The typical Dane is usually seen as a slightly decadent hedonist, with a can of beer never far from reach. A minor linguistic error has also been corrected. Neighboring countries sometimes seek the same land and water use. Finland, for its part, has made clear that it will join NATO when Sweden does, and no sooner. I pointed out that Sweden was one of the most bloodthirsty nations on earth for much of the last millennium. What do Norwegians think of Swedes and Danes? Western governments hailed the Kurdish fighters as allies, and several EU countries put various embargoes on Turkey due to their targeting of Kurdish militias in Syria, highlighting the intractable differences between how each side perceived the fighters. "The Sweet Danish Life: Copenhagen: Cool, Creative, Carefree," simpered National Geographic; "The Nordic Countries: The Next Supermodel", boomed the Economist; "Copenhagen really is wonderful for so many reasons," gushed the Guardian. Lmao nobody hates each other, its just memes and a circlejerk. Press J to jump to the feed. Both Norway and Sweden are "long" countries. Worth bearing that in mind the next time a Dane wags her finger at your patio heater. [5]. Sweden, which along with Finland is seeking entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been one of Europe's most willing recipients of migrants fleeing conflict, including Kurds.. The Kurdish people are often described as the world's largest ethnic group without a homeland an estimated 30 million people. So the picture in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden does remain relatively rosy - just not as perfect as some may have painted. Do People Still Practice the Norse Religion Today? Enough with the impractical minimalist interiors. The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, as well as by the U.S., Canada, Australia and the European Union. Mostly Sunni Muslim, they have their own unique language and customs. Some people believe Norwegians are just more competitive than their neighbors. "We would always prefer to be alone," a Finnish woman once admitted to me. Their state-run alcohol monopoly stores, the dreaded Systembolaget, were described by Susan Sontag as "part funeral parlour, part back-room abortionist". , This blog uses affiliate links and cookies, Growing Your Travel Blog Through Branding . We exists to inform people about the people, culture, and history of Northern Europe. - Quora Answer (1 of 22): It is hardly bitter on the Swedish side and I would not use that exact word on the Finnish side either. Other awkward truths? Swedes working in Norway are popular with customers, employers and workmates alike, alm. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images, Finns having a quiet drink Photograph: Martti Kainulainen/REX, A car burning after riots in Stockholm in 2013. Swedens opposition to Nato membership has been more ideological. But public opinion in Finland and Sweden suggests that he has driven them into NATO's arms. Erdogan is demanding that Sweden extradite a list of people that Turkey has charged with terrorism. The leaders of Sweden and Finland meet with President Biden today after officially applying to join NATO, but their applications have hit an early snag. In 2020, the Sweden Democrats vetoed the rule of law conditionality for accessing EU funds and thereby cosied up to Poland and Hungary. The internet changed the world, allowing people everywhere to access information, share their views and debate contentious topics. People in some countries offer kisses on the cheek. Finland's leaders on Thursday officially expressed support for applying to NATO "without delay," while Sweden's ruling party is expected to follow suit on Sunday. Underlying the tension between Turkey and Sweden is how each country defines "terrorist," says Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Here's how that would work, 30,000 and 40,000 people are estimated to have died. LOL yes, we're the ones trying to "export out policies." Photo by Eline Van Breda. Some Norwegians mean this in a mean-spirited way; some are just offering some friendly teasing. The same applies in Norway, with Oslo often measuring up as more expensive than places like Bergen. See Is Denmark and the Netherlands the Same Country? In 2021, Sweden's government announced an increase in funding for Kurdish groups in Syria to $376 million by 2023, saying it remained an "active partner" to Syria's Kurds and that its funds were aimed at "strengthening resilience, human security and freedom from violence" and improving "human rights, gender equality and democratic development.". Today, they are friendly rivals, especially when it comes to getting in the last word. They are already Nato partners, taking part in exercises and exchanging intelligence with the alliance. [1] But it has so many exciting places that deciding which area to visit can be challenging. There is no true animosity between these two former enemies today, which is a testament to the high standard of civility cultivated throughout Scandinavia in the modern era. Travel to and from Helsinki and the. The study, prepared by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, examines six factors that relate to a heightened state of contentment: Based on these life-affirming results, it is safe to presume that Danish and Swedish forebearers would look upon their progeny with great pride and perhaps even vindication. The idea is that because Sweden's horrific death rates followed its refusal to lock down its society as strictly as other countries, the latter must have been the cause of the former. Official partners of the alliance since the 1990s, the idea that the Nordic states might actually join the group made Moscow bristle. In fact, the only way they can communicate with each other is through the neutral language of English, and quite often, it is through this non-native tongue that their wars of words are waged. Generally, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden have a strong regional connection, which is marked by a strong economy, shared social values, and several land and water-use agreements. Scandinavia Flags: Compare Designs and Meanings. Several Kurds even have seats in Sweden's Parliament. Also see Why Do Doors Open Outwards in Sweden? There is more than a whiff of the police state about the fact that Danish policeman refuse to display ID numbers and can refuse to give their names. While most of the Kurds living in Sweden which local groups say number as many as 100,000 have no affiliation with the PKK, the Swedish government has supported members of other Kurdish organizations, particularly the political wing of the PKK's Syrian branch, called the PYD. A Division of NBCUniversal. Ask the Danes how they feel about their neighbors to the northeast, and the Swedes would likely be described as being stiff, overly reserved, and downright unfriendly. These societies function well for those who conform to the collective median, but they aren't much fun for tall poppies. Rent is much more expensive in Norway than Sweden, up to 32% higher in fact. As we reported in a fact-check comparing Sweden with Italy, Spain and the . "We are seeing that this epidemic of mental illness and loneliness is reaching the shores of the Nordic countries.". 3. Danes in Copenhagen hate it when drunk teenage Swedes from neighboring Malm invade the streets of their city (the legal drinking age is lower in Denmark, 16, than in Sweden, 18). In summer, you'll be plagued by mosquitos, in winter, you'll freeze that's assuming no one shoots you, or you don't shoot yourself. It came as Russia's invasion of Ukraine intensified today after a night of . Are there individual or fringe exceptions to this general fact? Simple, the Danes also have the highest level of private debt in the world (four times as much as the Italians, to put it into context; enough to warrant a warning from the IMF), while more than half of them admit to using the black market to obtain goods and services. Norway's strong social security net, which includes generous parental leave policies, is a key reason the country of just over 5 million people is consistently rated one of the best places in the world to live. We exists to inform people about the people, culture, and history of Northern Europe. Sweden and Finland are set formally to end decades of neutrality and join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in a historic breakthrough for the alliance that deals a blow to Russian . The Vikings are often perceived as ultraviolent people whose ruthless ways terrorized all of Northern Europe during the Middle Ages. Although the report particularly focuses on Nordic countries, it does compare some of the data to that recorded elsewhere. Sometimes non-Scandinavians mix up countries in the region. Finland already meets Natos defence spending target of 2% of GDP, while Sweden is on course to do so. Thank you for visiting Scandinavia Facts. "It's not just a matter of Sweden's liberal policies towards Kurdish refugees and political dissidents and activists. Swedens ruling Social Democrats have been split on the issue and are holding an internal consultation, with a decision also due on Sunday. After decades dreaming of life among olive trees and vineyards, these days for some reason, we Brits are now projecting our need for the existence of an earthly paradise northwards. For example, they are not all blonde or blue-eyed, nor is every Norwegian, Dane, or Swede directly descended from Vikings. Non-Scandinavians may not be the root cause of any, or all of, such stereotypes, but they may contribute to them by believing them and expressing them to others. Their negative perception isnt necessarily rooted in racial stereotypes. In his book Petromania, journalist Simon Stre warns that the powerful oil lobby is "isolating us and making the country asocial". Spread out between Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, the Kurds have been heavily persecuted, marginalized and even been victims of genocide in the counties where they live see Saddam Hussein's chemical gas attacks that killed nearly 200,000 Kurds in Iraq in the late 1980s. The Almost Nearly Perfect People The Truth About the Nordic Miracle (Jonathan Cape), by Michael Booth, is published on 6 February. The Swedes tried to give Norway a sense of independence. According to the 2019 iteration of the World Happiness Report, Denmark ranked as the second happiest nation in the world, and Sweden ranked a very respectable seventh in the world (in fact, all 5 Nordic countries ranked within the top ten). One common stereotype about people from Sweden and Denmark is that they drink a lot of alcohol. More . Last Sunday night confirmed literally none of our guesses. Well, they do have high levels of trust and social cohesion, and do very nicely from industrial pork products, but according to the OECD they also work fewer hours per year than most of the rest of the world. But joining NATO requires consensus approval from all existing members, and Turkey one of the group's most strategically important and militarily powerful members is not happy. i know with the danish people it's often just jokes. Why it matters: A formal objection by Turkey would derail Finland and Sweden's expected NATO applications, which must be approved by all 30 NATO allies. Life here is pretty comfortable, more so for indigenous families than for immigrants or ambitious go-getters (Google "Jantelov" for more on this), but as with all the Nordic nations, it remains largely free of armed conflict, extreme poverty, natural disasters and Jeremy Kyle. "My suspicion is that Turkey, eventually, especially if it can extract a few concessions here and there from the Western powers and its NATO allies, will not ultimately seek to block Finland and Sweden from joining the organization," the Arab Gulf States Institute's Ibish said. In Denmark, 18.3% of people aged 16 to 24 said they suffered from poor mental health - with the number rising to 23.8% for women in that age bracket. It may be due to regional and cultural attitude tendencies that dont necessarily have negative roots. Like the Swedes, they embraced privatisation with great enthusiasm (even the ambulance service is privatised); and can seem spectacularly unsophisticated in their race relations (cartoon depictions of black people with big lips and bones through their noses are not uncommon in the national press). Then in 1387, the three countries joined together through a unification agreement called the Kalmar Union. Enough with foraging for dinner. Countries all around the world have different traditions and attitudes when it comes to receiving visitors and welcoming people who have relocated to their homeland. It has been hundreds of years since the Danes and Swedes last took up arms against each other, and just about the only modern-day hostilities between them involve words, attitudes, and even volleys of tweets during an epic social media dust-up. Enough with the envious reports on the abolition of gender-specific pronouns. Its common security guarantee is based on article 5 of the treaty, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all and commits members to defend each other in the event of armed aggression. References:[1] Source[2] Source[3] Source. According to him, his countrymen have been corrupted by their oil money, are working less, retiring earlier, and calling in sick more frequently. Turkish Armed Forces | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images. Turkey says Sweden and Finland have ties with "terrorist" groups a reference to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the People's Protection Units (YPG). Some Norwegians have negative views towards their neighbors, similar to adjacent countries in other regions of the world because past hostilities sometimes result in negative present-day stereotypes. Back in Spring, as the number of infections skyrocketed around the world, the Finnish government reacted promptly and imposed a two-month long lockdown. However, Turkey says that Sweden has supported PKK members and provides protection for them. Centuries ago, there most certainly was hatred between the nations of Denmark and Sweden, as evidenced by the dozens of wars fought between them. DeSantis won't say he's running. Finland and Sweden took a historic decision to end their nonaligned positions and join the alliance in the face of Russia's aggression, but new countries joining NATO requires unanimous approval . Read about our approach to external linking. But Sweden? The Poles dislike the. "At some point in the evening around 11.30pm, people start behaving aggressively, throwing punches, wrestling," Heikki Aittokoski, foreign editor of Helsingin Sanomat, told me. Thank you for posting on NordicHistoryMemes. I have contributed to the relentless Tetris shower of print columns on the wonders of Scandinavia myself over the years but now I say: enough! I hear you say. Related to the disunity, some people have the perception that Norwegians hate their Swedish and Danish neighbors. The nation once dubbed "the west's reigning educational superpower" (the Atlantic) has slipped in the latest Pisa rankings. In sports, for example, Norwegians want to defeat Danes and Swedes, when it comes to hockey, skiing, and other winter sports competitions. Both considered that joining the alliance would represent an unnecessary provocation of Moscow, and so have long pursued policies of neutrality, and then non-alignment, to avoid antagonising a major regional power. Stockholm also politically and financially supports the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the SDF, a Kurdish-led militia group created with support from the U.S. to fight ISIS in Syria. There were times when each sought to obliterate the other and forever erase them from the face of the earth. People in other countries prefer to shake hands. The people who live in neighboring countries around the world, like in Scandinavia, often have many similarities. There are many widely held perceptions about Scandinavians, with quite a few rooted in truth and others very far from it. Instead, Scandinavia was comprised of competing chieftains and warlords, some more prominent than others, who vied for land, power, and wealth. Their residents have a healthy pride in their people, history, and social priorities. Photograph: EPA, What would Birgitte do? Also see Scandinavian Flags: Similarities and Differences to learn more. 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