Serbia Discovers Explosives Near Russia-Hungary Gas Pipeline

(MENAFN) Serbian authorities have uncovered a potentially catastrophic plot against a critical energy artery, discovering high-powered explosives positioned near a major gas pipeline carrying Russian energy supplies into Hungary, President Aleksandar Vucic announced Sunday — a revelation that has triggered an immediate military response and sent shockwaves through Central European energy security circles.

Addressing reporters, Vucic disclosed that "two large packages of explosives with sticks" were recovered in the municipality of Kanjiza, located approximately 10 kilometers from the Hungarian border — in close proximity to the Balkan Stream pipeline, the regional overland extension of the TurkStream infrastructure that snakes through Türkiye, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary before terminating at Slovakia's border. Hungary depends on this corridor for an estimated 7.4 to 7.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually.

Vucic confirmed he had personally briefed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the discovery, warning that a successful detonation would have triggered immediate gas outages across Hungary and northern Serbia. The Serbian president credited his country's intelligence apparatus, saying agencies "fortunately, did a good job," before issuing an unambiguous warning to those who would threaten the nation's critical infrastructure.

"We will deal mercilessly with anyone who thinks they are endangering the vital infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia," he said, stopping short of formally assigning responsibility for the plot.

In Budapest, the response was swift and forceful. Orban confirmed the phone call with Vucic, stating that "the investigation is ongoing" before convening an emergency defense council. Following that session, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced that Orban had ordered full military protection for the Hungarian stretch of the pipeline, deploying soldiers along its entire route from the Serbian-Hungarian border to the Hungarian-Slovak border.

Szijjarto framed the sabotage attempt in stark sovereign terms, declaring that Budapest "firmly reject[s] this latest attack, as undermining the security of our energy supply is an attack on our sovereignty."

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed the finger at unnamed forces seeking to destabilize Hungary, alleging a coordinated, multi-front campaign against Budapest's independence.

"They are doing this in various ways: Politically, by trying to interfere in internal affairs and elections; economically, by forcing it to make decisions under pressure that harm the economy and the well-being of Hungarians, and through energy, by trying to prevent Hungary from obtaining quality resources at reasonable prices," she said.

The explosive discovery arrives amid a prolonged and bitter dispute between Hungary and Ukraine over energy transit. In January, Kyiv halted oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline, citing a Russian drone strike on the infrastructure — a claim Moscow flatly denied. Both Hungary and Slovakia accused Kyiv of fabricating the incident as political leverage, a charge Ukraine rejected.

The incident also reignites broader concerns over the vulnerability of European energy infrastructure. Ukraine has previously launched multiple strikes targeting TurkStream facilities, while Russia has long accused Ukrainian operatives — allegedly backed by Western intelligence services — of orchestrating the 2022 demolition of the Nord Stream pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea.

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