Some believe these incidents were foreign attacks intended to pressure Hungary and Slovakia into stopping their use of Russian oil.
The investigation into the October 20 explosion at the Százhalombatta oil refinery of Hungarian energy company MOL is ongoing. The explosion occurred in the AV3 plant of the Danube Refinery, and firefighters contained the flames in time. Locals reported an explosion and heavy smoke.
During last week’s Hungarian Government Info Session, Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyás informed the press that a thorough investigation is underway to determine if foul play was involved in the explosion at a key Hungarian oil refinery. He also noted that Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, had advised Ukrainians to blow up the Friendship oil pipeline, according to Mandiner.
Meanwhile, Poland has also refused to extradite one of the suspects linked to the 2022 explosion of the Nord Stream pipeline, Gulyás said. He further criticized Sikorski for downplaying the consequences of attacks on energy infrastructure.
A recent article in The American Conservative points out additional connections. For example, on the day of the Százhalombatta explosion, a mysterious explosion occurred at the Petrotel-Lukoil refinery in Romania. Both facilities process Russian crude oil, and the Romanian refinery is a Lukoil subsidiary that has been sanctioned by the Trump administration.
Rumors quickly circulated that foreign interference could be involved.
On the day of these explosions, the Council of the EU agreed to phase out Russian energy purchases, resulting in a full ban by 2028. However, this has been in the works for a while.
Hungary and Slovakia have expressed concern about the severe economic consequences, including higher heating bills and hardship for citizens.
Mandiner also cites the American Conservative, which states that "Ukraine is the likely source of the attacks. There is also suspicion that Ukraine could not have carried out the attacks without assistance from the United States, Great Britain, or Europe.”
The newspaper notes that the Western media did not pay much attention to the explosions that occurred around the same time and that Russia has no interest in harming its customers.