Hungary is waiting for OTP Bank to be removed from its “war sponsor” status
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Kiev’s temporary suspension of the status of “international war sponsor” for the Hungarian OTP Bank did not lead to significant changes; Budapest does not plan to support additional EU funding for arms supplies to Ukraine, official representative of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry Mate Patzolai. He explained that Hungary expects the bank to be completely excluded from the Ukrainian list.
On September 29, it became known that the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) of Ukraine suspended the status of “international war sponsor” for the Hungarian OTP Bank and a number of other companies in order to receive assistance worth €500 million from the European Union, the Ukrainian agency reported. The Ukrainian department stated that this decision was made based on the results of negotiations on terminating cooperation with the Russian Federation, and the companies will finally be excluded from the register only after the “specified conditions” are met.
There have been no significant changes in Hungary as a result of this decision, Patzolai said, as quoted by MTI.
“The Hungarian point of view is clear: until OTR is removed from the list, Hungary will not support any additional EU funding regarding arms supplies to Ukraine,” – said he (quote from RIA Novosti).
NAPC of Ukraine added the Hungarian OTP Bank Group to the list of “international war sponsors” on May 4. The Ukrainian department explained this by the work of the bank in Russia after the start of the special operation. After this, information appeared in the media about Hungary blocking a military tranche from the European Union for Ukraine in the amount of 500 million euros from the European Peace Fund. On May 16, this information was confirmed by the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, and Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said that the republic intends block EU military aid to Ukraine until sanctions against OTP Bank are lifted.
On July 20, Szijjártó stated that Hungary will require report on the expenditure of funds already allocated to Ukraine. Hungary also demanded to ensure the rights of ethnic Hungarians living on the territory of Ukraine.
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