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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n has suggested that Ukraine may be behind an attempted bombing of one of the country\u2019s major gas pipelines just days before voters head to the polls for the most contested election in decades.<\/p>\n
According<\/a> to the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet<\/em>, security services in Serbia discovered a large explosive device at the Turkish Stream gas pipeline near the Hungarian border. Serbian President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 is reported to have informed Budapest that if the bomb had been successfully triggered, gas supply to Hungary would have been interrupted.<\/p>\n B\u00e1lint P\u00e1sztor, the leader of the local Vojvodina Hungarian Association (VMSZ), which represents the large Hungarian population on the Serbian side of the border near the pipeline, said that he believed it was an attempted terrorist attack aimed at toppling Prime Minister Orb\u00e1n ahead of this month\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n In a post<\/a> on social media on Sunday, Orb\u00e1n said the pipeline is \u201cvital\u201d to Hungary\u2019s\u00a0energy supply, accounting for around 60 per cent of national gas consumption. He said that there will be increased military monitoring of the Hungarian section of the pipeline, while the Serbs have also committed to stepping up protection on their end.<\/p>\n The Hungarian leader warned that Europe is facing an \u201cunprecedented energy crisis\u201d amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and that energy supplies from Russia will therefore become increasingly crucial for energy imports.<\/p>\n However, seemingly linking Kyiv to the alleged attack on Turkish Stream, Orb\u00e1n claimed that Ukraine has been \u201cworking for years to cut off Europe from Russian energy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey blew up Nord Stream, shut down the gas pipeline supplying Hungary, and placed Hungary under an oil blockade, while the Russian section of Turkstream is under continuous military attack. Ukraine\u2019s efforts pose a direct threat to Hungary. Hungary\u2019s energy security is not a game; we will protect our energy system, the secure supply of families, and our national interest.<\/p>\n Orb\u00e1n, who is seeking a fourth term in office, has made the issue of Ukraine a central pillar of his campaign strategy against his former party member-turned-rival P\u00e9ter Magyar, whom\u00a0he alleges<\/a> will seek to allow Ukraine into the European Union.<\/p>\n Orb\u00e1n has warned that this would negatively impact the Hungarian economy by allowing the importation of cheap Ukrainian goods and would open the door to mass migration from the neighbouring country. He has also said that this position would drag Hungary into war with Russia, and has staged large-scale anti-war campaign rallies over the past year in Budapest.<\/p>\n