I have tried to follow the development in Europe in relation to the plans of Sweden for some time. Lately there was a redevelopment of the federal European idea with the Europact that Angela Merkel got together with Nicholas Sarkozy and that Great Britain turned down.
The conclusion so far from available data in the media is that the Swedish elite is fairly Germany directed, the bulk of Swedish trade goes to Germany which also involves the business community, and EU directed whereas the population at large in Sweden is not. The people of Sweden seems to be more Swedish than European.
On the other hand, English is the first foreign language taught in Swedish schools and according to an article in Svenska Dagbladet today Great Britain and the United states takes most Swedish students of all countries in the world, 5068 and 5035, respectively. Europe as a whole takes 16,337 students, North America takes 5542. Only 948 go to Germany which could be compared with Australia with 1554. China and Japan receives 484 and 655, respectively. Insignificant amounts go to South American and Africa.
Language orientation wise Sweden is heading to AngloAmerica but in sheer numbers the Swedes visit the different European countries which should comfort the Swedish elite even if. It is a pity that the major European countries Germany and France are resistant about the English language. If not we could have formed a true Western civilization with this language. One question is if Europe is going to shift to German as a second language? My guess is that an invisible hand might actually accomplish this via the elite as well as a unification and political integration of Europe. However, this will have to happen against the intentions of the so called people.
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