An escalating diplomatic dispute between Hungary and Ukraine has reached a new intensity after Hungarian authorities impounded two Ukrainian armored bank vehicles. These vehicles were reportedly carrying millions of euros in hard cash, along with bars of gold. In connection with the seizure, seven Ukrainian citizens accompanying the convoy were arrested.

Hungarian officials have asserted that the detained Ukrainians had intelligence connections and implied that the significant sums of money could be of dubious origin. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, swiftly countered these claims, accusing Budapest of “taking hostages and stealing money” and suggesting that the pro-Russian Hungarian President Viktor Orbán orchestrated the scandal for political gain ahead of upcoming Hungarian elections.

Hungary’s national tax and customs administration confirmed that it has initiated a money-laundering investigation into the shipment. The seized assets were detailed as $40 million and €35 million in cash, in addition to 9 kilograms of gold. Officials also noted that one of the individuals arrested was identified as “a former Ukrainian intelligence service general.” Oschadbank, Ukraine’s state savings bank, provided an explanation, stating that its staff were engaged in a “routine trip” to transport cash and gold between Austria and Ukraine. This land-based transport was necessitated by ongoing restrictions on air travel within Ukraine.

However, Balázs Orbán, President Orbán’s political director, publicly expressed skepticism regarding the legitimacy of the shipment. He remarked on X that “Armoured vehicles full of cash and gold moving across Hungary is not how legitimate financial transactions usually work,” and posed the question: “The real question is simple: who stands behind this money and what is it meant to finance?”

This latest incident is set against a backdrop of a broader, increasingly acrimonious relationship between the two nations. A preceding dispute involved gas supplies, where both Hungary and Slovakia accused Kyiv of deliberately delaying repairs to an oil pipeline after it was reportedly damaged in a Russian drone attack. In retaliation for Kyiv’s alleged stalling, President Orbán vetoed further European Union sanctions against Russia, as well as an additional €90 billion loan designated for Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to Orbán’s veto of the loan with remarks that were perceived as a physical threat, causing considerable shock in Budapest. Zelenskyy stated, “We hope that one person in the European Union will not block the 90 bn Otherwise we will give this person’s address to our armed forces, to our guys. Let them call him and talk to him in their own language,”.

Ukrainian officials reiterated accusations that Orbán initiated the entire scandal for electoral advantage, anticipating a bitterly contested election next month. Recent polls indicate that opposition candidate Péter Magyar could secure a significant victory, potentially ending Orbán’s 16-year tenure. Orbán has amplified his rhetoric concerning Ukraine, warning that a win for Magyar could lead to Hungary being drawn into the war.

Hungarian political analysts suggest that Zelenskyy’s provocative words inadvertently played into Orbán’s hands, potentially bolstering his position in the polls. Robert Laszlo, from the Budapest think tank Political Capital, commented that Zelenskyy’s threats might be sufficient to ignite the “war psychosis that the Hungarian government has been provoking for months” and sway public sentiment. Zsuzsanna Végh, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund, concurred, stating that “Zelensky’s comments play into Orban’s hands. He was easily able to turn this into a threat against Hungary instead of a threat against him, thereby reinforcing his own narrative.”

Even Péter Magyar, who had previously attempted to distance himself from the contentious Ukraine issue, found himself compelled to defend Orbán. Expressing concern about losing ground on the matter, Magyar declared during a political rally, “The Ukrainian president threatened prime minister Viktor Orbán. No foreign head of state can threaten a Hungarian or anyone else,” and provocatively added that Zelenskyy could share his address with the Ukrainian military as well. Magyar then called upon the European Union to sever all ties with Ukraine until President Zelenskyy issued an apology for his statement.

On Friday, Hungarian officials announced that the seven detained Ukrainians would be expelled from Hungary. However, the ultimate fate of the substantial amounts of seized money and gold remains unclear. A lawyer representing the detainees, Lóránt Horváth, informed the news site 24.hu that he was struggling to locate his clients and had no information regarding their place of detention, remarking, “I don’t really know how to make sense of what is happening here, but it is not a normal procedure.”