Orban meets Metropolitan Hilarion

Prime Minister Viktor Orban held talks with Metropolitan Hilarion, who is in charge of external church relations at the Patriarchate of Moscow, in Budapest on Friday, Orban's press chief said. Topics they discussed included the persecution of Christians, cooperation between the eastern and western Orthodox churches and the Russian Orthodox church's work in Hungary, Bertalan Havasi told MTI in a statement.Orban praised Metropolitan Hilarion for defending at the most prestigious international forums the victims of modern-time persecution of Christians and for pointing out the dangers of losing Christian roots.