Péter Szijjártó pledges Hungary's support for Christian communities in the Middle East.Continue reading
Christianity provides a solid basis for cooperation between Hungary and Lebanon, which is of great importance in view of the current security challenges, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday.
The minister pronounced at a joint press conference with the president of the Lebanese Christian party Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, that the two countries are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.
He underlined that Hungarian-Lebanese relations are also of great importance in the face of serious security challenges, as threats in the Middle East have a negative impact on Europe. He pointed out that
Christianity is a very stable basis for cooperation, as Hungary has a Christian statehood going back more than a thousand years, and Lebanon is home to the oldest Christian communities.
“The region where Lebanon is located is practically the cradle of Christianity, so the cooperation between the two countries is based on a stable foundation of a Christian Hungarian foreign policy, which clearly affirms that hatred and attacks against Christians have no place in the world and must be rejected in the strongest possible terms,” Péter Szijjártó emphasized.
In this context, the Foreign Minister underlined that in recent years the government has provided support to numerous Christian communities in 64 countries around the world, with a total of 400 rehabilitation and development programs worth HUF 42 billion (EUR 104 million). He highlighted that
38 of these programs had been implemented in Lebanon, and perhaps the largest of these was the renovation and restoration of 33 ancient Christian churches in the country to give Christian communities back their places of worship.
He also warned that attacks on Christians in the world are not only linked to terrorists and fanatics, as religious values are under increasing pressure in the West. “Woke ideology and the liberal mainstream have launched countless attacks on Christian values. It is good news for us all that the new U.S. president has cut off the financial resources of liberal movements based on this woke ideology,” he said.
The minister also stressed the importance of stability and security in Lebanon, saying that it had implications for the whole Middle East and that stability in the region was a priority for Europe’s security.
That is why we are also committed to ensuring that the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel can remain stable, because if it breaks down, it will also mean extreme difficulties for the Christian communities in Lebanon and in the region,”
he stressed.
“And we also stand with Lebanon in the fact that it is home to millions of people displaced from Syria, and that the financial burden is borne solely by Lebanon, and that is unacceptable,” Mr. Szijjártó continued. “The whole Western world has been very enthusiastic about the political changes in Syria. However, it is clear that the current Syrian leadership is also committing a number of inhumane acts that must be confronted in the strongest possible terms, but it must also be made clear that this community of millions of people in Lebanon who have left Syria have done so because Assad was in power. Assad is no more, so the international community now has a clear responsibility to create the conditions in Syria that will allow Syrians to return,” he emphasized.
An important aspect of the continued stability of Lebanon is that the financial and economic burden of the millions of Syrian communities should not be placed on the shoulders of this country,”
the Foreign Minister concluded.
Via MTI, Featured photo via MTI/Hegedüs Róbert
