MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - Moscow believes that the Dutch authorities' decision to transfer items of the "Crimea - a golden island in the Black Sea" collection to Ukraine was unfair, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told Interfax on Friday.
"This decision can be viewed as nothing less than unfair and politicized. Furthermore, it was adopted in a hasty manner and obviously under pressure," he said.
"The Scythian gold from Crimea naturally belongs to Crimea," the high-ranking diplomat said.
The exhibition titled, "The Crimea. Gold and secrets from the Black Sea," opened at the Allard Pierson Museum, an archeological museum at Amsterdam University, in early February. It contained collections from five Ukrainian museums, including one in Kyiv and four in Crimea. It displays over 500 archeological finds, including artifacts from Scythian gold, a ceremonial helmet, precious stones, swords, armor, house ware of the ancient Greeks and Scythians.
Among the most valuable exhibits from the collection of the Central Museum of Taurida are the items dating back to the late Scythian and Alanian periods: a Scythian tabernacle roof top in the form of a griffin, a Scythian bronze boiler and horse ornaments, vessels in the form of sheep from the Neusatz necropolis.
Since the Netherlands does not recognize Crimea's unification with Russia, which took place after the exhibition opening, the question arose as to whom the collection should be returned to once the exhibition closes in August.
In late March, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sent a note to the Netherlands, asking it to guarantee the return of the exhibits displayed at the Amsterdam exhibition to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday the Netherlands recognized that these exhibits belong to Ukraine.