Sybiha on return of Oschadbank assets: Ukraine accepts neither ultimatums nor blackmail

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said this in a comment to Ukrainian journalists in Warsaw, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

Sybiha stressed that the seizure of Ukrainian cash collectors in Hungary amounted to "state racketeering and an act of state terrorism." According to him, the individuals have already been returned to Ukraine, and Kyiv is now demanding that the Hungarian side act in accordance with international law and return the valuables to Ukraine.

"Today is already the fourth day that they have not been returned. This, at the very least, raises questions. Ukraine accepts neither ultimatums nor blackmail. And we see that Hungary is using this situation, first, to drag us into its domestic election campaign. We oppose this and call on our Hungarian colleagues to stop the practice of provocations, stop dragging us into their internal campaign and, secondly, to move onto a proper, constructive and good-neighborly track in our relations," he said.

In the early hours of March 6, Sybiha said that in Budapest, Hungarian authorities had taken seven Ukrainian citizens – employees of Oschadbank – hostage and seized the money they were transporting. According to him, the seven Oschadbank employees were traveling in two bank vehicles in transit between Austria and Ukraine, carrying cash as part of routine operations between state banks.

Later that day, Hungary's tax authority confirmed the detention of seven Oschadbank cash collectors and two vehicles carrying cash from Austria to Ukraine, saying it had opened a criminal investigation on suspicion of money laundering.

Subsequently, Hungarian government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs said that the seven Ukrainian cash collectors detained by Hungarian tax and customs authorities would be expelled from Hungary.

On March 6, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry recommended that Ukrainian citizens refrain from traveling to Hungary amid the abduction of the employees and the theft of Oschadbank property in Budapest.

Sybiha had earlier stated that Hungary had no grounds to detain the Oschadbank employees and their convoy and that its actions violated international law.

Later the same day, Sybiha said Ukraine had secured the release of the seven Ukrainians who had been held in Budapest and that they had already returned home.