Virtual state to acquire physical territory from Sweden

"Concept such as Wirtland is a new step in development of democracy in 21st century, and Sweden is open to support such initiatives", - Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Teo Zetterman said. Wirtland, the first sovereign cybercountry, announced plan to legitimately acquire real land from one (or several) world's countries. Once realized, Wirtland's plan of will be the first case of peaceful formation of a new country “from a scratch”. Sweden became the first country to react positively to Wirtland's proposal. Previously Sweden was among the first to open Embassy in "Second Life" virtual world.

According to Proposal, “The Kingdom of Sweden officially assigns a piece of its territory, of any quality and size, to Wirtland. Sweden will have a major stake in future sales of land from this territory, agreed in contract”. Thereby the virtual state takes hold of official territory, which later would be offered for sale to people willing to become citizens of new country. The quality and size of territory do not matter: Wirtland will remain virtual community, as no buyer will physically move to Sweden. Presence of defined territory is a necessary condition for diplomatic recognition of Wirtland by international community, according to Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. According to Article 1, to have sovereignty, a state must have a permanent population, a defined territory, and a government. Peaceful acquisition of even a small piece of territory by virtual community is a unique historical precedent, which opens door towards full official recognition of Wirtland, legitimization of Wirtland passports and other documents issued by virtual state.

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Wirtland (www.Wirtland.com, www.Wirtland.net, www.Wirtland.org) describes itself as an experiment into legitimacy and self-sustainability of a country without its own soil. Founded in 2008, Wirtland represents people from all five continents. Wirtland grants citizenships, issues ID cards, mints gold and silver money, is featured in Wikipedia, and has won considerable coverage by television and press. Sweden was among the first nations to open official Embassy in "Second Life" (a virtual world).