Great Britain had actually recognized their independence.

London, of course, did not recognize the sovereignty of Sealand, whose area is one hundredth of the territory of the Royal Tower. The authorities simply did not want to suffer the reputational losses that would be inevitable if they tried to “win back” the dilapidated platform. What would newspaper headlines like “Former greatest empire world attacked an iron can in the middle of the sea" or "Britain is reviving colonial power: an abandoned signal box has been reclaimed", and so on. by and large Bates and his principality simply did not cause any trouble for the government: he did not set up a brothel, drug den, or smugglers’ transit point there, although such proposals were received. He told everyone that he did not intend to harm the interests of Great Britain. The prince also discouraged the Argentine landing force, which in 1982, during the Falklands War with England, arrived with the intention of setting up on the platform military base. In a word, neutrality reigned.

Sealand acquired a motto, an anthem and a constitution. The Principality minted coins and printed paper currency in the form of Sealand dollars. Life in the country proceeded calmly until 1978, when a self-proclaimed prime minister appeared there ( German citizen) with a group of mercenaries. He tried to seize power in the kingdom and captured the heir to the throne, Michael, who was accidentally discovered there. was brewing international conflict, because it’s one thing to quietly stamp stamps, and another to start a crime involving hostage-taking.

During the incident, a second incident occurred an important event from the point of view of Sealand's recognition: since Great Britain completely refused to interfere in the bad story on the platform, the legal adviser of the German Embassy in London was sent there. Sealand patriots interpret the appearance of the diplomat as an act of international recognition. The putsch ended bloodlessly, and the prince let the invaders go home. The second criminal scandal broke out only in the late 1990s: a certain company on behalf of the “Sealand government in exile” (certainly not without defeated"Premiere") printed several thousand fake passports that were discovered during the investigation of high-profile criminal offenses. Bates annulled them by royal will, but to him law enforcement and so no questions arose. In 1999, he abdicated the throne in favor of his son. Until his death, the prince lived in retirement in Essex and last years suffered from Alzheimer's disease throughout his life.

The Principality continued to live in peace with Great Britain even after London in 1987 unilaterally expanded the border of its territorial waters to 12 miles and thus captured the platform along with the population. The United Kingdom is one of 162 states that have signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), according to which artificially created mounds and structures in the sea are not islands, cannot have their own territorial waters, claim the shelf and do not have the right to exclusive economic zone.

But Sealand made no claims. All economic activity The principality was reduced to attempts to sell itself at a higher price. The current prince, unlike his romantic dad, who just wanted to fool around on air and make his beloved wife a princess, is a much more pragmatic monarch. In 2007, he intended to sell the platform for 750 million euros, but so far there have been no lawyers capable of completing such a deal. The torrent site The Pirate Bay also had an eye on the platform, but soon abandoned the idea. In 2000, HavenCo settled on the platform, which, until its liquidation in 2008, was, according to some estimates, the most secure and stable hosting on the planet.

There are several dozen unrecognized microstates like Sealand in the world. Some of them exist only in the imagination of the founders, others actually have quite tangible territory. One of the pioneers of this activity was Celestia, founded in 1949, but deceased, and claimed rights to interstellar space. In recent years, on the contrary, the most popular idea has been to lay claims to no-man's lands in Antarctica, which, unlike outer space, are simply lying underfoot. Here the leaders are Westarctica and Flandersis. Many states are based on the Internet, such as Lizbekistan, created by Australian artist Liz Stirling, or Vimperium, founded in 2012 and uniting Internet users, as well as Wirtland, formed four years earlier. There are also quite material microstates: since 1980, Aramoana in New Zealand has successfully existed, which is a small settlement that declared independence in protest against the construction of an aluminum smelter in its immediate vicinity. But the most famous “country” of this kind is, perhaps, Christiania, located in one of the quarters of the Danish capital. Since the early 1970s, there have been hippies who have inhabited abandoned military barracks.

These semi-fairy-tale kingdoms differ from separatist states in that they do not try to defend their independence with arms in hand. Practice has shown that it is more convenient for the civilized world not to interfere in their life. But only as long as the “dwarfs” do not get involved in illegal scams. Success story Sealenda is an example of this.

I want to talk about amazing country called Sealand
The physical territory of Sealand emerged during the Second World War. In 1942, the British Navy built a series of platforms on the approaches to the coast. One of them was Roughs Tower. During the war, anti-aircraft guns were stationed there and a garrison of 200 people was located there. After the end of hostilities, most of the towers were destroyed, but the Rafs Tower, being outside British territorial waters, remained untouched.

In 1966, retired British Army Major Paddy Roy Bates and his friend Ronan O'Reilly chose the Roughs Tower platform, by then long abandoned, to build an amusement park. However, after some time they quarreled, and Bates became the sole owner of the island. In 1967, O'Reilly tried to take over the island and used force to do so, but Bates defended himself with rifles, shotguns, Molotov cocktails and flamethrowers, and O'Reilly's attack was repulsed.

———————-———————-

Rafs Tower platform English. Roughs Tower on which Sealand is located

Roy did not build an amusement park, but chose the platform to base his pirate radio station, Britain's Better Music Station. On September 2, 1967, he announced the creation of a sovereign state and proclaimed himself Prince Roy I. This day is celebrated as the main public holiday.

In 1968, British authorities tried to take over the platform. Patrol boats approached her, and the princely family responded by firing warning shots into the air. The matter did not come to bloodshed, but a trial was launched against Prince Roy as a British citizen. On September 2, 1968, an Essex judge made a historic ruling: he found the case outside British jurisdiction.

In 1972, Sealand began minting coins. In 1975, Sealand's first constitution came into force.

A flag and coat of arms appeared.

Sealand is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is Prince Roy I Bates and Princess Joanna I Bates. Since 1999, direct power has been exercised by Crown Prince Regent Michael I. There is a constitution in force, created in 1995, consisting of a preamble and 7 articles. The sovereign's orders are issued in the form of decrees. The executive branch has three ministries: Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Telecommunications and Technology. The legal system is based on British common law.

The government acted in strict accordance with international law. The captured foreign mercenaries were soon released, as the Geneva Convention on the Rights of Prisoners of War requires the release of prisoners after the end of hostilities. The organizer of the coup was removed from all posts and convicted of high treason in accordance with Sealand laws, but he had a second - German - citizenship, so the German authorities became interested in his fate. The British Foreign Office refused to intervene in this matter, and German diplomats had to negotiate directly with Sealand. The senior legal adviser of the German embassy in London, Dr. Niemuller, arrived on the island, which became the pinnacle of the actual recognition of Sealand by real states. Prince Roy demanded diplomatic recognition of Sealand, but in the end, given the bloodless nature of the failed putsch, he agreed to verbal assurances and generously released Achenbach.

Territory of Sealand with territorial waters

On September 30, 1987, Sealand announced the expansion of its territorial waters from 3 to 12 nautical miles. The next day, the UK made a similar statement. There was no reaction from the British government to the expansion of Sealand's territorial waters. From the point of view of international law, this means that the maritime zone between the two countries should be divided equally. This fact is considered by supporters of Sealand's independence as a fact of its recognition. Although the lack of a bilateral agreement regulating this issue has caused dangerous incidents. So in 1990, Sealand fired warning salvoes at a British ship that had unauthorizedly approached its border.

Unbeknownst to the government, Sealand's name was embroiled in a massive criminal scam. In 1997, Interpol came to the attention of an extensive international syndicate that had established trade in fake Sealand passports (Sealand itself never traded passports and did not provide political asylum). Over 150 thousand fake passports (including diplomatic ones), as well as driver's licenses, university diplomas and other fake documents were sold to citizens of Hong Kong (during its transfer to Chinese control) and Eastern Europe. In several European countries, attempts were recorded to open bank accounts and even purchase weapons using Sealand passports. The attackers' headquarters were in Germany, and their area of activity covered Spain, Great Britain, France, Slovenia, Romania and Russia. Russian citizen Igor Popov appeared in the case as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sealand. In the United States, a connection was discovered between this case and the murder of Gianni Versace (the killer committed suicide on a yacht whose owner had a fake Sealand diplomatic passport). The Sealand government fully cooperated with the investigation and canceled the passports after this unfortunate incident.

In January 2007, the owners of the country decided to sell it. Immediately after this, the torrent site The Pirate Bay began collecting funds for the purchase of Sealand.

In January 2009, the Spanish real estate agency Inmo-Naranja announced its intention to list
Sealand for sale for 750 million euros.

Sealand's position compares favorably with that of other virtual states. The Principality has a physical territory and has some legal grounds for international recognition. The requirement for independence is based on three arguments. The most fundamental of these is the fact that Sealand was founded in international waters before the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force, prohibiting the construction of artificial structures on the high seas, and before the expansion of the UK's sovereign maritime zone from 3 to 12 nautical miles in 1987 year. Due to the fact that the Rafs Tower platform on which Sealand is located was abandoned and struck off the British Admiralty lists, its occupation is considered as colonization. The settlers who settled on it believe that they had every right to establish a state and establish a form of government at their discretion. Sealand meets all the criteria for statehood specified in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. According to international standards, the size of a state cannot be an obstacle to recognition. For example, the recognized British possession of Pitcairn Island has only about 60 people.

The second important argument is the 1968 British court decision that the UK had no jurisdiction over Sealand. No other country has claimed rights to Sealand either.

Thirdly, there are several facts of de facto recognition of Sealand. The Montevideo Convention states that states have the right to existence and self-defense regardless of official recognition. In modern international practice, tacit (non-diplomatic) recognition is a fairly common phenomenon. It arises when a regime does not have sufficient legitimacy, but exercises actual power on its territory. For example, many states do not recognize Taiwan diplomatically, but de facto view it as a sovereign country. There are four similar pieces of evidence regarding Sealand:

1. Great Britain does not pay Prince Roy a pension for the period when he was in Sealand.
2. The UK courts refused to hear the 1968 and 1990 claims against Sealand.
3. The Foreign Ministries of the Netherlands and Germany entered into negotiations with the government of Sealand.
4. The Belgian Post accepted Sealand stamps for some time.

Theoretically, Sealand's position is very convincing. If recognized, the principality would become the smallest country in the world and the 49th state in Europe. However, according to the constituent theory, more common in modern international law, a state can only exist insofar as it is recognized by other states. Therefore, Sealand cannot be accepted into any international organization and cannot have its own postal address or domain name. None of the countries established diplomatic relations with him.

Sealand is trying to get independence recognized by some major state, but has not tried to achieve independence through the UN.

The first Sealand stamps with portraits of great seafarers were issued in 1968. Roy I intended to join the Universal Postal Union. To do this, in October 1969, he sent an emissary to Brussels with a postal cargo of 980 letters. This is exactly how many letters a new state needs to demand admission to this organization. The letters were accompanied by the first Sealand stamps. However, the prince’s intention remained only an intention.

The Sealand Anglican Church, founded on October 12, 2006, operates in Sealand.
On the territory of Sealand there is a chapel in the name of St. Brendan, cared for by the Metropolitan.
In Sealand there are people engaged in various types sports, such as mini golf. Sealand also registered its national football team among the unrecognized national teams.

If you think that the times when people seized territories, proclaimed them states, and themselves rulers, are in the distant past, then you are deeply mistaken. A clear confirmation of this is the Principality of Sealand - a state that essentially does not exist, but still it exists...

Platform at sea

The story begins with the Second World War. Then, in the sea around Great Britain, platforms were built on which to install special equipment and weapons. The soldiers who served there were supposed to monitor the actions of the Nazis and, in the event of an attack, be the first to repel them.

One of these platforms was called "Fort Rafs". During World War II, about 200 people served on it, but then all the equipment and weapons were taken away from it, and the structure itself, unlike other similar ones, was not demolished. Perhaps because it was located 6 miles from the coast, and territorial waters countries at that time covered only 3.

So the object became no one’s, and until the 60s no one was particularly interested in it. But, as they say, everything that is bad can be used...

Principality of Sealand

Two friends retired major Paddy Roy Bates And Ronan O'Reilly landed on the platform in 1966. At that time, radio piracy was popular in Great Britain and beyond, and the guys decided that it was quite possible to organize an underground radio station on a platform in international waters. According to another version, they wanted to make an amusement park here.

As a result, the opinions of friends regarding the further use of the platform became the cause of their quarrel, after which the fort went to Bates, who proclaimed this territory on September 2, 1967 independent state under the name Sealand, and himself as Prince Roy I.

Confrontations with invaders

In the same 1967, he tried to win back the platform former comrade Bates O'Reilly. But, having military experience, Roy was able to organize the defense of the fort well. Using shotguns, flamethrowers and Molotov cocktails, the prince and his subjects defended the territory of the state.

A year later, the British authorities began to lay claim to the platform. When patrol boats approached Sealand, they were met with warning shots fired into the air. The military decided not to shed blood, but to clarify the conflict in court.

Imagine the surprise of the authorities when the judge recognized the UK's claims to the platform as groundless, since it is located in neutral waters.

Symbols

In general, we can safely say that Roy I emerged victorious from the first conflicts. Of course, no one recognized Sealand as an independent state, but they were not going to touch the prince, waiting for him to give a reason for tough measures.

Meanwhile, Roy began to acquire various state symbols. Sealand now has a flag, coat of arms, anthem and Constitution. The Principality began to issue its own stamps and mint coins. Exotic lovers from all over the world bought various souvenirs related to unrecognized country, and some even titles.

Coup d'etat

In 1978, Roy I and one of his associates, Prime Minister of Sealand Alexander Gottfried Achenbach did not see eye to eye on attracting investment to the country. While the prince was in negotiations with investors in Austria, Achenbach landed on the platform with several Dutch citizens.

The invaders locked up Crown Prince Michael, and then took him to the Netherlands. But the young man was able to escape and meet his father. With the support of citizens loyal to the monarchs, Roy I and his son managed to return to power.

The prince's further actions were strictly consistent with international law. Captured foreign mercenaries were released under the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The coup organizer was removed from all his positions and convicted according to the laws of Sealand.

But Achenbach also had German citizenship, so the German authorities became interested in his fate. Britain refused to intervene in the conflict, so the legal adviser of the German embassy in London landed directly on Sealand. Since the failed putsch was bloodless, the ruler of Sealand decided to release Achenbach.

But the story didn’t end there either. The losers formed the government of Sealand in exile, and Achenbach called himself chairman of the Sealand Privy Council. In January 1989, the man was arrested by the German authorities, after which he transferred his powers to Johannes Seiger.

Seiger became prime minister and was later re-elected to this position twice. The man still claims on his website that he is the only legitimate ruler of Sealand.

Fans of the country's independence

There are quite a lot of people in the world who jokingly and seriously consider Sealand to be an independent state. For example, in 1987, the UK expanded its territorial waters to 12 miles. Thus, Sealand again fell within its borders.

Roy I did exactly the same thing, and the British authorities did not react to this. Many began to see this as recognition of Sealand's independence by the British government. Moreover, Sealand, according to supporters of the state, is allegedly recognized by Germany, because the consul of this country negotiated with Roy I.

Fire

In the summer of 2006, there was a fire in Sealand that destroyed almost all the buildings. True, they were restored quite quickly. Around the same time, Roy I moved to the mainland because living at sea had become too difficult at his age.

Selling a country

Michael I, the same crown prince, began to conduct the affairs of the principality. He came to the conclusion that his father’s idea had exhausted itself and in 2007 put the state up for auction. But there were no people willing to buy Sealand for a tidy sum.

New ruler

In October 2012, Paddy Roy Bates, aka Prince Sealand Roy I, died in one of Essex's nursing homes. His son officially became the new ruler of the country, who received the title Admiral General of Sealand Prince Michael I Bates.

Today, on the official website of Sealand you can purchase various souvenirs associated with the country, as well as titles. For example, if you want to become a baron, you just need to pay everything 45 $ , the title of count will cost 295 $ , and the Duke - 735 $ .

It is worth recognizing that the self-proclaimed principality on a platform in the sea was a fun idea, which, and this is the main thing, did not lead to bloody conflicts. There are many more in the world funny stories, for example, we wrote about the most densely populated island.

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Author of the article

Ruslan Golovatyuk

The most attentive and observant editor of the team, an intelligent person. He can effectively carry out several tasks at the same time, remembers everything down to the smallest detail, and not a single detail can escape his keen eye. Everything in his articles is clear, concise and to the point. Ruslan also understands sports no worse than professionals, so articles in the corresponding section are his everything.

State on an oil platform. Unrecognized states – Sealand

Author of the article

Ruslan Golovatyuk