Human resources minister: Hungary wants to be refuge for persecuted Christians

Hungary aims to provide a refuge for persecuted Christians, Zoltán Balog, the minister of human resources, said at a Christian festival on Friday.

Addressing 72 Christian students from the Middle East who have received Hungarian state scholarships, Balog said in Budapest’s St. Stephen’s Basilica that the stipends were for people who had come from countries where Christians face suffering and danger on a daily basis.

“Today three out of four Christians in the world are persecuted, and the western world knows little about it,” he said.

“As far as possible, we want to strengthen the voice of the persecuted and to make known the atrocities against them,” the minister said. Hungary strives at international forums to bring attention to the situation of Christians in the Middle East, he added.

Since the establishment last year of the state secretariat for assisting pursued Christians, the government has provided support of 6 million euros to the Middle Eastern and African Christian communities, he noted.