Is There Such a Thing as Healthy Nationalism? Analyst Examines Nicușor Dan’s Speech: “Democracy Cannot Exist Without It”

Nicușor Dan’s call for patriotism has opened a broader Romanian debate: can nationalism be balanced and constructive, or is nationalism itself a sign of political backwardness? The president’s speech at the opening ceremony of the International Meeting of Orthodox Youth at the National Cathedral drew both praise and criticism from political leaders and public figures.

Political scientist Ștefan Popescu argues that the debate should focus on the substance of the speech. In his view, patriotism means loyalty to the Romanian state, economic patriotism and care for national symbols. Even when those symbols emerged through historical construction, he said, people at both elite and popular levels paid a price and believed in them.

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Democracy cannot exist without it.

Popescu says Romania has spent 36 years dismantling the national idea, sometimes for understandable reasons but also with characteristic excesses. He believes the country should now enter a period of calm, particularly as the international and European order undergoes major realignment. For a country located in a zone of contact, he said, internal consolidation is its only chance. That consolidation cannot rely solely on economic projects or better governance. It also needs a distinctly national substance.

The analyst points to young people’s sensitivity to national traditions as a positive sign, whether or not they are involved in a political project. At the same time, he says the president and his advisers could be questioned about whether the language of “healthy nationalism” conceals a political plan. The possibility of a new presidential party based on conservative values remains part of the controversy surrounding the speech.

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The only chance for a country like Romania, located in a zone of contact, is internal consolidation.