The first leader to come into conflict with Peter Magyar. Tough line after a reference to the famous movie “The Godfather”
Aleksandar Vucic responded harshly to Peter Magyar, calling his comments that Vladimir Putin plays the role of “godfather” (reference to the famous movie “The Godfather”) for autocrats as “stupid” and “stupid”. The elected Prime Minister of Hungary also stated that the Kremlin leader is pulling the strings in Serbia as well.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has become the first foreign leader to clash with Hungary's prime minister-elect, Peter Magyar, just one day after the parliamentary elections held at the end of last week, Euronews reported on Tuesday.
Magyar's Tisza party scored a landslide victory at the polls, ending Viktor Orban's 16-year rule. The former Hungarian prime minister and Vucic maintained close political ties throughout this period.
Speaking on Serbian state television on Monday night, Vucic called Magyar's earlier comment “stupid” after the Tisza leader suggested he knew who was orchestrating the political alliance between Orban, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Vucic.
“I know exactly what is happening in Serbia, and I also know what kind of ties there are between the Orban government and Vucic-led Serbia, as well as between Slovakia's Robert Fico and Viktor Orban,” Magyar said Monday in his first post-victory press conference in front of international media.
“I also know broadly who is behind this – who is the godfather behind these great friendships,” added Peter Magyar.
Vucic responded harshly during an interview with Serbian public television.
“He said he knows who is behind these relations between Orban, Fico and Vucic. And I ask him: who is behind this? Come on, answer me!” said Vucic.
“He has no idea…suggesting 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 stupid and irresponsible,” Vucic added.
Magyar raised questions about the Turkstream incident
At the same press conference on Monday, Magyar addressed the discovery of explosives near the TurkStream gas pipeline in Serbia, located near the border with Hungary, describing it as an apparent false flag operation.
“During the election campaign, there was an operation that looked like a false flag attack on Easter Sunday,” Magyar said, referring to the incident claimed by Vucic on April 5, when Easter was celebrated by Catholics. “My future government will investigate exactly what happened and whether the danger was real,” added the prime minister-elect, noting that he did not rule out that the incident represented a real threat.
Serbian authorities announced on April 5 that two bags of explosives had been found near the pipeline, which carries Russian natural gas to Hungary.
Vucic said the investigation will be completed and its findings will be communicated to Magyar.
“These conclusions will show that he was wrong when he chose to believe the gossip in the tabloid media,” the Serbian president said.
Despite heated exchanges of retorts, both leaders expressed their desire to maintain good bilateral relations. Vucic also sent Magyar a congratulatory message following Sunday's election.
