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

[Hercus Monte]

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?

[sevruk]

Karl disapproves

[Hercus Monte]

Karl disapproves

who's Karl?

[sevruk]

who's Karl?

famous Estonian historian

[Hercus Monte]

famous Estonian historian

why would he disapprove? this is not the popular opinion of lithuanians.

[lI]

why would he disapprove? this is not the popular opinion of lithuanians.

Skaisgirytė is mixing up the notions Northern and Nordic. Whether she did it because of ignorance or was it done knowingly for some agenda or her personal insecurities is, of course, another question.

Most Lithuanians don't consider themselves Nordic as in Scandinavian like most Estonians do. Most Lithuanians do, however, consider themselves Northern. Which is not to say that they don't consider themselves Eastern too. After all, these concepts are not mutually exclusive.


I personally am more leaning towards "Northern" - as in: Lithuania is North-East European, firstly Northern, then Eastern. And that's simply because of the fact that culturally and genetically we have more in common with North-West Europeans than with South-East whichever way you look at it: taking the extremes British Isles vs Greece, or less extreme comparison Norway vs Balkan Slavs.

[Stormer99]

They are Northern Europeans but they are also Eastern Europeans.

[Hercus Monte]

Skaisgirytė is mixing up the notions Northern and Nordic. Whether she did it because of ignorance or was it done knowingly for some agenda or her personal insecurities is, of course, another question.

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.

[robar]

There are no territorial identities around there so it is a question of geography I think.

[Temujin]

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.

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

Many people would distance themselves from a group that has a negative image. The ambassador was no different in that regard. So, her answer may had been influenced by the fact there's a negative image about immigrants from Eastern Europe.

If it was another country, let say, south Korea or Australia, then the geographical European term would be less relevant.