The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded that the Dutch court has ruled that cultural relics loaned from Crimea should be returned to the Supreme Court of Ukraine | Goldsmiths | Ukraine
According to Reuters and Sputnik News Agency of Russia, the Netherlands Supreme Court ruled on June 9 that Crimean ancient gold objects sent for overseas exhibition should be returned to Ukraine, not Crimea.
According to reports, in early 2014, more than 1000 cultural relics, including a Scythian gold helmet and a gold necklace, were transported from four local Crimean museums and loaned to the Allard Pearson Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands for exhibition. After the exhibition, the Ukrainian government and several Crimean regional museums that lent cultural relics claimed ownership of these exhibits. In August 2014, at a loss, the Arad Pearson Museum chose to seal this batch of cultural relics and did not transfer the exhibits to Ukraine or Crimea until a decision was made by the competent judge or an agreement was reached between the two parties.
According to reports, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled on October 26, 2021 that this batch of cultural relics should be handed over to Ukraine. In January 2022, the Crimean Museum appealed this ruling to the Dutch Supreme Court. The ruling of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands on June 9 supports the lower court's ruling in 2021, stating: "This decision ends the controversy. The Arad Pearson Museum must return these art treasures to Ukraine, not the museum located in Crimea."
In response, Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that this decision is an example of the Netherlands playing a leading role in upholding international law. Zelensky expressed gratitude to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Luther on social media for the Netherlands' plan to return the "Scythian artifacts".
According to reports, several museums in the Crimean region that lent out these cultural relics have stated that the loan terms have been violated, and the cultural relics unearthed in Crimea should belong to Crimea, which is not influenced by political factors. Ukraine believes that these cultural relics belong to Ukrainian cultural heritage and should be properly protected during the conflict with Russia.
However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova stated that the Dutch court's decision to transfer these cultural relics to Kiev was a pre agreed upon decision and was a "dangerous precedent" that Moscow would not ignore. Zakharova said, "The ruling of the Dutch Supreme Court has once again set a dangerous precedent, which will undermine trust between museums. Of course, Russia will not ignore this incident."