Orbán tells Tucker Carlson attack on Russian pipelines could spark war
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán tells Tucker Carlson in an interview that any attack on pipelines transporting Russian gas could lead to an all-out war.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gives an interview to US political commentator and media personality Tucker Carlson in the government headquarters in Budapest, Hungary, 21 August 2023 (aired 30 August 2023) (Screengrab)
Hungary and Serbia warned after the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline that they would view any acts of sabotage on gas routes used to buy gas from Russia as a casus belli, or a reason for war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Wednesday, during an interview with conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, though he noted that the warning had been heeded.
"What we, Hungarians, did immediately: we made clear that there is another pipeline, not just Nord Stream, but there is Southern Stream, coming gas from Russia through the southern corridor," he said.
"Together with the Serbian prime minister and president, we did make very clear that if anybody would like to do the same thing with the southern corridor, as it was done with the northern one, we consider it as a reason for war, a terrorist attack, and we will immediately react," Orbán underlined during the interview with the former Fox News talk show host on his new show Tucker On X.
Ep. 20 Hungary shares a border with Ukraine. We traveled to Budapest to speak with the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán. pic.twitter.com/LOzpMrQNIz
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 29, 2023
Hungary immediately called the attack on the Nord Stream a terrorist one, and the absence of a strong reaction from Germany was "kind of evidence of the lack of sovereignty."
Though he did not specify who he was warning exactly, Orbán said his warning was not directed at Russia. Asked if the notice was understood by the party it was directed at, Orbán said "Yes."
On September 26, 2022, there were explosions at three of the four strings of Nord Stream 1 and 2 underwater pipelines, which are designed to transport a total of 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe each year.
Separate investigations were launched by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden into the suspected sabotage, with German media reporting trust issues among the three EU nations.
Sources familiar with the investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions have confirmed media reports that traces lead to Ukraine, Sputnik reported on Friday.
The news outlets added that there is growing evidence that agents linked to Ukraine may be behind the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines. The news outlets noted that they were in Ukraine before and after the explosions in the Baltic Sea, citing technical data.
In June, a report by The Washington Post said the CIA knew through a European spy agency, three months before the sabotage attack, that members of a Ukrainian special operations team intended to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline.
The yacht involved, according to the investigators, was loaded with explosives and made a deviation from its original route into Polish waters from the Danish island of Christianso.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office of Germany confirmed in March that searches had been carried out on a ship that was carrying explosives to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
