Russian-Ukrainian dispute over Crimea gold back in Dutch court

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.

A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday rules in a case over control of a collection of ancient gold artefacts from Crimea on display in the Netherlands when Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. The artefacts include a solid gold Scythian helmet from the 4th century B.C. and a golden neck ornament from the 2nd century A.D. that each weigh more than a kilogram.

Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014 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. 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.

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