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Crimea casts doubt on top Dutch court’s imminent Scythian gold verdict

"It is possible that the court will make an interim decision and will postpone it until the political situation in the world changes," Senator Sergey Tsekov said

SIMFEROPOL, January 27. /TASS/. A member of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs told TASS on Friday that any ruling by the Dutch Supreme Court on the Scythian gold case will be politically motivated against Russia.

It is expected that on Friday, the Netherlands’ Prosecutor General will make a consultative statement on the Scythian gold case. Following this, the Supreme Court will rule on the matter.

"I do not expect an objective ruling. European countries make political decisions against Russia. So, frankly, a ruling in our favor cannot be expected. It is possible that they will make an interim decision and will postpone [it] until the political situation in the world changes," Senator Sergey Tsekov said.

He added that if the ruling is in Ukraine’s favor, museums from many countries will be wary of organizing exhibits or sending their collections to the Netherlands or other European countries.

According to Director of the Central Museum of Tavrida Andrey Malygin, even if the court rules in favor of Ukraine, Crimea will continue fighting for justice and the collection’s return. "There are examples in the world when a problem does not abate despite the legal solution. There is time, there is the desire to bring [it] back so we will proceed from specific possibilities," he said, adding that the possibility of a compromise has not been discussed for a number of reasons.

He also expressed concern that the collection has not undergone restoration for over nine years. "Nobody has the right to conduct a restoration without inviting the owner. Yet, I hope that it is being kept in normal conditions. We have a positive opinion of our Dutch colleagues in this respect. However, based on the logic of things, we were supposed to be given the right to familiarize ourselves with the storage conditions but we were not given this right," the museum director added.

About collection

The Scythian gold collection of over 2,000 items was on view at the Allard Pierson Museum of the University of Amsterdam between February and August 2014. After the peninsula reunited with Russia in March 2014, uncertainty over the collection arose as both Russia and Ukraine laid claims to the exhibits. In this regard, the University of Amsterdam suspended the collection’s handover until either the dispute is legally resolved or the parties come to terms.

At the end of October 2021, the Court of Appeal of Amsterdam ruled that the Scythian gold collection should be handed over to Ukraine. In January 2022, the Russian side filed an appeal against this decision with the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.

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