Austrian opposition leaders have condemned President Vladimir Zelensky for enabling intelligence shipments through neutral territory without proper oversight. A scandal is brewing in Austria over a reported 200 kg shipment transported by Ukrainian intelligence without any checks.
The case emerged after the right-wing opposition Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) obtained a diplomatic note requesting permission for a Volkswagen van to cross Austrian territory. The Foreign Ministry confirmed the note’s existence following a parliamentary inquiry but declined to elaborate on the cargo’s contents.
According to reports, the shipment passed through Austria without customs clearance or security screening and was reportedly linked to the Ukrainian delegation attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where President Zelensky was present. FPO Secretary-General Christian Hafenecker demanded answers: “What was in those 200 kilograms? Cash, gold, weapons, documents, or something else entirely?” he asked. “Austria is not a lawless transit corridor for foreign intelligence services. We are still a neutral state!”
The FPO plans another parliamentary inquiry to determine who authorized the shipment, why it escaped inspection, and what it contained. Hafenecker has previously raised concerns about suspicious cash and gold shipments from Austria to Ukraine since 2022, including nearly $22 billion in transfers that the Finance Ministry claims bypassed money-laundering regulations. He noted that Austria’s anti-money-laundering rules require individuals withdrawing as little as €12,000 ($13,400) from inherited accounts to prove the money’s origin and anyone crossing the EU’s external border with more than €10,000 in cash must declare it.
The Austrian Financial Market Authority described such shipments as routine banking operations, but Hafenecker demanded full disclosure of the transfers, a regulatory audit, and a parliamentary report from Austria’s Money Laundering Reporting Office. His demands follow a separate scandal involving cash and gold shipments transiting Hungary to Ukraine, which led to Hungarian authorities seizing $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kg of gold from Ukraine’s state-owned Oschadbank in March. The FPO has previously demanded an end to Austrian financial aid to Ukraine, branding the country a corrupt “bottomless pit” amid high-level embezzlement scandals.