The Hungarian National Police Headquarters (ORFK) announced on Thursday evening that they had completed their search of the buildings of institutions that received bomb threats. No explosives or explosive devices were found at any of the locations.
As reported by Hungarian Conservative, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced heightened security measures and ongoing investigations following bomb threats targeting numerous schools across Hungary on Thursday morning.
The threats, sent via email with similar content, likely originated from the same source, according to police reports. At least 121 schools, including institutions in Budapest and other regions, were evacuated as a precaution. Gergely Gulyás, Chief of the Prime Minister’s Office, stated that the threats were made ‘in the name of Allah.’ Experts suggested that the emails were likely translated from Arabic, citing specific language and word choices.
The timing of the threats coincided with the visit of Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to Hungary, where he met with Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Security policy expert Georg Spöttle suggested that the threats might have been made by radical Islamists, pointing to Hungary’s staunch support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas as a possible motive.
According to the latest information, 273 educational institutions in Budapest and 35 outside the capital across Hungary have been targeted with bomb threats. Authorities have launched an investigation into the case.
Similar Threats in the Region
The Hungarian threats, however, do not appear to be isolated incidents. Similar threats have been reported in Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Austria in recent days, sparking concerns about a potential coordinated effort or a shared motive behind these actions.
On Wednesday, bomb threats were reported at schools in several Bulgarian cities, including Sofia, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Vratsa, Kardzhali, Shumen, Razgrad, Burgas, and Varna, according to Novinite.com. The threatening messages were discovered in the morning as school staff checked their email accounts. Interestingly, the emails were sent to an outdated address no longer officially in use by schools, though some institutions still monitor it. All affected institutions were evacuated, and the source and motive behind the threats remain unknown, according to the Bulgarian news agency BTA.
‘The emails threatened to “run amok,” raising significant concerns’
In Slovakia, the University of Economics in Bratislava (EUBA) received a bomb threat on Thursday morning, the same time as Hungarian schools. Miroslav Hornák, a spokesman for the university, stated that all buildings were evacuated, students were sent home, and the rector’s order to close the campus remained in force until midday. Similar to the Bulgarian case, the threatening messages were sent to an outdated email address that is no longer officially used.
Salzburg-based news site Orf.at reported on Thursday morning that local police were deployed to several schools in the Austrian city after threatening emails were received. Following the operation, classes were able to resume shortly afterward. The emails threatened to ‘run amok,’ raising significant concerns.
The bomb threats in Hungary have prompted the establishment of a command and control group, which includes the Counter Terrorism Centre (TEK). In response to the international nature of these threats, Hungarian authorities have already reached out to the relevant authorities in the affected countries and Interpol to coordinate efforts and investigate the incidents.
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