Szijjártó said the decision by Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Agency to remove Hungarian bank OTP from the list of entities that Kyiv believes are sponsoring Russia’s war in Ukraine is a “step in the right direction” but Hungary needs further assurances before it changes its approach to Ukraine in any international matters.
The Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has invited the Ukrainian anti-corruption agency to come to Budapest as soon as possible to discuss the OTP bank case and to reach an agreement that would guarantee that such a situation does not happen again in the future. “If a convincing agreement is reached, then of course we will have to consider what measures it justifies on our part,” Sijarto said at the press conference.
Ukraine listed the OTP bank as a war sponsor in May in response to the financial institution continuing to operate in Russia and thereby paying taxes to the Russian central government after Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine.
In response, Hungary has blocked a €500 million EU military aid package to Kyiv since May, vowing not to lift its veto until the OTP is delisted.
Last week, Ukraine’s anti-corruption agency temporarily removed OTP from the list, hoping Budapest would lift its veto on EU funding. But Hungarian officials said the temporary delisting was not enough, and on Monday the agency delisted the bank entirely.
Szijártó announced today that Hungary also expects Ukraine to remove OTP’s Russian branch and four Hungarian executives from the list of companies and individuals subject to sanctions.
2023-10-04 20:09:00
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