SERBIA PERSPECTIVE

Belgrade finds itself at the center of an electoral thriller that isn't its own, with the pipeline explosives discovered on Serbian territory.

N1 Serbia covers the affair from two distinct angles. The first picks up Magyar's statements: "Many had predicted something would 'accidentally' happen to the gas pipeline" — a false flag insinuation the Serbian outlet reproduces without validating or denying it. The second article asks directly: "Are the explosives near Kanjiza connected to Hungary's elections?"

Serbia's position is uncomfortable. It was President Vucic who revealed the explosives discovery near the TurkStream pipeline extension. But Vucic is Orban's ally — both share proximity to Moscow and mistrust of Brussels. The fact that the discovery comes six days before the Hungarian vote, at the tightest polling moment of the Orban era, raises a question N1 Serbia formulates without answering.

What Serbian media reveal between the lines: the TurkStream pipeline crossing Serbia into Hungary has become a political instrument as much as an energy one. Whoever controls the narrative about the pipeline's security controls a lever of influence over the Hungarian election.