Stolen Art Hampers Ukraine's EU Progress

A bizarre episode involving two dozen stolen paintings by old Dutch masters shows how far Ukraine still has to go before it becomes a European nation -- and explains why many Dutch people have misgivings about ratifying Ukraine's association agreement with the European Union.

The Westfries Museum in the idyllic Dutch town of Hoorn was robbed in 2005. The thieves took some old silverware and 24 17th-century paintings by relatively little-known but accomplished artists: Jacob Waben, Floris van Schooten, Steven van Duyven, Jan Linsen. Some hold the eye even in reproduction: Waben's lusty "Vanity," depicting a wealthy lecher making a pass at a young coquette, or Henrik Savrij's pastoral landscape with grazing cows and a distant town. The museum put the value of the stolen art at 10 million euros. "The heart of our collection is gone," a museum spokesman lamented.