The director of the Institute for the History of Religions, Eugen Ciurtin, argues that President Nicușor Dan committed a “misstep” when he spoke about the need for a “healthy nationalism” in the public sphere: “He does not seem to read”

Eugen Ciurtin, director of the Institute for the History of Religions of the Romanian Academy, criticized President Nicușor Dan for his statements about the need for a “healthy nationalism” in the public sphere. The historian argued on Sunday, on Digi24, that the head of state’s statement ventures into the territory of forms of nationalism that have already reached an extreme in Romania.

Ciurtin said that the presidential speech delivered at the National Cathedral raises concerns in the context of an insufficiently acknowledged and analyzed historical past. He stated that politicians and public figures do not appear to read enough and that “fantasies” about national history circulate in the public sphere.

“The first thing that needs to be said is precisely this: that often, at the highest level and, here, coming from civil society, including President Dan, it does not seem that he reads; Romanian politicians, public figures in contemporary Romania do not seem to engage in reading. More seriously, they do not encourage it and appear to be addressing communities that themselves do not engage in reading,” Ciurtin said.

The historian particularly criticized the use of the phrase “healthy nationalism,” which the president associated with an appreciation of the country’s past. In his view, Romania cannot speak about this past without taking into account the decades of dictatorship, which he considers still insufficiently known and acknowledged.

Nicușor Dan made the statements on September 1, at the opening ceremony of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth, organized by the Romanian Orthodox Church. The president said that the public sphere is dominated both by defeatists and by demagogues and called for a greater appreciation of the national past and for a “healthy nationalism.”