The relationship between Ukraine and Hungary has reached a new low. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry accused Hungarian authorities on Friday of taking seven employees of the state-owned Oschadbank hostage and seizing their cash transports. The arrest was reportedly carried out by a Hungarian anti-terror unit at a highway gas station. The bank employees were said to be escorting two cash-in-transit vehicles loaded with 40 million US dollars, 35 million euros, and nine kilograms of gold. The valuables, according to the Ukrainian side, were properly declared and originated from an agreement with an Austrian bank.
The background to the tensions is the oil transit through the Druzhba-Pipeline, which has been interrupted since January. While Ukraine cites technical damage from Russian attacks as the reason, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb sx>aacute;n accuses Kyiv of political blackmail. Orb sx>aacute;n announced he wanted to win the dispute 'by force' and has already blocked EU financial aid for Ukraine as well as further sanctions packages against Russia. The Ukrainian side described Budapest's actions as 'state terrorism' and 'protection money extortion'.
Hungary has repeatedly demanded immediate repair of the pipeline, which Ukraine currently rejects as impossible. The Hungarian head of government has also ordered his own exploratory mission to check the damage on site, for which Kyiv's approval is required.
