布达佩斯，10月13日——匈牙利前总理维克托·欧尔班否认曾指示当局扣押两辆运载着8200万美元现金及黄金的乌克兰运输车，并称这些指控出于政治动机。
BUDAPEST, Oct 13 - Hungarian former Prime Minister Viktor Orban has denied directing authorities to seize two Ukrainian cash-in-transit vehicles carrying $82 million in cash and gold, dismissing the claims as politically motivated.
今年3月，匈牙利当局以涉嫌洗钱为由短暂拘留了7名负责运送这批财物的乌克兰人。
Seven Ukrainians transporting the assets were briefly detained by Hungarian authorities in March on suspicion of money laundering.
此事件在4月选举前加剧了匈牙利与乌克兰之间的紧张关系，而那次选举也终结了亲俄派欧尔班长达16年的总理任期。
The case increased tensions between Hungary and Ukraine before an April election that ended Russia ally Orban's 16-year tenure as prime minister.
乌克兰奥夏德银行表示，其员工当时正执行一项常规任务，将现金与黄金从奥地利运回乌克兰；自2022年俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰以来，此类运输任务每周都会进行。
Ukraine's Oschadbank said its employees, transporting the cash and gold from Austria to Ukraine, had been engaged in a routine operation of the kind that it had carried out weekly since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
匈牙利检方已着手调查此案的处理过程，包括有关非法拘禁及虐待乌克兰公民的指控。
Hungarian prosecutors launched an investigation into the handling of the case, including allegations of unlawful detention and mistreatment of the Ukrainian nationals.
6月，检方将匈牙利反恐部队前负责人、现任欧尔班所属青民盟党安全事务主管亚诺什·海杜列为嫌疑人。
In June, prosecutors named Janos Hajdu, a former head of Hungary's counter-terrorism forces and now security chief for Orban's Fidesz party, as a suspect.
虽然欧尔班尚未接受讯问，但执政党蒂萨党的政界人士要求他公开表态是否下达过相关指令。
Orban has not been questioned, but politicians from the governing Tisza party had challenged him to say whether he was involved.
“维克托·欧尔班！请直面匈牙利民众，以真正领袖的姿态明确回答：你是否下令拦截那支‘黄金运输队’？”国防部长罗穆卢什·鲁辛-森迪上周在一份声明中如此质问。
"Viktor Orban! Face the Hungarian people and say it clearly, directly, and in a manner worthy of a true leader: Did you give the order to stop the 'gold convoy', or not?" Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi wrote in a statement last week.
周一，欧尔班称此次乌克兰现金与黄金运输事件是“欧洲最大的腐败案件”。他在接受Hir电视台采访时说道：“我无需亲自下达具体指令或命令，幸好匈牙利当局主动履行了职责；即便他们没这么做，我也会亲自下令。”
On Monday, Orban called the transit of Ukrainian cash and gold "Europe's biggest corruption case." "I did not have to make specific decisions and order measures because, fortunately, the Hungarian authorities did their job of their own accord. But I would have done so anyway if they had not done it themselves," Orban told Hir TV channel.
“如今他们竟想因此将我送上法庭？……这根本与腐败或滥用职权无关，纯粹是企图打压右翼势力罢了。”路透社报道。
"Now they want to bring me to court for this? ... This has nothing to do with corruption, nothing to do with abuse of power. This is about wanting to eliminate the right wing." REUTERS