Nordic Style and Baltic Spirit
Nordic Style and Baltic Spirit
Four months in Sweden has allowed me to explore and learn about the Baltic Sea region. Although my tastes buds are looking forward to returning to Melbourne
Since July I have been based in the southern Swedish town of Kristianstad. A town of around 40,000 people about 90 kilometres from Malmö. However, this week may stay is coming to an end and I will be travelling back home to Melbourne. With a train from Kristianstad to Copenhagen, a flight to Melbourne via Singapore, and the time difference, it is effectively a two day trip. So the newsletter this week will be a little different due to time constraints.
Over the past four months I have been using the unique opportunity for an Australian to be close to other countries to explore the Baltic Sea region. I’ve visited Finland and Estonia twice, and travelled through Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and made multiple trips to both Stockholm and Copenhagen. As well as popping across to Swedish island of Gotland. Using the region’s extensive network of ferries to criss-cross the sea – and giving me the opportunity to write about their significance.
Although, apart from taking the train from port city of Gdynia in northern Poland to Warsaw, due the Baltic states not having an integrated rail network that links to the rest of Europe, most my travel around this region was by bus. Given my fondness for trains this was disappointing, however, there are plans for such a rail network, and I will be writing about it in the coming weeks.
While it may be amiss to have paid little attention to the Baltics previously, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made these countries now incredibly interesting. Despite their small size they are playing an outsized role in the defence of Ukraine – both with their significant practical support (Estonia and Latvia are the largest per capita donors to Ukraine, with Lithuania fourth), but also essential ideological support.
When it comes to understanding Russia – and having a clear comprehension of the nature of authoritarianism in general – the Baltic states are now Europe’s leaders. There could be an argument to make that the Baltics now embody European ideals far more than the European Union’s powerhouses of Germany and France – who are struggling with indecision and an inability to fully grasp Europe’s current environment.
The invasion of Ukraine has led these countries to distance themselves further from their occupation by the Soviet Union. I was in Riga when the government decided to tear down a 79-metre tall Soviet-era obelisk – know colloquially as “Moscow’s finger.” There was palpable sense of both defiance and courage in the region, as well as an exasperation that its large neighbour is simply incapable of being a normal, cooperative state. The Baltics see little difference between the Soviet Union and Russia’s current form of authoritarianism. The nature of domination is always the same, even if the rhetoric might be different.
Russia’s behaviour is obviously the current primary issue around northern Europe. In late-September I was invited to the inaugural Helsinki Security Forum by Minna Ålander of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (who I hope to interview for a new feature on International Blue in the coming weeks). The forum was created in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the new security environment that Finland finds itself in. Although as I wrote about the forum, Finland has never been complacent about its position next to Russia. Being prepared is a national preoccupation, and the forum was designed to encourage Europe’s international affairs experts to both pay attention to, and learn from, Finland.
In my conversations with attendees at the forum it became clear to me that Europe’s elites pay very little attention to Australia, and have only a limited knowledge of the country. Like Ceaușescu convincing the Romanian public that Romania was the world’s third superpower during the Cold War, Australians tend to think we are, if not a major player, at least somewhere that should be of great interest to the rest of the world. This is clearly not the case.
While this may bruise our egos a bit, it coincides with another observation from the forum that Europe’s elites have very little interest in Asia in general. Obviously, the invasion of Ukraine is the preoccupation of Europe at the moment, but this is an event of global consequence, and aside from a few sporadic mentions of China the implications for Asia didn’t seem to cross many minds. That I found this odd indicates that both the Australian media and the country’s discourse on foreign affairs is not only more focused on Asia as the reality of our geographic position, but also we are becoming more culturally comfortable within our region. This is a great positive.
Australia as a culturally Asian country has also been clearly apparent to me when it comes to finding decent food in Sweden and its surrounding countries. As someone whose palette starts around Peshawar and moves east, the past four months have been incredibly difficult. Despite discovering a surprising – and surprisingly good – Tamil restaurant in Riga, finding decent Asian food has been a real struggle – as what the Swedes especially consider to be edible is astonishing. With a three and a half hour stopover in Singapore on my flight home, I am hoping I can hook myself up to a drip of ginger, garlic and chilli in order to reacclimatise myself back into Melbourne.
For personal reasons it is likely that I will be back in Sweden for several months next year as well. Despite the fraught nature of the recently elected new government, the country is very pleasant, its lakes and forests are beautiful, and as I wrote previously, Sweden has an eye for design that Australia lacks. Sweden’s southern Skåne region is also extremely well connected to the rest of the countries bordering the Baltic Sea, giving me the chance to further explore and understand the region.