Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has held talks with Youssef Absi, the patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, at the Carmelite monastery in Budapest.
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is headquartered in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus. Given the absence of direct diplomatic links between Hungary and Syria, the Hungarian government aims to assist the country’s Christian communities via its Hungary Helps humanitarian program.
Joined by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén at the luncheon, PM Orbán said his government has reviewed the aid proposals sent by the local church leaders and has begun delivering the necessary supplies to the communities in need.
Between autumn 2016 and January 2019, Hungary set aside a total of 7.63 billion HUF (24m EUR) to help keep prosecuted Christian communities in their homelands. The government’s policy remains unchanged: help should be provided at the point where it is needed rather than bringing trouble over to Europe.