Just like in other countries around the world, sometimes native residents dont want others coming into their country and taking jobs or benefiting from social programs that they havent been into very long or not at all. Its health service is buckling too. If Scandinavia was the Weasley family, Sweden would be Percy. The decision represents a setback for Moscow, with the. As of 2022, NATO has expanded to let in three former Soviet states and all of the former Warsaw Pact countries. I've heard Finns described as everything from drunks to the emo kid in the corner to sociopaths. Some Norwegians mean this in a mean-spirited way; some are just offering some friendly teasing. Many have pointed to their success as a contrast to Sweden, which has a much higher COVID-19 death rate. National pride certainly exists in Scandinavian countries like it does elsewhere in the world. We invoke another Latin expression as more pertinent to Sweden's excess corona deaths: ceteris paribus, or "all things equal." Sweden, however, remained the regional outlier for more than a century. The Swedes, on the other hand, if asked to describe the good people of Denmark, might depict the Danes as happy-go-lucky people who, for better or worse, wear their emotions on their sleeves. References:[1] Source[2] Source[3] Source[4] Source[5] Source[6] Source[7] Source[8] Source[9] Source. Various Kurdish groups have pushed for Kurdish autonomy and statehood over the decades, some peacefully and some, like the PKK, through violence. He also wants Sweden and Finland to publicly disavow the PKK and its affiliates, and to lift their weapons ban on Turkey. Finland, Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand all have high GDP per capita, low inequality rates, literacy rates close to 100 %, and prioritise human right issues (e.g. Swedish media have said a final government decision will be made on Monday, with a formal application for membership to be submitted shortly afterwards. Its likely. Norway lost a brief war with Sweden in 1814 and was forced to enter into a Union with Sweden. In fact, as far as recorded history goes, no two countries have gone to war against each other more often than Denmark and Sweden. Now modern historians have done pretty good job demolishing these old myths but unfortunately most people don't read history books so they mindlessly parrot these old myths. What began as a seemingly harmless comment regarding home dcor devolved into a heated exchange of increasingly hostile tweets between the Danes and their Swedish counterparts: Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and the hurling of insults came to an end. A minor linguistic error has also been corrected. And since people far away might not understand the difference, it needs to be marked more thoroughly. According to the World Cancer Research Fund, the Danes have the highest cancer rates on the planet. A report authored by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen aims to provide a more nuanced picture of life in the Nordic nations - suggesting their reputations as utopias for happiness are masking significant problems for some parts of the population, especially young people. 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. Their state-run alcohol monopoly stores, the dreaded Systembolaget, were described by Susan Sontag as "part funeral parlour, part back-room abortionist". Nonaligned up until now, Finland and Sweden last weekend announced plans to abandon that position and join NATO in the wake of Russia's bloody invasion of Ukraine. We need not detain ourselves here too long. 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. The claim that Denmark is the EU's largest oil exporter was based on out-of-date information and has been removed. All Rights Reserved. At the same time, 1815, Norway's war flag was merged with that of Sweden; a Swedish three pronged flag with a Danish flag in the upper left corner. Yet each country wants to beat the others, for example, in the medal count at the Winter Olympics. Kurds in Turkey were victims of several massacres in the years following the founding of the modern Turkish state in 1923, and use of the Kurdish language there has been banned in various capacities for much of the last century. Ask the Finns and they will tell you that Swedish ultra-feminism has emasculated their men, but they will struggle to drown their sorrows. Last Sunday night confirmed literally none of our guesses. Putin has demanded that NATO stop expanding and in his May 9 speech blamed the West for the war. Could the question, Why do Norwegians Hate Swedes and Danes? come from stereotypes that non-Scandinavians have about people in the region? Travel to and from Helsinki and the. And distancing yourself from identities close to you is a natural part of that. So the picture in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden does remain relatively rosy - just not as perfect as some may have painted. Turkey has long accused Nordic countries, in particular Sweden, of harboring extremist Kurdish groups and supporters of Fethullah Glen, the U.S.-based preacher whose supporters Ankara says . 3. The researchers behind In the Shadow of Happiness looked at data collected across five years between 2012-2016 to try and build a better picture of the so-called "happiness superpowers". [1] But it has so many exciting places that deciding which area to visit can be challenging. Having an arrogant and failed policy on Corona, Being extremly far left politically for many years, etc. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Norway the nice side, at least. The most direct route via Sweden and Finland would still take at least 27 hours. Here is a brief look at the background and implications of their decisions. A 1948 agreement of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with Russia isolated Finland militarily from western Europe, though the breakup of the Soviet Union and EU membership have since allowed it to step out of Russias shadow. Youth unemployment is higher than the UK's and higher than the EU average; integration is an ongoing challenge; and as with Norway and Denmark, the Swedish right is on the rise. The reasons behind Turkey's opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO are complicated, emotional and steeped in decades of often violent history. Also see Scandinavia Flags: Compare Designs and Meanings to learn more. 3: UK Vs Argentina. 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. It asked people to mark their satisfaction with life out of 10 - with people above a seven categorised as thriving, fives and sixes as struggling and anyone scoring below a four deemed to be suffering. No but seriously what did we do? Dont worry man, nobody hates Sweden, its just sibling rivalry. A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry Friday voiced concern about what it described as efforts by the United States and some of its allies to "drag" Finland and Sweden into NATO and. Today in Finland, two Christians will stand trial for publicly stating the theological and scientific truth that men and women are different. The NATO average was estimated at 1.6% last year. Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes all get along very well. Sweden's foreign ministry declined to comment on Erdogan's accusations when contacted by CNBC. And Sweden? Erdoan says Turkey may accept Finland into Nato without Sweden, Turkey condemns burning of Quran during far-right protest in Sweden, Turkey pushes back vote on Sweden and Finlands Nato accession, Turkey summons Swedish ambassador over Erdoan effigy, Swedish court blocks extradition of journalist sought by Turkey in Nato deal, Finland and Sweden call on Hungary and Turkey to ratify Nato applications, Erdoan warns Turkey could still block Finland and Swedens accession to Nato, Erdoan gains from lifting Sweden and Finland Nato veto with US fighter jet promise, Putin issues fresh warning to Finland and Sweden on installing Nato infrastructure. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is a defensive military alliance formed in 1949 by 12 countries including the US, UK and France to counter the threat of postwar Soviet Russian expansion in Europe. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. Nato membership would mean that for the first time Finland and Sweden would have security guarantees from nuclear states. Instead, Scandinavia was comprised of competing chieftains and warlords, some more prominent than others, who vied for land, power, and wealth. 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. Eighteen Republican lawmakers voted against the US allowing Finland and Sweden to join NATO. In the US, they'd have an intervention.". I hear you say. It would be known as the Finnish War (which is where it was mainly fought) and would include Great Britain on Sweden's side and Denmark and France on Russia's. Perhaps the Danes' dirtiest secret is that, according to a 2012 report from the Worldwide Fund for Nature, they have the fourth largest per capita ecological footprint in the world. Then you'll do your best to help. Why do the Danes score so highly on international happiness surveys? Between 1814, when Norway gained independence, and 1821, Norway's state flag was simply the Danish flag with the symbolic Norwegian lion in the top left corner. 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). It found that in total 12.3% of people living in the Nordic region said they were struggling or suffering, with 13.5% of young people ranking themselves as such. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images, Finns having a quiet drink Photograph: Martti Kainulainen/REX, A car burning after riots in Stockholm in 2013. Also see Scandinavian Flags: Similarities and Differences to learn more. The Kurdish people are often described as the world's largest ethnic group without a homeland an estimated 30 million people. For example, they are not all blonde or blue-eyed, nor is every Norwegian, Dane, or Swede directly descended from Vikings. Rent is much more expensive in Norway than Sweden, up to 32% higher in fact. They are very pleased to be told they did not." But to say that Danes and Swedes hate each other today would be a gross overstatement despite the occasional war of words and disparaging remarks. One common stereotype about people from Sweden and Denmark is that they drink a lot of alcohol. Is this true? Last Wednesday in Stockholm, the prime ministers of Sweden and Finland, countries where neutrality and military non-alliance are deeply woven into their cultures, shocked the world by issuing a. Well there are legimate reasons to not like Sweden nowadays. According to the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment rankings (Pisa), Denmark's schools lag behind even the UK's. Numbers vary according to scholarly interpretation, but by some accounts, the Danes and Swedes have gone to war an astonishing 30 times since the 15th century (this is near twice the number of hostilities between England and France). ), At their closest points, Denmark and Sweden are separated by a mere 12 kilometers (roughly 7 miles), and yet Danes and Swedes are culturally distinct and speak different languages. Official partners of the alliance since the 1990s, the idea that the Nordic states might actually join the group made Moscow bristle. Those offshore windmills may look impressive as you land at Kastrup, but Denmark burns an awful lot of coal. But do some people living today still have resentment and hold negative views about a neighboring people group due to conflicts that happened centuries ago? However, what is often overlooked is that in addition to their raids against foreign people in faraway places like the British Isles and France, the Vikings also waged war against each other. Thank you for visiting Scandinavia Facts. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. The inconsistency of Bolshevik Bernie's hatred of billionaires in the US but love of the supposed socialist billionaire paradises of Sweden and Norway was pointed out by CNN's Fareed Zakaria. The authors say that in Nordic countries high incomes protected people against feeling they were suffering or struggling. One main reason this is the case is because of the competition over resources. In fact, Erdogan has already blocked an early attempt by NATO to fast-track Finland and Sweden's applications, saying their membership would make the alliance "a place where representatives of terrorist organizations are concentrated.". But Sweden? She worked for the tourist board. So let's remove those rose-tinted ski goggles and take a closer look at the objects of our infatuation . Are Norwegians and Swedes the Same People? Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. It's also a reflection of differing definitions over who and what constitutes intolerable Kurdish extremism," Ibish said. Turkey's president says he may oppose. Crucially, they all perform well in terms of government openness and effectiveness. The Swedish approach. 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 . It may be no surprise to hear that Northern Europe is top of the charts in SDGs with Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Austria as the top sustainable countries leading the way in creating a more sustainable world. According to him, his countrymen have been corrupted by their oil money, are working less, retiring earlier, and calling in sick more frequently. Read about our approach to external linking. link to 5 Great Places To Stay in Iceland. Yet, it is sometimes the case that neighboring countries, though their people can be similar, have more conflict with each other, not less. And that is done by distancing, ribbing and at times even a slight hostility. Please see the About page for details. Everyone is just having fun, friendly bullying. You absolutely hate him. Some Norwegians, like some Danes and Swedes, have a certain perspective about visitors and non-natives who have relocated to Norway. Another way to look at it is sibling rivalry and family feuds. It could be economic as well. 1) The Nordic system kills innovation, and the United States' adopting it would have dire consequences for the world economy. The Nazis are losing? All this is even coming from a Dane/Danskjvlar. With Swedish elections coming up in September, it's unlikely that the government will make any major concessions to Erdogan that would be unpopular at home, according to some analysts. To drive from Kristiansand in Southern Norway to Kirkenes in the far northeast would take an estimated 38 hours of non-stop driving sticking to Norwegian roads. Collectively, Norwegians dont hate Swedes and Danes. I'm afraid I have to set you straight on Danish television too. If Scandinavia was the Dursley family, Denmark would be Dudley. And while previous governments have controlled the spending of oil revenues, the new bunch are threatening a splurge which many warn could lead to full-blown Dutch disease. Although the report particularly focuses on Nordic countries, it does compare some of the data to that recorded elsewhere. Driving from the south of the Sweden to the northern . Yes. The internet changed the world, allowing people everywhere to access information, share their views and debate contentious topics. Researchers found mental health to be one of the most significant barriers to subjective well-being. Since 1984, between 30,000 and 40,000 people are estimated to have died in fighting between the PKK and Turkish government, according to Crisis Group. Scandinavian Flags: Similarities and Differences, Simple things like coffee and pastries are. The Norwegians were allowed to maintain their parliament, and their own army and judiciary. Speaking of Danes and Swedes, there is also the commonly held notion that these two nationalities hate each other. Enough of the unblinking idolatry of all things knitted, bearded, rye bread-based and licorice-laced. Apparently, crying at funerals is frowned upon and "remembered long afterwards". It's likely. This fact surprises many people from all around the world and makes them wonder "why". They're not big on chat. Photograph: EPA, What would Birgitte do? Their interconnected history binds them to one another in a way that no two other nations share. It would be greatly appreciated if you'd join our discord https://discord.gg/ZjpnhAj. In fact, Sweden was one of the first countries to designate the group as a terrorist organization in 1984. The Nordic model were developed in all Scandinavian countries at about the same time in the 1930s due to similar agreements between trade unions and employers. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Enough with foraging for dinner. Swedes working in Norway are popular with customers, employers and workmates alike, alm. According to a report in Politiken this month, the proportion of people below the poverty line has doubled over the last decade. It is time to redress the imbalance, shed a little light Beyond the Wall. Most people are really in denial.". Their residents have a healthy pride in their people, history, and social priorities. Its true that Scandinavia holds the highest percentage of people with blonde hair and blue eyes in the world. - 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. "Turkey is not happy about the fact that they suddenly become good guys just because they came in handy against ISIS.". It wasnt until 1536, that a new alliance between Norway and Denmark was formed. So, yes, I do think culture matters a great deal to understanding why countries like Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden score high on this particular indicator of happiness. Actually, they dont hate them at all. More . ", "If Finland and Sweden want to join a security alliance they have to give up to their support to a terror organization [PKK]and not give refuge to them. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. This article was amended on 29 January 2014. 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.. Not the NATO member that is literally illegally invading and attacking other countries to feel better about themselves and to please daddy America. As it turns out, this one comprises both truth and fiction. Many analysts believe the two countries will apply simultaneously. As we reported in a fact-check comparing Sweden with Italy, Spain and the . Your identity is a lot about what you are not. Btw, there was a similar thread in r/Nordiccountries recently: r/Nordiccountries/comments/jqwqxt/why_do_nordic_countries_citizens_seem_to_dislike/. Is social media causing childhood depression? If you do decide to move there, don't expect scintillating conversation. No, they are not, and have to make that clear much harder than that they are not Russian. Several Kurds even have seats in Sweden's Parliament. 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. Got a confidential news tip? Denmark's provinces have become a social dumping ground for non-western immigrants, the elderly, the unemployed and the unemployable who live alongside Denmark's 22m intensively farmed pigs, raised 10 to a pen and pumped full of antibiotics (the pigs, that is). But do some people living today still have resentment and hold negative views about a neighboring people group due to conflicts that happened centuries ago? Swedens opposition to Nato membership has been more ideological. I think a lot of the reason Sweden being targetted by its neighbours can be attributed to simple facts: Sweden being the immediate Nordic neighbour of Denmark/Norway/Finland, Sweden being the largest country in the Nordics. See Do Swedes Actually Like Surstromming? Swedish and Finnish military vehicles during an exercise involving Nato member countries plus Sweden and Finland, in Evenes, Norway, in March. Neighbors may also have different religious convictions as well. i know with the danish people it's often just jokes. As a result, productivity is worryingly sluggish. What's he waiting for? It was first in the 1970s that Norway began to take in large numbers of Muslim immigrants, and as early as 1979, the year after the publication of Edward Said's book Orientalism, Carl I. Hagen wrote a strongly anti-Islam column in the newspaper Aftenposten. We exists to inform people about the people, culture, and history of Northern Europe. Today, they are friendly rivals, especially when it comes to getting in the last word. 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. May 16, 2022 / 9:40 AM / CBS News. Think of it as the China of the north. Some people believe Norwegians are just more competitive than their neighbors. This level only worsened in the age bracket of 80 or above - a group more affected by issues like illness. 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. (Also see Is Denmark and the Netherlands the Same Country?). No, that was Italy under Mussolini. 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). As Daron Acemoglu, an eminent economist at MIT, wrote in 2013: In our. They may have different policies on border control. To say that Denmark and Sweden are historical rivals would be a vast understatement when looking at the number of conflicts between these two Scandinavian countries. The Danes of course also have highest taxes in the world (though only the sixth-highest wages hence the debt, I guess). In these ways, it may be possible to compare the competition among the countries to sibling rivalries. Centuries ago, Danes and Swedes fought for regional supremacy. "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. The Vikings are often perceived as ultraviolent people whose ruthless ways terrorized all of Northern Europe during the Middle Ages. The causes of the Scandinavia's states wealth are numerous and complex. In 1520, the execution of 80 members of Swedish nobility (an event that came to be known as the Stockholm Bloodbath) under the direction of then-leader of the union Kristian II of Denmark set the stage for Sweden to break away from the Kalmar Union and set off on its own path of sovereign independence under Swedish ruler Gustav Vasa. Ask the Danes, and they will tell you that the Norwegians are the most insular and xenophobic of all the Scandinavians, and it is true that since they came into a bit of money in the 1970s the Norwegians have become increasingly Scrooge-like, hoarding their gold, fearful of outsiders. From the 10th to 13th century A.D., Norway, Sweden, and Denmark were united though they were three separate kingdoms.