Orbán party MP submits bill to keep seized Oschadbank cash and valuables under arrest

Máté Kocsis, an MP from the ruling Fidesz party, has introduced a bill to the Hungarian parliament proposing that cash and valuables seized from Ukraine's state-run Oschadbank remain under arrest until the ongoing criminal inquiry into the seizure is concluded.

Source: European Pravda, citing the text of the bill published on the Hungarian parliament's website; Telex, an independent Hungarian news portal

Details: The proposal concerns what it calls an "unusual amount" of cash and gold that was being transported through Hungary.

Kocsis proposed treating the assets seized last week as confiscated until the procedure begun by Hungary's National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) is completed. He said the authorities are examining how the purpose and use of the assets affect national security. Kocsis added that the manner of transportation and the identities of the transporters could pose a risk to Hungary's national security.

He said many aspects of what he called the "scandalous Ukrainian gold convoy" remain unclear.

Telex reported that parliament will debate the bill according to an exceptional procedure, as announced during the open part of a National Security Committee meeting on Monday 9 March. The committee usually meets behind closed doors, but its members moved to another room to discuss Kocsis's proposal, and the session was open for that period of time.

Zsolt Molnár, an MP from the opposition MSZP party, questioned why Kocsis was putting the proposal forward now, ahead of the elections, and why had he filed it so quickly. Zoltán Sas from the Jobbik party, who chairs the National Security Committee, also criticised the pace of the process, saying there is insufficient time to study the bill in detail.

Sas said there are also concerns about the retroactive effect of the legislation linked to the proposal. The committee members nevertheless agreed that the issue could represent a national security risk.

Kocsis briefly addressed their concerns, saying that while questions about retroactivity may arise, the proposal applies to a specific matter that requires legal regulation.

He apologised for introducing the bill at short notice, explaining that parliament will meet only on Monday and Tuesday before the elections, so a decision must be taken urgently.

The committee supported Kocsis's proposal by four votes, with two abstentions from Sas and Molnár. The members voted the same way on recommending that the National Assembly (Hungarian parliament) discuss the proposal as an exception.

Background: On the evening of 6 March, the seven Ukrainian cash-in-transit workers detained in Hungary last week returned to Ukraine. Oschadbank and Ukraine's Foreign Ministry are demanding that Hungary return the bank's valuables and the vehicles used to transport them.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!