“The funds that Hungary stole from us and keeps in Budapest are still stolen. I will not choose another word here, because other words are inappropriate. Hungary stole these funds. And these funds are not just — look, there is no such concept as state money, right? This is taxpayers’ money, Ukrainian. This is the money of Ukrainian people from a state Ukrainian bank. Hungary stole it, groundlessly, illegally. On top of that, they even adopted some law and resolution to legalize it retroactively. Well, essentially, they admitted it... you know, a guilty conscience betrays itself. They admitted that they unlawfully appropriated it, and now need some additional laws and resolutions to legalize it”, - said the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhii Tykhyi, during a conversation with journalists on March 18.
Tykhyi noted that Ukraine continues to insist on the immediate return of these funds and precious metals.
“They do not belong to Hungary. They were transported between state banks of Austria and Ukraine in transit through Hungary. It is simply Orban’s banditry that led to a situation where these funds are detained in Budapest”, - Tykhyi emphasized.
According to him, Ukraine does not forget about the hostage-taking of seven Ukrainian citizens and the treatment they received during 28 hours of captivity, “which can be equated to torture”.
“Because when people are kept in handcuffs — while at that moment they had not even been formally charged — their phones are taken away, they are denied access to consuls, they are not provided with legal assistance, and at the same time medical assistance is not given to a person who needs it, and instead a drug is administered that leads to a deterioration of their health condition, this is equated to torture. And there will be accountability for all of this. Minister Sybiha promised them — everyone who was involved will be identified. There are national criminal cases, there will be an international investigation, we will hold them accountable for what they have done, we will not leave this without consequences”, - the MFA spokesperson said.