Hungary is hinting at Ukrainian complicity after a couple of rucksacks containing explosives were allegedly found near a gas pipeline close to the Hungarian border just days before the country’s elections.
Serbian authorities have discovered an “explosive device of devastating power” near a gas pipeline connecting the country with neighbouring Hungary, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Sunday. “Our units found an explosive of devastating power,” he stressed in a post on Facebook, saying millions of people could have been cut off from gas supplies had the devices detonated.
“I have just finished a telephone conversation with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in which I informed him of the initial results of the investigation by our military and police authorities into the threat to the critical gas infrastructure connecting Serbia and Hungary,” he said.
Local media reported that the suspicious objects were spotted near the villages of Velebit, Tresnjevac, and Vojvoda Zimonjic in the municipality of Kanjiza, in the immediate vicinity of critical gas infrastructure.
Some 140 police officers and military personnel were deployed in the area, and search operations are being conducted under the direction of the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Subotica. The authorities have closed several roads in the municipality, while the operation is being carried out both on the ground and from the air.
The Serbian Ministry of Defence said a large quantity of explosives, as well as equipment for their manufacture and use, had been discovered near the gas infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Serbian Military Security Agency said intelligence had pointed to a potential attempt to sabotage gas infrastructure. Its director, Đuro Jovanić, said during a press conference the explosives had been professionally packaged and that a suspect from a group of migrants would be detained, adding that markings suggested the explosives had been manufactured in the United States, though he cautioned that this did not imply responsibility.
Orbán issued a statement on his X page, stating he had “convened an emergency defence council for this afternoon,” also adding that “We have placed the Hungarian section of the TurkStream gas pipeline under reinforced military monitoring and protection.” Without directly accusing Ukraine of the incident, Orbán subtly hinted at this:
“Ukraine has been trying for years to cut off Europe from Russian energy.”
The Balkan Stream is a pipeline that runs through Bulgaria and Serbia, connecting Hungary to Russian gas piped under the Black Sea to Turkey.
“If the investigation proves that we were not the primary target after all, but rather Hungary’s supply lines, then this makes it even clearer: the terrorist attack was planned with the aim of bringing down Viktor Orbán,” Bálint Pásztor, president of the Vojvodina Hungarian Association, said on Facebook.
In social media posts, Hungarian officials attempted to link Ukraine to the incident, calling it “just a series of coincidences,” referring to the closure of another oil pipeline delivering Russian oil to Hungary and the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline in 2022. “Ukraine wants to force Hungary to abandon its pro-peace stance and support the war,” according to Balázs Orbán, a senior official in Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s office.
“Someone tried to blow up the TurkStream pipeline,” said the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, adding: “Undermining the security of our energy supply is an attack on our sovereignty.”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it categorically rejects any connection to the latest incident. Spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said: “We categorically reject attempts to falsely link Ukraine to the incident with explosives found near the Turkstream pipeline in Serbia. Ukraine has nothing to do with this.”
Although there have been no official statements to date regarding Ukraine’s involvement in the pipeline incident, one well-informed Serbian source has reported that this could happen as early as Monday, when the Serbian authorities are expected to release the initial findings of their investigation.
Orbán’s main opponent, Péter Mádjári, met the statements with scepticism; he aims to oust the pro-Russian prime minister in a vote next Sunday. He also stated that he had asked Orbán to keep him informed of the situation and to invite him to a meeting of the defence council, emphasising that the incident should not be used to delay next week’s vote.
Earlier, Orbán described Mádjári as a pro-Ukrainian candidate and said an opposition victory would drag Hungary into a war with Russia. He accused Ukraine of attempting to interfere in the campaign, while Mádjári accused the incumbent prime minister of “blatant treason” for his close ties with Russia.
The accusations stem from Hungary’s stance against sanctions on Russian oil and gas, both of which Budapest says are essential to the country’s economy. Hungary is also blocking a €90 billion European Union loan to Ukraine over claims Kyiv is deliberately stopping Russian oil supplies to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline, meanwhile Ukrainian authorities have said that the pipeline is not operational due to Russian drone strikes.
The incident in Serbia is escalating tensions over the region’s energy infrastructure. The Druzhba oil pipeline, used to transport Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, has been the subject of a dispute between Budapest and Kyiv since being damaged earlier this year.
