"Just spoke with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Serbian authorities have found a powerful explosive device, along with the equipment needed to detonate it, at critical gas infrastructure linking Serbia and Hungary. The investigation is ongoing," Orban said in a social media post.

"I have convened an emergency defence council for this afternoon," the prime minister said.

Orban: Hungary steps up protection of TurkStream's Hungarian section

"We have ordered the reinforcement of the military protection and control of the Hungarian section of the TurkStream pipeline," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Sunday, after an extraordinary meeting of the Defence Council.

"According to the information at hand, an act of sabotage was being prepared against the Vojvodina section of the TurkStream pipeline, which supplies Hungary," Orban said in a video on Facebook.

Orban said he had talked with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who said no one has been injured and deliveries are uninterrupted. Serbia has stepped up the defence of the pipeline, he added.

Orban said he had thanked Vucic for the work of the Serbian authorities.

TurkStream is vital for Hungary, which receives 60 percent of its gas consumption through the pipeline, he added.

The Serbian authorities are investigating the case, and Hungary is in constant contact with them, Orban said.

He warned that an unprecedented energy crisis was threatening Europe; in this situation, "European countries will need Russian energy, among others, even more than now," he said.

At the same time, Orban said Ukraine had been working for years to cut Europe off Russian energy. "They blew up NordStream, closed the gas tap to Hungary, and this year, they launched an oil blockade on Hungary by closing down the Druzhba pipeline; they are constantly launching military attacks against the TurkStream pipeline."

Orban said Ukraine's attempts were "life-threatening" for Hungary. "Hungary's energy security is no plaything; we are going to protect our energy system, safe supplies for families and our national values," he said.

Heorhii Tykhyi, the spokesman of Ukraine's foreign affairs ministry, said on X in response: "We categorically reject attempts to falsely link Ukraine to the incident with explosives found near the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia. Ukraine has nothing to do with this. Most probably, a Russian false-flag operation as part of Moscow’s heavy interference in Hungarian elections."

Orban: 'Energy needed immediately, from any country'

Hungary needs energy "from anywhere, any direction, any country, and immediately", Prime Minister Viktor Orban said at the reopening ceremony of the renovated Citadella at the top of Budapest's Gellert Hill on Sunday. He also warned of "dark clouds", the energy and financial crisis threatening Europe, and called on Hungarians to "make the right collective choice" at next week's election.

Orban said this was why Ukraine's "actions against Hungary and Slovakia" through the shutdown of the Durzhba pipeline were a "blatant crime".

He slammed Brussels’ "pro-war, delusional sanctions policy" and dismissed demands for Hungary to cut ties with Russian energy as "gravely foolish".

"It's reckless foolishness to promise energy transition plans to international energy companies and Brussels bureaucrats," he said, warning that without Eastern energy, Hungarian families would exhaust all their resources just to survive.

The reconstruction "cut away all that was bad, fallible and dirty and left what is usable," Orban said.

"This building was raised to oppress us, so they could keep a rebelling Pest under fire. This used to be the most hated part of the city; today, it is a bastion of Hungarian freedom," he said.

He said Hungary was straddling great civilisations. "Orthodoxy, the Muslim world and Western Christianity -- there is always something dangerous happening on the faultlines; maybe that is why Hungarians are champions of survival."

He called the Gellert Hill on the Danube bank a "historic vantage point and a place of pilgrimage for the nation". "It is only fitting that the exhibition on the stormy centuries of the Hungarian people has been set up here," he said.

He thanked the architects, engineers, construction workers and the exhibition's creators for their work. "Today, we can restore Budapest's most spectacular venue to the people."

At the same time, "never before were such dark clouds encroaching on Hungary as today; they are doing so from three directions simultaneously, from the east, west and south. The war in Ukraine from the east, the Middle East chaos from the south and the failed Brussels politics from the west," he said.

Hungary had grown into a "black-belt crisis manager" in the past 20 years, Orban said; "but even we will have difficulties warding off what is coming now."

He warned of a "devastating" energy crisis, followed by a financial one.

First, Europe and the world is threatened by a "devastating shortage of energy, fuel and oil." Without energy, the economy will grind to a halt; "then everything will be in danger, not only the usual order and quality of life of Hungarians but also our achievements and well-laid plans," he said.

Hungary needs energy "from anywhere, any direction, any country, and immediately", he said.

Orban said this was why Ukraine's "actions against Hungary and Slovakia" through the shutdown of the Durzhba pipeline were a "blatant crime".

He slammed Brussels’ "pro-war, delusional sanctions policy" and dismissed demands for Hungary to cut ties with Russian energy as "gravely foolish".

"It's reckless foolishness to promise energy transition plans to international energy companies and Brussels bureaucrats," he said, warning that without Eastern energy, Hungarian families would exhaust all their resources just to survive.

Since the start of the war in Iran, the price of gas and crude has jumped in Europe by 70 and 60 percent, respectively, he said.

In that situation, Hungary can only have one goal: "To stay out of the war and the mad Brussels energy policy," he said.

"Four years ago, we set up a wide-ranging national cooperation against the war, and protected Hungary's sovereignty, independence and freedom," Orban said, adding that that cooperation must be renewed and widened this year.

Referring to the elections on April 12, he said: "May the Citadel, the renewed vantage point and observation point of the nation … help Hungarians to see and understand the clouds gathering on the horizon and make a good collective decision next Sunday."

Szijjarto: 'Foiled terrorist attack on TurkStream fits into recent series of Ukraine attacks'

At an extraordinary meeting of the Defense Council on Sunday, the prime minister ordered that the Hungarian section of the TurkStream pipeline be placed under military protection; soldiers will protect the natural gas pipeline and its transfer points along its entire length, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said.

Peter Szijjarto said he had talked on the phone with the Serbian and Turkish energy ministers and Russia's deputy energy minister, and they agreed to protect the pipeline along the entire European section "as attacks are becoming increasingly frequent," according to a ministry statement.

Szijjarto said the attempt was "a serious attack on Hungary's sovereignty" and pledged to protect the country.

He said Europe was heading toward a massive energy crisis. Even as the wars in Iran and Ukraine were threatening to trigger energy crises and oil and gas prices in the EU shot up by 60 and 70 percent, respectively, "the European Commission has already put forward such absurd proposals as reducing the speed limit on highways by 10 kilometers per hour, or having people use ride-sharing services to get to work, or just stay home," he said. Meanwhile, what Europe would need is more oil and gas to ensure supplies, he added.

"Ukraine -- with Brussels as its partner -- has been using very harsh measures to try and cut off Russian oil and natural gas supplies to Europe," Szijjarto said. "Previously, the Ukrainians blew up the NordStream pipeline."

"Then they cut off natural gas supplies through Ukraine, and by shutting down the Druzhba oil pipeline, they halted oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia," the minister said.

TurkStream, which transports natural gas to Hungary, had been continuously attacked by dozens of drones on Russian territory, Szijjarto said.

"The terrorist attack and sabotage attempt thwarted by the Serbians fits into this series of attacks," he said, noting that enough explosives had been found along the Vojvodina section of the pipeline to blow it up.

Serbian authorities have prevented the attack, he added.

Szijjarto said an attack on Hungary's energy security and supply was an attack on its sovereignty.

"We will defend Hungary ... we will fight to ensure that Hungary’s energy supply remains secure and that there is no dramatic rise in energy prices in Hungary -- and for this, we need Russian oil and Russian gas," he said.

Szijjarto: 'Hungary rejects latest attack on its sovereignty'

Hungary "rejects in the firmest possible terms the latest attack on its sovereignty" after explosives capable of blowing up the TurkStream gas pipeline were found near the pipeline in Serbia, the foreign minister said on Sunday, adding that "an attack on our energy supply can only be taken as an attack on our sovereignty."

"Today is Easter Sunday. If there is any day that should be about peace and tranquility, it is this day," Peter Szijjarto said, according to a ministry statement. "Yet we have recently received a report from our Serbian friends that someone tried to blow up the TurkStream pipeline in Serbia."

"This is the pipeline that guarantees Hungary's secure natural gas supply," the minister said. "We have seen everything in recent days and weeks: Ukraine orchestrated an oil blockade against us, attempted to impose a total energy blockade by attacking the TurkStream pipeline with dozens of drones in Russia, and now, explosives capable of blowing up the pipeline have been found by our Serbian colleagues right next to it."

Szijjarto vowed to defend Hungary's energy supply alongside Serbia, refusing to be forced into buying more expensive, less secure energy. He said that if the TurkStream pipeline failed, gas prices would skyrocket, ending the regulated utilities price scheme.

"But as long as we're here, as long as Hungary has a patriotic, sovereign government, we will protect ourselves, our energy security and our utility subsidies," Szijjarto said. "We will not allow Hungarians to be forced to pay triple what they are paying now for utilities."
 

MTI Stock Photo

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com
 

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