Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has sent his condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin and all of Russia’s citizens “over the brutal terrorist attack at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall”. “We have all been shocked by the images of the dead, the wounded, and the destruction,” PM Orbán said in a letter to Putin. The Hungarian government is committed to supporting the fight against terrorism, PM Orbán said and pledged Hungary’s continued support to step up international anti-terrorism operations.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, also phoned Sergei Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, on Saturday to express his “deepest condolences” over the terrorist attack on a concert hall that killed at least one hundred people on the outskirts of Moscow during the previous night. He told Lavrov that Hungary resolutely condemns the attack in which innocent people had been killed at random, according to a foreign ministry statement. Hungary stands with those mourning their loss, Szijjártó told Lavrov. “Those are in our prayers and we wish a speedy and full recovery to those who have been injured in the terrorist attack,” he said. Lavrov told Szijjártó that Russian authorities would do everything they could to round up those responsible for the terrorist attack. He said that in a new development, the Islamic State terrorist organisation had claimed responsibility for the attack and 11 of the suspected perpetrators had been detained. Szijjártó told his Russian colleague that Hungary condemns “in the strongest possible terms” every form of terrorism and will continue to participate in international anti-terrorism cooperation. He said that the ministry had not received information about any Hungarian victims or casualties.