Hungarian and Russian Christians plan to launch joint projects to support Christian education in Syria, said Tristan Azbej, secretary of state responsible for helping persecuted Christians, after talks with Archimandrite Philaret, vice president relations with the foreign Churches of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Azbej said the meeting was organized following an October 2019 Hungary-Russia summit, during which Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin decided in the presence of Syrian religious leaders that Hungary and Russia would cooperate to help Syrian Christians.

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The mechanism for Hungary and Russia to cooperate at the highest level has been in place for several years now and has borne fruit, especially with regard to trade and economic relations, Putin said.

He added that he had agreed with Archimandrite Philaret on the joint preparation of the projects. Several schools were destroyed during the civil war in Syria more than a decade ago, and many teenagers had no chance of receiving any form of education, he said.

“Local churches fulfill an important social mission and Hungary, as always, plans to support Christian communities in these efforts in cooperation with Russian partners,” he said.

Azbej said he received an award from Sergei Stepachin, head of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and former prime minister of Russia, and the Middle Cross from Vyacheslav Ostapchuk, head of the Russian Orthodox All-Russia Social Movement. Azbej added that it was in recognition of the efforts of the Hungarian government and the people to support persecuted Christians and protect their interests. Stepashin expressed his gratitude to Hungary for its unique support for the issue at government level, Azbej added.

In the photo illustration shown: Maaloula. Photo by MTI / EPA / Juszef Badaui