“Coordinated international action is requires to solve the problem of the persecution of Christians”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó emphasised in Budapest at the international conference on the persecution of Christians.

Speaking at the event entitled “Searching for Answers to a Long-Ignored Crisis”, Mr. Szijjártó spoke about the fact that extremism is gaining increasing ground throughout the world and millions of people are being forced to leave their homes, and that these problems must not be handled as individual countries, but that instead a coordinated international response is required.

According to the Minister, all false approaches that attempt to portray the protection of Christian communities as an activity that is aimed against others, must be rejected.

Mr. Szijjártó said he admires the commitment with which his Muslim colleagues speak about protecting Muslims, and that in his opinion Christian politicians should be similarly enthusiastic about standing up for Christian communities. “But politically correct expectations are preventing them from openly representing this approach”, he declared. Similarly, “international standards” do not enable the statement of the fact that Christian communities have become the most persecuted religious community today, in view of the fact that four out of every five people who are persecuted for their religious beliefs are now Christian. This hypocrisy must come to an end”, Mr. Szijjártó stressed.

In his lecture, Parliamentary State Secretary Bence Rétvári from the Ministry of Human Resources highlighted the fact that in Hungary’s opinion people in need should be assisted on site, because highlighting some of those in need and resettling them in Europe or America does not represent a solution in view of the fact that those who remain will continue to live in poverty. “Only local assistance can truly solve these problems”, he declared.

“In contrast, the quota system being pushed by the European Union doesn’t solve any problems, it only increases internal tensions”, he said.

According to the State Secretary, some Western European politicians are “intentionally deaf and blind” to the problem of persecuted Christians “so they can remain silent”. “But this must come to an end and actions must follow”, he added.

Mr. Rétvári explained that Hungary is striving to provide Middle Eastern Christians with the assistance they are asking for, because through the situation of cross-border Hungarians it has learned that what is good for other people shouldn’t be dictated from Budapest, but instead they need to be asked about what they need.

The State Secretary compared Hungary’s politics of taking action against the persecution of Christians and handling migration to a pyramid. “The base is the level of nature defence and security, which is served by the fence that has been constructed along our southern border. The middle level is the Hungary helps programme, which provides assistance at a local level to everyone who needs it, and the apex of the pyramid is providing support to persecuted Christians”, he said.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)