Hungary’s government under ex-Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered the detention of a Ukrainian bank convoy without a professional justification and for political reasons, according to an investigation by Hungarian outlet Telex published on June 3.<\/p>\n
In early March, Hungarian<\/a> authorities seized two bank vehicles<\/a> traveling from Austria to Ukraine<\/a> carrying a shipment of cash and gold worth about $82 million, claiming they are investigating alleged money laundering.<\/p>\n Hungary also briefly detained employees<\/a> of the Ukrainian state bank, Oschadbank, who were accompanying the shipment, before releasing them the next day. Kyiv has rejected all accusations and described the seizure as “state terrorism.”<\/p>\n According to Telex<\/a>‘s undisclosed sources familiar with the matter, the seizure was pre-planned and carried out at the order of “higher authorities.”<\/p>\n Orban, Hungary’s Kremlin-friendly ex-leader, ordered the raid as retaliation for the suspension of Russian oil transit to Hungary via the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline, sources told Telex.<\/p>\n While Ukraine said the oil transit was suspended due to a Russian strike against a Druzhba-linked facility in January, Budapest accused Kyiv of deliberately withholding transit. The oil flow was resumed in late April<\/a>.<\/p>\n The detention request came through Hungarian intelligence and security services, which flagged “suspicious” circumstances surrounding the convoy.<\/p>\n These reportedly included discrepancies between different language versions of relevant documents and the alleged intelligence background of one of the Ukrainian staff members traveling with the convoy.<\/p>\n Telex notes that none of the “suspicious” circumstances were unlawful, but the Hungarian government nevertheless used them to build a case.<\/p>\n The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.<\/p>\n Both Ukrainian and Austrian authorities said similar bank transfers are a common and legal practice. Kyiv further stressed that cash transport by land has become increasingly common due to Russia’s all-out invasion.<\/p>\n Hungary eventually returned<\/a> the seized valuables in early May, weeks after Orban’s Fidesz party was defeated in the parliamentary elections<\/a> by Peter Magyar’s Tisza.<\/p>\n Following Telex’s investigation, Magyar, who has replaced Orban as Hungary’s prime minister, urged his predecessor to “take responsibility.”<\/p>\n “Viktor Orban personally exercised direct control over law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” Magyar said on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read also: Hungary\u2019s Magyar hopeful that \u2018technical talks\u2019 on minority rights in Ukraine will wrap up this week<\/a><\/p>\n Read also: Ukraine strikes St. Petersburg Oil Terminal as Putin\u2019s Economic Forum opens<\/a><\/p>\n