The paper said the terrorists had used the so-called Balkan migrant route into Hungary. Zoltán Bodnár of the Liberal Party said that if the government had fulfilled its international obligations to register migrants arriving in Hungary, “these terrorists would probably not have been able to roam free on the streets of Budapest.”

But in order to stir up fear over the migrant crisis, instead of registering these people, the government had “thrust” thousands of migrants onto Budapest and the country, Bodnár insisted. He also questioned the timing of Magyar Idők’s article, saying that it indicated that the government was “using every method it can” to “raise the level of fear” within the public.

János Halász, the spokesman for the parliamentary group of ruling Fidesz, said Magyar Idők’s article indicated that illegal migration continued to pose serious national security risks. Citing the article, Halász said Salah Abdeslam, one of the ringleaders involved in the Paris attacks, had transported two other terrorists involved in the attack out of Hungary last August.

Those two terrorists had also arrived in Hungary by taking advantage of the inflow of illegal migrants into the country, Halász said.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Soki Tamás