European Day of Languages 2023

Today is the European Day of Languages again.  The EU promote linguistic diversity and encourages everyone to speak multiple foreign languages.  There are 27 EU member countries and the EU has 24 official languages.   

The official EU languages are Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish (Gaelic), Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish.

This means that EU legislation must be published in all 24 languages.  All EU citizens have the right to communicate with EU institutions in any of the official languages.

Within the EU, the European Parliament is the most linguistically diverse institution.  All 24 EU languages are used as MEPs may speak any official language.  Very diverse but it's expensive to have interpreters and translators to handle all 24 languages.  

The European Commission values efficiency over linguistic diversity.  While legally bound to all 24 languages of the EU, in practice the three main working languages are English, French and German.

Adding or removing a language to the official list requires the approval of all 27 EU members.  This is normally a part of the ascension process when a country joins the EU.  For example, Croatian became an official language when Croatia joined the EU in 2013.

When Luxembourg joined the EU in 1957, back when it was originally the European Economic Community (EEC), the national languages were French and German.  Both of which were official languages.  In 1984, Luxembourg made Luxembourgish an official national language.  However, it is not an official EU language because (a) Luxembourg didn't submit it as a language when it joined, and (b) to add it now would require all 27 countries to agree.

In Cyprus, both Greek and Turkish are official languages but only Greek is an official EU language.  More or less, kind of for the same reason as in Luxembourg.  

Last month, Spain formally requested that Catalan, Basque, and Galician all become official EU languages.  I don't think that this will happen anytime soon because all 27 countries have to agree, plus the associated administrative cost of adding three new languages.

English is an official language in Ireland and Malta, which is why English stayed an official EU language even after the UK left the EU. 

2022 World Happiness Report

This year is the 10th anniversary of the World Happiness Report. by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations.  The report factors in things like gross domestic product per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make choices, perceived corruption and social support from friends and family. 

For the fifth year in a row, Finland came in first place.

Scandinavia did well as usual with the five countries all placing in the top eight places.  Finland #1, Denmark #2, Iceland #3, Sweden #7 and Norway #8.

Switzerland placed #4.

The BeNeLux countries did well too with the Netherlands #5, Luxembourg #6, and Belgium #19.

Europe is the happiest region with the eight of the top ten spots.  The only non-European countries to crack the top ten are Israel #9 and New Zealand #10.

The USA placed #16 and Czechland placed #18.

Czechland continues to be the happiest of the Visegrád Four with Slovakia #35, Poland #48, and Hungary #51.

Last place goes to Afghanistan, behind Botswana, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, and Lebanon.

Eurocorps

My 2000th blog post.  I can't believe that I've been at this for over 13 years or that people still seem interested in my Czechland adventure.  Thank you to everyone who continues to follow along.

Eurocorps is a European army, of about 60.000 troops, that can be deployed on very short notice.  It was founded in 1992 by France and Germany and it went operational in 1995.  This month it celebrates its 30th anniversary.  Eurocorps' headquarters are in Strasbourg, France.
Eurocorps is at the service of the EU and NATO and in 2002, it was certified as one of NATO's nine High Readiness Land Headquarters.  Eurocorps considers requests for support from the UN and OSCE.  It can also be deployed at the request of the framework nations.

There are six framework nations - France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, and Poland.  

Any EU country can join with the unanimous approval of the framework countries.  There are also five associated nations - Austria, Greece, Türkiye, Italy, and Romania. 

Finland was an associated member from 2002 - 2006 and Canada was from 2003 - 2007.  Czech Republic isn't a member but I believe that they have participated is some military exercises with Eurocorps in the past.  I'm not aware of Czechland having any plans to join. 

Eurocorps has participated in peacekeeping missions in the Balkans as part of SFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina and KFOR in Kosovo.  It was deployed to Afghanistan as part of the UN's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).  It's even been deployed to Africa as part of EU training missions in Mali and the Central African Republic.

Poland became the newest framework member this year in January.  From 2023-2025, a Polish general will take command of Eurocorps.  With all of the support Poland has given Ukraine during the Russian invasion, I'm sure that Russia isn't thrilled with Poland soon to lead Eurocorps.

What's interesting to me Austria and Türkiye being associate members.  Türkiye is a member of NATO but not the EU so until it actually becomes an EU member, if ever, then it can't be one of the framework nations.  Austria's constitution prohibits it form entering into military alliances.  So I guess that by being an associate member it can participate in Eurocorps without violating its constitution, in the same way that it is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace programme without being a NATO member.

Here's a France24 video I found on YouTube from 2009 that talks about Eurocorps.

©France24

2022 International Family Day

Today is the International Day of Families.  It takes place every 15 May and it was first proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993.  The goal is to promote awareness of the issues which families face and to increase the social, economic and demographic processes that affect families.  There's a different theme each year.

This year's theme is Families and Urbanisation.  The goal is to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable, family-friendly urban policies.  Cities and settlements should be inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Family homelessness is increasing.  Germany and Slovakia have the largest homeless population per 10.000 people.  Sweden, Luxembourg, and Latvia also have a significant homeless population.  Many people think that is in large part due to the increasing number of homeless refugees and migrants.

2020 World Happiness Report

Today is the International Day of Happiness.  The United Nations started this back in 2013 to promote the idea that feeling happy is a global human right.  Clearly 2020 was a challenging year due to COVID-19 so this year's theme is "Keep Calm.  Stay Wise.  Be Kind."

The 2020 World Happiness Report was released today.  Czechland came in at #18 and the USA came in at #19.  This is the first time that Czechland outranked the USA.  

Like last year, Finland came in #1 again and 14 of the 20 world's happiest countries are in Europe.  At #9, New Zealand is the only non-European country to crack the top 10.

Scandinavia is the happiest region in Europe with #1 Finland, #2 Denmark, #4 Iceland, #6 Norway, and #7 Sweden.

BeNeLux did well with #5 Netherlands, #8 Luxembourg, and #20 Belgium.

The only Middle Eastern country to make the top 20 was #12 Israel.  Even with Brexit the UK came in at #17.

At #18 Czechland was the clear happiness leader of the Visegrad countries with #34 Slovakia, #44 Poland, and #53 Hungary.

Many of the most unhappiest counties are in East and Southern Africa including #137 Zambia, #140 Burundi, #142 Tanzania, #144 Malawi, #145 Lesotho, #146 Botswana, #147 Rwanda, and #148 Zimbabwe.

The world's most unhappiest country is #149 Afghanistan.  

The rankings are based on the combined scores for the last three years.  

Not much changes overall if you only go by the 2020 scores instead of the three year average.  Although then the USA would have been #14 and Czechland #16.

New Integration Course Requirement

There's now a new requirement in Czechland for foreigners who have been issued long-term residence permits, since 1 January 2021, to complete a four-hour integration course.  

The course covers the rights and obligations that come with residency here as well as Czech culture and values.  The class is conducted in Czech, with interpretation into English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Mongolian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian or Vietnamese.  There's no exam but participants receive a certificate when they complete the entire course.  It costs 1500 Kč ($70) and is available at 18 centres across the country.  You have up to one year from receiving your residency permit to complete the course.  The fine for not completing it in time is up to 10.000 Kč ($467).

This is only for third-country nationals as EU citizens are exempt.  It's not required if you are under 15 or over 61 years of age.  Those here on study or investment visas are also exempt.

Aside from this, the education minister has submitted draft legislation that will increase the Czech language requirement for permanent residency from A1 to A2.  When I received my permanent residency back in 2015 I only had to prove A1 level Czech.  This isn't official yet but I think it's for sure coming as there's been talk of raising the level of Czech required for at least the past eight years.  I don't know if they will raise it this year with COVID-19 but for sure by next year.

I was surprised to find out that Czechland and France are the only two EU countries that only require A1 for permanent residency.  I would have thought that the level of language proficiency would have been more unified across Europe but each has its own requirements.

In Czechland, A2 will be required for permanent residency while B1 is required for citizenship.

Germany requires B1 level for either permanent residency or citizenship.

Austria requires B1 for permanent residency and B2 for citizenship.  This means that for Austrian citizenship you need to speak better German than a German citizen.  Albeit Austrian German.

France requires A1 for permanent residency and B1 for citizenship.

Poland requires B1 for both permanent residency and citizenship.

I don't know about permanent residency but Italy requires B1 for citizenship.  The Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain only require A2 for citizenship in Dutch, Portuguese, or Spanish respectively.  Denmark requires B2 for citizenship.

For countries with multiple official langues the rules seem to vary more.  For citizenship in Finland, B1 is required but it can be in either Finnish or Swedish since both are official languages.

Belgium has three official languages so for citizenship you only have to prove A2 in either French, Dutch, or German.

Luxembourg has three official languages - French, German, and Luxembourgish.  But if you want citizenship than only Luxembourgish counts.  You need A2 level speaking and B1 level listening.

Switzerland has four official languages - German, French, Italian, and Romansh.  For permanent residency you need A1 writing and A2 speaking in any one of the four languages.  For citizenship, A2 writing and B1 speaking are required.

I'm still waiting to find out when I get to take my B1 Czech exam.

BeNeLux

BeNeLux is the geographic area made up of Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.  

The combined area is just a bit smaller than South Carolina and has a population of 28.5 million people.

BeNeLux flag

The first union was signed in 1944 and was a precursor of the European Union.

Brussels serves as the capital and the official languages are French and Dutch.

Here's an interesting video I found out on YouTube that describes the alliance.

©TestTube News

10 Years in the EU

Today is 1 May and it's a public holiday.  Today is also the 10th anniversary of Czech Republic joining the European Union.

In 1952, six countries (Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, France, Netherlands, and West Germany) formed the European Coal and Steel Community.  In 1953, Denmark, Ireland and the UK also joined.  This eventually developed in to a European common market.

Greece joined in 1981 and Portugal and Spain both joined in 1986.  After German reunification in 1990, the EU picked up what used to be East Germany.  Sweden, Finland, and Austria all joined in 1995.

2004 was a big year for the EU.  The single largest EU expansion (number of countries, territory, and population) occurred in 2004.  The EU welcomed Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

In 2007, Bulgaria and Romania joined.  Last year, Croatia became the newest member.  Today, the EU contains 28 countries and more than 500 million people.

Still, not every country in Europe is an EU member.  Norway, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland are not members.  Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey are all candidates to join the EU.  Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Ukraine are not yet even candidates to join. 

Czechs have gained economically from joining the EU.  Plus it's a heck of a lot easier for Czechs to travel now.  However, many Czech people consider EU legislation as a negative and only around 20% or so of the people want to give up the Crown for the Euro.

Update:  Here's a video I found out on YouTube about the European Union.

©CGP Grey

Update:  15 years in the EU.

Update:  The UK officially left the EU on 31 January 2020.

Update:  Here's a short 5½-minute video on how the EU works.

©CNBC International

Update 2025:  Here's a short video about the EU.

©EU Made Simple

15 Years in NATO

Today was the 15th anniversary since Czech Republic joined NATO. 

NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.  The organization came about after WWII.  It is a military alliance where all members agree to mutual defense.  An attack on one NATO member is considered an attack on all members.

The alliance is headquartered in Brussels.  

Back in 1949, the alliance began with 12 members - Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the USA.  

Greece, Turkey and West Germany joined in the 1950s and Spain joined in 1982.

Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined in 1999 becoming the first former Warsaw Pact members to join the alliance.

Seven new members joined in 2004 - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.  Albania and Croatia both joined in 2009.

Today there are 28 members.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia are all in the process of joining as well.  Georgia is another aspiring member.  Given the problems in Crimea, I'm sure that Ukraine wishes it was currently a member.

Macedonia fulfilled the requirements to join at the same time as Albania and Croatia, but its membership was blocked by Greece over the country name of Macedonia.    

Here's a NATO video timeline I found out on YouTube.

©NATO

 

I also found a video from 2011 showing Czech NATO troops training police recruits in Afghanistan.

©NATO 

Update: Montenegro joined in 2017.

Update: 2019 is the 20th anniversary of joining NATO.

Update: 2019 - Here's the Czechia is NATO - We Are NATO video.

©NATO 

Update: North Macedonia joined in 2020 becoming the 30th NATO member.

Update:  September 2022 - Here's a short video I found on YouTube about how a country joins NATO.

©NATO

Update: 4 April 2023 - Finland became the 31st member of NATO.

Kingdom of the Netherlands

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is made up of 12 European provinces and three Caribbean islands (Aruba, Curaçao, St. Martin).  The Netherlands is often called "Holland" but North Holland and South Holland are just two of its 12 provinces.  The Netherlands, located on the North Sea, borders Germany and Belgium.  It is almost twice as big as New Jersey and is home to +16.8 million people.  Dutch is the official language.

The country is a constitutional monarchy.  Amsterdam is the capital but the seat of government is The Hague.  The Netherlands is a low-lying country with around 20% of the land located below sea level and 50% lying less than one meter (3 feet) above sea level.

In 1579, the Dutch United Provinces declared independence from Spain.  France occupied the land for 20 years before the Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815.  Belgium seceded in 1830 and became its own kingdom.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch became a major trading power with colonies and settlements in the Caribbean, North and South America, Africa and Asia.

The Netherlands was able to remain neutral in WWI but was occupied during WWII.  It was a founding member of NATO, the EU is a part of the Schengen zone.

It adopted the euro when the currency was launched in 1999.  The Dutch economy is the 6th largest in the Eurozone.  The Netherlands is one of the Czech Republic's main trading partners.

The country has long been known for its liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution and euthanasia.  In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to allow same-sex marriage.  Here's a Rick Steves video I found on YouTube with gives a few details about legalized marijuana.

©Rick Steves

Update 2025:  Here's a short video about the fall of the Dutch Empire.

©History Matters

Update 2025:  Here's a short video about why the Netherlands wasn't allowed to sell Luxembourg.

©History Matters

Visas

Since moving to Euroland in July 2009, I've been to 37 countries.  So far I've been fortunate that I haven't really had to deal with obtaining visas.  A visa is a common requirement, depending on your citizenship, to be able to visit a particular country.  There are tourist visas, transit visas, business visas, student visas, residence visas, etc., and each visa is good only for a specific period of time.  Visas can be for a single entry, double entry or multiple entries.  Visas usually take up one whole passport page which is a downer.  We're talking prime passport real estate.

Visas fees are all over the place.  There's this reciprocity thing where countries tend to charge tit-for-tat.  For example, the USA charges Uzbeks $180 for an American tourist visa so Uzbeks turn right around and require Americans to pay $160 for a visa to Uzbekistan whereas they only charge $60 to someone with a Danish passport and $4 for someone from Tajikistan.

Sometimes the more obscure the country the higher the visa fees.  It seems to me that lower visa fees would encourage more tourists to visit Country X and spend their money there. 

Henley & Partners is a law firm that publishes an annual list ranking the ease of travel by citizenship.  The higher the score then the more countries one can visit without needing a visa.  In 2012, Denmark came in 1st place.  If you hold a Danish passport then you can visit 169 countries without needing a visa.  The USA tied for 4th place with Italy and Luxembourg at 166 countries.  The Czech Republic came in 15th place with 152 countries not requiring visas for Czech citizens.  Afghanistan scored the lowest with only 26 countries not requiring visas.

Arrival visa stamps for UAE & Oman

Now these numbers are for countries that do not require visas.  This does not include the "visa on arrival".  The UAE requires Americans to have a visa but it is given as you pass through immigration.  And it was free so for me I still consider this as a non-issue.

Turkish on arrival visa sticker

Americans need a visa for Turkey, but it too is available on arrival.  It only costs €15 and I didn't have to apply in advance at the nearest embassy.

This is what's so nice about the Schengen area.  Once you're in, you can travel around and not have to deal with visas and passport control as you cross borders.

Full page Czech residency visa

Most times the visa application process can be extremely complicated and time consuming.  I decided against going to Belarus because the application process was more than I was willing to deal with this year.  I've been told by many of my Eurocrew that getting a visa to visit the USA is super difficult and often requires an in-person interview at the embassy.

Traditionally, applying for a Russian tourist visa was a pain in the arse.  A single entry visa is $180.  However, as of last year, Americans can now apply for a 3-year, multiple entry visa, for only $235.  Hmmm...I might need to start planning some trips to Russia.

My Armenian E-Visa

Nest week I'm off to the Caucasus.  I don't need a visa for Georgia.  Americans do need a visa for Armenia but they have this nifty e-visa.  You apply on-line and the visa is e-mailed to you.  I just have to print it out and take it with me.  The e-visa costs $40 but the cool thing is that it won't take up a full page in my passport.  The trick will be getting an Azeri visa.  Apparently, it order to visit Azerbaijan, there's a requirement for foreigners to jump through bureaucratic hoops like trained circus poodles.

Update: In 2019, Uzbekistan implemented an e-visa, and for an American, a single-entry visa for 30 days is only $20.

Schengen

Schengen is a small town in Luxembourg near the French and Dutch borders. Back in 1985, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and West Germany signed the Schengen Agreement which called for the gradual removal or checks at their common borders.

Since then 25 countries have joined the Schengen zone. They are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Romania and Bulgaria hope to join later in 2011.  San Marino, Vatican City and Monaco are all de facto members.

Schengen is different from the EU. Iceland, Norway and Switzerland are not members of the EU but are part of the Schengen zone. Ireland and the United Kingdom are EU members but are not Schengen members.  They have their own Common Travel Agreement.

There are no passport checks when traveling between Schengen countries. I don't get a passport stamp when I travel from Czech Republic to Germany. However, I do get stamped coming and going between Germany and the UK because the UK isn't a Schengen country.

USA citizens don't need a visa to enter the Schengen zone. But there is a maximum stay of up to 90 days in a six-month period. Overstaying the 90 days is a big deal. There is a very hefty fine, you get deported and are banned from entering any Schengen country from 1 to 5 years. They don't play around with this over here.

One of the reasons my long-term visa (green card) is so complicated is because the Czech Republic is now part of Schengen. The visa allows me to reside full-time (for 1 or 2 years) in the Czech Republic and allows me to travel within all of the other Schengen countries without border checks.

Update: In December 2011, Switzerland and Liechtenstein both joined Schengen.  

Update: As of January 2016, Bulgaria and Romania are still not yet members.  No word yet either on when Cyprus will join.

Update: Croatia joined the EU in 2013 and should have joined Schengen by 2015.  It is on track now to join in 2020.

Update 2023:  Croatia joined Schengen but Bulgaria and Romania still haven't joined.

German Military Cemetery

About 1.5 km away from the American Military Cemetery is the German Military Cemetery in Sandweiler. It contains the graves of 10.913 German servicemen from the Battle of the Bulge.

In 1952 Luxembourg and West Germany reached an agreement and moved 5,286 servicemen from 150 different cemeteries in Luxembourg to Sandweiler. Of the 10,913 soldiers buried here, 4,829 are in the large comrades’ grave behind a large cross. There are 810 unknown soldiers buried here.

In contrast to the white tombstones at the American cemetery the tombstones at Sandweiler are dark stone crosses. Most of the gravestones bear the name of the dead but some simply state Ein Deutscher Soldat (a German soldier). Many of the tombstones list two names and all of them have names listed on each side of the tombstone.

The last person interred here was an unknown German soldier discovered near Wiltz in Fall 2007.

Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

The Battle of the Ardennes, more commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge, was the bloodiest of the battles that American forces experienced in WWII. It was a major German offensive launched toward the end of the war through Luxembourg, Belgium and France from 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945. The battle caused 80,987 American, 1,400 British and 84,834 German casualties.

The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial sits on 204,000 m² (50.5 acres) in Hamm. Under a 1951 US-Luxembourg treaty the US government was granted free use of the land in perpetuity without taxation. It is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The cemetery contains the remains of 5,076 American service members who died serving our country. One of the graves belongs to a female army nurse and 101 graves contain the remains of unknown soldiers. There are 22 instances of two brothers resting side-by-side in adjacent graves.

Near the entrance is a white stone chapel. The chapel's mosaic ceiling depicts the Holy Spirit as a dove on a cloud held by four angels.

There are two fountains with bronze dolphins overlooking three pools on descending levels. The fountains represent resurrection and everlasting life.

Not far from the chapel is the grave of General George S. Patton Jr., commander of the Third U.S. Army. He was originally buried amongst the other graves but his grave was moved because the high number of visitors caused damaged to the grass around his and the other soldier's graves.