Dutch court: Crimean treasures must be sent to Ukraine
ABC News
An Amsterdam appeals court has ruled that a trove of historical treasures from Crimea that have been stored for years at a Dutch museum must be given to Ukraine
AMSTERDAM -- An Amsterdam appeals court ruled Tuesday that a trove of historical treasures from Crimea that have been stored for years at a Dutch museum must be given to Ukraine, saying they are “part of the cultural heritage of the Ukrainian state.”
Ukraine's president hailed the decision as a victory for his country.
The judgment, which can be appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court, upheld a lower court's ruling and was the latest development in a protracted legal tug-of-war about the fate of the artifacts that stems from Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a month after the Allard Pierson Museum opened the “Crimea — Gold and secrets of the Black Sea” exhibition, sparking a dispute over where the borrowed treasures should be returned to. The exhibits have been stored in Amsterdam pending resolution of the dispute.
