Like IKEA, but more of it

Sweden is responsible for a quarter of foreign investment in Lithuania, and it shows. SEB and Swedbank are two of the three largest banks (the third being DNB, a Norwegian outfit). TeliaSonera owns the largest fixed operator Teo and mobile operator Omnitel – which yesterday it announced would become one company next year. And they compete against Tele2, another Swedish marque. There are a disproportionate number of Volvos driving on the streets, and Swedish supermarket giant ICA is behind Rimi, one of the three big supermarket chains in Lithuania. And that’s on top of the usual Hennes & Mauritz and IKEA hegemony on high streets across the world. Needless to say, Sweden is usually showered in points by Lithuania in the Eurovision song contest. Add to that the opening of Nordbalt, Lithuania’s 700 megawatt submarine power cable connected to Nybro in Sweden, later this year, and it’s no wonder the Swedish royals are here to ride the tide of love for all things Swedish. The king and queen are here this week, with a whole list of events to grace with their presence, and a slight increase in the pitch of Swed-love in the country. Funny then, that there are only 61 Swedes registered in Lithuania – about the same as Ghana and Guatemala. Whatever the numbers say, Vilnius was ready to welcome the royals with an electric-blue sky on the momentous occasion, which in the right place, at the right angle, combined with blazing yellow autumn forests or strategically painted warehouses to wave the Swedish flag.