György Bakondi, Chief Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, has confirmed the content of an article in Tuesday’s edition of Hungarian daily Magyar Idők.

The article stated that some of the perpetrators of the 13 November terrorist attacks in Paris and the 22 March terrorist attacks in Brussels had previously spent varying lengths of time in Hungary. It also stated that one of the terrorist group’s active members – Salah Abdeslam – had been to Hungary three times.

On Tuesday morning Mr. Bakondi told Hungarian television channel M1 that, in cooperation with their French and Belgian partners, authorities have been investigating on the basis of a request for assistance. The investigation has concluded that around ten terrorists used forged passports as they spent several days in Budapest, where they acquired money and travelled further.

Mr. Bakondi underlined that over the last year a mass of migrants arrived in Hungary, and this migration movement has been exploited by those who entered with malicious intentions.

The Security Advisor pointed out that Salah Abdeslam was carrying Belgian papers when he arrived in Hungary by car from Austria. There is no border control between Hungary and its western neighbour, so Hungarian law enforcement authorities could not monitor Abdeslam’s movements. Moreover, his ID papers were high-quality forgeries, so that even staff at the hotel in Budapest where he stayed could not identify them as being bogus.  

Mr. Bakondi also said that French and Belgian investigators are still working in Hungary to process and confirm the accuracy of information on terrorists.

Speaking about Saturday’s explosion in Budapest, Mr. Bakondi said that the police are making every effort to uncover the circumstances of this appalling crime and to apprehend the perpetrators.

(MTI)