Why did Lithuanians stay quiet during the crisis and why Greeks don’t

Lithuanians in general are not into public protests

Today I was interviewed by a colleague journalist based in Latvia Talis Saule Archdeacon. He is writing a piece about what Greece can learn from the Baltics in dealing with their crisis for AP.

Not sure if I gave him the right perspective from Lithuania but here are some thoughts I shared with him and he seemed quite happy with them.

First of the differences between us and the Greeks is that Lithuanians in general are much less emotional nation than those living in South of Balkan peninsula.

My second insight was that during Soviet times Lithuanians learned to complain about governments in small groups of friends and families, but not in public. During the Soviet period it was dangerous, so till now Lithuanians just complain about their politicians while sitting at home with their friends and family, but not so much publicly. If they do it publicly, then they do it on news portals commenting articles anonymously. So more or less in the same hidden manner.

The other reason which could explain why Lithuanians did not go rallying as much (or almost not at all) as Greeks did and do, could be because we don’t have strong labour unions who could lead people, organize protests etc. Our labour unions are driven by different interests and ambitions.

Also Lithuanians already know what they need to do if things get tough at home – leave. The numbers of those emigrating went up during this crisis. Lithuanians left where they could get jobs and salaries. And this, in my opinion, had a good influence in the short term. These people not just took tension from Lithuanian labour market (even if unemployment became one of the main issues, but still not as big as it could be), but they also financially support their families and relatives who stayed at home. During the first 4 months of this year emigrants transferred 995 mln. Litas to Lithuania – that is 410 mln Litas more than last year during the same period. And it’s almost as much as Lithuania got from EU funds – during the same period EU supported us by 1,2 billion Litas.

I think that in some way being silent enough helped us and our government to deal with this crisis quite well. And on the other hand I agreed with Talis, that yes Greeks are more spoiled than us, our people (at least a larger part of them) still remember difficult Soviet times and not easy first years of Independence (with Russian pressure, including the economical blockade etc.). Lithuanians did not have the opportunity to become accustomed to the good life, like for example the Irish did. We had a very short period of the good life and even then it was not as good as in Ireland. So, I presume, this crisis was less shocking for us.

Lithuanians rush to Germany? True or false

Lithuanian media keeps on reporting that loads of Lithuanians decided to leave their homeland and are heading to Germany, after this country together with Austria lifted all bans for new EU members citizens (except Romania and Bulgaria who joined the club later) to work there. According to Lithuanian media since the ban was lifted on May 1st 2011, Lithuanians immediately rushed to the largest European economy in hope of finding a job and starting a better life than at home. These hopes have a solid ground – it was reported that in first quarter of 2011 the growth of Germany’s economy was 1.5% and it’s the best result in all Eurozone. Plus, this country has much smaller unemployment rate than Lithuania and it keeps on falling recently. Besides traditionally Germany is quite well known for Lithuanians, that’s not a new land where they would experience huge differences from their homeland. The only barrier is language. But, also according to Lithuanian media reports – German language courses became extremely popular during the last few months.

So, the other day I was flying from Vilnius to Berlin and surprisingly the plane was just hardly half full. Plus, most of the passengers seemed to be business people, but not those who are going to work in Germany’s constructions, farms or services. Estonian is the only carrier which has direct flights from Lithuania to the German capital. So I tried to find my own explanations for this situation – Lithuanian media telling that Lithuanians are rushing to Germany and just less than half full plane flying there from Vilnius.

It could be that Lithuanian media is overreacting. This happens often and not only in Lithuania. It might also be that those who choose to emigrate to Germany find other ways to get there – coaches (as it’s cheaper) and cars (more things to carry together). The other reason might be – Vilnius is almost the only place in Lithuania from where people are not so keen to emigrate, so those who are heading to Germany for work are most likely not from the Lithuanian capital. Besides, Berlin might be not such a big attraction for those looking for work in Germany (even if it’s cheaper to live there) as it has the largest number of unemployed people in the country. So they chose choose other flights to other cities – Frankfurt and Bremen is also reachable by direct flights from Lithuania. There is also a ferry going from Klaipėda to Kiel daily.

Not sure which of these reasons is most likely to explain why Estonian Air flight from Vilnius to Berlin was less than half full. Maybe all of the reasons or maybe there is something I did not mention just because it did not occur to my mind. So your thoughts are more than welcome.

P.s. On my way back to Vilnius there were 22 passengers in a plane. Including me. I remember once I was flying from Tallinn to Vilnius with Estonian Air and on that flight there were just 2 passengers - me and one more. Felt like flying with my private jet. And coming back to Berlin, Estonians stop flying there. But Skyways announced that they start flying to German capital. Tickets are even more expensive than they were at Estonian Air. (added May 31, 2011)