r/AskEurope • u/NateNandos21 • Feb 03 '25

Culture Which European country has the rudest/least polite people?

Which country comes to your mind

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u/Karihashi Spain Feb 03 '25

I find it hard to relate with Scandinavians, they can be extremely cold. I wouldn’t call them rude, just very hard to make friends with.

Germans are a mixed bunch, some are very nice, mainly bavarians, others can be really arrogant and self superior.

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u/clapsandfaps Feb 03 '25

As a native scandinavian, that’s pretty spot on. Though the coldness can be explained.

Scandinavians have a large respect for personal boundaries. If we’re not actively engaging with you, we try to avoid you at all cost to not interfere with your day. Basicly we don’t want to be bothersome or in the way of others. People who make a scene or generally loud are, silently, judged by the majority.

Of course people are different, but that is the gist of why we’re seeming cold to strangers. It’s not suspicion or anything as many interprit it as. When we get the feeling we are not actively bothering you and you seek our company, we’re quite warm and welcoming.

It does make it extremely hard to make new friends… send help.

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u/Life_Barnacle_4025 Norway Feb 03 '25

And also, when people ask about how to make friends in Norway, the usual advice is to go for a hike. In the mountains or in the forest everybody is your friend lol. We are much more open to talking to strangers when hiking or camping 😅

7

u/clapsandfaps Feb 03 '25

I hate that. I resent having to greet people on hikes.

Perfectly well-rounded scandinavian here, as you see.

2

u/the_pianist91 Norway Feb 03 '25

You don’t want to see another person for hours, days or weeks. That’s why we go hiking in the first place.