Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said 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.
“We are shaken and upset” by news of the attack in Vienna, PM Orbán said in a video message on Facebook. Hungary fully supports Austrians. “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, PM 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 organization, 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, President Áder said. He extended his condolences to the families of the victims and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 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. Minister 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,” Minister Szijjártó said.