Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban convened an emergency session of the National Defence Council after Serbian authorities reported the recovery of explosive devices in the vicinity of the pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Hungarian territory.

The discovery took place in a border zone of neighbouring Serbia, and it arrives at a critical moment for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose party is lagging markedly in opinion polls ahead of the snap parliamentary elections scheduled for next Sunday.

Opposition leader Peter Magyar accused Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of engaging in "panic‑mongering" orchestrated by "Russian advisers," echoing earlier warnings from security analysts about a potential "false‑flag" operation that could be blamed on Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a long‑standing ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly resisted calls from the European Union to discontinue Russian energy imports ever since the full‑scale invasion of Ukraine began.

In recent weeks, Hungarian security experts have voiced the possibility of a staged incident, either on Hungarian soil or within Serbian territory, designed to generate a surge of public sympathy for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party, or to furnish a pretext for declaring a state of emergency that could delay or cancel the forthcoming vote.

Serbian President Alexander Vucic, a close confidant of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, conveyed the news of the find to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the morning of Sunday.

Serbian army personnel uncovered two rucksacks loaded with explosives and associated detonators near the village of Tresnjevac in the Kanjiza district, situated roughly 20 km (12 mi) from the point where the TurkStream pipeline enters Hungarian territory.

Serbian President Alexander Vucic posted on Instagram, "Our units found an explosive of devastating power. I told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that we would keep him updated on the investigation."

Hungary receives between five and eight billion cubic metres of Russian gas each year via the TurkStream pipeline, a route that also supplies Slovakian consumers and on which both Hungary and Slovakia are heavily dependent.

Balint Pasztor, president of the Vojvodina Hungarian Association, and a noted ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, posted on Facebook: "If the investigation proves that we were not the primary target after all, but rather Hungary's supply lines, then this makes it even clearer: the terrorist attack was planned with the aim of bringing down Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban."

Fidesz has placed hostility toward Ukraine at the centre of its electoral platform, using the issue to rally support and to differentiate itself from rival parties.

During election rallies, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told supporters that low heating and fuel prices in Hungary are only possible because of inexpensive Russian oil and gas, both of which reach Hungarian consumers via pipelines – oil travelling through Ukraine and gas moving through the Balkans.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban alleges that a "Kyiv‑Brussels‑Berlin" coalition is conspiring to prevent Hungary from obtaining cheap Russian fuel, with the ultimate aim of installing a "puppet" prime minister, Peter Magyar, after the election. According to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a government led by the Tisza River region would drag Hungary into a European war against Russia.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has already accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of imposing an "oil blockade" on Hungary, pointing to the halt of Russian oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline – a line that traverses Ukrainian territory – since the end of January.

Ukraine contends that the pipeline suffered damage as a result of a Russian attack and asserts that it should be fully operational again by mid‑April.

No official allegations have been levelled against Ukraine regarding involvement in the explosive incident, though a well‑informed Serbian source told the Greek Radio & Television (GREE) that Serbian authorities might release preliminary findings as early as Monday.

On 2 April, Hungarian security expert Andras Racz warned on Facebook that a "fake attack" on the TurkStream pipeline could be orchestrated inside Serbia.

Andras Racz also predicted that the explosives would be identified as Ukrainian in origin, thereby allowing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to once again assign blame to Kyiv.

Former senior Hungarian counter‑intelligence officer Peter Buda told the GREE, "We had some solid preliminary information about this operation, including details about the place and possible timing."

Peter Buda added, "It's clear that Ukraine's interests aren't at stake here. An operation like this would help Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban before the election by influencing public opinion in his favour."

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reiterated the government's stance that the threat is genuine, writing on Facebook, "In the past few days and weeks, we've seen it all."

Peter Szijjarto continued, "The Ukrainians organised an oil blockade against us. Then they tried to impose a total energy blockade on us by firing dozens of drones at the TurkStream pipeline while it was still on Russian territory.

Peter Szijjarto concluded, "And now we have today's incident, in which Serbian colleagues found explosives capable of blowing up the pipeline."

Opposition leader Peter Magyar accused Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in collaboration with Serbian President Alexander Vucic, of staging the latest incident.

Peter Magyar declared, "He will not be able to prevent next Sunday's election. He will not be able to prevent millions of Hungarians from ending the most corrupt two decades in our country's history."