Talk: Northern Europe

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Is it really correct to state that the Baltic states are culturally Scandinavian countries? I would have thought them no more culturally distant from the Slavs than from the Scandinavians, apart from with Estonia & Finland.

The Baltic Republics have - due to hanseatic and religious traditions as well as long lasting Swedish and German settlements (lasting a much longer period of time than today's Russian settlement) going back to medieval ages very much more in common with Scandinavia and Central Europe as with Russia and the Slavic countries, though - of course - they always have been a connecting tie between Russia and Scandinavia.

The only Baltic state with historic links to Scandinavia is Estonia, which was briefly under Swedish rule in the 17th century. The country also had, until the end of the Second World War, a small Swedish minority inhabiting its western islands.

Neither the period of Swedish rule, nor the existance of a Swedish majority have left much of an imprint on the country; culturally and politically Germany and Russia, and later still, the Soviet Union have been much more significant for the development of Estonia.

The other Baltic states have even more tenuous links with Scandinavia, and it would therefore be utterly misguided to see them as Scandinavian countries -- it may even be asked if it is justified to consider them as Nordic ones, so different are they culturally, politically and historically from the five Nordic countries.