Party Crasher
Oh how often I have been asked by Estonians, “Where is Estonia? We’re a Nordic country too!”
Problem is, the other Nordics doesn’t think so.
I asked around what the stereotypes for the Baltic countries were, and the overall answer was, “Very depressed people who wear grey and live in grey houses”
Estonia have a good relationship with Finland, which is why he doesn’t hide, but he doesn’t consider her a Nordic either which is why he doesn’t let her in. The Finland’ish hat is because Estonians are seen as being very much like Finns by the other Baltics.
Iceland Norway Denmark Latvia Estonia Finland Lithuania Sweden
4th August 2010
9 years ago #9428790
6
0
Hi all,
European politics and country relationships are incredibly complex. The best explanation I have seen, is this diagram from Wikipedia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Supranational_European_Bodies-en.svg/800px-Supranational_European_Bodies-en.svg.png
The chart would be even more complex if autonomous territories such as Åland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Svalbard were to be included.
As for the traditional Nordic countries, about the only thing they have in common is membership in the Nordic Council. In the 1950s, the Council agreed on the Nordic Passport Union and common labor market, but otherwise each country's politics diverged, making closer cooperation (or a political union) impossible.
Nowadays, the Schengen agreement and the EU/EFTA free labor agreements have superseded these old treaties, The Nordic Council is just an inter-parliamentary "coffee club" without much purpose or new ideas except some cultural exchange and an idea of a common heritage or a common "Nordic culture". But perhaps the political divergence necessitates a more informal "coffee club", where practical problems can be discussed.
As for the Baltics, there are several factors in favor of a closer cooperation with the Nordic countries:
* All are small countries within a defined geographic region
* We have a big neighbor to the east that we need to handle with care
* There are common historical and cultural ties
If the Baltics want to become members of the Nordic council, they should be admitted. Today, they only have observer status.
European politics and country relationships are incredibly complex. The best explanation I have seen, is this diagram from Wikipedia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Supranational_European_Bodies-en.svg/800px-Supranational_European_Bodies-en.svg.png
The chart would be even more complex if autonomous territories such as Åland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Svalbard were to be included.
As for the traditional Nordic countries, about the only thing they have in common is membership in the Nordic Council. In the 1950s, the Council agreed on the Nordic Passport Union and common labor market, but otherwise each country's politics diverged, making closer cooperation (or a political union) impossible.
Nowadays, the Schengen agreement and the EU/EFTA free labor agreements have superseded these old treaties, The Nordic Council is just an inter-parliamentary "coffee club" without much purpose or new ideas except some cultural exchange and an idea of a common heritage or a common "Nordic culture". But perhaps the political divergence necessitates a more informal "coffee club", where practical problems can be discussed.
As for the Baltics, there are several factors in favor of a closer cooperation with the Nordic countries:
* All are small countries within a defined geographic region
* We have a big neighbor to the east that we need to handle with care
* There are common historical and cultural ties
If the Baltics want to become members of the Nordic council, they should be admitted. Today, they only have observer status.
9 years ago #9421351
2
0
It would be cool if Latvia and Lithuania had their avatars too... So that, you know, I could represent Lithuania.
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