Suspicions of sabotage/ Orban visits gas pipeline near Hungarian-Serbian border

2026-04-06 18:08:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban traveled to the TurkStream gas pipeline on the Hungarian-Serbian border on Monday to inspect infrastructure that his government says has been targeted in failed sabotage attempts - six days before parliamentary elections, which polls suggest he could lose.

"Yesterday they wanted to blow up the gas pipeline," Orban wrote on Facebook before leaving for the border crossing.

"We are checking if everything is okay on the Hungarian side."

Serbian authorities said they found two bags containing about four kilograms of explosives near the village of Velebit in northern Serbia on April 5, along with detonator caps and tools used to assemble explosive devices.

The High Prosecutor's Office in Subotica has said that the case has been classified as illegal trafficking of illegal weapons and explosives related to suspected sabotage.

The revelation quickly sparked controversy over responsibility, as it all happened in the run-up to elections in Hungary.

Speaking at an extraordinary meeting of Hungary's Defense Council, Orban did not mention Ukraine by name, but said that Kiev "has been trying for years to deprive Europe of Russian energy," and added that attacks on the Russian segment of the TurkStream pose a "mortal danger to Hungary."

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has denied any involvement.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was "no reliable data" on who was responsible, but suggested Ukraine could be involved, citing what he claimed were attacks on energy infrastructure in the past.

There were also reactions from Serbia's military intelligence.

Duro Jovanic, director of the Military Security Agency, said that "it is not true that the Ukrainians attempted to organize this sabotage" and that such attributions will complicate finding those responsible.

"Based on the notes on the explosives, it is clear that the manufacturer is from the United States," Jovanic said.

"Now, would anyone suggest that the United States would benefit from this situation at this time ?"

According to him, forensic analysis of the evidence is being conducted and new information will emerge.

He also said that the agency he heads has been warning the political leadership for months that there could be attacks on gas infrastructure, but that his concerns have been met with "skepticism and disagreement."

Jovanic has claimed that an immigrant with military training is behind the suspected sabotage operation.

Srdjan Cvijic from the Belgrade Center for Security Policy has dilemmas in this regard.

"Our authorities don't dare to openly accuse Ukraine, so they invent some supposed migrant, which suits Orban's anti-migrant rhetoric," he told Radio Free Europe's Balkan Service.

This incident came at a time of other disagreements regarding the energy sector.

Budapest is clashing with Kiev over the suspension of the transport of Russian energy resources through the Druzhba gas pipeline, for which Hungary and Slovakia blame Ukraine, while Kiev attributes the damage to the pipeline to a Russian drone attack.

Orban has taken advantage of these disagreements to block the formal approval of the EU loan for Ukraine worth 90 billion euros, which was approved by the other 26 countries of the bloc in December.

More broadly, Orbán and his Fidesz party have attempted to link opposition leader Peter Magyar to Ukraine and the EU.

Magyar has described the pipeline incident as a transparent attempt to boost Orbán's numbers. However, Orbán, speaking on camera, has denied this claim.