Serbia’s military security agency recovered 4kg of explosives in Kanjiža last week, finding the material in two backpacks a few hundred metres from the Balkan Stream gas pipeline.
The pipeline carries Russian gas to Hungary through Turkey, Bulgaria and Serbia, and the discovery quickly turned into a political weapon in Budapest. On Sunday, Viktor Orbán said Aleksandar Vučić had told him about the find. Péter Szijjártó hinted that Ukraine could be responsible, while Péter Magyar accused Orbán of trying to scare Hungarians with false-flag operations.
The explosives were not enough to stop the pipeline, according to Mykola Zentsev. He said 4kg was insufficient to put the line to a standstill and that, even if placed well, the charge would probably cause only localised damage or limited penetration that could be repaired within days. Zentsev said that did not fit a classic sabotage operation aimed at disabling infrastructure for weeks or months, and concluded the incident was likely a provocation.
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Orbán said the explosives could have endangered many lives and caused significant damage to the Balkan Stream line. Ukraine denied involvement, and the chief of Serbia’s military security agency backed that conclusion. The dispute landed as Hungary went to the polls on Sunday, giving the episode immediate political force in a country where energy and security are tightly bound.
That sensitivity runs deeper than one incident. Under Orbán, Hungary has remained close to Russia and continues to buy its gas and oil. In March, Budapest blocked approval of a €90bn loan to Ukraine after a dispute with Kyiv over repairs to the Druzhba oil pipeline, which runs through Ukraine into eastern Europe. The Kanjiža discovery may have been small in physical terms, but it was large enough to sharpen arguments in both capitals before the vote.
