Szijjarto: Hungary helping persecuted Middle East Christians return home

Hungary's policies will help persecuted Christians return to their homelands in the Middle East, Peter Szijjarto, the Hungarian foreign minister, told a conference focusing on the victims of ethnic and religious conflicts in Brussels on Monday. Hungary will carry on with its Middle East programme, under which the government has so far allocated over 3 billion forints (EUR 9.5m) for building schools, renewing hospitals, and providing scholarships to young Christians in the region, he said. Szijjarto warned that if efforts to encourage locals to return to their homes fail, the abandoned areas could again be occupied by the Islamic State terrorist organisation.