President Novak: In times of distress, Hungarians must stick together

“Only communities that stick together can survive and become stronger,” she said at the consecration service of a Serbian Reformed church.

The president alluded to “destructive ideologies” and “a campaign now targeting children”, as well as heightened tensions in Kosovo and instability in the Western Balkans, in addition to the war “raging in Ukraine” and an imminent war in the Middle East. She added that economic challenges were making everyday life for families difficult.

She said Christians turned to God at such times when the safety of communities and families was imperiled, and questions, she added, were answered by “clinging together”.

She said Hungarians within the territory of Hungary and beyond were connected to each other as if by “an umbilical cord”.

Hungarians, too, can maintain friendship with Serbia, and this helps cohesion, she said.

Janos Nagy, a state secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, read a letter of greeting by Viktor Orban at the episcopal consecration. The letter said that in Vojvodina Reformed churches were not only houses of faith but also strongholds of the Hungarian people.

Orban wished the newly elected bishop, Laszlo Harangozo, to be blessed in his service to the entire Hungarian population of Vojvodina.

Zoltan Balog, bishop of the Danube Reformed Church District, head pastor of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church, preached at the service.