On Thursday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received II. Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignác Efrem - Bertalan Havasi, the prime minister's press chief, informed MTI.
II. Ignác Efrem was one of the Eastern Christian church dignitaries who wrote to Viktor Orbán to stop the European Commission's plan. That he would place Kirill, the patriarch of Russia, on the EU sanctions list. At Thursday's meeting, the Syrian patriarch believed that putting a Christian church leader on the sanctions list would set a precedent that would confuse millions of Christians.
Viktor Orbán repeated: Hungary will not support church dignitaries being put on the sanctions list, as this would also affect the religious freedom of Hungarian communities, which is "sacred and inviolable". II. Efrém Ignác thanked the Prime Minister and the Hungarian people for their continued support of Christian communities in need.
Source: MTI
Featured image: Benko Vivien Cher/MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office
