Hungarian politician: migrants are the reason Lebanon is in crisis

In tackling the crisis in Lebanon, the European Union must not ignore the role of churches, which fulfil vital social tasks in the country, György Hölvényi, an MEP of junior ruling party KDNP, told a conference in Brussels on Wednesday.

Hölvényi, who headed the EU mission observing the elections in Lebanon in 2022, noted that parliamentary seats had been divided equally among Christian and Muslim representatives. “This is a token of stability after the bloody civil war” that ravaged the country, he said.

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“The state is mired in corruption, GDP has plunged by 50 percent in the past 4 years, one-third of Lebanese citizens do not have enough to eat and in a country of six million, one million school-age children do not go to school,” he said. Meanwhile, the country is also fending for 1.5 million Syrian refugees, he added.

As the representatives of peace and dialogue, religious communities can play an important role in solving those crises, he said. “And the EU stands by Lebanon as a friend and neighbour,” he said.

Former Lebanese Economy Minister Mansour Bteish also attended the event.

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Source: MTI