Hungarian section of Turkish Stream to be placed under military protection – Szijjártó

Europe is rapidly moving towards a massive energy crisis, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a live video following a meeting of the National Defence Council. According to him, over the past few years, the Ukrainians have sought to cut off Russia’s oil and natural gas supplies to Europe, and the recent attempted terrorist attack – foiled by the Serbs – fits into this pattern of attacks.

The Serbian press reported Sunday morning that suspicious items had been found near Trešnjevac, close to Kanjiža, in the proximity the Serbian-Hungarian gas pipeline known as the Turkish Stream. Serbian police and military personnel were deployed to the site, along with drones, thermal cameras, search dogs, and helicopters, and several streets in the area were closed to traffic.

In the video, Szijjártó also said: At the meeting of the Defense Council, the Hungarian Prime Minister ordered that the Hungarian section of the Turkish Stream be placed under military protection; soldiers will be guarding the natural gas pipeline and the transfer points from the Serbian-Hungarian border, all the way to the Hungarian-Slovak border.

He also said that he had consulted by phone with the Serbian and Turkish energy ministers, as well as the Russian Deputy Minister of Energy, with whom they agreed that the natural gas pipeline must be physically protected more strongly than ever before.

Following the meeting of the Defense Council, Viktor Orbán also released a video in which he said much the same as Péter Szijjártó and confirmed that the Hungarian section of the Turkish Stream pipeline would be placed under military protection.

“Based on the available information, an act of sabotage was being prepared,” he said, adding that no one was injured and the pipeline is operating without disruption. The Serbs have reinforced security around the gas pipeline.

The Prime Minister also said that the Serbian authorities are investigating the case, and Hungarian authorities are in constant contact with them. “European countries need energy from Russia, and they will need it even more in the future. Ukraine has been working for years to cut Europe off from this source,” he said. In his view, Ukraine’s efforts in this regard pose a threat to Hungary’s very existence.

Several political figures and experts have previously spoken out about the incident reported by the Serbs; we summarized their comments inthis article.