- Category
- World
Hungary Lifts Schengen Ban on Detained Oschadbank Transit Guards
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
Hungary’s police directorate for foreigners canceled deportation orders and three-year Schengen entry bans against seven Ukrainian state Oschadbank cash-in-transit employees, the bank reported on May 18.
The Hungarian authorities also ordered the immediate removal of the corresponding records from state registries. The reversal occurred after Hungary’s constitutional protection authority withdrew its previous assessment that the Ukrainian citizens posed a national security threat.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
The decision to lift the restrictions was made before the conclusion of a related court review in Budapest, following a formal legal appeal filed by Oschadbank, the institution reported.
“The complete cancellation of the illegal decisions regarding our employees is confirmation that Oschadbank was right,” stated Yuriy Katsion, Chairman of the Oschadbank Management Board. He noted that the state financial institution operates within international law and credited coordinated diplomatic support for the resolution.
The measures stemmed from a March 5 incident that occurred during the final weeks of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz administration, before its landslide election loss to Péter Magyar’s Tisza party. During the incident, Hungarian law enforcement detained two Oschadbank armored vehicles transporting €35 million ($40 million) and nine kilograms of bank gold from Vienna to Kyiv.
The cargo was being transported under an international agreement with Raiffeisen Bank Austria and was destined to support cash circulation in Ukraine. Following the initial detention, the seven employees returned to Ukraine on March 6, the vehicles were released on March 12, and the seized funds and gold were returned to Oschadbank on May 6.
New Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has signaled a pragmatic shift in relations with Ukraine, confirming his administration will not block the European Union’s €90 billion loan package for Kyiv—a departure from his predecessor Viktor Orbán, who previously stalled the aid over the Druzhba pipeline dispute.
While Magyar emphasized that Hungary will not financially participate in the loan due to its own budget constraints, his commitment to consistent foreign policy has prompted Kyiv to signal its openness to high-level talks between Magyar and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The cancellation of the entry bans follows allegations of mistreatment during the initial March detention. Oschadbank transit worker Gennadiy Kuznetsov had previously stated that Hungarian anti-terrorist units intercepted their vehicles near Budapest.
He alleged that authorities held the crew in handcuffs for over 28 hours without consular access, subjected him to forced medical injections, and ignored valid customs documentation for the cargo before deporting them to Ukraine.
Discuss this article:
-c439b7bd9030ecf9d5a4287dc361ba31.jpg "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
-38fdf7d46e096aa9d9e24125f54a9a41.png "Russia’s Arctic LNG Empire Has an Exploitable Logistics Flaw")
-d7f2a8a1dba838c5d48b1a2472516c31.jpg "Photo of Kostiantyn Hlushko")
