The Hungarian secret services were not surprised by the Slovak announcement.
Slovak Interior Minister Matús Sutaj Estok announced on Saturday in a program of the local public media that activities were recorded that indicate possible preparations for a terrorist attack affecting the country's critical infrastructure.
According to information from Slovak intelligence, there is an organized group not only in Slovakia, but also in Hungary, which can carry out a field survey in the vicinity of the Barátság oil pipeline in connection with the execution of a possible terrorist attack
- announced the Minister of the Interior, Új Szó wrote.
As is well known, in recent months the transportation of crude oil through the Baratság pipeline was questionable because, according to the news, the Ukrainians wanted to block it, but Mol finally reached an agreement with the suppliers and the parties operating the pipeline in September, so the Mol group is the affected party from Russia will take over ownership of crude oil quantities on the Belarus-Ukraine border with effect from September 9, 2024.
The Barátság crude oil pipeline supplies Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with Russian crude oil. It runs westward from Russia for more than four thousand kilometers. At the Belarusian town of Mazir, it splits into a northern and a southern branch. The transport capacity of the pipeline entering Belarus is 70 million tons per year. In Ukraine, near the Hungarian and Slovak borders, the pipeline branches in two directions. One goes to Hungary, the other to Slovakia. The Czech Republic also receives Russian crude oil through the latter. About 20 million tons of crude oil pass through the Slovak branch per year.
According to Magyar Nemzet, the Hungarian secret services were not surprised by the Slovak announcement, as the partner services share data indicating the threat of terrorist acts, regardless of politics, even before such public announcements.
Unfortunately, the Slovak announcement had to be taken seriously, and based on the available data, they are investigating against whom, when and where preventive measures can be implemented by the Anti-Terrorism Center with the cooperation of the national security services.
- In the case of the possibility of terrorist acts, there is a common interest, and this really overrides everything, even political differences, not only in Europe, but worldwide
- pointed out Zoltán Sas, the chairman of the national security committee of the parliament. The right-wing politician noted: In the case of Slovakia, there is not even a political counter-interest at the moment.
He added: it was indeed possible to exchange information with the Slovaks before the official announcement, the secret services must now determine whether they have their own data on who, where and what they want to commit in Hungary. After that, TEK can nip hostile intentions in the bud, already in the preparatory phase.
Zoltán Sas also warned that there are currently many foreigners in our country, and that migration and terrorism unfortunately go hand in hand throughout the world. And this may not necessarily be true only for illegal immigrants, since it is an old, well-established method to include intelligence agents and agents among refugees for certain purposes.
The Barátság oil pipeline is a specially classified object, so it has special protection, so we can trust that it will be protected, he emphasized.
The terrorist threat is not just disinformation, and it should be taken seriously, according to József Horváth, the former deputy director-general of military and civil defense operations.
According to the director of the Sovereignty Protection Research Institute, it was also possible to consult the secret service with Slovakia's experts, and specific data had to be available before such an official announcement. According to the specialist, in such cases it is always necessary to investigate who might be interested in such a terrorist act and who has the opportunity and means to do so.
József Horváth reminded us that today it is possible to enter our country en masse from Ukraine and travel further from here, and the secret services can also take advantage of these opportunities. The security policy expert also noted that there may be several interested parties whose goal is to try to drag others into the Russian-Ukrainian war before January 20, that is, before the inauguration of Donald Trump as the US president.
Cover image: Friendship II. the oil pipeline entering the Mol Danube Refinery with the main stopcock, memorial plaque in the foreground in Százhalombatta
Source: MTI Photo: Zoltán Máthé
