The debate over the theft of the Dacian treasure from the Dutch Drents museum has slid in the worst direction, that of a whiny, frustrated nationalism sprinkled with nonsense.
For example, the hypothesis is circulated on forums that the treasure would have paid for our entry into Schengen. How exactly? The exhibits have immense value if they can be displayed, something no museum in the Netherlands can do as long as they are stolen. If melted, the gold is worth up to one hundred thousand euros. Cheap Schengen, what can I say!
The hysteria was fueled by Marcel Ciolacu himself, who announced that we will demand record compensation from the Dutch side and emphasized a provincial victimization: what would have happened to us if they were stolen from us?
Indeed, what would have happened to us? What happened after three Romanians stole 7 extremely valuable paintings from the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam, of which only one was recovered, the rest apparently being burned in a fireplace?
Minister Intotero, good at both Family and Culture, wherever there is a need for indignant incompetence, suggested sending copies, not originals, to foreign exhibitions. The truth is that in a country of plagiarism, this can only be a wonderful idea. Surely there will be a crowd to see gilded board. But it's better not to send anything, as even the Mona Lisa doesn't leave the Louvre, right? Tourists will queue up for Romanian culture in museums from the last century.
I see in hysterical television studios the call for Romanian police to simply descend, uninvited, into the Dutch police investigation, because we are victims, we have the right, and we don't trust those Dutch people. Are we free Dacians or not anymore?
If Secretary of State Despescu and IGPR Chief Matei had taken the matter into their hands as free Dacians, the thieves would have been in trouble, just like the pensioner who stabbed 2 people while the police guarded the block's door. However, left to their own devices like fools, the Dutch have already made three arrests. Despescu's spirit enlightened them, otherwise I can't explain it.
It is absolutely embarrassing to see Despescu and Matei appear on TV in the evening to tell us in a distorted Romanian that they exchanged information with the Dutch "including on their own initiative," that no thief is Romanian, and that the General Prosecutor's Office has opened a theft case. Unbelievable!
In the Netherlands, even the Prosecutor General Florența made her presence felt and posed for a photo. She went to look for the helmet. Undoubtedly, she will come back wearing it on her forehead like a Burebista of the PICCJ.
The Director of the History Museum was dismissed solely to throw to the thirsty crowd for culture a scapegoat. Maybe Mr. Târnoveanu is guilty, maybe he made a mistake. But until the moment of his dismissal, there was no concrete, substantiated accusation.
What more should he have personally done and didn't do? Was the contract according to international standards insufficient, should he have personally verified and didn't? What exactly, concretely, did Mr. Târnoveanu do wrong or not do well, besides the capital sin that his name is Oberländer, which no free Dacian can bear, and the terrible circumstance that he was decorated by President Iohannis.
All this nonsense is of course exploited by Călin Georgescu, who, with a tone of doom and a deliriously profound sense of his own importance, proclaimed an attack on national identity and the nation's disintegration in the absence of the helmet. And he asked the Finance Minister to open an account for Romanians to contribute one euro each to gather the necessary ransom for the recovery of the treasure.
I really wish Mr. Tanczos Barna could open such an account, although obviously it has no legal basis. Just to see how strong the attachment to national values is beyond politicized hysteria.
Let me remind you that in 2016, the Cioloș Government initiated a public collection for the Romanian state to buy Brâncuși's sculpture "Cumințenia pământului," a bit more recent than the helmet, admittedly. They needed to raise 6 out of the 11 million euros requested by the owners of the artwork. In 6 months, Romanians donated 1.2 million euros, 20%.
How much money do you think would be raised for the Dacian treasure from those now on the brink of nationalist apoplexy?
It would be interesting to know how many of those writhing in pain actually care about national heritage. If some relics were stolen, yes, I would have believed that souls were torn, but for museum pieces, no.
If they were to personally cash in, many wouldn't hesitate to sell it, and if they had to defend their country in war, they'd flee at the first sight of it. They don't even make an effort to keep it clean, they pollute it in all ways, they violate its language.
But they adore nationalist ecstasy, whining, and victimization. Between two sausages, a beer, and a sad song, we cry that our treasure was stolen.
But oh, disaster! - another treasure, much larger, of Romania was stolen by the Russians. Probably a part of it no longer exists. What doesn't seem to bother Georgescu's patriots' army enlightened by Russian wisdom.
About that treasure, I haven't heard any lamentations, its theft wasn't an attack on national identity, and I notice that the nation hasn't disintegrated without it. Only the disappearance of the helmet tears our identity apart.