Aleksandar Vučić snapped at Magyar, calling his comments about Putin playing Godfather to autocrats "foolish" and "stupid". The Hungarian Prime Minister-elect claimed the Russian leader pulls the strings in Serbia too.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić became the first foreign leader to clash with Hungary's Prime Minister-elect Péter Magyar, just one day after Sunday's parliamentary elections.
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Magyar's Tisza Party secured a landslide victory at the polls, ending Viktor Orbán's 16-year grip on power. Orbán and Vučić had maintained close political ties throughout that period.
Speaking to Serbia's state broadcaster on Monday night, Vučić dismissed Magyar's earlier remarks as "stupid" after the Hungarian leader suggested he knew who was orchestrating the political alliance between Orbán, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, and Vučić.
"I know exactly what is going on in Serbia, and I also know what kind of entanglement exists between the Orbán government and Vučić-led Serbia, and between Slovakia's Robert Fico and Viktor Orbán," Magyar said at an international press conference on Monday.
"I also know roughly who is behind this — who is the godfather behind these great friendships," he added.
Vučić responded sharply during an interview with the Serbian state broadcaster.
"He said that he knows who is behind such relations between Orbán, Fico, and Vučić. And I ask him: who is behind it? Come on, answer me!" Vučić said.
"He has no idea...implying that it might be Putin. If I were not concerned about relations with Hungarians in our country and with Hungary itself, I would call his statement foolish and irresponsible," Vučić added.
Magyar raises doubts over pipeline incident
At the same press conference, Magyar addressed 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 electoral campaign, there was an operation that looked like a false flag attack on Easter Sunday," Magyar said. "My future government will investigate exactly what happened and whether the danger was real" — while noting he did not rule out that it posed a genuine threat.
Serbian authorities announced on 5 April that two bags of explosives had been found near the pipeline, which carries Russian natural gas to Hungary.
Vučić said the investigation would be concluded and its findings shared with Magyar.
"Those findings will show that he was wrong to believe the gossip of the tabloid media," Vučić said.
Despite the sharp exchanges, both leaders expressed a desire to maintain good bilateral relations. Vučić also sent Magyar a congratulatory message following Sunday's election.