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Norway plans to give Finland a mountain for its birthday

This is, quite literally, very cool

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/norway-finland-move-mountain-halti-halditsohkka-highest-peak

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Reply 1
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Dez
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That's a present that'll be hard to top.
Reply 2
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Doones
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Original post by Dez
That's a present that'll be hard to top.



:clap2:
That's jolly nice of them.
Reply 4
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Airmed
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:awesome:
Why would a country ever give up any territory?
Original post by TercioOfParma
Why would a country ever give up any territory?


"But moving the border barely 40 metres further up the mountainside..."

Hardly significant. The gesture is probably worth more than that patch of rock.
Reply 7
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Doones
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Original post by TercioOfParma
Why would a country ever give up any territory?


You are making a mountain out of a molehill.
Giving up territory such as this mountain is an insult to the Norwegian people. They'll never get over it.
...why would a nation-state give away geography to its neighbour free of charge? that would result in an objective loss for the citizens of that nation - norway shouldn't elect leaders that objectively damage their citizens' interests.
Reply 10
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Original post by Duncan2012
Giving up territory such as this mountain is an insult to the Norwegian people. They'll never get over it.


Unless they have crampons and ropes.
Reply 11
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Original post by sleepysnooze
...why would a nation-state give away geography to its neighbour free of charge? that would result in an objective loss for the citizens of that nation - norway shouldn't elect leaders that objectively damage their citizens' interests.


Why does it damage their interests? It's an arbitrary line that they want to move very slightly. Leaders are elected to show leadership and think outside the box... or line in this case.
That's really cute:h:

I don't get why some people are being negative about it, maybe they're just jealous that they never got a mountain for their birthday:tongue:
Aaw. Scandanavia is just the best.

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Original post by sleepysnooze
...why would a nation-state give away geography to its neighbour free of charge? that would result in an objective loss for the citizens of that nation - norway shouldn't elect leaders that objectively damage their citizens' interests.


I'm sure the abominable snowman's tax contributions will be sorely missed.
If they are just moving their border back a little doesn't that mean it's technically unclaimed land until Finland officially claim it ?

Could I get their first and start my own country ?
Original post by jneill
Why does it damage their interests? It's an arbitrary line that they want to move very slightly. Leaders are elected to show leadership and think outside the box... or line in this case.


whether or not it's arbitrary isn't important - the goal of a state should never be to inflict losses upon itself, whether tiny or huge- that's not good governance, surely? how is it good governance to surrender a part of your nation's land?
Reply 17
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Original post by sleepysnooze
whether or not it's arbitrary isn't important - the goal of a state should never be to inflict losses upon itself, whether tiny or huge- that's not good governance, surely? how is it good governance to surrender a part of your nation's land?


Aww, you ok? You just seem a little curmudgeonly these days.
Original post by jneill
Aww, you ok? You just seem a little curmudgeonly these days.


I'm fine, I'm obviously just saying that, whatever country it happens to be, it's obviously not good statecraft to have a policy where you're losing resources (in whatever form) because whether it's an insignificant loss or not, it's not any kind of gain either - simply a loss for a loss's sake, right? - am I allowed to say that without seeming "curmudgeonly"? is it un-curmudgeonly to say that countries should give other countries undeserved free-****? I don't know...I'm just saying that even if countries are good allies, they shouldn't have to prove it via give-outs - if they're good allies with a good history of co-operation then they shouldn't need to even do something like that, nor feel the pressure to do it
Reply 19
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Original post by sleepysnooze
I'm fine, I'm obviously just saying that, whatever country it happens to be, it's obviously not good statecraft to have a policy where you're losing resources (in whatever form) because whether it's an insignificant loss or not, it's not any kind of gain either - simply a loss for a loss's sake, right? - am I allowed to say that without seeming "curmudgeonly"? is it un-curmudgeonly to say that countries should give other countries undeserved free-****? I don't know...I'm just saying that even if countries are good allies, they shouldn't have to prove it via give-outs - if they're good allies with a good history of co-operation then they shouldn't need to even do something like that, nor feel the pressure to do it


It's quite simply a nice gesture. And they will gain a lot from it in goodwill from Finland and the interwebs.

Norway sends us a huge Christmas tree every year, losing resources in the process. Is that not good statecraft?

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