Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-26

[Duque de Bragança]

More countries should send Senators to the front line. 

Reminds me of a cult mistranslation of a Gladiator line in the French subtitles:

"Les Sénateurs deviennent de plus en plus chauves." (technically true).
The Senators are growing balder every day. 

[Syt]

WTF?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd03rj7n0nro

Ukraine accuses Hungary of taking seven people hostage

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has accused Hungarian authorities of taking hostage seven employees of Ukraine's state savings bank, Oschadbank.

Writing on X, Sybiha said: "Today in Budapest, Hungarian authorities took seven Ukrainian citizens hostage. The reasons are still unknown, as well as their current well-being."

The employees were in two cars carrying $80m (£60m) worth of cash between Austria and Ukraine. The authorities had sent a note demanding the employees' return, Sybiha said.

In a statement, Oschadbank said the employees "were unjustifiably detained in Hungary" and that GPS data showed their vehicles in Budapest. The BBC has contacted the Hungarian government for comment.

"The amount of valuables in the stolen cars amounted to 40 million US dollars, 35 million euros, 9 kg of gold," the Oschadbank statement continues.

"Oschadbank demands the immediate release of its employees and property and their return to Ukraine."

Hungary maintains close ties with Russia, and has consistently opposed military aid for Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for blocking a European aid package for Kyiv.

Orban has said Budapest will use "political and financial tools" to force Ukraine to reopen the Druzhba pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungarian refineries.

Sybiha accused Hungary of "state terrorism and racketeering".

"We are talking about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money," Sybiha added on X.

Ukraine says the pipeline was damaged by Russian strikes last month and its repair crews have been injured by further attacks.

Druzhba is the main route for delivering Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia and shipments of Russian oil to both countries have been cut off since 27 January.

Hungary and ‌Slovakia, the only European �Union countries still importing Russian oil, accuse Ukraine of deliberately delaying the resumption of oil flows for political reasons.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Europe should have cleaned up it's antidemocratic Putinista mess years ago.

[Zoupa]

Europe should have cleaned up it's antidemocratic Putinista mess years ago.

You elected Trump. Twice.

[garbon]

Europe should have cleaned up it's antidemocratic Putinista mess years ago.

You elected Trump. Twice.

Both statements are true.

[Zoupa]

Yes indeed. Not sure americans can lecture anyone on how to resist russian disinfo ops though.

[Syt]

Is Orban at the stage where he's really desperate? Or has he stopped giving a fuck?

I hope he's not trying to provoke some kind of incident where he tries to invoke NATO Art. 5. I doubt any country would follow it (though who knows with US and the current government in Slovakia), but it would not do much for the alliance's cohesion.

[garbon]

Yes indeed. Not sure americans can lecture anyone on how to resist russian disinfo ops though.

Are you just being sensitive? One sentence is hardly a lecture.

It is unfortunate that the EU didn't have suitable mechanisms and will to deal with Hungary earlier. My recall is Poland used to provide Hungary a shield?

[HVC]

I've been saying so for years. Plus I'm Canadian, so I guess I'm allowed to hold that opinion?