Is Slovakia the most underrated european country?

[CosmoLady]

The fixation on Germany in this discussion is a relict of the past (before world wars).

Czechs want to stick with the West in general, young people speak English, and the cultural trend is Americanization like in most parts of the world.

The entire Eastern Europe, not just Czechia in particular, were looking towards America during the Cold War, and that's how Russia lost everything.

Eastern Europeans are very pro-American and they count primarily on America in the case of a Russian invasion.

Eastern European youth may be culturally Americanised or Westernised. The West has tremendous pull, soft power.
Politically is another story,
especially if the population is mostly old,
and if most of the cosmopolitan liberals have moved to the West.

Some anti-Russian countries will always be pro-Western/anti-Russian.

Except for Poland, which has its reasons to be militaristic, most countries join NATO for political convenience, to save money.
The Americans are expected to do everything, but that does not mean that they will.
Even anti-Russian Eastern European countries are discovering this, or will discover this.

But I think that Poland is growing and the US is pulling back,
and many countries/people are disillusioned by NATO and the mess in Ukraine.
And some countries like Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria are flexible, not strongly pro-Western.
The countries that are fed by/dependent on Russian gas and uranium may have reason to be flexible.

[Scarface F]

Yes of course Slavs can be Western,
and are the best example of Western civilisation remaining in Europe, whether or not they are pro-Russian.

But I think that Western European liberals and Eurocrats will always perceive Slavs as Eastern and backward.
This creates an inferiority complex among Slav liberal cosmopolitans.
I would not be surprised if some of them pretend to be German if it is convenient,
because the Germany is now associated with liberalism and progress, the pinnacle of "Western-ness" in their minds.
This is like American liberals pretending to be Canadian or always wanting to move to Canada.

That's so bad

And no ex-communist state will ever be perceived as Western, no matter how anti-Russian it is,
unless it fully adopts woke values and implements them consistently over a long period.

I am more anti American than anti Russian. But I have right to preserve our Catholic culture, Mediterranean Slavic culture et cetera. Many eastern Euros and orthodox/muslim Balkanites are very hostile towards us Catholic Slavs and don't respect our culture or religion. I don't want to be swallowed by them.

At some point the small ex-communist countries will have to choose between the Woke West, and Something Else.
(Best of all would be for the Woke West to collapse, and for NATO and the EU to pull back. Wokeness comes from them.)

Also at some point,
persecuted Westerners will have to decide if they want to keep living in the Woke West, or go Somewhere Else.
For most people, Europe is still decent at only 10-20% migrant or whatever,
but what if the non-European population reaches 50%?
Or 85% like in South Africa?
Europeans are mostly unarmed, and hopefully will flee before it is too late.
Hopefully the safe place will be nearby and not totally alien.
Maybe to an ex-communist country?

Or maybe the ex-communist countries will build a wall,
to keep OUT the hordes of refugees and migrants from the West? Some irony that would be.
This will happen unless Europeans do their utmost to prevent this.

Everyone needs to take care of their own home, and fleeing should not be an option

[Scarface F]

and many countries/people are disillusioned by NATO and the mess in Ukraine.
And some countries like Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria are flexible, not strongly pro-Western.
The countries that are fed by/dependent on Russian gas and nuclear power may have reason to be flexible.

Most russophobic are Baltics and Poland, maybe Romania (I would say not on level like those mentioned first), rest of post communist EU members or even rest of Balkans/eastern Europe are not really russophobic. But that doesn't mean they feel close to Russia or even know about their culture.

Serbia is very russophile for example but their culture or lifestlye doesn't have much in common with Russia. They are like most Balkanites more like southern Europeans or Turks. While Baltic states for example are probably way more similar to Russia in culture and habbits.

[CosmoLady]

I am more anti American than anti Russian. But I have right to preserve our Catholic culture, Mediterranean Slavic culture et cetera. Many eastern Euros and orthodox/muslim Balkanites are very hostile towards us Catholic Slavs and don't respect our culture or religion. I don't want to be swallowed by them.

If you keep strong borders and native demographics and a strong national, cultural, tribal identity,
in other words, if you remain a serious nation, then you will be fine.
And good fences make good neighbours.

But if you try to be a serious nation, then the US/EU/NGOs will overthrow your government and install a woke one.

Ideally any anti-woke ex-communist country should try to make as many anti-woke political allies as possible,
preferably powerful ones like a Trumpist America or Russia,
which have influence and can mediate any conflicts with other anti-woke ex-communist countries.

Possible allies may be other nationalist Western European countries, the Visegrad countries, a Trumpist US,
maybe even Russia or China. Orban is certainly very flexible and has strategic long-term thinking.
And one needs inexpensive energy to keep a decent quality of life and low cost of living.

Everyone needs to take care of their own home, and fleeing should not be an option

I agree, BUT:

when you NEED to flee, it is already too late, especially if you are unarmed and fighting an unwinnable battle.
1921 Russia, 1945 East Prussia, etc.

Be ready to fight but LIVE to fight another day

[Blondie]

I don't think Slovakia is unfairly underrated. It's an enjoyable country, especially for its landscapes and nature. The only problem is that it borders Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary. All these countries have capitals that are more aesthetically iconic than Bratislava. It's hard to compete with Vienna, Prague and Budapest, which are probably the most beautiful cities in Central\Eastern Europe.

This is true, i agree. Im often party tourist and i have been to many such capital and i can say Budapest has the best party life by far in the region and we have tons of such tourists. But Hungary has nothing outside of Budapest, maybe except the Lake Balaton but thats all. The hungarian landscape is absolutely boring. The slovak, czech, austrian, croatian landscape is more beautiful, especially Dalmatia was breathtaking.
So yes if we compare Budapest with Bratislava then Pest wins by far, but if we compare whole Hungary and Slovakia, i think slovaks are the winner because of much nicer nature.

[Tommie]

My stay in Slovakia was extremely short, to make judgements, just two days or so, in Bratislava a while ago. I've heard that the mountains are amazing. So, cannot speak for the whole country but Bratislava itself was cool.

Same here haha, except I didn't particularly enjoy Bratislava. It's probably different in the rest of the country, but to me the place felt rather "dead". I liked Prague much more.

I do know though that Slovakia has an important Vlach cultural influence, especially closer to the mountains, which is interesting and more Romanians should be aware of.

[Cybele]

Same here haha, except I didn't particularly enjoy Bratislava. It's probably different in the rest of the country, but to me the place felt rather "dead". I liked Prague much more.

Bratislava is a lot more quiet in the historical center compared to Prague. Maybe it feels dead, because there are not so many tourists (compared to other capitals around). I'm curious how is it in other Slovak cities too. Prague is more touristy, larger, with rich architecture, plenty of museums etc. by comparison I enjoyed it more as well, tbh.

I do know though that Slovakia has an important Vlach cultural influence, especially closer to the mountains, which is interesting and more Romanians should be aware of.

Probably there are enough Romanians are not aware, that there were/are pockets of Vlachs living in Central Europe. I found later on about the Vlachs in Czechia, Poland, Slovakia, etc.

Slovak national cheese is called "bryndza" from Romanian "brânză", there seems to be some influence in their folk music too from Vlachs, few shared words for e.g. bača/ with badea/bade in Romanian for shepard (however the meaning is not exactly the same in this case, as we use "cioban"), also fujara/ fluier for flute , palacinka/ placintă for pie and so on.

[Aldaris]

I don't know for sure,
but I think that many liberals from ex-communist countries are highly-socialised cosmopolitans,
who badly want to be "European", to be "Western", and to be accepted and perceived as such by Europeans/Westerners.

Often this involves disowning their national identity and culture,
especially if it is Slavic, which is perceived as "Eastern" in most cases.
This also involves adopting foreign values or materialist logic and moving to the West,
or creating Western liberal conditions in their capital city.
Pro-EU politics are implied.

Maybe Czech liberals dislike their own native people more than anything else?
Maybe they like to identify with Germany only because it is liberal and convenient?

As someone with dual heritage from Eastern Europe and Spain, I've noticed a diverse range of attitudes towards identity and external validation in Eastern Europe. While it's true that some individuals may aspire towards Western ideals, it's certainly not a norm - most either don't care about such issues at all or they take pride in their heritage and actively engage in preserving and promoting their cultural traditions. The set of those self-haters you're talking about is fortunately rather small, but not any less annoying.

[CosmoLady]

As someone with dual heritage from Eastern Europe and Spain, I've noticed a diverse range of attitudes towards identity and external validation in Eastern Europe. While it's true that some individuals may aspire towards Western ideals, it's certainly not a norm - most either don't care about such issues at all or they take pride in their heritage and actively engage in preserving and promoting their cultural traditions. The set of those self-haters you're talking about is fortunately rather small, but not any less annoying.

They may be prominent in culture, media, pro-EU politics. And they are all the Redditors and very-online people.

[Aldaris]

They may be prominent in culture, media, pro-EU politics. And they are all the Redditors and very-online people.

Ain't it the truth. Self-hatred sure does make them quack a lot indeed.