Hungary implements a responsible Christian Democratic government political strategy, and an important building block of this is the Hungarian Christian foreign policy, one of the main pillars of which is the aid provided to Christian communities in trouble, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Saturday.
The head of the ministry, Gibran Bászil, received the former Lebanese foreign minister, the leader of the Christian party Szabad Hazafias Mozgalom (FPM), and then stated at their joint press conference that international politics should be about building relations, not breaking them, while nowadays connections dating back to the past are unfortunately disappearing .
"Certain political forces have already trained themselves to break up as many connections, connections, and cooperation as possible," he said. If you listen to the European political discourse, you can mostly hear how much separates us and how much makes us different from other parts of the world. For some reason, there is less talk about what connects us, what we have in common," he added.
He stated: the government considers this a huge mistake, as the Central European region has always lost out on conflicts between East and West.
"Thus, it is clearly in Hungary's national interest to establish a civilized, cultured cooperation between East and West. The cooperation between Hungary and Lebanon is an excellent example of this"
- he said, then added that respect for each other and the common Christian heritage provides a stable basis for this, as Hungary has a thousand-year-old Christian statehood, and Lebanon is home to the oldest Christian communities.
Péter Szijjártó emphasized that this friendship is further strengthened by the sister city agreement signed by mayors András Cser-Palkovics and Marcellino Hark between the two ancient Christian cities, Székesfehérvár and Batrún. According to his words, this is especially necessary now, when Christianity has become the most persecuted religion in the world.
"Here in Hungary, we implement a responsible Christian, Christian-Democratic government political strategy, and an important building block of this is the Hungarian Christian foreign policy. And one of the pillars of this is the help provided to Christian communities, especially to Christian communities in trouble," he underlined.
"Let Christians live anywhere in the world, if they are in trouble, they can know for sure that they can always count on us, the Hungarians"
he declared.
In this regard, he also mentioned that the government has already supported the preservation and renovation of ancient Christian sites in Lebanon with almost five billion forints, and sixty-six medieval churches are being renovated in the country with Hungarian assistance.
The minister reported that, based on the agreements made this year, the government provides HUF 140 million for the renovation of a historical monument, the reconstruction of a monastery church and orphanage, and the operation of Protestant schools in Lebanon.
"Our approach is clear: Christian communities should not be helped to liquidate themselves and move hundreds or thousands of kilometers from where they have always lived, but rather to help Christian communities to live a dignified, calm and peaceful life where they their communities have been present for centuries, even more than a millennium"
- he summed up.
Gibran Bászil thanked Hungary for its support, and then, on the occasion of the celebration of the founding of the Hungarian state, he praised the heritage of Szent István and detailed the common values and the common struggle. He emphasized: the future of the two countries is also shared, which must be based on justice and peace.
Among other things, he emphasized the importance of respect, touching on the respect of borders and sovereignty, which, according to him, is especially necessary today, when the strong try to oppress the weak.
"Just like in Hungary, the so-called friendly pressure can be felt in our direction, but like the Hungarians, we also stick to our principles, even if it means that we have to act against the mainstream," he stated.
"We also believe in dialogue. We believe that it is important to maintain and protect our values (…) The two countries play a key role in the entire region for the sake of stability and peace"
he announced.
"Hungarians and Lebanese are fighting in the name of humanism, peace and tolerance," he added.
MTI
Featured image: Péter Szijjártó's Facebook page
