Explosives found at gas facility on Serbia-Hungary border - Orbán

"Just now I finished a phone conversation with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Serbian authorities discovered at a critical gas infrastructure facility connecting Serbia and Hungary a high-powered explosive device and the means necessary to activate it," said the head of the Hungarian government.

Orbán added that the investigation of the incident is ongoing.

He also clarified that he convened an emergency meeting of the Defense Council at noon the same day.

Counter-terrorist operation in Serbia

As Balkan Observer writes, after explosives were found near the Balkan Stream pipeline in northern Serbia, a large-scale counter-terror operation was launched involving more than 140 police and military personnel.

According to Serbian authorities, in the area of the villages Velebit and Vojvoda Zimonić, near the route of the main pipeline, two large military backpacks with high-powered explosives and detonating cords were found.

Experts concluded that this would have been enough to destroy the compressor station and cause a prolonged halt to gas transit to Hungary.

Currently, traffic in the area of several settlements is blocked, law enforcement is checking abandoned buildings, utility facilities, and transport junctions, as well as searching for other possible explosive devices and individuals who may have delivered explosives to the strategic site.

Recall that at the end of January, a Russian strike damaged the Druzhba oil pipeline, which completely stopped the transit of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia.

Afterward, Budapest and Bratislava accused Ukraine of delaying the restoration of the pipeline, even though the stoppage was caused by the Russian attack.

The situation worsened further after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán blocked EU funding of 90 billion euros, demanding the resumption of transit through the Druzhba pipeline.