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| Scythian gold was delivered to Ukraine from the Netherlands |
| 2023-11-28 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] A collection of Scythian gold from Crimean museums, which had been in Amsterdam for the past nine years, was delivered to Ukraine. Ukrainian customs reported this on November 27. In October 2021, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled to transfer Scythian gold into the ownership of Ukraine “until the situation stabilizes” on the peninsula. At the beginning of 2022, Crimean museums filed a cassation appeal against this decision to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. The exhibits, which the Netherlands had held and now transferred to Kyiv, were sent to Amsterdam in February 2014 for the exhibition “Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea” at the Allard Pearson Museum. In total, more than 2 thousand items were sent to the museum. However, after the referendum and the entry of Crimea into Russia, they were never returned to museums. “Kiev customs has begun customs clearance of Scythian gold. “Right now, a truck with 2,694 kg of cultural property, collectively known as “Scythian gold,” has entered the territory of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra,” the customs service said in a statement. The collection will be transferred to the National Museum of Ukraine. Customs officers identify exhibits. The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine announced on November 22 that Amsterdam will soon transfer the collection of Scythian gold to Kiev. The department noted that the Ukrainian side will not charge a fee for long-term storage of artifacts. Scythian gold from four Crimean museums was sent to an exhibition in Bonn in 2013, and in early 2014 to Amsterdam. The collection contains about 2 thousand artifacts. When the exhibition ended, Kyiv demanded that the exhibits be transferred to the Ukrainian authorities, and not to Crimea. The Dutch court took the side of Ukraine. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, accused the court of being biased and creating a dangerous precedent that undermines trust between museum communities. She also stated that Moscow will not leave the court decision without an adequate response. The head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky , called the decision of the Dutch court a politicized and biased verdict that has nothing to do with justice. He recalled that Scythian gold was in Crimea long before the peninsula became in any way related to Ukraine. More from regnum.ru Historian Smolin called the Netherlands' transfer of Scythian gold to Ukraine theft The transfer of Scythian gold, a collection of Crimean museums, to Ukraine is theft and evidence that any exhibition activities and cooperation between Russia and European museum sites are impossible today, since there are no guarantees of return. This point of view was shared by historian, political scientist and publicist Mikhail Smolin in a conversation with IA Regnum . Earlier it became known that the Netherlands transferred Scythian gold to Ukraine. The collection has been on display at the Allard Pearson Museum in Amsterdam since early 2014. The Customs Service of Ukraine confirmed that a truck with a collection of Scythian gold entered the territory of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, where its identification will take place in the treasury of the country's National Museum. “I would call it theft. Because those museums that signed agreements to participate in the exhibition should have received their exhibits back. But this is definitely a political decision,” Smolin said. In his opinion, the Ukrainian bar and European courts decided not to implement legal agreements with the museums of Crimea, only because they are now located on the territory of the Russian Federation. Smolin called the incident a very important moment for European jurisprudence, which could open wider doors to the seizure of Russian funds, which would ultimately be used for the needs of Ukrainian armed forces. “This is such a tentative step, they are kind of testing us - will they perceive this as theft or in Russia will they simply say how disappointed they are. If we comment on this in calm rhetoric, then we will continue to be robbed. This situation also suggests that no museum activity with European exhibition venues is possible today. Everything can be stolen and given to others,” the historian noted. In addition, according to him, it is difficult to say unambiguously why the Netherlands decided to transfer Scythian gold to Ukraine now, in turbulent times. Smolin admitted that this was due to the results of the recent parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. First place was taken by the For Freedom party, led by Geert Wilders , who condemns Russophobia in Europe and has a cold attitude towards arms supplies to Ukraine. According to the expert, the legal authorities of the Netherlands might have been afraid that the new authorities of the country might reconsider the decision to transfer the collection to Kyiv, so they hastened to send the museum artifacts now. Smolin also doubted that the entire collection of Scythian gold reached the Kiev-Pechora Lavra. In his opinion, the exhibits are too valuable for the Ukrainian leadership not to want to take advantage of its sale to receive additional large revenues. “I wonder where this gold and the collection’s exhibits might end up next. Will it be transferred in full to some Ukrainian museum or can it already be considered lost? After all, in a couple of months they may tell us that something ended up getting lost somewhere. And look for where the Ukrainian officials sold everything,” Smolin noted. International lawyer Maria Yarmush also stated the high probability of the loss and sale of Crimean valuables by the Kiev authorities . She noted that the decision of the Netherlands to send the collection to Ukraine cannot be called legal. “Such decisions are illegal and only politically motivated. Unfortunately, the Crimean museums lost the case, and their lawsuit was rejected by Amsterdam. And since all legal procedures have been exhausted, there is reason to believe that the entire collection will be stolen in Ukraine. And then local authorities will begin to sell these artifacts through gray schemes or even at some auctions. There is only one option left, that people who will buy these exhibits will be interested in returning them to their homeland, to Crimea, to the Russian Federation,” Yarmush shared. She noted that, within the framework of the law, Russia has already exhausted the possibilities to restore justice. And now the only option left is to try to track the movement of exhibits from the collection. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov commented on the export of the collection of Crimean museums to Ukraine. He noted that Scythian gold belongs to Crimea and should be located on the territory of this Russian region. Scythian gold from four Crimean museums was sent to an exhibition in Bonn in 2013, and in early 2014 to Amsterdam. The collection contains about 2 thousand artifacts. When the exhibition ended, Kyiv demanded that the exhibits be transferred to the Ukrainian authorities, and not to Crimea. The Dutch court took the side of Ukraine. Commenting on this decision, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova called Scythian gold part of the cultural heritage of Crimea. According to her, this fact cannot be overturned by decisions of biased courts. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #4 Sounds like somebody's thinking about making their getaway. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2023-11-28 09:09 |
| #3 ..for the curious. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2023-11-28 08:55 |
| #2 Antiquities find a new home in the midst of conflict? How very innovative. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2023-11-28 01:48 |
| #1 Will reappear in private collection in the West? |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2023-11-28 01:41 |
