Seven people are under investigation in connection with an organised group suspected of procuring and storing explosives, explosive devices and drones in Serbia before sending them to predetermined locations in European Union countries. The group is also believed to have planted explosives near gas infrastructure linking Hungary and Serbia in April, the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Subotica said on Monday.
Did they want to blow up the essential Serbian-Hungarian gas pipeline?
According to a statement, proceedings have been launched against the seven suspects on suspicion of the illegal manufacture, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosives, MTI wrote.
The group was uncovered during an investigation into explosives found on 5 April in the municipality of Kanjiža/Magyarkanizsa. The inquiry was conducted by Serbia’s Security Intelligence Agency (BIA), Military Security Agency (VBA), the Interior Ministry’s criminal police and military police. While monitoring the suspects’ activities, the authorities discovered further explosives, explosive devices, drones and other equipment needed to operate them.
The prosecution said the investigation would continue in co-operation with law-enforcement authorities in the European countries concerned. Investigators are seeking to establish the suspects’ precise roles, as well as the intended purpose of the seized equipment.
Former PM Orbán suggested the action was part of an “international narrative”
On 5 April, only 7 day before the Hungarian general elections, about four kilograms of a substance suspected to be explosive were found in two black rucksacks near a road between Felsőhegy (Gornji Breg) and Ilonafalva (Vojvoda Zimonjić), in the municipality of Kanjiža. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Subotica said at the time that the material was believed to be plastic explosive, along with components that could be used to assemble an explosive device.
Russia threatens to cut oil and gas supplies to Hungary after Budapest labels Moscow a security threat
The suspicious items were found near the gas pipeline linking Serbia and Hungary. About 140 soldiers and police officers took part in the search of the area.
Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia’s president, said at the time that a highly destructive explosive and the detonators needed to set it off had been found in the immediate vicinity of the gas infrastructure. He also briefed Viktor Orbán, then Hungary’s prime minister, on the investigation, saying that, had the suspected operation succeeded, Hungary and northern Serbia could have been left without gas supplies.
If you missed: Suspected Russian operatives held at Hungarian border ‘may have been plotting bombing in Germany’ — authorities tight-lipped
Orbán suggested Ukraine was behind the sabotage
Afterwards, former prime minister Orbán said he would not accuse any country, but suggested that the events formed part of an international narrative. In making that enigmatic remark, he may have been referring to Russian gas deliveries to Hungary, over which he has repeatedly clashed with the EU. He mentioned the Nord Stream pipeline, which was allegedly blown up by Ukrainians, and added that Ukraine had both the capability and the intention to carry out such an act.
He also referred to sabotage with potentially devastating consequences, convened the Defence Council and warned that nobody should play games with Hungary’s energy security.
Meanwhile, Serbian authorities dismissed the claim that Ukraine could have been behind the planting of the explosives, adding that the explosives were of American origin.
Orbán suggests Ukraine plotted to sabotage TurkStream pipeline — Serbia sees it differently
