Several Eastern Orthodox church leaders asked for the support of Viktor Orbán so that the Hungarian government prevents the European Commission's plan to place Kirill, the Patriarch of Russia, on the EU sanctions list. Azbej Tristan, the State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for helping persecuted Christians and the implementation of the Hungary Helps Program, told the portal sándar.hu that this dangerous package of sanctions is unacceptable.
- Hungary intends to veto the new sanctions package of the European Union, which also affects Eastern church leaders. What is the reason of this?
- We live in the European Union, Europe is our home. The war fueled many disputes and created many fault lines. The solutions to these are not yet visible, but everyone must understand that in this conflict, Hungary is not choosing a side, but quite simply takes a stand for peace and peacemaking. For the sake of the search for peace, we therefore do not agree with those sanctions which do not soften but aggravate the conflict , which instead of any kind of solution only deepen the antagonisms between the parties. It must also be recognized that some sanctions of the European Union backfire and harm the peoples of Europe more than the country itself.
We consider the idea of the European Commission to extend politically motivated sanctions to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Kirill, the Patriarch of Russia, to be particularly harmful and a senseless plan.
– How did this ecclesiastical-foreign policy topic come to Hungary's attention?
- The Hungarian government was contacted by the leaders of several Eastern Orthodox partner churches. Viktor Orbán was asked to prevent the European Union sanction targeting the head of the church. A politically based sanctions package against one of the world's major religious leaders cannot help peace. Moreover, it would create a precedent, the consequences of which are unforeseeable. Hungary will therefore not accept this sanction.
– Can the stalemate be resolved, is there a solution to the conflict?
– We believe that there must be a solution. The churches deserve that we do everything for them. The peace of their congregation and their religious freedom should be ensured. Through the Hungary Helps Program, we have been supporting and providing humanitarian aid to Christian churches suffering from various needs for many years. In the defense of the Orthodox bishop, we not only heard the pleading words of the sister churches, but we also feel it is our moral duty to convince the member states of the European Union that this sanction does not serve peace. The position of the Hungarian government is that this harmful and dangerous sanction cannot be accepted.
Source: Vasárnap.hu/Gábor Tóth
(Cover image: Híradó.hu)
