Diamond necklace stolen from Vienna museum; suspect drew gun

Vienna police are hunting two men who brazenly stole a diamond necklace from the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) on Thursday. The incident, initially described as a "theft of art" by some media, is now being investigated as "robbery" by authorities, a charge that carries a prison sentence of six months to five years.

The MAK director, Lilli Hollein, asserted that the museum maintained high security standards. However, the daring nature of the heist, which involved one of the perpetrators drawing a handgun during their escape, suggests otherwise. The stolen item is a platinum necklace set with 673 diamonds, totaling 200 carats. It was famously worn by Egyptian Queen Nazli in 1939 at her daughter's wedding.

Authorities are circulating photos of the suspects, obtained from surveillance cameras, and are conducting a national and international manhunt. The two slender men, described as one around 30 and the other between 40 and 50 years old, blended in with museum visitors before smashing the display case with a hammer. The necklace was previously valued at $4.3 million at a Sotheby's auction ten years ago.

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I believe that everyone will see negotiations begin very soon. But these will mainly concern technical issues and preparations for something significant, which I hope we will eventually arrive at.