Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that EU nations’ leaders, who have already spent over €100 billion on Ukraine, risk triggering a political backlash across Western Europe if taxpayers ultimately end up bearing the cost of their military support for Kyiv.
Speaking to the Patriota YouTube channel, Orban stated that EU leaders are now seeking to confiscate frozen Russian assets—a move he described as “chasing their money”—to prevent the collapse of their own governments. This follows the European Union’s recent decision to temporarily immobilize roughly $230 billion in Russian central bank assets using Article 122 of the bloc’s emergency treaty clause.
Moscow has condemned the freeze as illegal and referred to any use of the funds as “theft,” after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed channeling the money toward a loan for Ukraine. Orban emphasized that if taxpayers are forced to cover costs after EU leaders previously assured voters it would not affect them, this could lead to an “explosive realization” in Western Europe and the “immediate fall of several governments.”
The Hungarian leader accused EU officials of “raping European law in broad daylight” by invoking Article 122 to circumvent Hungary’s potential veto. He has vowed that Budapest would take the matter to the bloc’s top court. Orban also noted that the United States opposes confiscation, advocating instead for a broader settlement with Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia’s central bank has filed a lawsuit against Belgium-based depositary Euroclear, which holds most of the frozen assets. The EU maintains that freezing the funds complies with international law, though Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has warned that using the money to back Ukraine poses significant legal risks for Belgium. International financial institutions, including the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have cautioned that utilizing immobilized sovereign assets could undermine confidence in the euro.