People say lots of silly things when they are desperate. Alan Hill, a general manager of Gabriel Resources and Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, is probably desperate. Last Thursday his company's shares collapsed 44% in the Toronto Stock Exchange, after the Romanian Ministry of Environment had suspended the procedures to authorize the controversial mining project in Maramures, Romania. The Canadian investor came up with a statement that has opened way for complex media counteroffensive. He expressed amazing, incredibly funny accusations. He claimed those opposing the project were hand in hand with the Hungarians. He called the Soros Foundation a servant of Budapest. He indirectly "reproached" Attila Korodi, the new environment minister, for "breaking the law" because of being Magyar. An astonishing speech delivered in Romania in 2007, a speech typical of Gheorghe Funar's golden years! But the thing is that Gheorghe Funar himself is opposing the idea of a mining project that uses cyanide and he wants to ban such things in the entire Romania. Is he a secret irredentist by any chance? I find it hard to believe. In Romania the Magyar scarecrow produced by Gabriel Resources has got only laughter as response. Mentalities have changed to a certain extent and, fortunately, public opinion no longer gets hot every time some lunatic cries out that the Hungarians want to take Transylvania away from us (or, as they cry out now, "to steal our gold"). Even the politicians have got to avoid such rhetoric, which is disqualifying in the civilized states' club. But it seems Alan Hill doesn't take Romania for a civilized country. I doubt that in Germany, France or Canada he would have afforded to promote his interests by speculating on interethnic tensions. His arrogant presentation of his own project as the only possible solution to "save" a marginalized region is also insulting. The idea is that, without his investments, the locals in Maramures are doomed to starve to death and the eagles are already there. If you read his statements, you can feel he is speaking about some wrecked African state, but not about a region that is part of the European union. Not for a minute has Alan Hill thought about a possibility such as being disallowed to proceed with the Rosia Montana project, which reminds me about the Third World. He hasn't considered such a possibility, although "public debates" are a compulsory stage in the authorization process. He took them for a mere convention, obviously. And he has neither thought about Romanians' right to decide to ban cyanide as extraction procedure. The Papuans' wish doesn't matter, since there are tribe chiefs one can buy at any time with some small mirror and a few beads? It is the first time that the Canadian investor seems to become aware that he can miss the golden mountains in Rosia Montana. And he has threatened this would do severe harm to "Romania's image in the world", an image Alan Hill is already busy working on, as proved by a recent article published by the Canadian Press agency. Apart from the already known accusations against Bucharest authorities, Gabriel the manager has also provided a sensational example of logic: Rosia Montana is an ecological disaster already because two thirds of the houses in the region lack toilets and sewerage. In other words, a full scoop is as dangerous as a cyanide tank! The article many publications on the other side of the Ocean have already quoted is amazing indeed, which is not due to Alan Hill's enflaming statements, but because it only provides the point of view expressed by Gabriel Resources. Since it is supposed to be an impersonal piece of news for a news agency, this is unacceptable. Still Alan Hill isn't probably the only one who thinks Romania is an embarrassing state of the Third World. And the Papuans don't ask for their right to reply.

Miruna MUNTEANU