Chief of the Prime Minister’s Press Office Bertalan Havasi has disclosed to kormany.hu the content of a letter from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to His Eminence Husein Kavazovic, Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in reply to his recent public comments. In the letter Mr. Orbán reiterated that during the Yugoslav War Hungary extended a helping hand to all and provided protection to those in need – including Muslim families from Bosnia.
Last week the leader of Muslims living in Bosnia and Herzegovina protested against statements which Mr. Orbán had made (regarding Islam and Europe, in connection with the migration crisis), which in his view were “arbitrary and harmful”.
According to Mr. Havasi, in Mr. Orbán’s reply to the Grand Mufti he wrote the following:
“It was with some surprise, but also with due respect, that I read your recently publicised comments. The fact that a person such as you – for whom I have deep respect – finds my thoughts worthy of a response is itself an honour, for which I feel gratitude. This feeling is not altered in the least by the fact that the views you expressed were on the whole unfavourable – both with regard to my thoughts and my person.”
The Prime Minister reassured His Eminence, his followers, his people and his country of Hungary’s feelings of esteem, “despite the fact that our interpretations of European history differ”. He confirmed that it continues to be in Hungary’s interest for there to be friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Mr Orbán is hopeful that “eventually we shall find that the things we have in common far outnumber the things which divide us”, Mr. Havasi said.
At the end of his letter, the Prime Minister invited His Eminence the Grand Mufti to visit Hungary.
English translation of Viktor Orbán’s letter to His Eminence Husein ef. Kavazovic is available here.