Hungary’s foreign minister hosts US sanctioned Lebanese MP Gebran Bassil

Christianity provides “an extremely firm foundation for the cooperation between Hungary and Lebanon, which is also of great importance in view of the current security challenges,” Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Monday.

According to a statement from the foreign ministry, Szijjártó met Gebran Bassil, head of Lebanon’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement, for talks in Budapest, and noted that Hungary has had diplomatic ties with Lebanon for 60 years, “during which time relations have been defined by dialogue based on mutual respect”.

Interestingly, Gebran Bassil, President of the Lebanese Free Patriots Movement and Lebanese Member of Parliament, has been included on the US sanctions list in June 2020. Bassil was added to the US sanctions list for systemic corruption and support for the terrorist organisation Hezbollah.

Hungarian-Lebanese relations have a high significance as threats in the Middle East negatively impact Europe, the statement quoted Szijjártóas saying. “Lebanon’s region has been the cradle of Christianity, therefore bilateral cooperation rests on a stable foundation provided through Hungary’s Christian foreign policy … under which there is no room for hatred or attacks against Christians in the world; such expressions must be most firmly rejected,” Szijjártó said.

He highlighted the assistance the Hungarian government has provided to 64 countries worldwide, through implementing a total of 400 rehabilitation programmes worth a combined 42 billion forints in recent years. He added that 38 of those programmes had been completed in Lebanon, including one aimed at renewing 33 ancient Christian churches “so that Christian communities can return to their places of worship”.

Meanwhile, Szijjártó said that Christian values were coming “under increasing pressure” in the West. “The woke ideology and the liberal mainstream have launched innumerable attacks against Christian values. It is good news for us all that the new US president has shut off financing for liberal trends based on that woke ideology.”

Concerning security in Lebanon, Szijjártó said “we stand for the stability of the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, because if that ceasefire is shaken it would entail extreme hardships for Christian communities in Lebanon and its region.” “We also support Lebanon with regard to that country’s hosting several million people relocated from Syria.” “The material burden weighs exclusively on Lebanon, which is unacceptable,” he added.

“The whole world has welcomed the political changes in Syria with great enthusiasm. It is clear, however, that the incumbent Syrian leadership has committed a number of inhumane acts, which requires the most resolute action. It must be made clear, at the same time, that several million people had left Syria because of Assad’s rule; Assad is no longer there, and the international community has an obligation to create the conditions for the refugees to return to Syria,” Szijjártó said.

“An important aspect in the future stability of Lebanon is to remove the material, economic burdens posed by the millions of Syrians in the country,” the foreign minister said.

Gebran Bassil said that there has been a long-standing demand for Syrian refugees to stay in their own country, which Hungary supports, helping to preserve Lebanese identity. He thanked the Hungarian government for the scholarship programmes for Lebanese students. He underlined that the support of Hungarians to Lebanese Christian communities strengthens the communities that remain.