The Hungarian government has decided to terminate Hungary’s membership with the International Investment Bank (IIB).
A day after the United States imposed sanctions on the Budapest-based bank and three of its senior executives resident in Hungary, the economic ministry said in a statement that whereas the Russia-backed IIB had played an important development role in central and eastern Europe, there was no sense in carrying on with its operations following the US sanctions. Hungary is withdrawing its officials from the IIB, it added. David Pressman, the US ambassador to Hungary, told journalists on Wednesday that sanctions applied to the “Budapest-based, Russia-controlled” bank and three of its senior executives resident in Hungary, including one Hungarian national.