Nordic leaders lashed on response

[uppityperson]

"Correspondents in Stockholm and London
January 01, 2005
SCANDINAVIANS have reacted angrily to their governments' initial lax response to the tsunami disaster as hopes dimmed yesterday for 5000 foreign tourists, mostly Europeans, still missing.

Swedish media said as many as 4000 Swedes could be missing as the official 1500 figure - which includes more than 400 children - seemed to be based only on charter tours, without backpackers or those on scheduled flights.

Newspapers across the Nordic region fired off editorials accusing their leaders of being too slow to respond to the initial disaster and to demand help be sent to their countrymen. Swedish tabloids were the harshest government critics. "She went to the theatre," said Aftonbladet, referring to Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds, saying she waited 30 hours after the initial disaster report to go to her office."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11824691%5E2703,00.html

[cliss]

1. Swedes are angry....

and rightly so. It seems that the Swedish foreign ministry was asleep at the wheel - for up to 4 days. They didn't do much of anything, and complained that it happened during a bad time of year - they were busy with the Xmas holiday.

However, the Norwegian government got their people out quickly and did a good job - so did the Italians. The Swedish government, unfortunately, doesn't place such a high value on its people.

[Lena]

2. Swees/Norwegians

Swedish and Norske folks have always fought ammost themselves, I think according to forefathers.

Haven't you ever heard the the joke, 1,000 Swedes chased through the weeds, just by 1 Norwegian?

Lotsa jokes about that!

[cliss]

4. heh I guess the grass is always

greener on the other side.

Anyway, no I haven't heard that joke. I think each side has their own "Norwegian/Swedish" jokes. They tell the same jokes, they just replace the Norwegian/Swedish person to fit the joke!

[salin]

3. I have just learned, via relative Christmas cards, that I have several

Norwegian relatives who were scheduled to be in the area. One was finishing her teacher training in Sri Lanka starting in January (did she go early? we don't yet know); another was taking his family on a two week "Christmas Holiday" to the region starting in Thailand.

We will be calling different families in Norway tomorrow. Didn't know until late today that we had relatives who might have been in harms way.