Midsummer in Sigtuna
Midsummer is the most important holiday in Sweden and Denmark, after Christmas. Anyone who has experienced the darkness of the Scandinavian Winter can appreciate the desire to celebrate the light of Summer.
Yet every year, it seems, the European Union holds a summit at Midsummer. Yet there’s never such a meeting on July 14. It seems France’s Bastille Day is held in higher esteem than Scandinavia’s big day.
But not this year. In 2015 there’s no Midsummer summit. Yet one wonders if perhaps this is because the holiday coincides with the Belgians and British, and to a lesser extent the France and Germans, marking the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo? Rather than getting dragged off to Brussels, people are holding ceremonies in Flanders and London, and Scandinavian leaders can stay home for once and celebrate this major holiday.
But does this mark a turning point in sensitivity for small nations, or is it just a one off? Next year will Scandinavian leaders once again have to forgo their Midsummer celebrations and get dragged off to Brussels?