BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian authorities detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying large amounts of cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said Friday.
Ukraine accused Hungary's pro-Russian government of taking the Ukrainians hostage and illegally seizing millions of dollars in cash.
“We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Friday.
“Everyone who is responsible for taking and holding our citizens hostage will be held accountable.”
The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and Ukraine as part of regular services between state banks, Sybiha said.
The shipment apprehended by Hungary included 40 million U.S. dollars as well as 35 million euros and 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds) of gold — worth around $1.5 million at current prices — according to a separate statement by Oschadbank.
Hungary’s National Tax and Customs Administration confirmed Friday that it had detained the Ukrainian citizens and seized the two armored cash-transport vehicles. It added it was conducting criminal proceedings on suspicion of money laundering.
In a later statement, Hungary's Government Information Center said the seven Ukrainians would be expelled from Hungarian territory on Friday. It said they included a former general of the Ukrainian Security Service, a former major of the Ukrainian Air Force and “individuals with military experience.”
The statement did not detail why, if the Ukrainians were suspected of money laundering, they would be released from custody and expelled.
The incident further inflamed rising tensions between Hungary and Ukraine, which are embroiled in a bitter feud over Hungary's access to Russian oil through a pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory.
Oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline have been interrupted since Jan. 27. Ukraine says a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline's infrastructure, and that repairing it carried risks to technicians. It said that even if restored, it would remain vulnerable to further Russian attacks.
Hungary's government has accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up supplies of Russian crude, and has vowed to take strong countermeasures against Kyiv until oil flows resume.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has maintained close relations with the Kremlin while escalating an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign ahead of crucial elections next month, has called Ukraine Hungary's “enemy,” and accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of seeking to provoke an energy crisis in order to sway the April 12 vote.
“The best way for the Ukrainians to achieve their demands on Hungary is if they get rid of the national government and the prime minister who is standing in their way,” Orbán said in statements to state radio on Friday.
While he did not directly mention the detention of the bank vehicles, Orbán alluded to the incident, saying: “We will stop things that are important to Ukraine passing through Hungary until we get the approval of the Ukrainians for oil shipments.”
“The Ukrainians will run out of money sooner than we will run out of oil,” he added.
Trailing in most polls behind a popular center-right challenger, the populist Orbán has staked the election on convincing voters that Ukraine poses an existential threat to Hungary's security.
In office since 2010, the EU's longest-serving leader has claimed that if he loses the election, the European Union will force Hungary into bankruptcy by cutting Russian energy imports, and that Hungarian youth will be sent to their deaths on the front lines in Ukraine.
In his post, Ukraine's foreign minister cast Orbán's conduct as electoral politicking, saying the detention of the seven Ukrainians and seizure of money was “part of Hungary’s blackmail and electoral campaign.”
"We reserve the right to take appropriate action, including initiating sanctions and other restrictive measures," Sybiha wrote. “We once again demand Hungary stop dragging Ukraine into its domestic politics and electoral campaign.”
Hungary, along with neighboring Slovakia, have defied EU efforts to wean off Russian fossil fuels, and continued to purchase them despite Moscow's invasion.
Orbán previously ceased diesel shipments to Ukraine, vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia and blocked a major, 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan for Kyiv in retaliation for the interruption in oil shipments. He's also deployed military forces to key energy infrastructure sites across Hungary, accusing Ukraine of plotting disruptions.
On Thursday, Orbán told an economic forum that Hungary would use “force,” including “political and financial tools,” to compel Ukraine to resume oil shipments.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry on Friday urged Ukrainian citizens to abstain from visiting Hungary, saying their security could not be guaranteed amid “arbitrary actions by the Hungarian authorities.”
The Ministry also called for Ukrainian and European businesses to take into account “the risk of arbitrary seizure of property” in Hungary.
