RÉPUBLIQUE HAÏDOUK DE MIJAT TOMIĆ

The hotel-restaurant Hajdučke Vrleti is home to the headquarters of the Hajdučka Republika Mijata Tomić (Hajdučka Republika Mijata Tomića). This dummy micronation was founded in 2002 as a thumb in the eye of the administration, a promotional tool and a tribute to the most famous outlaw in the region. Sung by Croatian and Serbian poets, Mijat Tomić was the leader of haiduks (brigands) who plagued the region in the 17th century. Born around 1610 into a Catholic family on the Grabovica plateau near Tomislavgrad, he lost his parents at a young age and fell out with the Ottoman authorities. Renowned for his physical strength, he took the lead of a band in the present natural park of Blidinje. Destroying tax collectors and travelers, he was hunted down for years and killed in 1656, in Doljani (18 km to the northeast) where his supposed grave, a large stone carved in the shape of a stećak, remains. A figure of Croatian and Bosnian folklore, Mijat Tomić owes his fame to the Catholic priest Filip Grabovac (1697-1749) who narrated his epic in a book published in 1747.

A republic like Greenland. The cult of Mijat Tomić has been revived by local entrepreneur Vinko Vukoja (1952-2009). This Bosnian-Croat, a fervent admirer of haiduk, found himself caught in an administrative impasse when he opened his restaurant Hajdučke Vrleti in 1999. This one is located at the limit of the municipalities of Tomislavgrad, Posušje and Jablanica which reject the responsibility for the connection to the electric network. Tired, Vinko Vukoja pays the connection from his own pocket and decides to take advantage of the situation. As no municipality claims this territory, he declares himself president-sovereign of 3 km2, between his restaurant and Mount Vran. The Haddouk Republic of Mijat Tomić was born on 5 June 2002. Vinko Vukoja promulgates a Constitution, appoints 78 ministers, draws a flag... and sees the soldiers of the Stabilization Force arrive, worried about such a separatist project. The NATO soldiers left reassured. "Citizens can do whatever they want and the best place to spend their money is the Hajdučke Vrleti restaurant," states Article 9 of its Constitution. This light-hearted tone amused the media, making the restaurant one of the busiest in the country. Vinko Vukoja died on the road in 2009. His daughter Marija succeeded him as president, continuing to build the family business.