voicing their views on these countries about which we only know from headlines and maybe travel logs on TV.
Very well written and understood Schattentarn...I have lived now in Europe since 1978, worked with people from many nations and married a full blood Hungarian.
Hungary was "sold" to hitler by a nazi president and suffered terribly in WWII. My wifes uncles had to hide for years in the fields and woods of the new Yugoslavia and the serbian partisans murdered tens of thousands Hungarians in the decade following the war.
My BIL from my wifes sister, was carried to Germany from the Sudetenland (Chech) as a baby and was forced into a German house-hold by the politicians, making him unwanted and unloved by the Germans left over from the war and not having enough to wear, eat and live on themselves. Firsthand hatred.
Poland ceased to exist with hitler and stalin...after being re-created in 1945, they became absolutely brutal with anyone connected to germany. Chased them on the streets and beat them to death. Nobody is more nationalistic as a Pole. Even today, you cannot advertise anything there in any language except Polish. Fines of up to $50,000 if you use a single word in an advertisement that is not Polish.
The Romanians are also very nationalistic as are the Bulgarians. At the moment, half of Romania is ex-Hungary, taken away after WWII. And they want to become a part of the real Hungary again.
The Ukrainian story is nearly the same, but the dialect is different from true Russian. They are also suffering from bad corruption, doubling of gas and electricty costs by the Hunter Biden crap. Money being laundered in Latvia by the mafia like bosses in Gov't and big companies. And now the Crimea crisis and being threatened by Russia and Nato expansionism. NO, the Ukraine may not be perfectly innocent, but by far less than Russia and its giving many Russian passports out to Crimeans who asked for them. That is making it easier to "protect Russian citizens" by Putin...
Too much political crap, too much old history and too many hot headed persons around the core of the problem wanting a piece of the action...
Another sad mistake of proud people and stupid people against each other. Half of every war is carried by each of the "warriors" involved...Gary