Orban appears to blame Kyiv for Serbian gas pipeline explosives find

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Photo: AFP Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday appeared to suggest Ukraine was involved in planning an act of sabotage after Serbia reported finding explosives on a gas pipeline used to transport Russian natural gas to the two countries.

Earlier on Sunday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said explosives “of devastating force” were found on the Balkan Stream pipeline near the village of Velebit on the Hungarian border.

The pipeline transports Russian natural gas from Turkey via Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.

Vucic and – who are both friendly towards Russia and maintain good bilateral relations – discussed the matter by phone and said investigations were continuing.

Orban said Hungary’s defence council would hold an emergency session to discuss the matter.

Orban under pressure Hungary is expected to hold a parliamentary election on April 12 and polls suggest Orban’s Fidesz party could lose out to the conservative opposition Respect and Freedom Party (Tisza).

For months, Orban has been campaigning for votes primarily by criticising Ukraine and the European Union aid provided to the country amid Russia’s continuing invasion.

He did not explicitly state that he suspects Kyiv of being behind the pipeline incident but repeated familiar accusations against Ukraine after the defence council meeting.

Orban’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said the discovery of explosives at the pipeline in Serbia fits in with the other actions Orban has blamed on Ukraine. “Ukraine has been working for years to cut Europe off from [Russian] gas supplies,” Orban said in a video on Facebook.

The Druzhba oil pipeline between Hungary and Russia is seen at the Hungarian MOL Group’s Danube Refinery in Szazhalombatta, Hungary.

Photo: Reuters The Ukrainians had already destroyed the Nord Stream pipeline and were blocking oil supplies from Russia to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline running through Ukraine, Orban said.

The Ukrainian military is constantly attacking the section of the TurkStream gas pipeline located on Russian territory, to which Balkan Stream is connected, the president continued.

Orban has long accused Kyiv of preventing the resumption of operations on the Druzhba pipeline for political reasons.

Ukraine rejects the allegations and stresses that the pipeline is currently unusable due to Russian air strikes.

No one has yet been held to account for the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Germ

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