Budapest, 14 December 2025 (MIA) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Saturday that any attempt to seize frozen Russian assets would mean a declaration of war.

Speaking at an anti-war rally in Mohács, southern Hungary, Orbán warned that attempts to use frozen Russian assets in Belgium and other European countries to finance the war would have serious consequences for European financial stability.

“If Brussels tries to take Russian money, that is a declaration of war,” Orbán said, Magyar Nemzet reported.

He explained that every country, including Hungary, has its own foreign exchange reserves, which are usually held in foreign currencies such as dollars or euros.

“We, too, have our national reserves there, similar to the Russians, held by the Belgians. If they attempt to seize them, we must also consider if that is proper. The Russian funds were frozen in Belgium at the beginning of the war, and now they want to take them, which is highly dangerous, since the Belgians are bound by an agreement to be accountable to the Russians for their money,” he said.

According to him, if the EU continues to interfere with these reserves, it could seriously undermine countries’ confidence in the European financial system. He also warned that Belgium could face serious economic consequences if the agreement on freezing Russian assets is breached.

Orbán criticized European leaders who announced that the war in Ukraine would be financed with frozen Russian assets, noting that the financial burden of the war falls not only on today’s European citizens but also on future generations.

Commenting on the EU, Orbán criticized Brussels’ current policy towards Hungary, emphasizing that fundamental issues in the European Union, such as the rule of law, cannot be resolved if the EU continues to interfere in the internal affairs of member states. He stressed that Hungary opposes Brussels’ attempts to make decisions that threaten the sovereignty of its members.

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