The allegation comes after Hungary impounded two Ukrainian cash trucks as part of a money laundering investigation
Zoltan Kovacs © Thierry Monasse / Getty Images
[RT] The
Hungarian authorities have proof that Ukraine is covertly channeling
funds to the opposition Tisza Party ahead of the country’s parliamentary
elections next month, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs has said.
Speaking
at the Hour of Truth broadcast on Wednesday, Kovacs recalled that
pro-EU Tisza Party leaders had publicly spoken of needing between $30
and 60 million for an electoral campaign – a figure they argued would
counterbalance the overwhelming power of the ruling Fidesz party.
With the elections approaching, Kovacs claimed that “the national security services presented the evidence to the parliament’s national security committee that proves how the Ukrainians finance the party through various means.”
While he did not elaborate further, he noted that the recent scandal
around a Ukrainian convoy carrying $40 million, €35 million, and nine
kilograms of gold, which was impounded in the Budapest area as part of a
money laundering investigation, raised significant questions.
Kovacs said authorities had “every right to find out exactly what is going on in the background” and wondered why “such a monstrous amount of cash needed to be moved from an Austrian bank, and not even by the shortest route.”
Ukraine has condemned the seizure, calling it “blackmail” and an act of “state banditism.”
State-owned Oschadbank, whose employees staffed the vehicles, described
the transfer as a routine cash run, recalling that transit by air has
been impossible since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Tisza broadly supports Ukraine’s EU integration – a position Budapest insists would bring “unpredictable consequences for Hungary’s security, economy, labor market, and agriculture” and could draw the entire bloc into a direct conflict with Russia.
Hungary
and Ukraine have long been at odds, including due to a dispute over the
Druzhba oil pipeline, which was shut down by Kiev in January. While
Ukraine claimed it was damaged in a Russian strike, Moscow dismissed the
allegations, with Hungary and Slovakia supporting this stance and
accusing Kiev of blackmail.