Court Decision on 'Scythian Gold' Creates Dangerous Precedent, Russia Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A Dutch court’s decision to transfer the Scythian Gold collection to Ukraine creates an extremely dangerous precedent, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Wednesday.

"Guided exclusively by political motives, Dutch judges completely ignored the indisputable fact that 'Scythian gold' is the cultural and historical heritage of the people of the Crimean peninsula, where these artefacts were found and never left. The verdict of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal creates an extremely dangerous precedent that undermines trust between museum communities in different countries and calls into question the future prospects of inter-museum cooperation, including between Russia and the Netherlands", Zakharova said in a statement, published by the ministry.

The legal battle over the Scythian gold collection erupted after the Crimean Peninsula conducted a referendum and reunited with Russia in March 2014.

Samples of Scythian jewelry from its own depository and the State Hermitage Museum Gold Depository, and the latest finds of the Ufa archeological expedition

© Sputnik / Dmitry Korobeinikov

The said gold was sent to Amsterdam from four Crimean museums for a temporary exposition. However, the Allard Pierson museum decided against sending the collection to either Crimea or Ukraine before the court decision on it.

This week, the Amsterdam court ruled that it should be sent to Kiev, which caused massive criticism in Crimea.