Hungarian foreign minister discusses religious freedom with British special envoy

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó held talks with Rehman Chishti, the United Kingdom’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, in London, on the sidelines of an anniversary NATO summit on Tuesday evening.

Szijjártó told MTI by phone after the meeting that guaranteeing religious freedom and supporting communities persecuted for their religion is one of the cornerstones of Britain’s foreign policy, which coincides with the Hungarian government’s policy of supporting persecuted Christians.

“We agreed with the British prime minister’s commissioner for religious freedom that since Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world — eighty percent of those persecuted for their religion are Christian — special attention must be given to supporting persecuted Christian communities,” Szijjártó said.

Hungary urges the international community to speak out clearly, “dispensing with political correctness and hypocrisy”, about the attacks against Christian communities.

Hungary has so far spent 40 million dollars to support Christian communities in the Middle East and Africa, Szijjártó noted, adding that this had earned the country clear recognition in the international community.

“Our guiding principle is that help must be taken to where the problems arise. We will continue to support programmes that allow Christian communities to stay in their homeland or to return there,” Peter Szijjártó said.

Source: mti