Family policy and the protection of Christian values will be at the centre of this year’s sixteenth civic picnic which will be held at the weekend in the locality of Kötcse, Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog, the host of the event told the newspaper Magyar Idők.

In the interview released in the Friday issue of the daily, the Minister of Human Capacities said in evaluation of the work of the State Secretariat established for the purpose of providing support for persecuted Christians: they also succeeded in drawing more international attention to this cause. The leaders of persecuted churches requested assistance with the survival of their communities in existence for centuries or even a thousand years. Hungary therefore agreed, for instance, to finance the medicine supplies of the St. Joseph Hospital in Erbil for six months, and selected a village which it wishes to rebuild completely. The establishment of the State Secretariat was essential for providing effective assistance, Mr Balog stressed.

He added: a state fund has been set up which supports the education of young people from the Middle-East and Africa in Hungary. At the same time, the required church recommendation serves as a guarantee that the scholarship holders will return to their native land and will work towards the reinforcement of their respective communities.

Christianity is the world’s most persecuted religion, while in Europe it is compelled to be on the defensive, he said. „Christianity is being attacked ever more fiercely by more and more people through administrative and legal means, and to this end they are also using a part of the press and various forums of publicity. They are attempting to present Christians as backward oddballs. They want to relegate the Christian set of values and the profession of our faith to beyond the boundaries of the law. This is what we observe when they attack fundamental institutions such as marriage, calling into question that it is the relationship of one man and one woman. But we could also mention attempts when they try to have crosses and crucifixes removed from the walls of school classrooms”, he said.

Magyar Idők pointed out that the Government managed to fall out even with some members of the conservative intelligentsia in connection with the case of the Central European University (CEU). Mr Balog said in response that the past few months have made the Government’s intentions clear: they would like to create equal conditions for everyone in higher education. „It is also evident that there is no country in the European Union where the CEU could operate with the privileges that it had here, in Hungary”, he said. Likewise, the NGO legislation does not violate the rule of law, he continued, but „the interests of the Soros organisations which seek to interfere with Hungary’s internal affairs without democratic authorisation, with manipulative campaigns and in other manners”.

“The Kötcse community is comprised of the some five hundred people from the realms of the economy, science, culture, education and church life who have been our supporters both in good times and bad times, and even when they perceived problems. They are cross for us, not with us”, Mr Balog said.

According to the host of the Kötcse picnic, the most important thing today is „and not only on account of the elections, but also due to the state of the western world, that we should talk about the possibilities of the preservation of our Christian European values and way of life. And above all, about Hungarian families.” This also has political aspects, he indicated, as we would like to protect what we have built. „Not necessarily only against the opposition parties which have absolutely no concept whatsoever regarding the future of Hungary, beyond wanting to get rid of Viktor Orbán and the Fidesz-KDNP alliance, but also against external forces”, the Minister of Human Capacities added.

(MTI)