Hungarian PM Viktor Orban criticizes EU migration policies following fatal attack in Germany.
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| Orban Links Migration to Deadly Germany Attack |
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blamed illegal immigration and European Union policies for Friday's deadly attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, where a Saudi man drove his car into a crowd in 1999, killing and wounding more than 200 people
Speaking at an end-of-year press conference on Sunday, Orbán expressed solidarity with the victims’ families and “all Germans”.
“Many people in Western Europe try to deny the link between mass migration and terrorism,” he said. “The sad truth is that before the migration crisis, there were no such heinous attacks in Europe. They’re doing it now.”
Orbán said there was “no doubt” about the link between illegal immigration and acts of terrorism. He stressed that Hungary should learn from such incidents so that such incidents do not become the norm.
Since 2015, Orbán’s government has implemented draconian measures to curb migration, including building a fence along its Serbian-Croatian border on Hungary’s southern border and imposing refugee quotas the.
German authorities arrested a 50-year-old Saudi-born psychiatrist whom some journalists identified as Taleb A. Mohammadi in connection with the attack. The suspect, who has lived in Germany for about 20 years, is reportedly known to have strong anti-Muslim views. Investigators are looking for a variety of motives, including terrorism, although no conclusions have been reached.
According to reports, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly warned the German authorities about Taleb A. and requested his extradition on charges of terrorism and human trafficking with Germany reportedly not responding to these requests.
The Magdeburg attack is the latest in a string of incidents targeting Christmas markets in Europe over the past decade. A truck attack in Berlin in 2016 killed 12 people, and other similar attacks in subsequent years have raised ongoing public concerns about ongoing holiday security time has come