“Europe is in its twenty-fourth hour; the prerequisite for halting the terror is the stopping of illegal immigration”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in a statement issued by the Ministry to Hungarian news agency MTI on Tuesday.
The Foreign Minister stressed that Hungary was shocked to hear that following the four German attacks last week “another barbaric attack has been committed”, this time in France. The Government sends its condolences to the family of the “savagely murdered Catholic priest” and to all the people of France, and wishes the injured a speedy recovery, he said.
According to Mr. Szijjártó the terrorists “have overstepped yet another boundary” with Tuesday’s attack. “It is clear that not only do they want to murder European people, but they want to eradicate our culture, our religion and our civilisation”, he continued.
“It must be stated that Europe is in its twenty-fourth hour. The people of Europe had only a single day without a terrorist attack since the Sunday knife and bomb attacks in Germany, and today more families are grieving or are sitting anxiously beside the hospital beds of their loved ones”, he highlighted.
The Minister stressed: “All responsible politicians must ask themselves the question: do we want to live with fear and terror?” According to Mr. Szijjártó: “The Government has provided its answer: the Hungarian Government was elected by the people of Hungary; it is responsible for the safety of the Hungarian people and this is what determines its decisions”.
“The prerequisite to halting the terror is stopping illegal immigration and this is why Hungary is protecting its own borders and the external borders of the European Union”, the Foreign Minister’s statement reads.
On Tuesday, two attackers entered the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in France and took hostage a priest, two nuns and two members of the congregation. According to a statement by police, the men, who were armed with knives, slit the ageing priest’s throat and severely injured another hostage. The attackers were shot and killed by security forces who arrived at the scene.