FM Sybiha: Hungary had no grounds to confiscate Ukrainian property
Ukraine believes that Hungary had no grounds for detaining Oschadbank employees and their convoy and that its actions violated international law.
This was stated to journalists by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, according to Ukrinform.
He said that the Hungarian side had completely cut off contact between the consuls and the Ukrainians, deprived them of means of communication, and was holding them in a location unknown to Kyiv.
"There is public information, which has not yet been officially confirmed, that five citizens are being taken to the border for deportation. As minister, I cannot confirm this. I only have information from public sources. The consuls have no confirmation," said the head of the Foreign Ministry.
Sybiha stressed that Ukraine's demand to release its citizens and the convoy remains unchanged. According to Kyiv, Hungary's actions are an unacceptable act of state racketeering and terrorism.
“We will act within the framework of international law, adhering to all our obligations. We will not allow the humiliation of our citizens, provocations against Ukraine, and the theft of Ukrainian property,” the minister assured.
He also argued that sanctions should be imposed on those involved in restricting the rights of Ukrainian citizens.
“There is no legal basis for this. We proceed from the fact that there are no grounds for detention and such disproportionate measures. This is a violation of international law, since the transportation was carried out on the basis of the necessary procedures and rules established in the banking sector for the transportation of such valuables,” the Ukrainian foreign minister stressed.
As reported by Ukrinform, on the night of March 6, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that in Budapest, the Hungarian authorities took seven Ukrainian citizens, employees of Oschadbank, hostage and stole the money they were transporting. According to him, seven Oschadbank employees were traveling in two bank vehicles in transit between Austria and Ukraine and were transporting cash as part of regular services between state banks.
The National Bank of Ukraine demands the release of Oschadbank's cash collection team employees who are being illegally detained in Hungary.
Representatives of the National Bank are urgently traveling to Hungary to clarify the situation with the captured cash collection teams and Oschadbank vehicles.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács, for his part, said that the seven Ukrainian cash collectors would be “sent out of Hungary.”