Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic yesterday, announced that powerful detonators and explosives were located near the Balkan Stream pipeline, which transports Russian gas to Hungary.
In a post on Instagram, Vucic revealed that “two large packages of explosives with detonators” were uncovered in Kanjiza, northern Serbia, just a few hundred meters from the gas pipeline.
In response to the alarming discovery, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban convened a meeting of his nation’s Defense Council. He stated, “According to the information we have, an act of sabotage was being prepared.”
Details surrounding the explosives and additional evidence have yet to be disclosed by either leader.
The Balkan Stream pipeline traverses Bulgaria and Serbia, linking Hungary with Russian gas transported beneath the Black Sea to Turkey. Orban suggested that Ukraine has been attempting for years to sever Europe’s connection to Russian energy sources but refrained from directly accusing Ukraine or any other party.
Ukraine has denied any involvement in the alleged sabotage. Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, asserted, “We categorically reject attempts to falsely link Ukraine to the incident with explosives found near the Turkstream pipeline in Serbia.” He suggested it could be a Russian false-flag operation aimed at influencing Hungary’s elections.
Both Serbia and Hungary rely heavily on imported Russian gas. Recently, Orban accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying repairs to another damaged pipeline that has restricted the flow of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
The revelation comes just a week before crucial elections in Hungary, where Orban faces the possibility of losing power after 16 years. Opposition candidate Peter Magyar criticized Orban, claiming he is trying to incite panic ahead of the vote. In a video posted on Facebook, Magyar remarked, “Several individuals have publicly indicated that something would ‘accidentally’ occur at the gas pipeline in Serbia at Easter, a week before the Hungarian elections. And so it happened.”
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong