Tensions between Ukraine and Hungary have reached a peak after Hungarian authorities detained two armored vehicles belonging to the Ukrainian state bank Oschadbank, transporting cash and gold worth a total of approximately 80 million dollars and 9 kilograms of gold. On March 5, seven bank employees, including a former general of the Ukrainian secret services, were detained. They were later released and returned to Ukraine.
According to Oschadbank, the vehicles and goods remain “illegally detained”, and the bank intends to follow legal paths to recover them. The bank will challenge the restrictive measures imposed by the Hungarian migration authorities and will investigate possible violations of the rights of employees, who were held for more than a day without access to legal or consular assistance.
Oschadbank emphasized that the fund transport complied with Ukrainian legislation and that the relevant documentation was submitted for analysis to the National Bank of Ukraine. The transported goods consisted of 40 million dollars, 35 million euros, and nine kilograms of gold. “Oschadbank requests the return of the vehicles and the transported goods in their entirety,” the statement said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated on Saturday, referring to the detention of the vehicles, that Hungarian authorities want to know what Ukrainians are doing with this amount of money in Hungary and that it is not clear whether the money was to remain on Hungarian territory or was merely in transit. At a rally organized in Debrecen, Orbán said: “We just want to know what Ukrainians are doing with this large sum of money in Hungary.”
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