US-manufactured explosives uncovered in plot targeting Hungarian gas supply, says Serbian intelligence chief

(SeaPRwire) –   Belgrade had previously stated that incendiary devices possessing “devastating power” were found close to the TurkStream pipeline

The explosives discovered over the weekend near the Serbian section of the TurkStream pipeline, which supplies Russian gas to Hungary, were manufactured in the United States, according to Duro Jovanic, the head of Belgrade’s Military Security Agency (VBA).

On Sunday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic revealed that explosives of “devastating power” were located several hundred meters from the crucial energy infrastructure in the municipality of Kanjiza, approximately 10 km from the Hungarian border. Vucic stated that had they exploded, they would have led to gas supply disruptions in Hungary and northern Serbia, adding that he promptly notified Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban about the incident.

Later that day, Jovanic informed a press conference that the markings on the explosives render it “unequivocally clear” they were made in the US. He emphasized, however, that this “in no way means that the producer is also the mastermind and the executor of the sabotage.”

The spy chief reported that the plan to attack the Balkan Stream pipeline, a component of the larger TurkStream network, was organized by a foreign individual who has received military training.

“We are looking for that person and that person will certainly be brought in. The only question is whether it will take three days or several months,” he said.

Jovanic refuted allegations that the VBA has blamed Ukraine for the planned sabotage, asserting that “the Serbian military does not interfere in political processes in Serbia, let alone in another country.”

In a post on X, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tikhy said, “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.”

Responding to Tikhy’s statement, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto commented, “Yeah, like North Stream 2,” alluding to the 2022 explosions in the Baltic Sea that badly damaged a pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany. Media reports have suggested a group of Ukrainian saboteurs was responsible for that attack, though Moscow maintains it could not have been executed without help from Western intelligence agencies.

On Sunday, Orban declared that he had instructed enhanced military protection for the Hungarian segment of the TurkStream pipeline, while accusing Kyiv of “working for years to cut Europe from Russian energy.”

The prime minister stated that Ukraine has effectively enforced an “oil blockade” on Hungary by halting Russian supplies through the Druzhba pipeline in January. Budapest dismisses Kyiv’s assertion that the infrastructure was harmed by Russian strikes, contending that Vladimir Zelensky’s government is intentionally attempting to create an energy crisis to sway the Hungarian parliamentary election scheduled for April 12.