Foreign minister: Hungary helping persecuted Middle East Christians return home

Hungary’s policies will help persecuted Christians return to their homelands in the Middle East, Péter Szijjártó, the Hungarian foreign minister, told a conference focusing on the victims of ethnic and religious conflicts in Brussels on Monday.

Hungary will carry on with its Middle East programme, under which the government has so far allocated over 3 billion forints (EUR 9.5m) for building schools, renewing hospitals, and providing scholarships to young Christians in the region, he said.

Szijjártó warned that if efforts to encourage locals to return to their homes fail, the abandoned areas could again be occupied by the Islamic State terrorist organisation.

The international community’s support for Christians to return to their homelands is pivotal for the security of the region as well as for security in Europe, Szijjártó said. he urged “security and financial guarantees” to facilitate stabilisation.