Hungary Returned Confiscated Funds and Valuables of Oschadbank to Ukraine
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced the resolution of the problem with Ukrainian money and valuables detained in Hungary during the election campaign.
Illustrative photo
"An important step in relations with Hungary: today, the funds and valuables of Oschadbank, which were seized by Hungarian special services in March this year, have been returned. At that time, the Hungarian side unlawfully detained Ukrainian cash collectors. We returned the people sooner, and now both the funds and valuables are back on Ukrainian territory in full. We are grateful to Hungary for constructive engagement and a civilized step," wrote Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The incident occurred on March 5, when Ukrainian cash collectors traveling in service vehicles from Austria to Ukraine, transporting cash as part of cooperation between state banks, were detained in Hungary. Hungarian authorities stated that the confiscation of funds was a response to Ukraine's alleged blocking of the "Druzhba" oil pipeline, and that the cash collectors were suspected of money laundering.
On March 10, the Hungarian government made a decision allowing the confiscated money and gold bars to be held for at least 60 days. The document was signed by the country's Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.
Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha responded by stating that the actions of the Hungarian authorities could be regarded as state economic pressure and, in fact, "state terrorism."
The problem was only resolved after Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party, which largely built its election campaign on anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, decisively lost the parliamentary elections on April 12 and is expected to cede power in the coming days to the Tisza Party led by Péter Magyar.
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