{"id":815072,"date":"2026-03-09T19:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/815072\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:58:14","slug":"hungary-moves-to-legalize-seizure-of-ukrainian-bank-cash-convoy-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/815072\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungary moves to legalize seizure of Ukrainian bank cash convoy \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to Hungarian outlet Telex, lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/telex.hu\/belfold\/2026\/03\/09\/kocsis-mate-ukran-penzszallito-takarekbank-aranykonvoj-nemzetbiztonsagi-bizottsag-javaslat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">plan to debate the legislation<\/a> under an unusual fast-track procedure after the parliament\u2019s national security committee met Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Hungarian authorities say they are examining whether the convoy \u2014 stopped while transiting the country last week \u2014 posed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parlament.hu\/irom42\/13783\/13783.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">national security risks<\/a>. They are also investigating the origin and intended use of the money. <\/p>\n<p>Hungarian officials insist key questions about the convoy remain <a href=\"https:\/\/telex.hu\/belfold\/2026\/03\/09\/kocsis-mate-ukran-penzszallito-takarekbank-aranykonvoj-nemzetbiztonsagi-bizottsag-javaslat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">unresolved<\/a>. Fidesz parliamentary leader Kocsis described the episode as a \u201cscandalous Ukrainian gold convoy\u201d and said investigators are examining whether the transport of such large quantities of cash and bullion could pose security risks to Hungary.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, slammed the move <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/andrii_sybiha\/status\/2031042091409895669?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">on X<\/a>, accusing Budapest of trying to retroactively legitimize an illegal seizure. \u201cHungary is falling down a spiral of lawlessness,\u201d Sybiha wrote, calling the bill \u201ca de facto recognition that Hungary\u2019s actions lack any legal grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The clash is the latest flare-up in a long-running feud between Kyiv and Budapest. Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n has repeatedly butted heads with Ukraine over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/investigate-oil-pipeline-damage-to-unblock-ukraine-funds-orban-tells-eu\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">energy flows through the Druzhba pipeline<\/a>, opposed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/hungary-viktor-orban-ukraine-eu-accession\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kyiv\u2019s bid to join the European Union<\/a> and blocked major EU financial support packages \u2014 including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/eu-struggling-find-solution-hungary-veto-eu-ukraine-e90b-lifeline\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a \u20ac90 billion lifeline<\/a> intended to keep Ukraine\u2019s government functioning during the country\u2019s war with Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to Hungarian outlet Telex, lawmakers plan to debate the legislation under an unusual fast-track procedure after the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7654],"tags":[331,8514,33,35,2000,299,2190,5111,15857,811,1200,1263,657,1781,771],"class_list":["post-815072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ukraine","tag-banks","tag-customs","tag-elections","tag-energy","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-hungary","tag-parliament","tag-pipelines","tag-security","tag-tax","tag-transport","tag-ukraine","tag-viktor-orban","tag-war"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116200990784977668","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}