Why the arrest of Ukrainian money in Hungary led to a scandal. Analysis

Kiev demanded that Budapest return the currency and gold seized during the investigation, which were transported through Hungarian territory from Austria to Ukraine. At the same time, the European Union has not yet commented on the situation with the detention of Ukrainian cash collectors in Hungary. How the Hungarian customs officers' operation aggravated relations between the countries and why the European Union is silent — in the Izvestia article.

Detention of the "gold and currency convoy"

• For the second week, the dispute between Kiev and Budapest continues over the detention in Hungary of armored vehicles transporting 9 kg of gold and cash from Austria to Ukraine - $40 million and €35 million, and the arrest of the people accompanying him. Kiev reacted by accusing Budapest of kidnapping and "state terrorism." Ukraine claims that this was a routine delivery of cash and gold to the state-owned banks of Ukraine, which were carried out weekly on the territory of Hungary from the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank.

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Budapest suspects that the seized funds could be linked to the "Ukrainian military mafia" and used to sponsor the Hungarian opposition ahead of the country's parliamentary elections. Since the beginning of 2026, 146 kg of gold bars, as well as $900 million and €420 million in cash, have been delivered to Ukraine through Hungary. At the same time, the detained collectors turned out to be a former general of the SBU and a former major of the Ukrainian Air Force, as well as former servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Budapest demanded an explanation from Kiev and launched an investigation into a possible threat to national security.

• The situation has aggravated the already difficult relations between the countries: Hungary previously opposed the accelerated admission of Ukraine to the European Union, and after stopping the pumping of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, accused Kiev of blackmail (we wrote more about the quarrel over Friendship here). Ukraine explained the termination of supplies by the fact that the pipeline was allegedly damaged as a result of the drone attack.

Disagreements between Hungary and Ukraine

• Hungary and Slovakia, as an exception, can receive oil from Russia due to the lack of alternatives to these supplies. They demanded that Ukraine restore the infrastructure and ensure the transportation of oil purchased in Russia. In anticipation of the opening of the pipeline, the countries stopped supplying diesel to Ukraine. Budapest has also blocked the allocation of an EU loan of €90 billion to Kiev until oil supplies are restored.

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• Speaking to reporters on March 5, Zelensky made a scandalous statement: he threatened to transfer Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's contacts to the Armed Forces in response to the blocking of EU funds for Ukraine. Zelensky's words provoked a sharply negative reaction in Europe: the European Commission declared threats against EU members unacceptable. Hungarian opposition leader Peter Magyar demanded that Ukraine apologize to the Hungarian people for his words and restore oil pumping through the pipeline.

• The detention of Ukrainian armored vehicles with gold and currency has actually become another round of conflict between the countries. On March 6, Orban announced that along with the cessation of the sale of gasoline and diesel fuel, supplies of important goods for Ukraine, delivered in transit through Hungary, would be suspended. Kiev threatened to appeal to the European Court of Justice if Budapest did not return the funds, and promised to impose sanctions.

The EU's position

• Despite numerous publications in the foreign press, there have been no official statements from the European Union regarding the detention of the "Ukrainian gold and currency convoy" in Hungary. It is also unknown whether the appeal of the Ukrainian authorities to the EU has been undertaken and has had any effect: according to press reports, the issue of the detention of funds sent to Ukraine is being considered behind closed doors.

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• Experts believe that the EU's silence may be explained by the fact that the EU was well aware of the purposes for which the money was being sent, and for what reason its shipment did not have the status of diplomatic mail. It is assumed that this could indeed be a "black box office" that could be used to destabilize the situation in Hungary and bring opposition forces to power, since Orban's figure does not suit not only Ukraine, but also Brussels. The money could also be part of corruption schemes being implemented in Ukraine.

• In the event that the EU did not know about the purpose of the money being sent to Ukraine, it may avoid officially commenting on the situation, since Budapest acted within the law, and while the investigation is underway, any statements justifying the actions of the Ukrainian convoy in Hungary will be premature. In this case, direct EU intervention in order to protect Ukraine may be a violation of European legislation. Therefore, the EU may avoid commenting on the incident in Hungary in the hope that public interest in this topic will fade over time.

What does this mean?

• The amounts seized by Hungarian customs do not play a significant role in financing the Ukrainian regime, but questions about their origin are not beneficial to either Ukraine or the European Union. In the event that they were supposed to support the Hungarian opposition and weaken Orban, this would be seen as a violation of the sovereignty of an EU member state and a violation of all the democratic values that the European Union proclaims. If the cash was used to supply Ukrainian intelligence and its terrorist activities, the EU will also remain silent in order not to highlight its involvement in terrorist attacks carried out by the Ukrainian regime.

• It is noteworthy that Ukraine has not received broad support in other EU member states in this situation. Even the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank has not released an official statement explaining the origin of the money, which makes the Ukrainian position rather shaky. In the event that these were ordinary supplies to secure the gold and foreign exchange funds of state banks, Ukraine will have to look for other routes for its collection vehicles: previously, money was transported through Hungary and Slovakia, but now Ukraine has difficult relations with both countries.

During the preparation of the material, Izvestia interviewed:

• political scientist Evgeny Semibratov;
• political scientist Nikolai Starikov.