Hungary alleges plot to blow up gas pipeline ahead of election
Hungary alleges plot to blow up gas pipeline ahead of election
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called an emergency session of the National Defence Council following the discovery of explosives near a critical gas pipeline that delivers Russian energy to the country. The finding, made in a border region with Serbia, coincides with a significant challenge for Orban’s ruling party in upcoming elections. Opposition leader Peter Magyar has accused him of “panic-mongering” backed by “Russian advisers,” just days after security analysts raised concerns about a possible “false flag” operation that could shift blame to Ukraine.
Orban, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has consistently resisted EU pressure to cut ties with Russian energy sources since the invasion of Ukraine. Recent weeks have seen Hungarian security experts speculate about a staged attack, either within Hungary or Serbia, designed to bolster Orban’s political standing by either rallying public support for his Fidesz party or providing a pretext to delay the vote.
On Sunday morning, Serbian President Alexander Vucic informed Orban of the discovery. Serbian forces uncovered two rucksacks containing explosives and detonators near the village of Tresnjevac in the Kanjiza district, approximately 20km from where the TurkStream pipeline enters Hungary. “Our units found an explosive of devastating power,” Vucic stated in an Instagram post, adding that he would keep Orban updated as the investigation progresses.
Hungary relies on between five and eight billion cubic metres of Russian gas annually, sourced via the TurkStream pipeline. Both Hungary and Slovakia depend on this route for energy imports. Balint Pasztor, head of the Vojvodina Hungarian Association, and another key Orban associate claimed on Facebook that if the investigation shows the pipeline was not the main target, the attack “was planned to bring down Viktor Orban.”
Fidesz has made anti-Ukrainian rhetoric a central theme of its election strategy. At campaign events, Orban has highlighted Hungary’s low energy costs, attributing them to Russian oil and gas supplies. Oil arrives through Ukraine, while gas flows via the Balkans. Orban further asserts that a “Kyiv-Brussels-Berlin” alliance is conspiring to prevent Hungary from accessing cheap Russian fuel and to install a “puppet” leader, Peter Magyar, in the polls.
He also warns that a government led by Magyar would thrust Hungary into a broader European conflict with Russia. Orban has already blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for an “oil blockade,” as no Russian oil has passed through the Druzhba pipeline since January. Ukraine claims the pipeline was damaged during a Russian attack and expects it to be operational again by mid-April. Despite this, no official accusations of Ukrainian involvement have been made so far.
A Serbian official hinted to the BBC that results of the investigation might emerge as early as Monday. Earlier, Hungarian security expert Andras Racz had predicted on Facebook that a “fake attack” on TurkStream could be orchestrated within Serbia. He suggested the explosives would be traced back to Ukraine, enabling Orban to reframe the blame as Kyiv’s fault. “We had solid preliminary information about this operation,” said former Hungarian counter-intelligence officer Peter Buda, “including details about the location and timing. It’s clear Ukraine’s interests aren’t at stake here.”
The Hungarian government maintains the threat is genuine, with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto noting on Facebook that “the Ukrainians organised an oil blockade” and launched drone strikes targeting the TurkStream pipeline while it was still in Russian territory. “Now we have today’s incident,” he said, “where Serbian colleagues found explosives capable of destroying the pipeline.”
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