“In the 21st century it is impermissible for anyone to suffer persecution because of their faith. Action must be taken against this using all possible means”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Friday in Prague at an international conference on the persecution of Christians.

The Minister drew attention to the fact that the most endangered religious community in the world is Christianity. “It is terrible to even state it, but 80 percent of the people who are murdered and persecuted around the world are Christian”, Mr. Szijjártó pointed out, noting that some 215 million Christians around the world are suffering persecution or deportation. “Analyses show that in the majority of cases the continuous expansion of Islamic radicalism and the overpowering force of religious nationalism is what is behind this persecution”, he explained. The frustration of the huge numbers of migrants who have arrived in Europe is a major problem. “In view of the fact that the culture of illegal immigrants is totally different from that of the Europeans, parallel societies develop, because the immigrants do not want to integrate into European culture and often want to overwrite European traditions and customs”, he added.

According to Mr. Szijjártó, there is an ideological war going on in Europe, and international organisations are doing an inadequate job protecting Christian communities and traditions. As an example, he cited the UN Global Compact for Migration, which goes as far as interpreting migration as a fundamental human right. “To us, the Hungarians, Christianity – in addition to theological and dogmatic traditions – also means a social structure that for over a thousand years had determined people’s dignity, and the question of family, nation and Church”, the Minister declared. In his speech, Mr. Szijjártó provided the conference’s participants with detailed information on the efforts of the Hungarian Government in the interests of preserving Christian traditions and culture. In his speech, Auxiliary Bishop of Prague Václav Malý said the work performed by the Hungarian Government in the interests of assisting persecuted Christians is exemplary and should be followed.

(MTI)