WHAT’S THE STORY?

THE Republic of Uzupis has had its constitution translated into Scottish Gaelic, and it was unveiled in the tiny country on Burns Night.

Dr William Lamb, an expert in Gaelic ethnology and linguistics at Edinburgh University, travelled to Uzupis to deliver the Scottish Gaelic translation of its founding principles at a ceremony.

Dr Lamb commented: “In its strong humanism, the Uzupis Constitution reads like a product of the Scottish Enlightenment. David Hume, in any case, would certainly approve.”

WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE PLACE?

NOT many people have. The enclave of just one sq km is contained entirely in the city of Vilnius, capital and largest city of Lithuania, and was established in 1997 by residents of the area. Fed up with normality, they declared it a republic, created its own flag, elected a cabinet of ministers and drew up the constitution.

It initially had an army of 11 men, which has since been retired, but it still has a “navy” of three or four boats moored on the River Vilnele which separates Uzupis from the rest of Vilnius.

The name Uzupis means “beyond the river” in Lithuanian, and while the residents are serious about their republic, they do not take themselves seriously at all. No one country has formally recognised it, but Lithuanians are said to be proud of their wee nation.

HOW DID IT ALL START?

UZUPIS had a terrible reputation during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, with Uzupis Street itself known as the Street of Death due to the many violent incidents it witnessed.

After Lithuania declared independence from the USSR in 1990, the old area began to be colonised by artists and one of their major self-appointed tasks was to bring some light-heartedness back into the city.

The citizens of Vilnius had shown what they thought of their former masters by pulling down the statues of Soviet icons that stood across the city.

In 1995, the artists of Uzupis erected a statue of Frank Zappa, the non-conformist American rock star who had died in late 1993, as a gesture of freedom. The artists and other local people in Uzupis then talked about going further and the idea of independence was born.

With only just over 100 people in the area at the time, there was no problem about referendums or anything like that – basically they all just met up in the pub and thrashed out what they wanted to do.

On April 1, 1997, the Republic of Uzupis was declared. April 1 has been Independence Day ever since and if you cross the bridge into the nation within a city you can get your passport stamped, use the local unofficial currency and have a free drink of the beer that flows from the water spout in the main square. The constitution followed a year later.

WHAT’S IN THE CONSTITUTION?

BEARING in mind it was written in three or so hours on a summer afternoon in 1998 by Uzupis president Romas Lileikis and foreign minister Tomas Cepaitis, it makes a lot of sense, albeit sometimes tongue in cheek. The first article states: “Everyone has the right to live by the River Vilnele, while the River Vilnele has the right to flow by everyone.”

Article number two happened because one of the writers couldn’t get a warm bath: “Everyone has the right to hot water, heating in winter and a tiled roof.”

It goes on: “Everyone has the right to die, but it is not a duty ... Everyone has the right not to be distinguished and famous. A dog has the right to be a dog ... A cat is not obliged to love its master, but it must help him in difficult times” – the two men were pet lovers.

“Everyone has the right to be happy ... Everyone has the right to be unhappy ... No one has the right to violence” – that last article should be in every constitution on the planet.

It continues: “Everyone shall remember his name ... Everyone may share what he possesses ... No-one can share what he does not possess.”

The Republic also has three mottos: “Don’t Fight”, “Don’t Win”, and finally: “Don’t Surrender.”

SHOULDN’T SCOTLAND JUST DO THE SAME?

DON’T be silly – how would you get five million Scots into one pub?

Mind you, we might want to ponder on one of the articles of the constitution: “Everyone is capable of independence.”

And so say all of us.