Hungarian Blackmail
By:Giorgio Provinciali
Live from Ukraine ????????
Chernivtsi Viktor Orbn is no longer just blocking Ukraine politically. He has also begun targeting it financially and legally, twisting Hungarian laws into tools of pressure that resemble retaliation. Thats why Volodymyr Zelensky is now openlycallingit a European problem:Orbn is on the Russian leaders side, andEurope must prepare a Plan B to avoid being held hostage by the Hungarian veto. This perfectly captures whats happening.
While Kyiv was condemning Hungarian political blackmail, Naftogazannouncedthat for two consecutive days, the Russian Federation used drones to attack oil infrastructure in southern Ukraine, damaging a pumping station. The groups president, Serhij Koretskyj, explicitlystatedthe purpose of these attacks:to prevent Europe from accessing alternative supplies of non-Russian oil by targeting points that could decrease Europes dependence on Russian energy.
TheOschadbank incidentshould be viewed in this context. On March 5, Hungarian authoritiesstoppedtwo Ukrainian armored vehicles from Austria heading to Ukraine, which were carrying $40 million, 35 million, and 9 kilograms of gold. Hungarian anti-terrorism forces alsointervened, handcuffing the seven Ukrainian citizens on board Oschadbank employees and forcing them to land.
While the Ukrainian ambassador and lawyerscomplainedof being denied access to the detainees, Budapestcitedsuspected money laundering. Even then, the situation appeared unusual:not just a routine administrative check on assets in transit, but the coercive dramatization with clear political implications of a raid, with images the Hungarian government immediatelyreleasedto the media. Orbn himselfattributedthe retaliation to the failure of Russian hydrocarbons to flow through the Ukrainian Friendship (Druzhba) pipeline,declaringthat Hungary would useall means at its disposaluntil it was fixed.
Then came the most serious step:the formal regulatory validation of the abuse. In Hungarian government decree 49/2026 (III.9.),publishedin the Magyar Kzlny, the Hungarian government not only ordered further investigations but also explicitly identified the March 5 case: the two vehicles, the seven Ukrainian citizens, and the exact amount of seized cash and gold. Even more significant is Article 3: until the 60th day following the decrees entry into force, those assets must be consideredseizedeven without a formal decision from the competent customs and tax authorities; furthermore, any execution of a release from seizure is suspended. The same official file also includes Decree 50/2026, in whose preamble the Hungarian government openlyclaimsthatUkraine has placed Hungary under an oil blockade, thus linking the withholding of Oschadbank assets to the energy dispute over Druzhba within a specifically constructed regulatory framework.
Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties isclear:a state cannot invoke its domestic law to justify failing to fulfill its international obligations. While not fully legalizing the seizure, the Orbn decreeattemptsto handle it under Hungarian domestic law by protecting three very serious issues: the (arbitrary) detention of employees, the (instrumental) withholding of valuables, and the obstruction of consular and defense access.
Legally, Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights immediatelyapplies, safeguarding personal freedom andprohibiting arbitrary deprivation of liberty outside a procedure prescribed by law. From an international political perspective, Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relationsstatesthatforeign citizens arrested or detained must be guaranteed communication and consular access. Financially, the ongoing withholding of funds and gold belonging to a Ukrainian state bank, for now and for openly political reasons, also highlights the problem of arbitrary asset deprivation.
The most serious issue, however, is the Hungarian states international responsibility. The UN articles on state responsibilitylimitcountermeasures to strict boundaries; among these, Article 50excludesviolations of fundamental human rights obligations and, more broadly, obligations that maintain diplomatic and consular channels.
Therefore, even if Budapests best argument is that Hungary is responding to Ukrainian actions seen as hostile in the energy sector, it still cannot use detained persons, consular rights, or bank assets as tools for political pressure.
This is not a legitimate countermeasure but an illegal retaliation: a hostile act of state coercion against an attacked country, especially as Russia bombs the infrastructure that could help Europe at least partially free itself from Russian oil.
This is whyZelensky is correct to describe this as a European problem, not just a Ukrainian one. When a European Union government uses its regulatory tools to withhold public bank funds from an attacked country, making the return of those funds dependent on the resumption of Russian crude oil flows, the impact extends beyond Kyiv.
It threatens the very concept of Europe as a legal community. It damages the Unions credibility and strategic sovereignty. Holding Oschadbanks funds hostage until Russian oil flows to Hungary again is an escalation of blackmail that started with blocking the 90 billion loan to Ukraine, a move the European Commission itself has said puts the security of all Europe at risk.
The ongoing blackouts severely damaged our houses heating system in Western Ukraine while we were in the Donbas.
Without electricity, the pump couldnt circulate the liquid while the fire was lit. As a result, the system caught fire, and the whole house was at risk of burning. Fortunately, it did not, but the whole system needs to be changed, and the house needs to be restored. Tubes are all bent, walls are blackened by haze, and the heating system doesnt work, requiring an entirely new system.
We are doing our best since Allas parents live there, but theres still a lot to work on here, too, as the people around us are in no better situation.
Were renewing our fundraising campaign and thanking everyone who joins us in helping us restore what Russia is destroying.
Even a small donation helps.
Well keep you updated on developments.
Thank you all, dear friends ????????
匈牙利的勒索
作者：Giorgio Provinciali
翻譯：旺財球球
烏克蘭前線報道????????
切爾尼夫齊維克托歐爾班不再僅在政治上阻撓烏克蘭。他也開始在財政和法律層麵出手，將匈牙利法律扭曲為帶有報複性質的施壓工具。因此，弗拉基米爾澤連斯基如今公開稱其為歐洲問題：歐爾班站在俄羅斯領導人一邊，歐洲必須準備B方案，以免被匈牙利的否決權劫持。這句話恰如其分地概括了正在發生的事情。
在基輔譴責匈牙利的政治勒索之際，烏克蘭國家天然氣公司Naftogaz宣布，俄羅斯聯邦連續兩天用無人機襲擊烏克蘭南部的石油基礎設施，造成一處泵站受損。該集團董事長謝爾希科列茨基明確指出這些襲擊的目的：通過打擊可能使歐洲減少對俄羅斯能源依賴的節點，阻止歐洲獲得非俄羅斯石油的替代供應。
奧沙德銀行（Oschadbank）事件應在這一背景下審視。3月5日，匈牙利當局攔截了兩輛從奧地利開往烏克蘭的烏克蘭裝甲車，車上攜帶現金4000萬美元、3500萬歐元及9公斤黃金。匈牙利反恐部隊介入，將車上七名烏克蘭公民奧沙德銀行員工銬住並強製其下車。
（圖片來源：Euronews）
當烏克蘭大使和律師抱怨被拒絕會見被拘留者時，布達佩斯以涉嫌洗錢為由回應。即便如此，這一情形仍顯異常：這不僅是一次對過境資產的常規行政檢查，而是帶有明顯政治意味的強製性作秀式突襲，匈牙利政府隨即向媒體公開了相關畫麵。歐爾班本人將此歸咎於通過烏克蘭友誼管道流經的俄羅斯油氣受阻，宣稱匈牙利將動用一切手段直到問題解決。
隨後出現了最嚴重的一步：對濫用行為的正式法規性確認。在刊登於Magyar Kzlny（匈牙利公報）的匈牙利政府第49/2026號（III.9.）法令中，政府不僅命令進一步調查，還明確指名了3月5日的個案：兩輛車輛、七名烏克蘭公民，以及被查扣的現金與黃金的具體數額。更重要的是第3條：在法令生效之日起60日內，上述資產即便沒有主管海關或稅務機關的正式裁定，也應視為已扣押；此外，任何解除扣押的執行也被暫停。同一官方文件還包括第50/2026號法令，其前言公開宣稱烏克蘭已對匈牙利實施石油封鎖，由此在一個專門構建的監管框架內，將對奧沙德銀行資產的扣押與有關友誼（Druzhba）管道的能源爭端相聯係。
《維也納條約法公約》第27條明確規定：一國不得援引其國內法以證明未能履行國際義務。盡管歐爾班的法令並未完全將查扣合法化，但其試圖通過匈牙利國內法來處置此案，從而掩蓋三項極為嚴重的問題：對員工的（任意）拘押、對貴重物品的（工具性）扣押以及對領事與法律辯護的阻礙。
在法律層麵上，《歐洲人權公約》第5條立即適用，保障人身自由並禁止在法律程序之外任意剝奪自由；從國際政治角度，《維也納領事關係公約》第36條規定，被逮捕或被拘留的外國公民應得到通訊與領事接觸權的保障。財政上，出於明顯政治目的持續扣押屬於烏克蘭國有銀行的資金與黃金，也暴露了任意剝奪資產的問題。
然而，最嚴重的問題是匈牙利國家的國際責任。聯合國關於《國家責任條款》將對抗措施設定了嚴格界限；其中第50條排除了對基本人權義務的侵犯，以及更廣泛地維持外交與領事渠道的義務。
因此，即便布達佩斯最好的辯解是匈牙利在對烏克蘭在能源領域的敵對行為作出回應，它仍不能以被扣押人員、領事權利或銀行資產作為政治施壓的工具。
這不是合法的對抗措施，而是非法的報複：對受攻擊國家的國家強製敵對行為，尤為嚴重的是，此時俄羅斯正轟炸那些本可幫助歐洲至少部分擺脫俄羅斯石油依賴的基礎設施。
（音頻：非常榮幸和高興能與著名美國分析師Mark McNamee進行了友好對話，他在其節目History in the Making: The War in Ukraine中專門討論了這一話題。我在此分享該播客：https://open.spotify.com/show/7rnZ6ruHPH393uoKfnHlVV）
（音頻：我還與大家分享此前與佩特雷烏斯將軍的精彩對話）
這也是澤連斯基將此事描述為歐洲問題而非僅為烏克蘭問題的正當理由。當一個歐盟政府利用其監管工具扣押遭受攻擊國家的公共銀行資金，並將這些資金的歸還與俄羅斯原油流向的恢複掛鉤時，其影響已超出基輔範圍。
這威脅到了歐洲作為法律共同體的根基，損害了歐盟的公信力與戰略主權。把奧沙德銀行的資金劫為人質，直至俄羅斯原油再次輸送到匈牙利，是對先前通過阻撓對烏克蘭900億歐元貸款而發起的勒索行為的升級歐盟委員會自己也曾表示，此舉危及整個歐洲的安全。
（圖：我在烏克蘭尼古拉耶夫戰區報道的照片版權所有：Giorgio Provinciali）
（視頻：我感謝偉大的法比奧斯卡恰維拉尼（Fabio Scacciavillani）在其Inglorious Globastard平台上接待我。我在Medium上與朋友們分享這篇文章，因為我相信它能對我近期討論的衝突諸多方麵提供有價值的見解，而不幸的是，許多從未到過現場的人對這些問題的報導往往極不準確）
***
持續的停電嚴重損壞了我們在烏克蘭西部的家中的供暖係統，而我們當時就在頓巴斯。
沒有電，點著的爐火無法通過水泵循環熱水。結果，係統起火，整個房子麵臨著燒毀的風險。幸而未被燒毀，但整個係統需要更換，房子也需要修複。管道都是歪的，牆壁被煙霧熏黑，供暖係統無法正常工作，需要徹底更換。
我們正在盡最大努力，因為Alla的父母住在那裏，但這裏還有許多工作要做，周圍的人處境也好不到哪兒去。
我們正在重啟籌款活動，感謝每一位支持我們修複被俄羅斯摧毀一切的朋友。即使是小額捐款也有幫助。我們會及時更新進展。
感謝大家，朋友們。
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在過去的三年裏，我們一直在烏克蘭戰爭的各個前線進行報道
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