Today, at the Papal Residence in Cairo, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II received the Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr. Viktor Orbán, accompanied by the Hungarian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economic Development, and the Hungarian Ambassador in Cairo, Mr. Andras Kovacs.
H.H. welcomed the guests and expressed his appreciation for the excellent relations between Egypt and Hungary, commending Hungary’s keenness to preserve family values and confront challenges such as homosexuality, the support of the Hungarian government to the Egyptian government, and the extended cooperation between the two countries.
His Holiness emphasized the Church’s good relations with all state institutions, with His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and the Egyptian government, as well as with the Al-Azhar Foundation and all the churches in Egypt, which are brought together by the Council of Churches of Egypt.
H.H. also spoke about the Egyptian state’s interest in citizenship, which was evident in the law of building churches and the construction of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the New Administrative Capital, the concern for equality, and the visit of His Excellency the President to the cathedral to congratulate on Christmas, and His Holiness affirmed that we work together to build the new republic, and that the Coptic Church is a church of Egyptian nationalism, which is strong and active inside and outside Egypt. H.H. also said: we pray for solutions to wars and for the whole world.
The Hungarian Prime Minister commended the relations between Egypt and Hungary, noting that the diplomatic relations between the two countries began 95 years ago, and that it is a good relationship at the political level, as well as with His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. He also pointed out that during his meeting today with His Excellency President Al-Sisi, the president told him that Egypt does not have a Christian minority, but rather we are all Egyptian citizens, some of whom are Muslims and others are Christians. He also mentioned that he visited Egypt in 2011 and he clearly sees that things have changed for the better during these years and commended the growth of economic cooperation between Hungary and Egypt, and that the Hungarian government is currently studying the idea of establishing a factory in Egypt.

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