The Baltikan State of Latvonia?
Probably the best thing about having children is that you get to learn geography all over again. This is especially handy for people like me who did their last school tests before the fall of the Iron Curtain. Back in those days, everything east of Germany was one large, undifferentiated mass of green, marked USSR. “It should all be red,” remarked a classmate. But I thought white would be more appropriate, because that was the other thing we knew for sure about the USSR: it was always covered in snow.
Later, when the warm winds of perestroika had melted the snow and revealed long hidden borders, things became more complicated. Have you ever been to a party where you meet a lot of new people in a short space of time? You can learn a great deal about them without actually remembering their names or knowing where they live. My experience is much the same with the Baltic and the Balkan and other former Soviet states. I know quite a bit about them, but I’m not sure where to find them on the map. This has got to change.
There is a snag, however. I know how annoying it is to be lumped together with other countries. The three countries that make up the Benelux – Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – are all very different and it can be rather frustrating when American politicians get them mixed up or seem to think they’re mutually interchangeable. I will therefore try to get down to specifics as quickly as possible. Observe.
Let me start with Estonia, because my friend Jelle happens to have managed the Estonian national football team for several years. Estonia is the northernmost of the three Baltic states. Its capital is the port of Tallinn, which is located on the Gulf of Finland. It takes only two hours to cross the 51-mile gulf by ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Here’s a map to help you get your bearings.
I asked Jelle what makes Estonia special, and what sets it apart from the other Baltic states.
“They each have their own unique character,” says Jelle. “Estonia has always been more allied with Scandinavia than Latvia and Lithuania.” Estonians take great pride in their independence, their language – which is related to Finnish – and the fact that they were the first Baltic state to join the EU and introduce the Euro.”
Tallinn was once the northern outpost of the Hanseatic League, an alliance of fortified coastal cities that dominated trade in northern Europe. Much like a multinational company with its own army, the league had its own legal system and arranged its own protection, bringing prosperity to its members. “I was amazed by Tallinn’s medieval centre. It was like walking into a fairytale,” says Jelle. “But I was also surprised by the high level of technological development. Ten years ago, you could already pay for parking with your cell phone. Everyone did their banking via the internet, which was only just starting to emerge in Holland. Nowadays, you get free WiFi almost everywhere in Tallinn.”
A quick online check reveals that Tallinn is currently one of the top ten digital cities in the world. It is also the European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku in Finland. Which makes me wonder whether Estonia’s success is cause for envy among its Baltic neighbours. “There’s healthy rivalry between the three states, whether it be on the football pitch or in the economic arena,” says Jelle. “None of these proud nations wants to be second best.”
That said, I must now resist the temptation to check the FIFA rankings.
Richard