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What Hungary's return of Oschadbank assets signalled
Summary
A look back at 6 May 2026, when Kyiv announced the return of seized cash and gold, days after the European Parliament backed a special tribunal.
What did the events around 6 May 2026 show about Ukraine's relations with Europe? Two developments, a few days apart, pointed in different directions: one was a bilateral dispute over seized assets, the other a collective push for accountability.
On 6 May 2026, Ukraine's president announced that Hungary had returned cash and gold seized from Ukraine's Oschadbank. The assets had been held after outgoing Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán ordered the government to keep the cash and gold for 60 days. The announcement marked the end of that episode.
A wider European backdrop
Five days earlier, on 1 May 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution supporting the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian leaders for crimes related to the war in Ukraine. It also called for sanctions to remain in place until a peace agreement is fully implemented.
The tribunal idea concerns the crime of aggression. As later described, the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine is an ad hoc international criminal tribunal intended to prosecute individuals responsible for the invasion, complementing the existing International Criminal Court investigation in Ukraine. The invasion has been described as violating international law from the outset, and procedural obstacles exist to prosecutions under domestic criminal codes, including those of Ukraine and Russia.
Why the two stories belong together
Taken together, the two items show Ukraine dealing with Europe on two levels. The Parliament's resolution set out a position on accountability and sanctions. The return of the Oschadbank assets resolved a concrete dispute with a neighbouring government that was on its way out of office, as Orbán was described at the time.
The Oschadbank announcement came from the Ukrainian president, and the Hungarian side was described as the party that returned the money and gold. The resolution, meanwhile, expressed the Parliament's support for a tribunal and for keeping sanctions; it did not itself create one. The practical steps on both fronts were still ahead on 6 May 2026.
