Ambassador to BBC: Lithuanians think of themselves as a Nordic nation

[Äike]

Lithuanians think of themselves as more of a Nordic nation than Eastern European, Lithuania's Ambassador in London Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė said in an interview to BBC.


She was asked about the negative image about immigrants from Eastern Europe formed by British tabloids.


"Lithuanians themselves do not think that they are people from Eastern Europe. That's perhaps the paradox. Of course, it depends on how you look upon the geopolitics. We belong to this northern part of Europe and share the values that the Nordic people have, ie hard work, endurance, common sense," the ambassador said.

http://balticbusinessnews.com/articl...-nordic-nation


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am I the only Lithuanian out there who didn't know we consider ourselves nordic?

This must be a misconception...

I have read numerous articles where prominent Lithuanian politicians, journalists, businessmen et cetera are saying that the Estonians are more successful than the Balts, because they're Nordic and have a Nordic work ethic, while the Balts don't and belong into a different cultural sphere. That's what Lithuanians say and think.

Example here: http://www.theapricity.com/forum/sho...ght=Lithuanian

Not a single Lithuanian has ever thought of themselves as "Nordic", it's very illogical. But I have heard of Lithuanians identifying with Central-Europe.

[Äike]

Nordic does not equate to Scandinavian. If it did, one would just call it Scandinavian.
There is Scandian, Fennoscandian, Baltoscandian, and there is Nordic.

Estonians do not consider themselves scandinavians, estonians consider themselves nordic - while others seem to understand that to mean 'northern'. Estonians make the distinction between northern and nordic, but the latter does not equate with scandinavian. There is a very specific word designation for nordic in estonian and finnish languages: Põhjala / Pohjola. Northern Europe would be 'Põhja-Euroopa', which is not the same as Põhjala.

Exactly.

[Äike]

Clearly, someone has to be really deluded to consider any of the Baltic states Nordic

I agree with you, the Baltic nations of Latvia and Lithuania are not Nordic. They're missing the key components, being Finnic/Scandinavian, having a historical Lutheran background, Nordic mentality, identity, culture et cetera

[lI]

I think it's odd that an ambassador to the UK would make such a mistake. I realize that Lithuanian lacks a proper term for the Nordic states but she should know better.

Would it be the first that that a Lithuanian politician makes a fool out of himself when trying to express himself in English? Think of Degutiene, Vesaite, Butkevicius, Leskevicius... Need I say more? :/

You're Baltic people, that's already pretty special, you don't need to group (a.k.a. lick the arse of) with the Vikings or any other European meta-ethnicity.

Dude, find me so much as one Lithuanian who doesn't consider himself Baltic first and foremost!
Northern is a geographical term, Eastern is a geographical term, Baltic isn't. As it happens, geography reflects culture to a certain extent.

That the dumb ambassador mixed up the notion "Northern" with "Nordic", probably on purpose, is of course another matter. Our politicians are infamous for their English skills or rather the lack of it....

I would distinguish countries into maritime and continental, depending on whether their capital is on a seashore, or not. Lithuania and Poland and Germany have inland capitals, thus they do not lean to a maritime culture.

Trying to divide the whole countries into maritime or continental sounds redundant. How is Latgala maritime? Or Setomaa? Do tell.

It's ignorant to put Lithuania in the same bag as Germany or Poland in this context.
Klaipeda is our third biggest city, the difference between it and the capital city in terms of size is less than that between Tallinn and Tartu.
If you look through the history, you'll notice that there were ridiculous amounts of resources that Lithuania wasted in order not to lose the access to the sea ever since the start of the crusades. The sea plays an important role in Lithuanian collective consciousness - even our most famous folk tale, often considered our national epic, features the sea. After Latvia's real estate market was opened, Lithuanians started buying properties by the seaside en masse - the phenomena is truly massive, you can read more about it here (use google translate or smth).
I don't know why that is so, the blood of assimilated Curonians & Semigallians calling us home maybe? LOL

I have read numerous articles where prominent Lithuanian politicians, journalists, businessmen et cetera are saying that the Estonians are more successful than the Balts, because they're Nordic and have a Nordic work ethic, while the Balts don't and belong into a different cultural sphere. That's what Lithuanians say and think.

Liar.

You have read only one article written by a single person which you have quoted on these boards several hundred of times already (I'm not exaggerating, you literally spam it onto any topic regardless of what's being discussed).
So, tell me, how is it that you claim to have read numerous articles stating this but only ever quote one of them??

The sad (to you) truth is that the vast majority of Lithuanians do not consider Estonians Nordic either.

I agree with you, the Baltic nations of Latvia and Lithuania are not Nordic. They're missing the key components, being Finnic/Scandinavian, having a historical Lutheran background, Nordic mentality, identity, culture et cetera

Estonians do not consider themselves scandinavians, estonians consider themselves nordic

Ok. Let me just quote a few posts from another topic

Do fellow Scandinavians/Nordics feel any connection and companionship with Estonia and its people?

I can only speak for Danes: None whatsoever.

It's not because we're sort of "stuck up" in our feelings towards Estonians (who are total alien to us, even if they aren't alien to the Finns) it's just that we are Nordic, and that's something we call ourselves, and it's our common ethnicity, in a way. It's as if Estonians suddenly decided that they were Germans, it makes as much sense.

It's hard for me to even understand why some Estonian guy would want to consider himself "Nordic" because the notion is completely meaningless for a Nordic person, and as such it's pretty hard to argue against. It also means that some of the Scandis here probably consider Karl completely insane, due to the lack of sense of his notion. But I guess that's just cause it's "lost in translation".

http://www.forumbiodiversity.com/sho...d.php?p=817885

Nordic does not equate to Scandinavian. If it did, one would just call it Scandinavian.
There is Scandian, Fennoscandian, Baltoscandian, and there is Nordic.

Nordic people themselves do perceive it as somewhat synonymous with Norse (and thus Scandinavian).

I'm talking about "a" people, in this context, and the meaning of the word "Nordic" when translated into English. I don't know how it is in Iceland, but in the Scandinavian languages, "Nordic" can be synonymous with "Norse", depending on the context - I gave some examples previously. It's not just that the languages are similar, but rather the meaning of "Nordic" in those languages which has a changed or simplified meaning when it's translated into English, since in English the people are the "Norse", while "Nordic" seems to have a more vague meaning, and Norse primarily refer to the ancient and not the modern people.

I guess the meaning may change, and the old meaning may be considered archaic in the future - but it's still used that way when describing the peoples, especially in the context of old Norse language and history. "Nordic" pretty much has the meaning of "North Germanic", but it's not limited to a linguistic context. I suppose it's a colloquial use, but this meaning is prevalent, and it's used this way in textbooks as well. Most importantly, it has become sort of a self-designation at some point, which can be seen in the way the word is used in the "North Germanic" languages.

There is a clear dividing line between Nordic countries and Estonia, or Latvia. There's a linguistic difference. Even in Finland a lot of people spoke Swedish at some point. There is an ETHNIC difference.

Estonian people aren't "Nordics" in the ethnic sense. It doesn't matter how any Estonian feel or look, they still do not belong to this umbrella ethnicity called "Nordic", which I tried to explain from a semi-linguistic point view earlier in this thread. On these kind of forums it's often use as an anthropological type, but that use of the word is unrelated to what the word "Nordic" means to Nordics in their own languages, which is the meaning which is transferred as a label for the Nordic countries as they are now, but with the inclusion of Finland as well.

http://www.forumbiodiversity.com/sho...d.php?p=817885

[Albion]

Latvia and Lithuania don't really feel like Eastern Europe to me. They do seem more Northern than anything, not Scandinavian (North Germanic) or Finnic, Northern and perhaps 'Nordic' nevertheless.

I would distinguish countries into maritime and continental, depending on whether their capital is on a seashore, or not. Lithuania and Poland and Germany have inland capitals, thus they do not lean to a maritime culture. Contemporary Latvians are maritime largely thanks to assimilated livonians.

And maritime countries in Europe can be divided into Mediterranean, Atlantic and Baltic (let's forget about the Black Sea and Caspian Sea countries for a moment).

I'm not sure if your theory is correct, do you have some examples?

[Hess]

"We belong to this northern part of Europe and share the values that the Nordic people have, ie hard work, endurance, common sense,"

So according to a Lithuanian Ambassador, hard work, endurance, and common sense are exclusively Nordic values?

I guess Nordicism isn't limited to internet trolls on Anthroboards

[Incal]

who's Karl?

famous Estonian historian

LMAO. This made my day.

[Äike]

Liar.

You have read only one article written by a single person which you have quoted on these boards several hundred of times already (I'm not exaggerating, you literally spam it onto any topic regardless of what's being discussed).
So, tell me, how is it that you claim to have read numerous articles stating this but only ever quote one of them??

lol, stop being so butt-hurt.

Ok. Let me just quote a few posts from another topic http://www.forumbiodiversity.com/sho...d.php?p=817885


Nordic people themselves do perceive it as somewhat synonymous with Norse (and thus Scandinavian).http://www.forumbiodiversity.com/sho...d.php?p=817885

Quoting one single ignorant guy from an internet guy, even more lulz. At least I quote prominent Lithuanians who actually have a say in the politics and economy of Lithuania.

[Äike]

LMAO. This made my day.

Out of the 3 words, "famous" was wrong.

[Hercus Monte]

Quoting one single ignorant guy from an internet guy, even more lulz. At least I quote prominent Lithuanians who actually have a say in the politics and economy of Lithuania.

what prominent lithuanians? could you name them and the articles where they talk about the protestant work ethic?