Ukraine accuses Hungary of ‘state terrorism’ after €71mln cash and gold seized

Doesn’t Ukraine want to comment on the state terrorism it carried out against its own citizens?..

If it is normal to drive around countries with 7 million and gold bars…

Me as a normal european citizen between a EU and a non-EU country,if I get caught with a bigger amount then 10.000 euros, thats a problem.I am writing declarations until dawn comes.

Others drive around with milions and gold bars

And dont start that bullshit with ,,special delivery” between countries

wow clever and honest people in Hungary

Franciszek Józef Beszłej, edited by: Edward Wight | 09.03.2026, 12:56

**Ukraine has accused Hungary of ‘state terrorism’ and said it will not be blackmailed after around €71 million in cash and gold belonging to Ukraine’s state bank was withheld by Hungarian authorities.**

On Thursday, Hungary detained seven employees of Ukraine’s state bank, Oschadbank, along with €35 million, $40 million and 9 kg of gold they were transporting by road. A day later, Hungary released the bank employees, but withheld the vehicles and funds. 

“Today it is already the fourth day that they [€71 million in cash and gold] have not been returned,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told TVP World. 

According to Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó Since January Ukraine transferred $900 million and €420 million in cash, as well as 146 kilograms of gold though Hungary. Photo: Michael Gottschalk/Photothek via Getty Images

“I think it is obvious that this is a case of state racketeering, as well as state terrorism. A valuable cargo that was being legally transported in accordance with all international standards from Austria to Ukraine was seized by the Hungarian side. 

“Ukraine accepts neither ultimatums nor blackmail. At the same time, we see that this situation is being used by Hungary in an attempt, first of all, to drag us into its internal campaign,” he added in reference to the ongoing parliamentary campaign in Hungary, where Ukraine is being used as a political football between the leading two parties. 

A day earlier, Sybiha wrote a post on X, in which he urged Europe to condemn “this unprecedented act of state banditism and racketeering. I encourage all of our European partners to speak out,” he added.” 

According to Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, the funds have been withheld because of an ongoing investigation into the reasons behind the cash and gold transports through Hungary. 

“Since January, $900 million and €420 million in cash, as well as 146 kilograms of gold, have been transported across Hungary. If this is truly a transaction between banks, why was it not carried out by transfer? Why move such enormous sums in cash through our country?” Szijjártó wrote in a post on Friday. 

Current tensions between Kyiv and Budapest stem from an increasingly bitter row over an outage of the Druzhba pipeline which supplies Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. They are the only EU countries still importing Russian oil due to EU sanctions.  

# Planned legal action 

In a press release on Saturday, Ukraine’s state bank, Oschadbank, said it will pursue legal action to resolve “the incident in Hungary”. 

“The first: an appeal against the decision on restrictive measures on the possibility of staying in the EU, which were unjustifiably imposed on the employees of the bank’s collection team by the Hungarian migration service,” the bank said. 

“The second direction: taking legal steps to return the bank’s property,” it said. 

The bank said it is confident of the “full legality of its actions” and added that it will hire an international company to conduct an independent audit.