Berliner Tageblatt - Hungary to expel 7 Ukrainians as Zelensky, Orban quarrel over Russian oil

Kyiv accused Budapest on Friday of having kidnapped seven of its citizens, as Orban said he would use "every means" to pressure Ukraine over the Russian oil.

A day earlier, Zelensky appeared to have issued 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 EU.

Hungary and Slovakia say Ukraine is deliberately delaying reopening a key pipeline pumping Russian oil to the two landlocked EU member states, which Kyiv says was damaged by Russian strikes in January.

- 'State banditism' -

Early Friday, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga accused Hungary of taking "hostage" a group of Ukrainian bank employees transporting $40 million, 35 million euros and nine kilogrammes of gold through the country.

Hungary's National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) said it had detained 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.

Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said those detained would be expelled.

"Authorities found the operation was supervised by a former general of the Ukrainian Security Service, with a former major of the Ukrainian Air Force acting as deputy and assisted by individuals with military experience," he said on X.

Ukraine on Friday urged its citizens to avoid travel to Hungary, citing "the inability to guarantee their safety amid the arbitrary actions of the Hungarian authorities".

Sybiga on X slammed "this state banditism", adding that Ukraine reserved "the right to take appropriate action, including initiating sanctions and other restrictive measures".

- 'Inflammatory rhetoric' -

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 sustaining ties with Russia despite Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and his opposition to military aid for Kyiv.

But ties deteriorated further after the Hungarian premier ramped up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of a closely fought parliamentary election on 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, disputing the damages to the Druzhba pipeline and demanding that Kyiv reopen it first.

Zelensky said the pipeline can 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 statement was condemned by Hungary's government, its opposition as well as by the European Commission.

In his state radio interview, Orban said he would not give in, "not even if they blackmail me, not even if they threaten my life".

The European Union slammed the apparent threat as "not acceptable".

"There must not be threats against EU member states," spokesman Olof Gill told reporters, denouncing "inflammatory rhetoric" on all sides as not "helpful".

"Our objective here is to get everyone to calm down a bit, dial down the rhetoric, and deliver" on common goals, he added.

The State Savings Bank of Ukraine, or Oschadbank, said that the bank staff were transporting the cash and gold between Raiffeisen Bank Austria and Oschadbank Ukraine in a "routine trip", adding the fate of the currency and gold transported was "currently unknown".

"Since the start of the full-scale invasion, foreign currency and bank metals have been transported exclusively by land," it said.

"Such trips are carried out by Oschadbank's cash collection vehicles on a weekly basis."

Ukraine's central bank said it would send a team to Budapest "to clarify circumstances".

"And we're appealing to international partners and regulators. We demand official explanations from Hungarian authorities," Ukraine central bank governor Andriy Pishnyy said on X.

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J.Bergmann--BTB