In 1958 the Netherlands was among the first countries to ratify the First Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.
In 1995, four Cypriot icons were discovered in the possession of a Dutch citizen. These had been removed from a Greek Orthodox church during hostilities in Cyprus in 1974 [since August 1974 Cyprus has been divided into two sectors: one in the south, under Greek-Cypriot control; the other in the north, controlled by the Turkish-Cypriot authorities].
At the request of the Cypriot government and in accordance with the Protocol, the Netherlands returned the icons to Cyprus.
