Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Wednesday that another consignment of Hungarian humanitarian aid has been delivered to Lebanon with the aim of improving the living conditions of the local Christian communities that have endured much suffering.
Armed conflicts have broken out in multiple parts of the world, Minister Szijjártó said after a cabinet meeting, according to a ministry statement, highlighting the growing uncertainty and the threat of terrorism.
The security situation in the Middle East has been the focus of global politics for decades, and has received even more attention since the terrorist attack against Israel in October last year, he said.
"The security situation in the Middle East has become particularly unstable, one of the main losers of which has been Lebanon," the minister said. "There’s a ceasefire in effect at the moment, which the Hungarian government welcomes, and we ask the sides that have agreed to the ceasefire to uphold it, because that is the only way to prevent the suffering of people and families, and to allow those who have been forced to flee their homes to return there."
Minister Szijjártó noted Lebanon’s sizeable Christian community with which the Hungarian government is in close cooperation.
Because the situation in the Middle East has been hard on this community, Hungary provides a significant amount of aid to them through the Hungary Helps humanitarian scheme, the minister said.
The humanitarian aid shipment delivered today has been put together by the foreign ministry along with the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, the Hungarian Baptist Aid and pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter, Minister Szijjártó said.
The 3.5 tonnes of aid contains food, medicine, power aggregators, camp beds and blankets, he said.
"Whenever we deliver humanitarian aid, we also offer evacuation on board the Hungarian Armed Forces’ aircraft," Minister Szijjártó said. "This time only a single Hungarian citizen asked to be evacuated, which means that our past evacuations were successful. Practically every Hungarian citizen who wanted to leave Lebanon due to the security situation has managed to leave."
"We sincerely hope that no more evacuations will be necessary," Minister Szijjártó said. "We sincerely hope that the ceasefire will last, allowing the living conditions of the Christian community to improve."