\n<\/p>\n
Serbia has said it found \u201cexplosives of devastating power\u201d near a pipeline that carries Russian natural gas to Hungary<\/a> and beyond, sparking claims by Hungary\u2019s leading opposition candidate of a possible \u201cfalse flag\u201d operation aimed at influencing the country\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n On Sunday, Hungary\u2019s prime minister, Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a>, said he had been informed by Serbia\u2019s president, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107, of the discovery near an extension of the TurkStream pipeline, which transports Russian gas through the Balkans to central and eastern Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cAn investigation is under way,\u201d Orb\u00e1n said on social media, adding that he had convened an emergency meeting of the country\u2019s defence council.<\/p>\n The incident comes one week before Hungarians are due to cast their votes<\/a> in a pivotal parliamentary election, in which Orb\u00e1n\u2019s 16-year hold on power is facing an unprecedented<\/a> challenge from P\u00e9ter Magyar, a former top member of the ruling Fidesz party.<\/p>\n The election has pitted two versions of Hungary\u2019s future against each other, as Orb\u00e1n and Fidesz seek to convince voters that the war in Ukraine poses<\/a> a deep threat to the country and that Orb\u00e1n is best placed to handle this risk, while Magyar and his Tisza party urge voters to focus on economic stagnation, fraying social services and corruption.<\/p>\n Vu\u010di\u0107 said on Sunday that the Serbian army and police had found two backpacks containing \u201ctwo large packages of explosives with detonators\u201d in the northern Serbian municipality of Kanji\u017ea, \u201ca few hundred metres from the gas pipeline\u201d.<\/p>\n He said he had informed Orb\u00e1n of the initial results of the investigation into what he described as a \u201cthreat to the critical gas infrastructure\u201d. The explosives could have \u201cendangered many lives\u201d and caused significant damage to the pipeline, Vu\u010di\u0107 added.<\/p>\n He did not detail the origins of the explosives, saying instead that there were \u201ccertain traces\u201d he could not disclose. \u201cOur intelligence services did a good job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n