Ukrainian FM claims Hungarian authorities have effectively "taken hostage" seven employees of Ukrainian state savings bank

“Today in Budapest, Hungarian authorities took seven Ukrainian citizens hostage. The reasons are still unknown, as well as their current well-being, or the possibility of contacting them”, the Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary posted on Facebook early Friday morning, quoting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

According to information obtained by Telex, on Thursday afternoon, the Counter-Terrorism Center (TEK) raided cash transport vehicles with Ukrainian license plates at a gas station on the M5 motorway.

We understand that people dressed in black were dragged out of the cars and brought to the ground. There were several eyewitnesses to the raid. After the operation, the TEK convoy headed towards Budapest. We sent questions about this to the police and TEK on Thursday, but have not yet received a response.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Hungary issued a statement saying that the seven Ukrainian citizens were employees of the state-owned Oschadbank and were driving two bank vehicles that were transiting between Austria and Ukraine, transporting cash as part of a regular service between state banks.

The post stated that “In fact, we are talking about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money. If this is the “force” announced earlier today by Mr Orbán, then this is a force of a criminal gang. This is state terrorism and racketeering.”

Ukraine announced that it had already sent an official note demanding the immediate release of the seven Ukrainian citizens. "We will also address the European Union with the request to provide a clear qualification of Hungary’s unlawful actions, hostage-taking, and robbery", they write.

According to the bank's website, the two cash transport vehicles were "unjustifiably" detained in Hungary “while carrying cash as part of regular services between Raiffeisen Bank Austria and Oschadbank Ukraine.”

They also write that according to GPS data, Oschadbank's detained vehicles are currently located in the center of Budapest, near one of the Hungarian security agencies. “The location of the vehicles has been confirmed by representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The whereabouts of Oschadbank's employees are currently unknown.”

The statement says that the transport of funds and valuables was carried out by Ukrainian citizens under an international agreement with the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank and for the purpose of its implementation.

"The cargo was compiled in accordance with international transport rules and current European customs procedures. The total value of the valuables in the stolen vehicles was $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kg of gold."

We contacted the Budapest Police Headquarters, the National Police Headquarters, the Counter-Terrorism Center, and the National Tax and Customs Administration regarding the arrest of the seven Ukrainian citizens, and we also requested information from the Government's Information Center, the Prime Minister's Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Raiffeisen Bank Austria. We will report on any substantive responses we receive.

Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have become particularly tense in recent days, and on Thursday, the Hungarian-Ukrainian war of words reached an astonishing intensity, which was already fraught due to Hungary's position on EU subsidies and a loan for Ukraine. This was further compounded by the fact that at the end of January, oil shipments through the Friendship pipeline passing through Ukraine were halted after the pipeline was damaged in a Russian attack. In addition, it seems likely that the Ukrainian side is not particularly eager to repair it.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó then announced that until the Ukrainians repair the pipeline, Hungary will block the €90 billion loan that the EU has already approved for Ukraine. Then on Thursday, Orbán told Hungarian business leaders that "we will win, and we will win by force; there will be no compromise, we will break the oil blockade. We will force the Ukrainians to restart oil deliveries. They must reopen the Friendship pipeline unconditionally and soon."

Also on Thursday, Zelensky issued a statement saying, ""We hope that a certain person in the EU will not block the 90 billion or the first installment of it, and that Ukrainian soldiers will be able to get their weapons. Otherwise, we will give this person's address to the armed forces, so they can call him and talk to him in their own language".

Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar also joined in on the messaging, which we wrote about here.