Soltesz meets Orthodox patriarch in Greece

Soltesz told MTI by phone that he had highlighted the thousand-year-old role the Greek Orthodox Church had played in Hungary and that during the talks, the patriarch thanked the Hungarian government for its assistance in reconstruction efforts on the island of Lesbos, where “violent migrants destroyed or desecrated dozens of churches”.

The talks covered “important values such as … the message conveyed by Hungary’s child protection law”. Soltesz said the law was “not aimed against anybody” but served to protect children. Despite international pressure, Hungary “stands by the law”, he said, citing the patriarch as saying that he respected the Hungarian government’s efforts made in the interests of families, children, and Christianity.

During his talks with Vlassis, Soltesz outlined the Hungarian government’s activities concerning the Greek minority in Hungary, such as building a sports hall for a school and renovating the Greek self-government’s building in Beloiannisz, a village built for Greek refugees in the 1950s.