Orbán said the cathedral was a symbol to every Christian and a “shared refuge of our faith”. The prime minister praised the “heroic efforts” of French firefighters in putting out the flames and “saving one of the symbols of European Christianity from complete devastation”.

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a statement that “we feel sympathy for our French friends when looking at the painful images from Paris.”

At a press conference on a different subject, Szijjártó said later on Tuesday that Hungary was always ready to aid Christians in need, and so it was “naturally” ready to provide aid to the reconstruction, should that be needed.

Besides financial aid, Hungary offers experts to coordinate parts of the reconstruction project, he said.