AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A Dutch appeals court ruled on Tuesday that a collection of ancient Crimean gold artefacts, claimed by Ukraine and museums in the Russian-annexed territory, should be returned to the Ukrainian state.
The pieces, including a solid gold Scythian helmet and a golden neck ornament each weighing more than 1 kg (35 oz), were on display in the Netherlands when Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.
In reading a summary of the decision, presiding Judge Pauline Hofmeijer-Rutten said that the national culture interests of Ukraine outweigh those of the museums in Crimea.
“The Allard Pierson Museum is no longer obliged to return the pieces to the Crimean museums,” the ruling said. “The rights of the Ukrainian state, based on the Law of Museums … take precedence.”
The ruling can be appealed before the Dutch Supreme Court.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea drew Western sanctions. Western countries and most of the rest of the world recognise the Black Sea peninsula as Ukrainian, and Kyiv wants the territory returned.
A lower court in 2016 had ordered the Allard Pierson Museum to return the archaeological treasures, which also include gems, helmets and scabbards, to Ukraine’s government rather than the four museums that had lent them out.
Russia appealed that decision.
The appeals court partially reversed the lower court’s decision in 2019, finding that it had wrongly ruled that only governments could claim objects as cultural heritage.
The University of Amsterdam, owner of the Allard Pierson Museum, has said the museum will continue to keep the objects in storage until all appeals are settled.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Giles Elgood and Timothy Heritage)
