By Dr. Miklos K. Radvanyi
On March 5, 2026, officers of the Hungarian Counter Terrorism Center (Hungarian acronyms: TEK), members of the National Tax and Customs Administration (Hungarian acronyms: NAV), and undisclosed number of police units, intercepted and detained two armored cash-transport vehicles belonging to Ukraine’s state bank Oschadbank, while they were transiting Hungary from Vienna, Austria, to Kyiv, Ukraine. The cargo seized: about $40 million, Euros 35 million, and 9 kg. of gold, worth approximately $80 million. Seven Ukrainian staff members accompanying the convoy were roughed up, detained in an undisclosed location, and quickly expelled from Hungary. Hungarian authorities kept the money and gold, personal belongings of the seven staff members, and opened a money-laundering investigation.
According to Dr. Lorant Horvath, the Hungarian attorney of Oschadbank “all documentation relating to the shipment was handed over to the authorities at the time of seizure, including RBI invoice, the import license, the consignment documentation, the inventory, the currency exchange certificate, the CMR, as well as the contract between RBI and Oschadbank.” Moreover, Dr. Lorant Horvath emphasized that the transport fully complied with both Hungarian and international standards: “Oschadbank has been transporting funds along this route since 2022 with the knowledge of the Hungarian authorities. The transport cannot be considered out of the ordinary in terms of scale either.”
Concomitantly, Dr. Istvan Szent-Ivanyi, formerly State Secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry and Ambassador to Slovenia, described in his Facebook post the inexcusably brutal treatment of the seven staff members that reminded him of the methods Russian law enforcement agencies have employed for centuries before. He pointed out that the interrogations were conducted in Russian and not in Ukrainian, most probably because the chief interrogator – who wore a face mask – was a Russian GRU officer. Simultaneously, the Hungarian authorities published AI generated memes, in which the allegedly Hungarian officers’ jackets displayed the word “POLICIJA,” which is clearly not in Hungarian language.
Adding more insult to their illegally created injuries, the Hungarian authorities – understand the Prime Minister Viktor Orban personally – claimed that the Oschadbank assets thus transported were designed for the main opposition party “TISZA” with the decidedly political objective of defeating Orban’s “FIDESZ Party” in the upcoming elections on April 12, 2026. Here, Mr. Orban failed to mention the fact, reported extensively in the Western media, that three Russian GRU employees just arrived under diplomatic cover to Budapest with the malicious objective of repeating the Kremlin’s interference in the Bulgarian, Romanian, and Moldovan elections, in Hungary too.
Unambiguously, the Hungarian authorities’ most recent actions have become increasingly embarrassing for Viktor Orban and his Gangsterocracy. First, the two armored vehicles have travelled the same route on a weekly basis, since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in early 2022. In other words, this transfer was not unique, crossing the Hungarian border in the dead of the night. On the contrary, it was an impeccably documented and legally unassailable financial movement tied to a Ukrainian state institution. The truth is that Viktor Orban was looking desperately for a reason to avenge the closing of the Friendship Pipeline and, at the same time, to prove another FIDESZ lie that the leading TISZA Party in the polls is financed by “Hungary’s enemy” – the Zelenskyy government. Second, this above the law mentality has proved the fact that the Hungarian authorities, in particular Viktor Orban and his closest accomplices, are guilty of multiple terrorist acts according to Section 314 paragraphs (1) and (2) point (a) of the Hungarian Criminal Code: “A person shall be punished under paragraph (1) if he a) for a purpose specified in paragraph (1) a), takes control of significant material assets and requires a state organ or international organization to comply with a demand as a condition of returning or leaving such assets intact.” Thus, demanding the opening of the Friendship Pipeline in exchange for returning the illegally seized assets of the Oschadbank is terrorism, even under Hungarian law. Finally, the subsequent adoption of the Prime Ministerial Decree on March 9, 2026, called the “On necessary measures in connection with the unusually large amount of cash and gold bars transported through Hungary in order to protect the national security interests of the state,” is the most glaring confession that the Hungarian authorities acted illegally. Since this decree was issued four days after the seizure, in order to create a justification for the illegal action, it is null and void under the “ex post facto” doctrine. Such unfair, punitive, retroactive criminal legislation – especially in a low level decree – is unconstitutional even under Article XXVIII (4) of the Hungarian Fundamental Law. Known as the “nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege” principle, this Article prohibits punishment without a law.
Thus, when the Orban’s Gangsterocracy’s lying narrative is freed from its anti-Ukrainian, anti-NATO as well as anti-EU rhetoric, Hungary’s despicable role in treading a hostile path in the Russo-Ukrainian War has turned one man’s hatred into a self-defeating geopolitics. Most alarmingly, it has shown that Hungary is not even an “illiberal democracy” as Mr. Orban claims. Plain and simple, it is a Gangsterocracy where the rule of law exclusively serves the corrupt legalization of a totally lawless tyranny whose only objective is to perpetuate its absolute powers for eternity. In this light, the Hungarian “illiberal democracy” sucks. Soviet-style hatred-based oppression coupled with the total lack of the rule of law have clogged up Hungary’s progress for sixteen years. This hate that has poisoned the entire Hungarian nation now has punched Viktor Orban and his Gangsterocracy in the face. Instead of turning the majority of the Hungarian people into weak victims, it unmasked Viktor Orban as the chief victim of his self-erected grievance train. This problem is not just a Hungarian tragedy. Its international implication is even more destructive because it is the opposite of Western cultural history. More specifically, it is the opposite of American history too. Therefore, the louder Viktor Orban whines, the more laughable a complainer he becomes. And the more he personifies his incompetence the more he becomes one of the most despicable losers of history.
In closing, the Hungarian people should wake up and stop defining themselves through their haters. Wallowing in victimhood only keeps the Hungarian people prisoners of the present collection of professional haters. In order to fight the latter successfully, the former must double down on raising their nation from the deepest pits of hell to the bright light of liberty for all.