Ukraine party in Scythian gold lawsuit

AMSTERDAM – A Dutch court has granted Ukraine’s request to be a party in the high-profile Scythian gold lawsuit. Amsterdam’s district court ruled April 8 that Ukraine is eligible to claims rights to the disputed objects. Ukraine will now have to file an application to participate in the proceedings by May 20. A collection of more than 1,000 gold items representing ancient Scythian civilization, was sent to the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam in February 2014 for an exhibition titled “Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea.” The artifacts came from five Ukrainian museums, four of which are located in Crimea. In March 2014, following Crimea’s annexation by Russia, the Ukrainian government demanded the entire collection be returned to Kyiv. Crimea’s Kremlin-backed authorities have dismissed the claims. The exhibition closed on August 31, 2014, but the items remain in the Netherlands. Last November, the four Crimean museums filed a lawsuit to a court in Amsterdam demanding that the Allard Pierson Museum return the Crimean part of the collection. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by TASS and Ekho Moskvy)