Sawt Falasteen - Hungary has not returned cash seized from bank workers, Kyiv says

Hungary arrested the seven employees of Ukraine's state-owned Oschadbank on Thursday as they were transporting cash between banks in Austria and Ukraine. It released them on Friday.

Budapest says it arrested them as part of a money-laundering probe, but Kyiv says Hungary effectively took the men "hostage" in retaliation for Ukraine's delayed re-opening of a pipeline carrying Russian oil to Budapest.

The incident has badly damaged relations between the two neighbours, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky trading barbs.

Hungary has not yet returned the valuables, Ukrainian central bank chief Andriy Pyshnyi said on Facebook.

"The shamefulness of this situation is simply beyond comprehension," he said in a post, adding that Kyiv was working to return the cargo "as quickly as possible".

A day earlier, Zelensky appeared to issue a direct threat against Orban, saying Ukraine's armed forces would "talk to him in their own language" -- a statement condemned by Hungary and the European Union, of which it is a member.

- Stacks of cash -

The bank employees were transporting $40 million, 35 million euros and nine kilogrammes (317 ounces) of gold.

Hungary's National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) said it had detained the seven Ukrainian citizens, including a former Ukrainian secret service general, and two armoured cash-transport vehicles on Thursday.

NAV "is conducting criminal proceedings on suspicion of money laundering", it said in a statement.

The Hungarian government also released footage on social media showing what it said was the arrest of the Ukrainians and stacks of cash seized.

Ukraine summoned Hungary's charge d'affaires over what it called the "unlawful" detentions, and urged its citizens to avoid travel to Hungary, citing "the inability to guarantee their safety amid the arbitrary actions of the Hungarian authorities".

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on X slammed what he called "state banditism", adding that Ukraine reserved "the right to take appropriate action, including initiating sanctions and other restrictive measures".

The men were released on Friday and are now back in Ukraine, Sybiga said in a later post.

- 'Blackmail' -

The incident comes amid Hungarian anger over Ukraine's delayed re-opening of the Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil to Budapest.

Ukraine says the pipeline was damaged by a Russian attack in January and needs time to repair.

But Hungary, which is a close partner of Russia, says Ukraine is deliberately stalling the re-opening in a form of "blackmail".

In a radio interview earlier Friday, Orban said until the oil delivery issue was resolved, Hungary "will use every step and every means at our disposal", including stopping "things passing through Hungary, things that are important to Ukraine".

Relations between the two neighbours were already strained by Orban's close ties with Russia and his opposition to military aid for Kyiv.

The Hungarian premier has ramped up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of a closely fought parliamentary election set for April 12.

Orban has been stalling a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) EU loan to the war-torn country and a new round of sanctions on Russia, demanding that Kyiv first reopen the Druzhba pipeline, whose alleged damages he disputes.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest on Friday to protest what they called an oil blockade, carrying Hungarian flags and posters including one that read "Ukraine = mafia state", according to an AFP photographer.

The demonstration was organised by a pro-Orban group.

Zelensky said on Thursday the pipeline could only be made operational after another four to six weeks, although he would personally prefer not to restore transit.

"We hope that one person in the European Union will not block the 90 billion (euros)... Otherwise we will give this person's address to our Armed Forces, to our guys. Let them call him and talk to him in their own language," Zelensky said.

The European Union slammed the apparent threat as "not acceptable", denouncing "inflammatory rhetoric" on all sides and calling for calm.

burs/jhb

I.Matar--SF-PST