Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam returns Crimean artifacts to Ukraine

The Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam has returned all the Crimean artifacts in its possession to Ukraine, the museum said on Monday. After having these treasures in its storerooms for nine years, the Supreme Court ruled in June that they should be returned to Ukraine and not the Crimean museums they had been loaned from. They arrived in Kyiv on Monday.

The Amsterdam museum loaned the artifacts from four Crimean museums for its exhibition Crimea - Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea, which ran from February to August 2014. In that time, Russia invaded Crimea and annexed the territory. After the exhibit, both the museums and Ukraine claimed the artifacts back. The Allard Pierson Museum decided to hold them in storage until the courts figured out what to do.

In June, the Supreme Court finally ruled that the treasures should return to Ukraine, affirming two previous rulings and ending the years-long dispute. According to the Supreme Court, the State of Ukraine has a legitimate interest in protecting this cultural heritage, and the return of these treasures to Ukraine is a temporary measure - namely, pending stabilization in Crimea.

The artifacts arrived in Kyiv on Monday, the Allard Pierson Museum said. “This was a special case in which cultural heritage became a victim of geopolitical developments,” said Els van der Plas, director of the Allard Pierson. “We are pleased that clarity has emerged, and they have now been returned.”