Hungary stands by Austria with all its strength, and is ready to do everything it can to save Europe from a series of terrorist attacks, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said after the terror attacks in Vienna.
“We are shaken and upset” by news of the attack, Orbán said in a video message on Facebook. Hungary fully supports Austrians, Orbán said. “An attack against you is an attack against us, your pain is ours and your challenges are ours too,” he said. “We shall pray for the victims and wish strength to their families,” he added. Addressing Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Orbán said: “Dear Sebastian, please know that we stand by you and will do all in our power to deter potential terrorists and to apprehend the perpetrators”. “We are ready to work with you to save Europe from a series of terrorist attacks similar to the ones you have suffered.”
Heavily armed men opened fire around 8 pm in downtown Vienna on Monday, killing at least four and injuring many. By Tuesday morning, the police had killed one attacker, who was identified as a follower of the Islamic State terrorist organisation, and were on the hunt after at least one more.
President János Áder also sent a letter of condolences, to Alexander Van der Bellen, his Austrian counterpart. “I was shocked to learn about the terrorist attack carried out in Vienna yesterday evening,” the president said in his letter. He said he was deeply saddened by “the barbarous attack that claimed several innocent lives and left others seriously injured”. “Our hearts go out to the Austrian people and we trust that the authorities will arrest the culprits within a short period of time,” Áder said. The tragic event calls for strengthening the commitment of European member states to cooperate in fighting terrorism, Áder said. He extended his condolences to the families of the victims and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also expressed solidarity with Austria, and said that Europe should “sound the alarm” and stand together in the face of the “appalling wave of terrorism” threatening it. Szijjártó said on Facebook: “We must realise that Europe’s security, and with it the European lifestyle, is under attack”. “Europe and the European nations have to defend themselves against the senseless aggression to avoid great calamity,” Szijjártó said.
Meanwhile, an MEP of Hungary’s ruling parties said on Facebook “it is time the continent woke up,” concerning Monday’s “night of terror” in Vienna, and argued that “European culture is under siege and multi-culturalism has failed”. Balázs Hidvéghi expressed his solidarity with the people of Austria over the terrorist attack. Hidvéghi warned of a “wave of terror sweeping across Europe” and pointed to two recent killings in France. “We should entertain no illusions: more will come,” he said, adding that “if within the same society Christians give up their values and Muslims insist on retaining their own, the latter will have the upper hand”. He also said that “the result will not be a brave new world but one without Christians”.
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