Hungarian MEP: Persecuted Christians have to be represented on higher levels

Non-European Christians are facing heated persecution which requires action on higher diplomatic levels, György Hölvényi, MEP of Hungarian Christiandemocratic Party said on Tuesday in Strasbourg.
The interreligious working group is comitted to brief the European Parliament and its members on violence against Christians and recent tendencies, György Hölvényi said on Tuesday, Hungarian News Agency (MTI) reports.
He emphasized that „we have to make a clear difference between discrimination and hatred, since in Europe many people are subjected to the former because of their religious or ethinc affiliation, however, non-European Christians have to face with severe persecution”.
In Europe, the scale and seriousness of Christian persecution is still underestimated and it must not be kept in secret from the public, he added.
During the panel, hosted by the working group responsible for interreligious dialogue of EPP (European People’s Party), Marcela Szymanski representative of Aid to the Church in Need presented a report, named ’Persecuted and Forgotten’ in which he drew attention on the possible extinction of Christians in the Middle East even after the defeat of ISIS.
Christianity in Iraq is on the „edge of exctinction” and in numerous African countries Islamist groups are terrorizing local churches and persecution is heated up in southeast Asia as well – he added.
Czech MEP, Tomás Zdechovsky expressed his concern about the reluctance to use the term ‘Christian’ in EU resolutions’ title due to left-wing European parties’ rejection.
The European Commission in 2013 passed a directive on the protection and enhancement of religious freedom and belief and this commitment requires further actions. In 2016 the EU introduced a new special envoy for religious freedom outside the European Union, however this mandate has expired with the leaving from office of the former European Comission.