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Orban denies ordering seizure of Ukrainian cash and gold convoy
Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has denied ordering the seizure of a Ukrainian convoy carrying cash and gold for Ukraine’s banking system in March. Orban claimed the raid was organized independently by law enforcement officials. His comments follow an earlier statement from a former senior prosecutor, who said the operation was politically motivated, and reports in Hungarian media claiming Orban himself gave the order.
“They acted on their own discretion,” Orban wrote on Facebook about the law enforcement agencies involved in the operation. Without providing evidence, he repeated his allegation that the convoy was illegal. “If it had been necessary, I would have given the order,” he added, insisting the officials involved “deserve recognition and rewards for their work.”
The incident occurred at the end of an election campaign in which Orban portrayed Ukraine as a hostile state seeking to draw Budapest into the war with Russia. Anti-terror police stopped a routine transport of cash and gold bars from Austria destined for Ukraine’s banking system and briefly detained the convoy’s security guards. If such orders were actually given, they could have criminal implications.
Claims of high-level involvement were in line with the campaign rhetoric of Orban’s Fidesz party, which emphasized the risks posed by Ukraine as a neighbor to the east. After Orban’s election defeat, investigators questioned Janos Hajdu as a suspect in the alleged unlawful detention of the convoy’s guards. At the time, Hajdu was the head of Hungary’s anti-terrorism service and was widely seen as an Orban ally. Following his dismissal by the new government, Hajdu returned to lead the party security service—a post he previously held before Orban became prime minister 16 years ago.
Hungarian authorities initially presented the raid as a money-laundering investigation: the tax and customs agency claimed there were suspicions of money laundering. Then-Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, without providing evidence, suggested the couriers might have been transporting money “for the Ukrainian military mafia”. The couriers were released the following evening, while the cash and gold were only returned to Ukraine on May 6.
The new government adopted a different approach. In June, Prime Minister Peter Magyar announced the resignation of the prosecutor general appointed during Orban’s tenure. In August, the tax service closed the case against the couriers. Investigators concluded that the $40 million, 35 million euros (about $39 million), and 9 kilograms of gold all had legal origins.
