Hungary to expel seven Ukrainian bank workers in diplomatic row with Kyiv

Hungary says it will expel seven Ukrainian bank workers arrested while transporting $80m in cash and 9kg of gold through Hungary toward Ukraine, after detaining them on suspicion of money laundering and seizing the shipment. The detentions unfolded alongside Hungary’s stated intent to use “political and financial tools” to pressure Ukraine over Russian oil transit and its blocking of a €90bn EU aid package. The immediate consequence is a deepening diplomatic rupture in which law-enforcement action, election politics, and energy leverage are entangled, with the seized assets’ status still unclear.

<p>Hungary’s national tax and customs administration said seven Ukrainian bank workers were detained on Thursday after black-clad officials from Hungary’s TEK counter-terrorism centre raided Ukrainian-registered cash-transport vehicles and a convoy then headed to Budapest. Hungarian authorities said the workers were transporting $80m and 9kg of gold toward Ukraine and were held on suspicion of money laundering as criminal proceedings were opened; the authority also said the transport was overseen by a former general of Ukraine’s intelligence service.</p><p>Ukraine’s foreign minister accused Hungary of taking the group hostage and stealing the money, while Ukraine’s state savings bank, Oschadbank, said the workers were on a regular transport route between Austria and Ukraine and were “unjustifiably detained.” Hungary’s foreign minister questioned why the movement was in cash rather than by transfer. It remains unclear what happened to the seized cash and gold; Poland’s foreign minister said “they’ve stolen the money.”</p>