#Disputed Ukrainian Treasures Returned to Kyiv After Dutch Court Ruling

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Disputed Ukrainian Treasures Returned to Kyiv After Dutch Court Ruling

A haul of Ukrainian treasures sent to Europe for an exhibition nearly 10 years ago have been returned to Kyiv from the Netherlands after a lengthy legal battle.

The collection of ancient artifacts was dispatched to the Netherlands from four museums in Crimea before Russia’s annexation of the region in 2014. But the annexation meant their return has not been straightforward.

“After almost 10 years of litigation, artifacts from four Crimean museums that were presented at the exhibition ‘Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea’ in Amsterdam have returned to Ukraine,” the National Museum of History of Ukraine said in a statement.

The collection comprised 565 items, including antique sculptures, Scythian and Sarmatian jewelry, and Chinese lacquer boxes that are 2,000 years old, the museum said.

Rostyslav Karandieiev, Ukraine’s acting minister of culture and information policy, described the treasures’ homecoming as “our great historical victory.”

“It is very important for us to save and protect our history, traditions, and heritage. This is what we are fighting for at the battlefield. We are fighting for our identity and freedom,” he said.

“The exhibition in the Netherlands was showing the history of Ukrainian Crimea, therefore it is exclusively the people of Ukraine who should possess these treasures,” he added.

In a statement published on its website, the Allard Pierson museum in Amsterdam confirmed that the collection had been kept in storage while the legal dispute raged on over whether items should be returned to Ukraine or the four museums in Russian-controlled Crimea, with both sides claiming ownership rights over the historic pieces.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled on June 9 of this year that the collection should be returned to Kyiv.

In its statement, the Allard Pierson museum went on to say that the items were “independently checked and carefully packed in accordance with museum rules” last month and arrived back in Kyiv on Sunday.

Els van der Plas, director of the museum, said in the statement: “This was a special case, in which cultural heritage became a victim of geopolitical developments. After it became clear in 2014 that the judge would consider the case, we focused on safely storing the artefacts until the time came to return them to their rightful owner. We are pleased that clarity has emerged and that they have now been returned.”

Welcoming the development, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said in a statement: “Until the de-occupation of Crimea, the ‘Scythian Gold’ will be temporarily stored on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.”

By Maria Kostenko, Victoria Butenko and Lianne Kolirin.

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AMSTERDAM, June 9 (Reuters) - Ancient Crimean gold artefacts that were on show abroad should be returned to Ukraine, and not to Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled on Friday, ending a long and bitter tussle over the treasures. More than a thousand ancient objects, including a solid gold Scythian helmet and a golden neck ornament from Crimea were on loan to Amsterdam's Allard Pierson museum when Moscow seized the peninsula from Ukraine. When the exhibition ended, both Ukraine and the museums in the now Russian-controlled territory said they had rights to the artefacts and claimed them. Unsure what to do, the Dutch museum kept the works in storage pending a final legal decision. "This decision ends this dispute. The Allard Pierson museum must return these artistic treasures to the State of Ukraine and not to the museums in Crimea," Friday's ruling said, upholding the decision of a lower court in 2021. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the decision an example of Dutch "leadership in the protection of international law". In a tweet he thanked Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the planned return of the "Scythian Gold".

The museums that lent the works had argued that the terms of their loan had been violated and that archaeological artefacts recovered from Crimean soil belong there, regardless of politics.

Ukraine, which views Crimea as its territory, argued the works are part of its heritage and must be kept safe during its conflict with Russia, which exploded into all-out war after Russia's full-scale invasion in February last year.

The U.N., the European Union and the Netherlands all recognise the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine in its pre-2014 borders.

Lower courts in the Netherlands found in 2016 and 2021 that the pieces should be returned to Ukraine.

The appeals court decision in 2021 noted that by order of the Ukrainian culture ministry, the artefacts will be held at the National Historical Museum in Kyiv "until the situation in Crimea has stabilized".

The 2021 decision "struck a fair balance between infringing on the rights of the museums and the interests of the State of Ukraine in protecting its cultural heritage," the Dutch Supreme Court said.

The Allard Pierson museum said on Friday it "can now act in accordance with the ruling of the Supreme Court" and deliver the works to Ukraine.