
Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i? has clashed with Hungary's newly elected Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, after the latter's statement that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is "pulling the strings" in Serbia as well.
Magyar implied that Putin was the "godfather" behind the friendships between former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who lost the election, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, and Vu?i?.
Speaking on Serbian state television, Vu?i? challenged Magyar to say Putin's name, not by implication. He called the statement irresponsible, adding that he did not want to damage relations with Hungary.
"I know exactly what is happening in Serbia and I also know what kind of connections exist between the Orbán government and the Serbia led by Vu?i?, as well as between Robert Fico and Viktor Orbán. I also know roughly who is behind them, who is the 'godfather' of these great friendships," Magyar declared at a press conference.
In response to this statement, the Serbian president said:
"He said he knows who is behind the relationship between Orbán, Fico and Vu?i?. I'm asking him: who is it? Come on, let him say it. He has no idea... hinting that it could be Putin."
"If I were not concerned about relations with Hungarians in our country and with Hungary itself, I would call his statement thoughtless and irresponsible," Vu?i? said.
At the same press conference, Magyar spoke about the discovery of explosives near the TurkStream gas pipeline in Serbia, close to the Hungarian border, calling it an apparent false flag operation.
"During the election campaign, there was an operation that looked like a false flag attack on Easter Sunday. My next government will investigate exactly what happened and whether the danger was real," Magyar said, while noting that he did not rule out that it posed a real threat.
Vu?i? said the investigation would be completed and its findings would be shared with Magyar.
"These findings will show that he was wrong to believe the rumors of the tabloid media," Vu?i? said.