Hungarian parliament approves declaration condemning terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel

Parliament approved on Wednesday a political statement sponsored by the ruling Fidesz party condemning the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel and expressing sympathy with those who suffered in the attacks and lost their loved ones.

Fully 168 MPs voted for the motion, two against, while there were four abstentions.

The declaration also recognises Israel’s right to self-defence.

It further states that “crowds” entering Europe infiltrated by Hamas and other terrorists severely endangered European security and was a “direct result” of its “irresponsible and flawed” migration policy.

In addition, it states that Hungary is defending its borders against illegal migration with physical and legal border closures and declares the expectation that the EU should support its border protection efforts to bar terrorists from entering Europe.

Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, Israel’s ambassador to Hungary, was present at the session.

DK backs statement condemning terrorism

The opposition Democratic Coalition has said it supports a political statement drafted by the government condemning terrorism and standing by its victims, notwithstanding “problematic parts and omissions”.

DK proposed that Hamas should be named as a terrorist organisation in the text but this was voted down by the Fidesz majority at Tuesday’s legislative committee meeting, DK’s parliamentary group leader, Gergely Arató, told an online press briefing before the motion was adopted on Wednesday.

Still, DK has backed adopting the government’s draft which condemns the terrorist attack, expresses solidarity with Israel, and recognises Israel’s right to self-defence, he said.

Further, expressing compassion for the victims is more important than the gaps and problematic parts of the declaration, he added.

Arató said it was unfathomable why Fidesz refused to openly call Hamas a terrorist organisation and why the ruling party highlighted the European Union in connection with the threat of terrorism when the government had “released almost 1,400 human traffickers from prison”.

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