Prime Minister Orbán received Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II for a working lunch in the Parliament Building on Tuesday.

Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s Press Chief, told Hungarian news agency MTI that topics for discussion at the meeting included ways of helping Middle Eastern Christians remain in their homelands and return to liberated territories.

In the name of the Hungarian Government Prime Minister Orbán promised concrete assistance towards these efforts, Mr. Havasi said, adding that Hungarian assistance in Syria is aimed at establishing university facilities, while in Iraq it is to contribute to the reconstruction of villages that have been destroyed in the war.

Also present at the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, Minister of Human Capacities Zoltán Balog and Deputy State Secretary for assisting persecuted Christians Tamás Török.

During his visit to Budapest, on Wednesday afternoon the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church will give a lecture at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University.

(MTI/kormany.hu)