LOC22:04
19:04 GMT
BRUSSELS, Jan 31 (KUNA) -- Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto Tuesday condemned the recent burning of the Holy Quran by a Danish-Swedish extremist in Stockholm as an "unacceptable act."
"As a Christian and as a Catholic, I must say that burning of a holy book of another religion is an unacceptable act," Szijjarto told a news conference following talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Hungary's capital Budapest, Euronews TV reported.
He also criticised a statement by Sweden's prime minister that while the burning of the Quran was inappropriate and "deeply disrespectful," it fell under Swedish freedom of speech protections.
"Stating that the burning of a sacred book is part of freedom of speech is just plain stupidity," Szijjarto said, adding that "perhaps they (Sweden) should act differently than that".
Sweden's government should "act differently" if it wants to clinch Turkish support for its bid to join NATO, the Hungarian Foreign minister added. (end)
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