Hungary alleges plot to blow up gas pipeline ahead of election

Hungary alleges plot to blow up gas pipeline ahead of election

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called an urgent session of the National Defence Council following the detection of explosives near a key Russian gas pipeline. The find, made in a border region of Serbia, coincides with Orban’s ruling party facing a decline in public support as critical elections approach. Opposition leader Peter Magyar has criticized the prime minister for allegedly orchestrating “panic-mongering” with the help of “Russian advisers,” echoing concerns raised by security analysts about a potential “false flag” attack that could be attributed to Ukraine.

Orban, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has consistently opposed EU efforts to reduce reliance on Russian energy since the invasion of Ukraine. Recent weeks have seen Hungarian experts suggest a staged operation—either on Hungarian or Serbian soil—could be designed to rally support for Orban’s Fidesz party or provide a pretext to delay the vote. Serbian President Alexander Vucic, also a key partner of Orban, reported the discovery to him on Sunday morning, stating that two rucksacks containing explosives and detonators were found near the village of Tresnjevac in the Kanjiza district.

“Our units found an explosive of devastating power,” Vucic shared on Instagram, adding that he would update Orban on the ongoing investigation.

Hungary relies on the TurkStream pipeline for between five and eight billion cubic metres of Russian gas annually. Both Hungary and Slovakia depend on this supply route, which connects to the broader European energy network. Balint Pasztor, head of the Vojvodina Hungarian Association, and another Orban associate claimed on Facebook that the attack might have aimed to undermine the prime minister’s leadership if evidence showed the pipeline was targeted.

Fidesz has positioned its anti-Ukrainian stance as a central theme in the upcoming election. At campaign events, Orban has emphasized Hungary’s low energy costs, attributing them to the availability of inexpensive Russian oil and gas. He further accused a “Kyiv-Brussels-Berlin” alliance of conspiring to eliminate his influence and push his rival Peter Magyar into power. Orban warned that a government led by Magyar would plunge Hungary into a European conflict with Russia.

The incident follows claims by Orban that Ukraine had imposed an “oil blockade” by blocking Russian imports through the Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine attributes the disruption to a Russian strike and expects the line to resume operations by mid-April. While no official blame has been placed on Ukraine yet, a Serbian source told the BBC the investigation’s findings could be announced as early as Monday. On 2 April, Hungarian analyst Andras Racz predicted the explosives might be linked to Ukraine, allowing Orban to reframe the attack as a Kyiv-led effort.

Former senior counter-intelligence officer Peter Buda, speaking to the BBC, noted that “solid preliminary information” indicated the operation was planned to sway public opinion. “Ukraine’s interests aren’t at stake here. An attack like this would help Orban before the election,” he stated. The Hungarian government maintains the threat is genuine, with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto asserting on Facebook: “We’ve seen it all—the oil blockade, the drone strikes on Russian territory, and now the explosives discovered today.”