BUDAPEST, July 19. /TASS/. Hungary will not allow the European Union to use funds from the European Peace Fund to finance arms supplies to Ukraine until OTP Bank is removed from Ukraine’s list of "international sponsors of the war," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at a press conference in Budapest after a meeting with his Yemeni counterpart.
Answering questions from reporters, he noted that the position of the Hungarian government on this issue has not changed.
"Hungary will not support the European Union's request for an additional 500 million euros from the so-called European Peace Fund until Ukraine removes the executives of this bank and the bank itself from this list," the Foreign Minister said. His remarks were broadcast by the M1 TV channel.
Szijjarto expressed confidence that the Ukrainian authorities are well aware that the claims made against OTP are groundless, but for some reason they refuse to remove the Hungarian bank from the blacklist.
"Until they do this, we will stick to our position; no arms supplies will be financed from the European Peace Fund," the minister stated.
Previously, he said it was "outrageous, unacceptable and scandalous" that Hungary’s largest bank, with about three million account-holders, had been included on Ukraine’s list of "international sponsors of the war."
Szijjarto warned that if Kiev did not remove OTP Bank from this list, then Budapest would not allow the allocation of a 500 million euro tranche from the European Peace Fund and also would not agree to other proposals to finance the supply of weapons to the Ukrainian army.
Budapest has long demanded that Kiev remove OTP from the blacklist and has suggested that EU leaders put pressure on the Ukrainian authorities in this regard. On May 4, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) included the Hungarian banking group OTP on the list of "international sponsors of the war" because it continues to operate in Russia. Earlier, the agency expanded the blacklist by including other foreign companies that also continue to operate in the Russian market.