Over Easter, Serbian authorities discovered two backpacks containing bombs and detonators near a major gas pipeline delivering Russian gas to Hungary through the Balkans.
“Our units received a devastating lightning blast,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a post on Instagram.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó immediately indicated that the Ukrainians were to blame. DW Fact Check took a closer look.
Who was behind the conspiracy?
Claim: : “The Ukrainians organized an oil blockade against us, then tried to put us under a total energy blockade by firing dozens of drones at the TurkStream pipeline while it was still on Russian territory, and now today’s incident, where Serbian allies found enough explosives to blow up the pipeline next to the TurkStream pipeline,” Szijjarto Said but in Instagram video on April 5.
“We reject this latest attack on our sovereignty in the strongest possible terms, because an attack on the security of our energy supply cannot be interpreted as anything other than an attack on our sovereignty.”
DW Fact Check: misleading
While Szijjarto stopped short of explicitly blaming the Ukrainians, the hint was clear: Ukraine had planned sabotage on the pipeline.
However, Serbian investigators have denied any connection between the explosives found near the TurkStream pipeline and Ukraine.
“It is not true that Ukrainians tried to organize this sabotage,” Said Duro Jovanic, The director of the Serbian Military Security Agency (VBA) at a press conference, according to a Serbian news outlet.
According to Serbian President Alexander Vucic, the explosives were placed a few hundred meters from the TurkStream pipeline, which supplies more than half of Hungary’s gas. Serbian authorities have launched an investigation to determine the origin of the explosives and the circumstances of their placement.
To date, no verifiable evidence has been made public to identify the possible perpetrators. According to authorities, the materials were originally manufactured in the United States, although the origin of the materials is not sufficient to determine the culprit.
sign of frustration
Ukraine also denied any involvement. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tikhayi said, “We categorically reject attempts to falsely associate Ukraine with the explosives found near the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia.” wroteon x
“Ukraine has nothing to do with this. Presumably, this is a Russian false-flag operation as part of Moscow’s massive interference in the Hungarian elections.”
For Donatiene Ruy, a Europe and Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, it was a sign of “desperation.”
Coincidence or not, the explosives were found just six days before Hungary’s elections, which will be held on April 12. In opinion polls, Orbán and his ruling party Fidesz Behind the opposition party Tisza.
“Immediately, Viktor Orbán took this into account – and not only him, but also people in his government – to actually increase the risk of attacks,” Ruy said.
After the explosives were found, Orbán fled with soldiers towards the Hungarian border.
The same day, he made a statement linking the incident to a broader pattern of Ukraine targeting Hungary’s energy supplies, saying that “Ukraine’s ambitions pose a lethal threat to Hungary”.
A false flag operation?
Hungarian intelligence officials were predicting in February that energy infrastructure could be attacked before the vote and that it could be blamed on Ukraine.
A few weeks before the Serbia pipeline incident, Hungarian security analyst András Raz publishedA fictional narrative on Facebook detailing a Russian false flag operation involving Ukrainian explosives targeting energy infrastructure just before the election. Then, three days before the explosives were found, Racz made another Postspecifying that the operation would target the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia.
energy blame game
Ukraine and Hungary have tense relations, particularly over energy infrastructure. Hungary imports the majority of its oil – about 93% – from Russia, making it uniquely dependent on pipelines compared to other EU states.
The Druzhba pipeline, which carries oil from Russia to Hungary via Ukraine, has also become a flashpoint during Hungary’s elections. Ukraine has said the oil flow was halted because of Russian attacks on the pipeline; Hungary has said this is a deliberate blockade and that repairs in Ukraine are going at a slow pace.
also in Hungary citedUkrainian drone attacks on Russian compressor stations supplying energy to TurkStream as evidence of a deliberate campaign against its energy supplies. The Ukraine-based Kyiv Independent was unable to do so Please attest itThat claim.
Orbán’s promise to keep the flow of cheap Russian oil flowing has been a cornerstone of his election campaign. he has repeated convicted ofUkraine is responsible for threatening Hungary’s energy security and is often the only EU member state to oppose sanctions on Russia.
“Orbán has really made Zelensky a scapegoat for what’s happening in Hungary,” Ruy said.
Edited by: Astrid Prange