Hungary’s Orbán orders authorities to hold some $82 million in seized Ukrainian cash and gold

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has ordered that a shipment of Ukrainian cash and gold seized last week by Hungarian authorities be held in custody for up to 60 days while his country's tax authority investigates the case.

The gold and the money was being transported through Hungary by road when Hungary seized it last Thursday. Authorities said they suspected money laundering. The shipment included $40 million and 35 million euros in cash, as well as 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds) of gold - worth, based on the current exchange rates, about $82 million.

The seizure has outraged Ukrainian authorities who accused Hungary's Russia-friendly government of acting illegally.

Video of the seizure released by Hungary's Counter Terrorism Center showed masked commandos arresting seven employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were en route from Austria, heading to Ukraine.

Kyiv said it was a routine transfer of assets between state banks.

The bank employees were held for over 24 hours and then expelled from Hungary late Friday. There was no word on why Hungarian authorities had released them or if they were suspected of any crimes.

Orbán's decree, signed late Monday, tasks the National Tax and Customs Administration to determine the origin, destination and intended use of the shipment, as well as the identity of the seven expelled Ukrainians "and their possible links to criminal or terrorist organizations."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media late Monday that Hungary was "falling down a spiral of lawlessness," and accused Orbán's government of seeking to "'legalize' the illegal seizure."

"This is a de facto recognition that Hungary's actions lack any legal grounds," Sybiha wrote. "They are just adding lawlessness on top of lawlessness."

Hungary's tax authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hungary has declared a "state of danger" in response to the war in neighboring Ukraine, which allows Orbán's government to rule by decree without the parliament voting on individual measures.

In the decree, Orbán, who faces an unprecedented challenge from a center-right opponent in an election just a month away, also asked that Hungary's tax authority determine whether Ukrainian cash shipments have benefited "Hungarian criminal organizations, terrorist organizations present in Hungary or political organizations."

Ahead of the April 12 election, the right-wing populist leader and a vast web of loyal media outlets have routinely alleged, without providing any evidence, that his primary political opponent, Péter Magyar and his Tisza party, receive financing from Ukraine.

The mention of "political organizations" in the decree has raised suspicion that Magyar and Tisza could be drawn into the investigation into the cash shipment.

Orbán, who is trailing behind Tisza in most polls, has in recent weeks escalated an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign ahead of the election. He has called Ukraine Hungary's "enemy," and claimed that if he loses the vote, Hungary will be forced into bankruptcy and Hungarian youth will be sent to their death on the front lines.

In a further escalation of tensions with Kyiv, Hungary's parliament on Tuesday passed a resolution giving the government the green light to oppose Ukraine's path to joining the European Union and reject any initiatives to supply Ukraine with weapons or funding.