Szijjártó calls on international community to help Christians in Middle East

Madrid, May 24 (MTI) – The international community has a duty to help persecuted Christians who have been forced to flee their homes in the Middle East, the Hungarian foreign minister told a conference in Madrid on Wednesday.

Speaking at the conference on victims of ethnic and religious violence in the Middle East, Péter Szijjártó said that the Middle East’s Christians were in “terrible danger” from the Islamic State terrorist organisation. He urged efforts to create security in the region before the reconstruction of conflict-stricken areas. He insisted that all countries, whether Christian or not, should participate in such efforts.

Szijjártó noted Hungary’s military participation in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, underlining that the government plans to add another 50 troops to the current Hungarian mission of 150 by 2019.

The Hungarian government has allocated 1.9 million euros to rebuild 200 Christian homes in Iraq, 470,000 euros to buy medical supplies for a hospital, 400,000 euros to build a Christian school, and 500,000 euros to provide humanitarian aid, Szijjártó said. He added that Hungary would also support the Syrian Catholic and Orthodox churches with 1 million euros each.

On the sidelines of the conference, Szijjártó held bilateral talks with three other foreign ministers.