Parliamentary State Secretary Levente Magyar from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade concluded a cooperation agreement on the protection and assistance of persecuted Christians with American government agency USAID on Wednesday in Washington.

The cooperation agreement was signed by  Levente Magyar and David Moore, Acting Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

“The agreement was initiated by the American party”, Mr. Magyar informed Hungarian news agency MTI, stressing that the treaty lays the foundations for organised cooperation between the governments of the two countries and represents a political commitment towards the realisation of concrete, joint plans.

The agreement is “a major diplomatic success, which also indicates the success of the Hungary Helps Program launched by the Hungarian Government and aimed at providing practical assistance to persecuted Christians in the Middle East”, he added. “They also took notice of this Program in the United States, and regard it as exemplary”, Mr. Magyar stated.

Hungary has helped thousands of families in regions ravaged by military conflict, building a school, a hospital and a church, and the Hungarian Government recently decided on the provision of 212 million forints (EUR 660 thousand) in funding towards the construction of a new orphanage in Syria. “The construction of the orphanage is a joint Hungarian-Polish programme and the Polish Government is providing a similar sum towards the project”, Mr Magyar explained.

“Hungarian-American government cooperation is also an acknowledgement of the fact that Hungary is providing effective assistance and is taking its principle, according to which assistance should be taken to where it is needed instead of importing the trouble, seriously”, the politician stressed in a statement to Hungarian news agency MTI.

“By doing so, Hungary is not only providing direct assistance to people who are suffering, but is also contributing to preventing migration”, he underlined.

“The current US administration has been showing interest in the Hungary Helps Program for a long time, and Deputy President Mike Pence is particularly supportive of the issue, and the Hungarians have already assisted the Americans with many concrete experiences and connections”, he stated.

His American negotiating partners expressed particular praise with regard to the fact that Hungary is standing up for Israel’s security and against anti-Semitism at various international forums, including the UN, Mr. Magyar highlighted.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)