北歐

繼東歐之後,第二個受到俄烏戰爭嚴重影響的區域非北歐莫屬。不過這個北歐可能跟我們傳統聽到的北歐五國不太一樣,在聯合國的標準編碼下,波羅的海三國、英國和愛爾蘭也被納入北歐範圍,總共10個國家。
俄烏戰爭幾乎影響了整個北歐。普丁原本想阻止北約東擴,反而成了北風,逼得芬蘭和瑞典火速申請加入北約。波羅的海三國立陶宛、愛沙尼亞和拉脫維亞則成為北約對抗俄羅斯的最前線,北約各國紛紛將部隊調派至這三個國家鞏固防線。除此之外,波羅的海三國也提供大量捐款給烏克蘭,並張開雙臂歡迎烏克蘭難民。而挪威雖不在最前線,但它的豐富天然氣讓其他北歐國家無後顧之憂,不必擔心被俄羅斯斷氣。
至於英國,一直以來都強力支持烏克蘭。但英國自己有很多問題待解決,包含脫歐之後所有雙邊貿易都要重談,他們的內政也面臨許多考驗。先別說了,英國首相強森剛辭職,我要去看看誰當接班人了。(文稿完成前一天強森宣布辭職)
We are about to enter a region featuring a rich history of navigation, magnificent glaciers and lakes and one which is known for elegant and minimalistic design brands. Traditionally, textbooks of Taiwan only list five countries in this region. However, UN M49 (Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use) also assigns three Baltic States, the United Kingdom and Ireland, to Northern Europe. Want to give Northern Europe a label? "The immaculate model region" would probably do. The top five countries in the UN World Happiness Report are all Northern European countries and the Nordic states took up half of the places among the top 15 states on the Human Development Index. Be it economic development, human rights, social welfare, or environmental protection, Nordic countries come second to none.
However, this does not mean that Northern Europe is an Eden. Heavy taxation supports stellar social welfare programs, but also keeps investors and businesses at arm’s length. Some people are also upset by the fact that refugees keep coming from the south to take advantage of their generous social welfare system. The rise of far-right or populism groups and the inefficiency of coalition governments are the primary issues that Nordic countries have to deal with.