Slovakia has expelled two men suspected of planning an attack on critical energy infrastructure, including a key gas pipeline.
Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok said on Monday that the country’s security services had dismantled a “rogue cell” and that the suspects had been deported to Ukraine and Hungary.
In a video posted on social media, Eštok said: “We prevented a possible attack on critical infrastructure of Slovakia.
“Members of the security and intelligence forces of the Slovak Republic were able to dismantle a rogue cell that posed a potential risk to our security.”
Eštok added that the suspects had used a drone to survey a transformer station in Veľké Kapušany (a small eastern Slovakian town near the Ukrainian border) and a compressor station for a gas pipeline transporting Russian gas.
The Veľké Kapušany compressor station is a critical point for the Brotherhood pipeline, which transports gas from Russia, through Ukraine and on to Slovakia.
It is then further distributed to other European countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany.
Authorities also uncovered various items, including telephones, a notebook, thermal cameras, ballistic vests and other equipment.
In a video posted on social media, Eštok said: “We prevented a possible attack on critical infrastructure of Slovakia.
“Members of the security and intelligence forces of the Slovak Republic were able to dismantle a rogue cell that posed a potential risk to our security.”
Eštok added that the suspects had used a drone to survey a transformer station in Veľké Kapušany (a small eastern Slovakian town near the Ukrainian border) and a compressor station for a gas pipeline transporting Russian gas.
The Veľké Kapušany compressor station is a critical point for the Brotherhood pipeline, which transports gas from Russia, through Ukraine and on to Slovakia.
It is then further distributed to other European countries, including Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany.
Authorities also uncovered various items, including telephones, a notebook, thermal cameras, ballistic vests and other equipment.
One suspect was linked to activity at a railway station during the loading of Slovak army equipment, the interior minister said.
According to 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 world’s longest oil pipeline, Druzhba, in connection with the execution of a possible terrorist attack, Új Szó, a Hungarian daily published in Bratislava, Slovakia, reported.
The Druzhba pipeline supplies Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with Russian crude oil. It runs westward from Russia for more than 4,000 km. At the Belarusian town of Mazyr, 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 and the Czech Republic.
Oil pipeline targeted
According to 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 world’s longest oil pipeline, Druzhba, in connection with the execution of a possible terrorist attack, Új Szó, a Hungarian daily published in Bratislava, Slovakia, reported.
The Druzhba pipeline supplies Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with Russian crude oil. It runs westward from Russia for more than 4,000 km. At the Belarusian town of Mazyr, 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 and the Czech Republic.
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