Netherlands returns archaeological artifacts illegally exported from Ukraine to Ukraine

The Netherlands has returned eight archaeological artifacts to Ukraine that were illegally exported from Ukrainian territory. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

Details

It is noted that on March 20, the director of the Information and Heritage Inspectorate of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands, Alfred Roos, handed over to the Ukrainian Embassy in the Netherlands eight archeological items that had previously been illegally exported from the territory of Ukraine.

These are spearheads and arrowheads from various archaeological cultures and regions of Ukraine, dating from Roman times to the Middle Ages.  

Dutch customs officers became interested in the items when they were imported into the Netherlands in March 2023, suspecting that they might be stolen. 

After experts from the National Museum of History of Ukraine confirmed this conclusion, the Inspectorate took the items under protection. At the same time, the owner of the items, to whom they were addressed, refused to claim them as cultural heritage of Ukraine, which is protected by law. In addition, they turned out to be illegally exported

Addendum

Earlier, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine stated that these archaeological objects are cultural values of Ukraine. They have historical, scientific, and ethnographic significance for the state.

It is noted that the items were exported from the territory of Ukraine in violation of the requirements of national legislation on the export, import and return of cultural property. Therefore, they should be returned to Ukraine and transferred to the collections of state museums.

Recall

Last year, during a working visit to the United States, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in a ceremony to return cultural propertystolen by Russian invaders from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.