Alleged explosives found near gas pipeline raises heat days before Hungary’s pivotal election

Marko Djurica/Reuters

Hungary and Ukraine are again trading accusations after two backpacks containing explosives were allegedly found by a gas pipeline near the Hungarian border, days before the country’s election.

The devices were found in northern Serbia on Sunday, according to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, close to the pipeline that carries Russian gas to Hungary.

In posts on social media, Hungarian officials sought to link Ukraine to the incident.

“Just a series of coincidences,” wrote Balázs Orbán, a senior official in Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s office, before listing the pipeline incident, the closure of another oil pipeline bringing Russian oil to Hungary and the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline in 2022.

“Ukraine wants to force Hungary to abandon its pro-peace position and support the war,” he added.

Orbán is in the midst of a bitter election campaign to extend his 16 years in power, with opinion polls showing his Fidesz party trailing the opposition Tisza party ahead of the April 12 vote. The Hungarian leader has sought to associate the opposition with Brussels and Ukraine, suggesting that voting for Tisza means voting for war.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said Sunday it categorically rejected “attempts to falsely link Ukraine” to the latest incident.

“Ukraine has nothing to do with this. Most probably, a Russian false-flag operation as part of Moscow’s heavy interference in Hungarian elections,” spokesman Herhii Tykhyi said on X .

Tisza leader Peter Magyar suggested Sunday’s incident was a ruse aimed at improving Orban’s electoral prospects.

“Several people have publicly indicated that something will ‘accidentally’ happen at the gas pipeline in Serbia at Easter, a week before the Hungarian elections. And so it happened,” Magyar said in a statement.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó compared the discovery of the backpacks to the the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline , which he has blamed on Ukraine.

Kyiv has repeatedly denied any involvement in that attack, in which a series of underwater explosions triggered major leaks from the natural gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea.

Both Serbia and Hungary are still heavily reliant on Russian energy supplies, putting them odds with other European countries seeking to reduce their reliance on Russian supplies.

The backpacks, containing “two large packages of explosives with detonators,” were found in Kanjiza, in northern Serbia, “a few hundred meters from the gas pipeline,” said Serbia’s Vučić, a close political ally of Orbán.

Video and images in Serbian media showed an extensive police presence in the area, along with roadblocks and helicopters above.

Vučić said he had informed Orbán “of the initial results of the investigation by our military and police authorities into the threat to the critical gas infrastructure.”

He added that the explosives could have “endangered many lives” and caused significant damage to the pipeline.

Vučić and Orbán both have strong relations with Moscow. Last month, Serbia secured a further three months of gas imports from Russia following talks between Vucic and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Orbán has frequently complained that Ukraine has blocked its oil supplies through a Russian pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory.

On Saturday, the Hungarian prime minister posted a video warning that a “severe energy crisis is approaching, accelerating day by day,” because of the war in the Middle East, and demanded that the European Union suspend sanctions on the import of Russian energy.

Hungary has used its own exemption from the EU sanctions to deepen its dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

Alexander Nemenov/Pool/Reuters

The accusations flying back and forth come amid Orbán’s longstanding disagreements with the European Union over relations with Russia, support for Ukraine and immigration.

He has also been an outspoken ally of US President Donald Trump and received vocal support from Trump administration officials.

In the last week of Hungary’s election campaign, US Vice President JD Vance will visit Budapest to meet Orbán. In February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said relations between Washington and Budapest had entered a “golden age” and told Orban at a news conference that “your success is our success.”

Orbán faces an uphill battle to remain in office, according to analysts.

Two polls published last week showed the center-right Tisza party widening its lead over Fidesz, although a large share of voters remained undecided.

Marko Djurica/路透社

在匈牙利大选前几天，据称在匈牙利边境附近的一条天然气管道旁发现了两个装有爆炸物的背包，匈牙利和乌克兰再次互相指责。

据塞尔维亚总统亚历山大·武契奇称，这些装置于周日在塞尔维亚北部被发现，靠近向匈牙利输送俄罗斯天然气的管道。

匈牙利官员在社交媒体上发帖，试图将乌克兰与这起事件联系起来。

“这只是一系列巧合，”匈牙利总理维克托·欧尔班办公室高级官员巴拉兹·欧尔班写道，随后列举了输油管道事故、另一条向匈牙利输送俄罗斯石油的输油管道关闭以及2022年北溪输油管道遇袭事件。

“乌克兰想迫使匈牙利放弃其亲和平立场，转而支持战争，”他补充道。

欧尔班正处于一场激烈的竞选活动中，力图延续他长达16年的执政生涯。民调显示，在4月12日的大选前，他的青民盟支持率落后于反对党蒂萨党。这位匈牙利领导人试图将反对派与布鲁塞尔和乌克兰联系起来，暗示投票给蒂萨党就等于投票支持战争。

乌克兰外交部周日表示，断然拒绝“企图将乌克兰与最近发生的事件错误地联系起来”。

“乌克兰与此事无关。这很可能是俄罗斯的一次伪旗行动，是莫斯科严重干预匈牙利选举的一部分，”发言人赫尔希·蒂赫伊在X上表示。

Tisza党领袖彼得·马扎尔认为，周日的事件是欧尔班为了改善其选举前景而耍的伎俩。

“一些人公开表示，复活节期间，也就是匈牙利大选前一周，塞尔维亚的天然气管道会发生‘意外’事故。结果真的发生了，”马扎尔在一份声明中说。

外交部长彼得·西雅尔多将背包的发现与北溪天然气管道袭击事件相提并论，他指责乌克兰发动了该袭击。

基辅方面一再否认参与了那次袭击，那次袭击中一系列水下爆炸引发了连接俄罗斯和德国、途经波罗的海的天然气管道的大量泄漏。

塞尔维亚和匈牙利仍然严重依赖俄罗斯的能源供应，这使它们与其他寻求减少对俄罗斯能源供应依赖的欧洲国家产生了分歧。

塞尔维亚总统武契奇是欧尔班的亲密政治盟友，他表示，在塞尔维亚北部坎尼扎发现的背包中，“有两大包装有雷管的炸药”，“距离天然气管道仅几百米”。

塞尔维亚媒体发布的视频和图片显示，该地区有大量警力部署，并设置了路障，上空还有直升机盘旋。

武契奇表示，他已将“我军和警察部门对关键天然气基础设施所受威胁的初步调查结果”告知了欧尔班。

他还补充说，这些爆炸物可能“危及许多人的生命”，并对管道造成重大破坏。

武契奇和欧尔班都与莫斯科保持着密切关系。上个月，在武契奇与俄罗斯领导人普京会谈后，塞尔维亚获得了俄罗斯未来三个月的天然气进口供应。

奥尔班经常抱怨乌克兰切断了其通过一条穿越乌克兰领土的俄罗斯输油管道的石油供应。

周六，匈牙利总理发布了一段视频，警告称由于中东战争，“严重的能源危机正在逼近，并且日益加剧”，并要求欧盟暂停对俄罗斯能源进口的制裁。

匈牙利利用其自身免受欧盟制裁的特权，加深了对俄罗斯化石燃料的依赖。

亚历山大·内梅诺夫/泳池/路透社

在奥尔班与欧盟就对俄关系、对乌克兰的支持以及移民问题长期存在分歧之际，双方互相指责。

他一直是美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的公开盟友，并得到了特朗普政府官员的公开支持。

在匈牙利大选竞选的最后一周，美国副总统万斯将访问布达佩斯，与欧尔班会面。今年2月，美国国务卿卢比奥表示，华盛顿与布达佩斯的关系已进入“黄金时代”，并在新闻发布会上对欧尔班说：“你的成功就是我们的成功。”

分析人士认为，奥尔班要想继续执政，将面临一场艰苦的战斗。

上周公布的两项民意调查显示，中右翼的蒂萨党对青民盟的领先优势正在扩大，但仍有很大一部分选民尚未决定投票意向。