THE HAGUE, January 27. /TASS/. Advocate General of the Netherlands Paul Vlas thinks that the Scythian gold must be handed over to Ukraine, according to findings released on the website of the Supreme Court of the kingdom on Friday.
"The Court of Appeal’s decision that the Allard Pierson Museum must hand over the Crimean Treasures to the State of Ukraine can be upheld," the document said. Meanwhile, the cassation appeal by the Crimean museums should be dismissed, the Advocate General said, noting that the arguments provided by Crimean museums, particularly, on the fact that the decision violates the first protocol of the European Human Rights Convention, are invalid, while the ruling of the court of appeal on the transfer of objects to Ukraine is based on the present code of national laws and serves legal public interests.
The Advocate General’s conclusion is an independent opinion that the Supreme Court may take or not take into consideration when rendering its decision. According to the court, a decision on the case is preliminarily scheduled for September 15.
The Scythian gold collection of over 2,000 items was on display 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 the decision with the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.