Newsletters
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Sunday that two large packages of explosives were found in the municipality of Kanjiza, near a major gas pipeline that supplies much of the country and extends north into neighboring Hungary.
Vucic said the Serbian Armed Forces prevented an action that could have threatened the country’s vital interests and warned that Serbia would respond harshly to any attempt to endanger critical infrastructure.
While visiting the Expo 2027 construction site, Vucic told reporters he had called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to share investigation details. He noted that a successful attack could have left both Hungary and northern Serbia facing severe gas shortages.
“They found two backpacks, two large packages of explosives with sticks. There are also some other clues during the search. I have just finished a conversation with Viktor Orban about this news, because if there had been a gas cut, Hungary would not have had gas and we in the north of Serbia would not have had gas,” Vucic said.
He said the explosives were discovered not far from the settlement of Velebit, a few hundred meters from the pipeline known as TurkStream or Balkan Stream.
"We found traces this morning. Not far from the settlement of Velebit, only a few hundred meters from the Turkish, or South Stream, Balkan Stream, if you will, our army and police discovered two backpacks containing two large packages of explosives with sticks," Vucic said.
The mentioned Balkan Stream pipeline is the extension of the TurkStream pipeline that carries Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary.
Further details were not immediately available. Security forces reportedly sealed off the area as part of the investigation.
The incident comes just a week before Hungary holds crucial elections that will determine whether Viktor can extend his more than 16-year rule.
Orban in February ordered that security be stepped up around energy infrastructure after repeatedly warning that Ukraine was aiming to disrupt Hungary’s energy systems.
Orban accused Ukraine of stalling the reopening of a pipeline that carries Russian oil to the landlocked EU state, while Kyiv maintained that the pipeline was damaged by Russian airstrikes in January.
Hungary has also been holding up a €90 billion($103 billion) EU loan to the war-torn country and a new round of sanctions on Russia over the issue.
Meanwhile, Serbia has secured another three-month extension of its gas deal with Russia, President Aleksandar Vucic said after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Belgrade seeks a long-term agreement.
The Balkan nation remains heavily dependent on Russian gas but has failed to secure a longer contract since its previous three-year deal expired last summer, relying instead on a series of short-term extensions.
Despite its aspirations for EU membership, Serbia is one of the few European countries to maintain close ties with the Kremlin since the invasion of Ukraine began.
While it also imports gas from Azerbaijan and has some domestic production, that is not enough to offset any loss of Russian supply.
1 min read
The development also comes after Russian forces repelled a drone attack earlier this week on part of the TurkStream gas pipeline that connects southern Russia and Türkiye, the pipeline’s operator Gazprom said in a statement.
Several European countries, including Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia, receive gas supplies via the pipeline.
Gazprom said Thursday the Russkaya compressor station, which ensures gas exports via the TurkStream pipeline, came under attack from three aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.
“The attack was repelled and no damage was caused to the Gazprom facility,” the company said.
Ukraine made no immediate public comment.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
