Government: Paris terror lynchpin may have organised action in Budapest

Budapest, December 3 (MTI) – One of the main organisers of the terrorist attacks in Paris came into contact with migrants stranded at Budapest’s Keleti railway station who had evaded registration, the government office chief, Janos Lazar, told a news conference on Thursday, confirming Belgian press reports.

“There was news that one of the chief organisers of the Paris attacks came to Budapest which I can confirm,” Lazar said. “The person, to our knowledge, showed up also at Keleti station where he recruited a team from among illegal immigrants and left the country together with them,” Lazar said.

Hungary’s secret services had no information at the time on which to act and received information from partner organisations only later, Lazar said.

Lazar said it was a cause for concern that around 230,000 people had passed through Hungary’s territory uncontrolled.

According to Belgian RTL’s online report on Wednesday, Salah Abdeslam, one of the organisers and participants in the Paris terrorist attack may have recruited in Hungary two men who, after returning from Syria, blew themselves up during the attacks.

He noted that Hungary, like Slovakia, had submitted its case to the European Court against the EU’s compulsory migrant distribution quota system which he called a “forced, illegitimate measure”. Lazar said the government’s position on the quota system was reinforced by the decision of Hungary’s ombudsman to turn to the Constitutional Court over legal concerns over the scheme.

The government office chief welcomed European Council President Donald Tusk’s demand for measures to stanch the wave of migrants.

Meanwhile, Lazar claimed that a civil organisation sponsored by Hungarian-born financier George Soros has launched a signature campaign against Hungary, saying that it is hard to understand what the Hungarian-born US businessman’s problem with his home country is.

Responding to a question, Lazar said Hungary supports Turkey’s integration with the EU, adding, however, that it would be “rather strange” if the visa restriction for Turkey was lifted ahead of Ukraine.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters