MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. The Amsterdam court’s ruling on the Scythian gold in favor of Ukraine is unfair and creates a dangerous precedent, Speaker of the upper house of Russia’s parliament Valentina Matviyenko said on Wednesday.
The Amsterdam District Court ruled on Wednesday that the Scythian gold treasures should be returned to Ukraine and not the Crimean museums.
"This is an unfair decision, a dangerous precedent. I believe that it is necessary to appeal against this decision and seek the ruling’s cancellation," the Russian top senator said.
"There can be no talk about any law in this case as politics has interfered again," the speaker said.
The Dutch court’s ruling is dangerous as there are no guarantees of the return of the museum treasures, she said.
"This is very dangerous and museums will soon stop dealing with a cultural exchange as there are no guarantees under agreements concluded," Matviyenko said.
As the speaker of the upper house of Russia’s parliament said, these exhibits undoubtedly belong to the Crimean museums.
"These are Crimea’s exhibits. They are related to Crimea, were found and kept at the museums," she said.
The uncertainty over the Scythian gold collection, which was put on view at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam in February 2014 when Crimea was still part of Ukraine, arose after the peninsula had reunited with Russia in March 2014. Both Russia and Ukraine claimed their rights to the exhibits.
The collection of Scythian gold exhibits has been kept by the Amsterdam University archaeological museum (the Allard Pierson Museum) for more than two years. The Amsterdam University suspended the procedure of handing over the gold collection until the dispute was solved.
The Crimean museums have claimed their full right to the Scythian gold collection many times on the grounds that all the exhibits were found on Crimea’s territory and were stored in the peninsula’s museums.