Ukraine has denied any involvement in the incident involving the “Balkan Stream”
6 April 07:15
Kyiv rejects the Hungarian government’s insinuations regarding its involvement in the attempted bombing of a gas pipeline in Serbia. This was stated on Sunday, April 5, by the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Georgiy Tykhyi, on the social media platform X, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to him, the attempted sabotage of the gas pipeline in Serbia, through which Russian gas is supplied to Hungary, could be a Russian “false flag” operation aimed at influencing public sentiment in the country ahead of parliamentary elections.
Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held an emergency security council meeting following a statement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić regarding the discovery of explosives several hundred meters from the “Balkan Stream” gas pipeline. Orbán did not directly accuse Ukraine of orchestrating the sabotage, but emphasized that Kyiv has “been trying for years to cut Europe off from Russian energy.”
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also made a similar statement. According to him, the sabotage attempt in Serbia “fits well with Ukraine’s efforts to disrupt the transport of Russian gas and oil to Europe.” Szijjártó also noted that the Ukrainian government denies any involvement in the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
Hungary will hold elections in a week
Parliamentary elections will be held in Hungary on April 12, in which, according to public opinion polls, Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party could suffer a defeat for the first time in twelve years. It faces serious competition from the Tisa party led by Péter Magyar, which was founded two years ago.
During the election campaign, Orbán repeatedly made anti-Ukrainian statements and claimed that Ukrainians were threatening his family. According to the Washington Post, Russian intelligence services offered to stage an “assassination attempt” on Orbán to boost his approval ratings ahead of the election.
Commenting on the sabotage attempt in Serbia, Péter Magyar stated that the incident near the gas pipeline could be an operation by the country’s current government “under a false flag.”
A former Hungarian intelligence officer also offered a similar assessment, Reuters reports. According to him, a similar plan of operation has been discussed in Hungary in recent days to influence the outcome of next Sunday’s election.
