Hungary claims there was a plot to sabotage a gas pipeline before the election. Fifteen hours ago. Nick Thorpe, Budapest correspondent. Getty Images via AFP. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called an urgent session of the National Defence Council following the discovery of explosives near a pipeline carrying Russian gas into Hungary. The find occurred in a border region of neighboring Serbia, at a time when Orban’s party is significantly behind in polls before key elections next Sunday. Opposition leader Peter Magyar labeled it “panic-mongering” driven by “Russian advisers,” shortly after security analysts flagged a potential “false flag” plot attributable to Ukraine. Orban, a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has defied EU pressure to halt Russian energy imports since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine. In recent weeks, Hungarian security specialists have suggested a possible staged incident—on either Hungarian or Serbian soil—designed to generate sympathy for Orban, boost his Fidesz party’s election chances, or provide grounds to declare a state of emergency and delay or scrap the vote. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, a key Orban ally, notified the Hungarian leader of the find on Sunday morning. Serbian forces discovered two backpacks containing explosives and detonators near the village of Tresnjevac in the Kanjiza district, roughly 20km (12 miles) from where the TurkStream pipeline enters Hungary. “Our units found an explosive of devastating power,” Vucic stated in an Instagram post. I informed Prime Minister Orban that we would continue to update him on the investigation. Hungary imports five to eight billion cubic meters of Russian gas annually via the TurkStream pipeline, on which both Hungary and Slovakia rely for their Russian gas supplies. Balint Pasztor, president of the Vojvodina Hungarian Association and a major Orban ally, wrote on Facebook: “If the investigation shows we weren’t the main target after all, but Hungary’s supply lines were, it becomes even clearer: the terrorist attack was designed to topple Viktor Orban.” Fidesz has turned hostility toward Ukraine into a key pillar of its election campaign. At rallies, Orbán has told supporters that Hungary’s low heating and fuel prices are feasible only due to inexpensive Russian oil and gas, which arrive via pipelines—oil through Ukraine and gas via the Balkans. Orbán claims a “Kyiv-Brussels-Berlin” alliance is plotting to cut off Hungary’s access to cheap Russian energy in order to install their “puppet” prime ministerial candidate, Magyar, in the coming election.
