Finland Joined NATO

As of yesterday, Finland abandoned decades of neutrality and officially became NATO's 31st member. 

Following WWII, and throughout the Cold War, Finland acted as a buffer zone between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.  

In 1994, the country joined the Partnership for Peace programme to cooperate with NATO in peacekeeping and joint exercises without being a NATO member.  In 1995, Finland joined the EU.

When a country joins the EU, there is an obligation to aid any fellow member country that gets invaded.  It's legally binding that all EU members must assist but it allows each country to decide on how to help.  The aid a country provides could be military, political, humanitarian, etc.  This isn't the same thing as NATO Article 5, that says an attack on one is an attack on all.

Due to Article 5, every NATO member must approve any new member.  The USA approved Finland's accession in less than three months.  Czechland was also quick and gave approval in just over three months.

Hungary and Türkiye were the holdouts.  Hungary took 10 months, 1 week, and Türkiye approved after 10,5 months.

Putin didn't want NATO enlargement, but after Russia invaded Ukraine, it got the opposite.  Finland and Sweden both ditch neutrality and applied to join NATO.  Now Russia's direct border with NATO has doubled due to the 1.340 km (830 mile) border that Finland has with Russia.

The Finish military brings a lot to NATO.  While there are only about 24.000 active-duty personnel, it's wartime mobilisation is about 280.000 and they have a reserve pool of 870.000.  They spend about 2,3% of GDP on defence and they have one of the largest artillery forces in Europe.  The Finns are experts in cold weather and arctic operations, and the Gulf of Finland now became NATO territory.

Let's see how long it takes for Sweden to join.  Here's a short video I found out on YouTube.

©WSJ

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

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.

EU and NATO Enlargement

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin wanted to prevent EU and NATO expansion in the east.  Well four months into the war and he's accomplished the opposite of what he wanted.  
Ukraine and Moldova have formally applied to join the EU and both are now official candidate countries.  Georgia has also applied and is now a potential candidate member.

Ukraine and Georgia were on track to apply in 2024 but the war has fast tracked their applications.

Joining the EU is not an easy thing to do and it takes years.  Türkiye applied in 1999, North Macedonia in 2005, Montenegro in 2010, Serbia in 2012, and Albania in 2014.  

Slovakia applied on 27 June 1995 and Czechland appleid on 17 January 1996.  Both joined on 1 May 2004.  So over eight years and neither country had Russian troops occupying part of their territories.

©The EU made SIMPLE

What's really significant is that Finland and Sweden have now both officially applied to join NATO.  While both countries are part of the the Partnership for Peace programme, both countries have long histories of neutrality.  Russia's invasion of Ukraine has really changed things.

©CNBC

©WSJ

Russia really can't be surprised that countries want to join NATO.  Take a look at the countries that the Soviet Union or Russia has invaded in the last 100 years.

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

Update:  The USA approved both Finland's and Sweden's NATO applications on 3 August 2022.  Czechland approved both on 27 August 2022.

Update:  December 2022 - Bosnia and Herzegovina is now an official candidate member for EU membership.

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

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.

2022 Eurovision Finals

Last night were the grand finals of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Italy.  This year's competition had 40 countries enter and compete in two semi-final rounds with 25 in the grand finale.  Again, Russia was not allowed to compete due to its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

Kalush Orchestra, who won the first semi-final, won this year's contest.  They won with 631 points which is incredible.  Their song "Stefania" is the first song sung entirely in Ukrainian.  It's also the first song to ever win with hip-hop elements.  Here's their winning performance.

©Eurovision Song Contest

The UK came in second place.  Sam Ryder's song "Space Man" received 466 points.  This sets a record for the UK with 16 second place finishes.

©Eurovision Song Contest

The winner of the second semi-final, Sweden, finished in fourth place behind Spain.

Czechland didn't do so well.  We Are Domi earned just 38 points and ended up in 22nd place.  But at least we made the grand finale and beat Iceland, France, and Germany.

©Eurovision Song Contest

If anyone's interested in watching the full grand finale then here's the complete 4,25 hour show that's available on YouTube.

©Eurovision Song Contest

Well done Ukraine!  I hope that this isn't the only thing that they win this year.  Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

2022 Eurovision Semi-Final 2

Last night was the second semi-final round of the this year's Eurovision Song Contest.  The first semi-final on Tuesday was won by Ukraine.  Eighteen countries participated in last night's competition.

Sweden came in first place.  Cornelia Jakobs sang her song "Hold Me Closer" in English.  Here's the video of her performance from YouTube.

©Eurovision Song Contest

Czechland placed fourth in the last night's competition so they qualified for Saturday night's final.  This year the Czech entry is the group We Are Domi which is a Czech-Norwegian electro pop group that started in the UK in 2016.  

Dominika Hašková is the lead vocalist.  She's actually Czech-American as she was born in the USA to Czech parents.  Her father is Dominik Hašek who used to play hockey for the Buffalo Sabres.  In 2010, she made the final of season one of Česko Slovensko má talent. 

Casper Hatlestad and Benjamin Rekstad are Norwegian musicians.  Since 2020, they are both music teachers at the International School of Music and Fine Arts in Prague.

Their song, "Lights Off" is sung in English.  Here's their performance from last night.  Let's see how they do in the finals.

©Eurovision Song Contest

Partnership for Peace

NATO has something something called Partnership for Peace (PfP).  It's a bilateral cooperation programme between NATO and Euro-Atlantic partner countries that lets partners build up an individual relationship with NATO.  PfP started in 1994 as a way to build security relationships between NATO and non-NATO countries.  Participating countries choose their own priorities for cooperation and the both the level and pace of progress.

The programme allowed NATO to reach out to former Warsaw Pact and Soviet Republics following the end of the Cold War.  The programme allows countries to build closer relationships with NATO without actually becoming a NATO member.  It's important to remember that the PfP programme has nothing to do with NATO's article 5 which says that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all.  So while Ukraine is a PfP member it is not a member of NATO.  

Here's the list of when countries joined the PfP programme.  Many went on to officially join NATO later on.  

Romania - 26.01.1994

Lithuania - 27.01.1994

Poland - 02.02.1994

Estonia - 03.02.1994

Hungary - 08.02.1994

Ukraine - 08.02.1994

Slovakia - 09.02.1994

Bulgaria - 14.02.1994

Latvia - 14.02.1994

Albania - 23.02.1994

Czechia - 10.03.1994

Moldova - 16.03.1994

Georgia - 23.03.1994

Slovenia - 30.03.1994

Finland - 09.05.1994

Sweden - 09.05.1994

Azerbaijan - 04.05.1994

Turkmenistan - 10.05.1994

Kazakhstan - 27.05.1994

Russia - 22.06.1994

Armenia  05.10.1994

Uzbekistan - 13.07.1994

Belarus - 11.01.1995

Austria - 10.02.1995

Malta - 26.04.1995

Macedonia - 15.11.1995

Switzerland - 11.12.1996

Ireland - 01.12.1999

Croatia - 25.05.2000

Tajikistan - 20.02.2002

Bosnia and Herzegovina - 14.12.2006

Montenegro - 14.12.2006

Serbia - 14.12.2006

In 1999, Czechland, Hungary, and Poland became the first three PfP countries to join NATO.

In 2004, NATO saw its largest expansion when seven PfP countries joined - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Malta joined the programme in 1995 but left in 1996 and rejoined in 2008.

In 2009 - Albania and Croatia joined NATO.  Montenegro joined NATO in 2017 and North Macedonia joined in 2020 as the 30th NATO member.

In 2014, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, NATO suspended practical cooperation with Russia.  It's hard to picture Russia as a Partnership for Peace member considering it invaded Ukraine to keep it from joining NATO in the future.  But by doing do, I don't think it will be long until Finland and Sweden decide to join NATO.

Traditionally neutral countries such as Austria, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland are all PfP members.  For Austria, the programme allows for cooperation with NATO without joining because under the country's constitution, Austria is prohibited from entering into military alliances and no foreign military bases may be on Austrian territory.  

Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City are all neutral micro states that are surrounded by NATO members.  They are all a part of the OSCE but they do not participate the PfP programme.

Cyprus is the only EU member that isn't a member of either NATO or the PfP programme. Kyrgyzstan is the only former Soviet republic that didn't join the PfP programme.  It did join the CSTA with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.

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

2021 Social Risk Index

Euler Hermes is an insurance company that in 2020 created the Social Risk Index.  This was to measure business climates across the globe, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, during one of the worst recessions since WWII. 

There are 12 factors and each country gets a score from 1-100 for each of the 12, the scores are combined for an overall score.  The 12 factors that are evaluated include trends in real GDP per capita growth, labour force participation, income inequality, public social spending on education, health and social protection, political stability, government effectiveness, corruption perception, trust in government levels of vulnerable employment, imports as a percentage of GDP, currency depreciation, and fiscal revenue as a percentage of GDP.  

All of this boils down to ranking countries according to potential economic and political instability during rapid change.

Last year, the USA came in at #23 and Czechland ranked #28. This year, Czechia came in at #19, while the USA is at #35.  The reason that Czechia jumped up nine places was the countries response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the stability of the labour market here despite Covid. 

Scandinavia topped the rankings as the countries usually do when it comes to any type of social score.  Europe did well with 16 countries in the top 20, and 13 of them are EU member countries.  New Zealand was the top placed country outside of Europe.  Most advanced economies saw improvements from last year but the USA, France, Portugal, and Greece all saw large declines.

Here are the 2021 rankings...

1. Denmark
2. Norway
3. Sweden
4. Switzerland
5. Finland
6. New Zealand
7. Germany
8. Austria
9. Luxembourg
10. Iceland
11. Canada
12. Ireland
13. Japan
14. Australia
15. Netherlands
16. Estonia
17. France
18. Portugal
19. Czechia
20. Slovenia

26. Slovakia

35. USA

The five lowest rankings belong to #181 Zimbabwe, #182 Nigeria, #183 Afghanistan, #184 Sudan, and #185 Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Dinner For One

Dinner for One, or Der 90. Gerburtstag (The 90th Birthday), is a black-and-white television comedy sketch that was released in 1963.  It was adapted from a British stage skit that was performed by Freddie Frinton and May Warden.

It enjoys cult status in Germany and is shown every year for New Year's.  Since 1995, it is the most frequently repeated television programme in Germany ever.  It is also very popular in Austria and Switzerland, plus in Scandinavia - Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.  Despite coming from the UK, it wasn't broadcast there until 2018.  

What's remarkable about the show is that despite it being broadcast in English, and without subtitles, it is still tremendously popular.  Even Germans who can't speak English will still usually be able to quote lines from the comedy in English. 

The basic premise is that Miss Sophie is celebrating her 90th birthday and, as in every other year, invited her four closest friends.  Unfortunately, she has outlived everyone so her butler, Mr. Winterbottom, gives a toast by proxy.  He gets tipsy and there's a bit of physical comedy.  All in good fun.

Here's a short Meet the Germans video that talks about this cult classic.

©DW Euromaxx

Here's the show which is out on YouTube.

Retro TV

Nutri-Score

When I first moved here I made a comment at work that I was going to get so fat here with this being the land of beer and potatoes.  A friend sniped back with, "but I thought that all Americans were already fat."  Well not quite right but not wrong either.

In 2016, the World Health Organisation put the USA's obesity rate at 33,8%.  Czech Republic was 24,2%.  Czechs have been getting bigger.

In 2019, the five EU countries with the highest percentage of obesity were Croatia, Malta, Czechland, Hungary, and Slovakia.  France has the lowest obesity levels in the EU, followed by the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, and Sweden.  Czechs were had the 3rd highest levels of obscenity in the EU.

Here's where I think that Nutri-Score would be a good thing.  Nutri-Score is a "traffic light system" that ranks food products on a scale from A to E, where A is the best and E is the worst, and it is clearly visible of the front of the food's packaging.  

Food products get a lower rating if there is:

• high energy density per 100 g or per 100 ml
• high sugar content
• high content of saturated fatty acids
• high salt content.

There's a higher rating when:

• contains fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes
• contains fiber
• contains protein
• contains rapeseed, walnut and olive oil

Nutri-Score was founded in France in 2013 and in 2017 the French Health Ministry officially recommended it.  Since then it has rolled out in Belgium, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.  The system has been recommended by the European Commission and the World Health Organization.

So far it's not mandatory across the EU but I'm sure that it will be eventually.  Some companies such as Nestlé and Danone have announced that they will start using Nutri-Score in Portugal, Slovenia, and Austria even though it's not required in those countries.  

Not all countries are onboard with the system.  Poland, Czechland, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, and Romania all oppose it.  Italy believes that the system puts the traditional Mediterranean diet at a disadvantage.  

The Czech Ministry of Agriculture isn't in favour of the system but it will tolerate international labels with Nutri-Score.  The ministry is not in favour of a mandatory front-of-package label and believes that the Nutri-Score formula is too simplistic because it doesn't consider the size of a portion or how food is prepared. 

Nestlé will start using Nutri-Score in Czechland in 2023.  

Here's an interesting video I found out on YouTube where CNN talks about some of the differences between the US and Czech health care systems.  Not exactly Nutri-Score or Obesity related but still kind of fitting.  While the video is at least 12 years old already it's still pretty accurate.

©CNN

Update:  August 2022.  Here's a short TV commercial for Nestle that shows the Nutri-Score label.

©Nestlé Cereálie CZ

Vašek's Birthday Party

On Saturday Vašek had a little birthday celebration at a friend's chata in Jundrov which is a Brno suburb about 15-20 minutes away by bus.

A chata is basically a weekend cottage used by the city folks to get away from the city and to spend some time in the countryside enjoying nature.  Not all cottages are the same.  Some are kind rustic without any electricity or running water while others can be very extravagant.  

The popularity of these weekend cottages dates back to the First Czechoslovak Republic when people first felt the need to get away from the city.  Then during communism it was almost impossible for people to travel outside of the country, except to other communist countries and even then I hear it wasn't exactly easy.  During this time, cottages were the easiest way how to spend your holidays someplace other than at home.

I believe that Czechs rank second in the world, just behind Sweden, for the number of cottages per capita.

I wrote before about the "golden Czech hands."  If I didn't believe it it before then I definitely do now.  Prior to the party starting some of the guys took a cardboard fruit box and screwed it to the ceiling so that it would hold a projector in order for us to have a screen for some karaoke.  I can't believe that it actually worked.

Vašek and Aleš were the only guys I knew.  Vašek warned me that my Czech would get a workout and it did.  I also got to speak German, some English, and even use my now rusty Spanglish.  

There were probably around 30+ people at the party.  People grilled out and there was plenty of liquid courage to enable all of the karaoke.  As this was my first time here I'll spare everyone the painful videos.

Everyone was so nice and I've already been invited back for future events.  I can't wait!

Fingers Crossed

My exams are coming up so "fingers crossed" that I pass.  In English, you put the middle finger across the index finger to "hope for the best", "wish luck" or to just show support.  You usually do it with both hands but one hand will work too.

Of course, when you only use one hand then it could be that you are telling a lie.  But let's focus on wishing luck.

In Czechland and Slovakia you don't cross your fingers.  Držet palce is the equivalent of "fingers crossed" but here it means "to hold your thumbs."  

Držím palce - I'm holding my thumbs

Budu ti držet palce - I will hold my thumbs for you

When I send an SMS (text message) I still have to use the "fingers crossed" emoji because there isn't a "holding thumbs" version.

German speakers also hold their thumbs.  You'll hear drücken die Daumen in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

In Sweden it's hålla tummarna, in Poland it's trzymając kciuki and there are thumb holding equivalents in Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Russia.  Even the Afrikaans speakers in South Africa "hold thumbs tightly" with duim vashou. 

It doesn't matter to me if it's "fingers crossed" or "held thumbs".  At this point I'll take all of the luck that I can get. 

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.

Åland Islands

At the end of the month I'm headed back to Scandinavia and this time I'll visit the Åland Islands.  I swear that I go to places that most people have never heard of.  

The Åland Islands lie halfway between Finland and Sweden.  It's an archipelago of almost 300 habitable islands.  Though only some 80 islands are inhabited.  There are also about 6200 skerries and rocks.  Just under 30.000 people live here with about 90% of the population all living on Fasta Åland.  The capital and largest city is Mariehamn.

Here's the story... 

From the late Middle Ages until 1809 Sweden and Finland were united.  Following the Treaty of Fredrikshamn of 1809, Finland and the Åland Islands were given to the Russian Empire.  After WWI when Finland gained independence, the islands wanted to become a part of Sweden but Finland wouldn't let them go.

In 1921, the League of Nations ruled that the islands would remain under Finland but as an autonomous territory.  The islands are neutral, people here can not be conscripted in to the Finish armed forces and no military troops or installations are allowed on the islands.  The islands have the right to maintain the Swedish language, their culture and local traditions.  Fun fact...this was the first international agreement that the League of Nations ever achieved.

In Finnish it's called Ahvenanmaan maakunta and in Swedish it's Landskapet Åland but Swedish is the only official language here.  So I'm going to a part of Finland where no one actually speaks Finnish.  They have their own parliament, flag, and police force.  The Åland Islands are even an associate member of the Nordic Council.  Since 1984 they've been issuing their own postage stamps so I'll be sure to send out some postcards while I'm there.

2019 Sustainable Development Report

The results of the 2019 Sustainable Development Report are in and Czechland is ranked as the world's 7th most developed country.

This is a UN initiative, in its fourth year, that looks at 17 key criteria for sustainable development.  Some of the criteria include eliminating poverty and hunger, establishing quality education, access to clean water and sanitation, and promoting responsible consumption and production.

The report ranked 162 countries and the top 10 are all in Europe, with Scandinavian countries ranked the highest.

1. Denmark
2. Sweden
3. Finland
4. France
5. Austria
6. Germany
7. Czech Republic
8. Norway
9. Netherlands
10. Estonia

New Zealand came in 11th and is the highest ranked non-European country.  The USA came in 35th.