Ukraine’s foreign minister appeals to Hungary to return seized cash and gold, accusing Budapest of exploiting the situation for electoral gain.
Ukraine’s Appeal to Hungary
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha expressed surprise that Hungary has not yet returned money and gold from the state bank Oszczadbank, which they detained on their territory last week. The minister appealed to Budapest not to involve Kyiv in its election campaign.
Ukraine Rejects Ultimatums
“Four days have passed, and the money and gold are still not returned. This is at least surprising. Ukraine does not accept ultimatums or blackmail. We see, however, that Hungary is exploiting this situation, first, to involve us in their internal election campaign,” Sybiha told journalists on Monday in Warsaw.
“We oppose this and call on our Hungarian colleagues to stop provocations, to stop involving us in their internal campaign, and second, to return to the proper, constructive, and good-neighborly track of relations,” emphasized the head of Ukrainian diplomacy.
International Involvement
Radio Free Europe journalist Rikard Jozwiak reported that the head of the National Bank of Ukraine has formally addressed the European Commission and the European External Action Service to act as an “independent third party” to clarify the circumstances of the detention of Ukrainian citizens in Hungary.
Hungary’s Proposed Solution
Reuters reports that the ruling Fidesz party has proposed that Hungarian authorities store the seized cash and gold for two months pending completion of an investigation into their seizure, which Ukraine described as theft. The proposal was submitted to parliament on Monday and could be adopted in an accelerated procedure as early as Tuesday, March 10.
Background on the Detention
On Friday, Hungarian services announced that they had detained seven Ukrainian citizens, including a former general of Ukrainian special services, on suspicion of money laundering, as well as two armored vehicles transporting cash carrying a total of $40 million, 35 million euros, and 9 kg of gold from Austria to Ukraine. The Ukrainian side assures that the cash and gold were transported as part of regular services between state banks. The detained cash collectors were released by Hungarian authorities on Friday.