SIMFEROPOL - Crimean museums have filed a lawsuit with an Amsterdam court seeking the return of theScythian gold, which has been in the archeological museum at Amsterdam University since February, Andrei Malgin, the head of the Central Museum of Tavrida, said.
“The lawsuit was filed with an Amsterdam court on November 19. That’s all I can tell you at this moment. We are not disclosing details,” Malgin told Interfax on Wednesday.
Malgin said the lawsuit was filed on behalf of the four museums that provided their displays to an exhibit held in Amsterdam in February 2014.
The exhibition entitled, “The Crimea: Gold and the Secrets of the Black Sea,” opened at the Allard Pierson Museum, an archeological museum at Amsterdam University, in early February. It included collections from five museums – one in Kyiv and four in Crimea. It displayed over 500 archeological finds, including artifacts of Scythian gold, a ceremonial helmet, precious stones, swords, armor, and home ware of the ancient Greeks and Scythians.
Because the Netherlands has not recognized the joining of Crimea to Russia, which took place after the exhibition opened, the question arose as to where the collection should be returned after the closure of the exhibition in August.
In late March the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Netherlands, asking it to guarantee the return of the exhibits displayed at the Amsterdam exhibition to Ukraine.
