The Swedes and the Finns have a long history together. Russians, much less so (bloody more often than not).
In the old days of Kings in Sweden (when they actually had decision power), Finnish berserkers were frequently employed as bodyguards, often because their loyalty and rage was considered to be a benefit, along with their anti-social (by Swedish standards) proclivities that would make them hard to influence.
Cultural contact between the two has gone on a long time.
That's why Finland has Swedish as a second language and not Russian.
Russia didn't help it's image in the eyes of the Finnish people with the Winter War, of course.
I wouldn't expect Finland to fall in with Russia or be cowed. Nor would I expect Finlandia to have a permanent fallout with Sweden.
Swedish, like German, isn't that hard to pick up if you already speak English. If you can speak German, you can definitely learn to speak Swedish.
In the old days of Kings in Sweden (when they actually had decision power), Finnish berserkers were frequently employed as bodyguards, often because their loyalty and rage was considered to be a benefit, along with their anti-social (by Swedish standards) proclivities that would make them hard to influence.
Cultural contact between the two has gone on a long time.
That's why Finland has Swedish as a second language and not Russian.
Russia didn't help it's image in the eyes of the Finnish people with the Winter War, of course.
I wouldn't expect Finland to fall in with Russia or be cowed. Nor would I expect Finlandia to have a permanent fallout with Sweden.
Swedish, like German, isn't that hard to pick up if you already speak English. If you can speak German, you can definitely learn to speak Swedish.
Slave to the Patriarchy no more
