More than 260 schools in Hungary received bomb threats on Thursday, authorities announced and opened an investigation, pointing to similarities with recent incidents in other central and eastern European countries. In total, 268 schools received threatening emails, including 245 in the capital Budapest, Bence Retvari, Secretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior, said at a press conference.
In each case, police inspected buildings and evacuated students and staff, potentially affecting tens of thousands of people. No explosive device was found and “the danger of a bomb attack was averted” immediately, said Bence Retvari.
The police opened an investigation for “threat to public order” and contacted the Europol agency, as did the authorities in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia where “similar threats” with a message with “Islamist” content were reported. been reported in recent months. But the government called for caution due to lack of information at this stage.
In May and September 2024, hundreds of Czech and Slovak schools were targeted, with the Czech authorities raising the possibility of “Russian interference” among the options.
