Hungary FM: Serbian Authorities Foil Terrorist Attack That Would Have Crippled Hungary’s Natural Gas Supply + Video

The TurkStream pipeline is indispensable for Hungary’s natural gas supply; if the pipeline were rendered inoperable—if, for example, someone were to blow it up—Hungary’s gas supply would simply become impossible, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said in a video posted on Facebook Monday morning.

Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto (Source: Facebook)

The foreign minister recalled that Europe is moving rapidly toward what could be an unprecedentedly severe energy crisis, noting that the issue is not only the prospect of dramatic price increases, but also the very real risk of both oil and gas shortages.

FM Szijjarto: Serbian authorities foiled a terrorist attack that would have crippled Hungary’s natural gas supply (Source: Facebook)

He said that, as a result of the war involving Iran, roughly 20 percent of global maritime natural gas use—meaning liquefied natural gas—as well as about 20 percent of global oil consumption is being blocked.

This means that Europe needs—and will need—Russian oil and Russian gas, because if they do not return to the European market, then due to the Iranian war there simply won't be enough oil and gas available in Europe. Not only is a dramatic price increase expected—which would be serious enough—but oil and gas shortages could very easily develop in Europe,

– FM Peter Szijjarto said. He emphasized that Ukraine has clear objectives.

Ukraine’s goal is to completely exclude Russian gas and oil from Europe. To achieve this, they have taken political steps and terrorist attacks have also occurred. Let us not forget that the first such violent incident related to energy supply was the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipeline,

–  the minister said. Peter Szijjarto noted that Russia was initially blamed, which he said would not have been logical, as it would make little sense for Russia to blow up its own pipeline. He added that it later emerged that Ukraine had carried out the attack on Nord Stream, then shut down the major gas pipeline running through its territory, subsequently failed to restart the Druzhba oil pipeline, and in recent weeks carried out multiple drone attacks against the TurkStream pipeline on Russian territory.

This latest development fits into that pattern: yesterday, Serbian authorities prevented a terrorist attack in which the Serbian section of the TurkStream pipeline was to be blown up,

 – the minister added.

The TurkStream pipeline is indispensable for Hungary’s natural gas supply. More than half—56 percent—of the gas flowing daily through Hungary’s pipeline system arrives via TurkStream. If the pipeline were rendered inoperable—if someone were to blow it up—Hungary’s gas supply would simply become impossible. This would endanger both the supply of Hungarian families and the functioning of the national economy,

– FM Szijjarto warned. He stressed that every such incident constitutes an attack on Hungary’s sovereignty. “We will defend Hungary’s sovereignty, we will protect the supply of Hungarian families, we will safeguard the functioning of the economy, and we will fight to maintain reduced utility costs,” the minister said. He emphasized that they do not want Hungarians to pay at least three times as much for utilities as they do now, which he said would be the consequence of eliminating Russian oil and gas. For this reason, the approximately 250-kilometer Hungarian section of the TurkStream pipeline has been placed under military protection. Peter Szijjarto added that on Monday, at Kiskundorozsma, at the international metering station where the pipeline enters Hungary, they will meet those who will be responsible for protecting the pipeline from that point onward.

We will defend Hungary, we will defend its sovereignty, we will protect Hungarian families, we will safeguard the functioning of the Hungarian economy, and we will preserve reduced utility costs,

– FM Szijjarto declared.