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The Hungarian government will continue to support Christian communities in the Middle East, as the cradle of Christianity is unimaginable without Christians, said Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
At the opening of the conference entitled ‘Lebanon’s Future through Christian Eyes,’ the minister said that the world is now living in an era of dangers, and the situation in the Middle East has a huge impact on the security of Central Europe, which is why Hungary is interested in peace, tranquility, and stability in the region.
He said that Lebanon has a special role to play in this respect, and is home to a significant Christian community. In this context, he stressed that Hungary, as a Christian state, feels a special responsibility for all Christian communities in the world, especially those facing difficulties and persecution.
Unfortunately, the Christians in Lebanon are also facing difficulties. Therefore, it is an important goal of ours to help, to maintain assistance to Christian communities in Lebanon,”
he explained.
According to Péter Szijjártó, assistance should not be provided in a way leading to Christian communities leaving their homes, instead they should be strengthened locally. He pointed out that the Hungary Helps program has so far spent tens of millions of dollars to help Christian communities in the Middle East, including in Lebanon, in order to help them stay in their homes.
This goal requires investment to create jobs. It needs schools, it needs places for children to learn. It needs social and health institutions. And we need churches so that people can live their faith. Jobs, schools, hospitals, churches,”
he stressed. “This is what is needed. Over the last seven years, the Hungarian government has implemented 38 programs in Lebanon to achieve this (…) 38 development programs for almost 20 million dollars, and perhaps the most ambitious of these is that we have also restored almost 100 ancient Christian churches.” He added that Hungary is ready to continue this program.
The minister said that a key question for Lebanon and for the future of Christianity there was when would the Syrian refugees return home.
Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (R) and Paul Nabil el-Szajah, Archbishop of the Maronite Church (M) Photo: MTI/Purger Tamás
He said that for more than ten years he had been told by his European colleagues that the situation would improve rapidly if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fell. “Now Assad is gone, so I think it is time for the international community to facilitate the return of Syrians who have been displaced to Lebanon,” he underlined.
The necessary political, security and economic conditions must be created. It is time to put aside political correctness and talk frankly and openly about this issue and lift this huge burden from Lebanon,”
he emphasized. The minister concluded by saying that the aim of this conference was to create a mechanism that would help Lebanon’s development in the long term, with the Christian communities taking the biggest share.
“This, of course, requires resources. We are ready to contribute to this. We hope that members of the Lebanese diaspora, representatives of the business community, Lebanese institutions, organizations and foreign actors will make their contribution and that this mechanism to support Lebanon in the long term can be established. For our part, we are certainly happy to host the secretariat of this mechanism here in Budapest,” he concluded.
Via MTI; Featured picture: MTI/Purger Tamás