Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the army and police had found two backpacks containing explosives near a gas pipeline to Hungary on Sunday, prompting Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban to call an emergency meeting.

The backpacks, containing "two large packages of explosives with detonators", were found in Kanjiza in northern Serbia, "a few hundred metres from the gas pipeline", Vucic said.

The pipeline, known as Balkan Stream, is an extension of the TurkStream pipeline that carries Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary.

Hungary's opposition leader Peter Magyar however suggested the incident could be a "false flag" operation staged to disrupt next Sunday's high-stakes elections in their country.

"For weeks, we've been receiving warnings from multiple sources that... Orban – allegedly with Serbian and Russian assistance – may be planning to cross another line," he posted on X.

"Many people have suggested that something might 'accidentally' happen in Serbia, possibly involving a gas pipeline, around Easter," he added, calling to be included in the national defence council meeting.

"I also want to make it clear that (Orban) will not be able to prevent next Sunday's election," Magyar said.

Serbian authorities gave no details on possible motives. Vucic said there were "certain traces" he could not immediately discuss.

In recent weeks, Orban has repeatedly accused the Ukrainian government of intentionally delaying repairs to a separate damaged pipeline through Ukraine, which has choked the flow of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia. (AFP)



Edited by Cecil Wong